GLCA Now Accepting Nominations for the 2026 New Writers Award
The GLCA invites literary submissions from publishers to its New Writers Awards (NWA) 2026 competition.
For the 56th year this group of twelve independent Midwestern colleges will confer recognition on a volume of writing in each of three literary genres: poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction. Publishers submit works on behalf of their authors; a defining criterion for this award is that a work must be an author’s first–published volume in the genre. Judges of the award are professors of literature and creative writing at GLCA member colleges.
Entries will now be accepted. To be considered for this year’s award, all entries must be postmarked no later than May 25, 2025 and be published in either 2024 or 2025.
Nomination materials must be submitted electronically. To nominate a book:
(1) Publisher fills out and submits Nomination Form
(2) Authors fills out and submits Author Statement of Agreement, agreeing to the terms of the award. Forms can be submitted separately.
(3) Mail four copies of the books to the address below (electronic copies of books are NOT accepted)
Send books to:
GLCA New Writers Award
535 W. William St., Suite 301
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
Publishers should consult the following key resources in completing a submission:
GLCA Announces 2025 Winners of the
New Writers Award
The Great Lakes Colleges Association is pleased to announce the winners of the 2025 GLCA New Writers Award.
Now entering its 56th year, the New Writers Award confers recognition on promising writers who have published a first volume in one of the three genres: Poetry, Fiction, and Creative Non-fiction. Judges of the New Writers Award are faculty members of creative writing and literature at GLCA’s member colleges.
We extend our warmest congratulations to the 2025 Award Winners:
Poetry: Sarah Ghazal Ali, Theophanies (Alice James Books)
Judges:
Michael Leong, Kenyon College
Chanda Feldman, Oberlin College
Aza Pace, Ohio Wesleyan University
Fiction: Jessica Elisheva Emerson, Olive Days (Counterpoint Press)
Judges:
Lauren Holmes, Allegheny College
Michael Croley, Denison University
Andy Mozina, Kalamazoo College
Creative Non-Fiction: KB Brookins, Pretty (AA Knopf)
Judges:
Brooke Bryan, Antioch College
Deborah Geis, DePauw University
Daimys Garcia, The College of Wooster
Read the full 2025 announcement here.
About the New Writers Award
The GLCA New Writers Award was founded in 1970 as a program to enrich the environment of literary creativity and expression for students and faculty members of GLCA member colleges. The program focuses on writers, typically in early stages of a literary career, who have published a first volume in fiction, poetry, or creative non-fiction.
Judges of the award are faculty members of creative writing and literature at GLCA’s 13 member colleges. Each year the winning writers in the three categories receive invitations to visit several GLCA colleges, where they give readings, meet with students and faculty, sign books, and often visit a creative writing class.
Full list of all New Writers Award winners from 1970 to the present
The 2024 winning writers are currently touring campuses. (See here for 2023 and 2022 winning announcements).
Publishers interested in finding out more about this award can contact Colleen Monahan Smith ([email protected]), via email (preferred) or at 734.661.2336.
“Affixed upon materially discrete layers…a sticker, a golden sunlike-disc triumphantly embossed with the arcing letters that spell out two phrases: Great Lakes Colleges Association…New Writers Award.“
– Michael Leong, Kenyon College, introducing Poetry winner
Jesse Nathan during a campus reading Feb 17, 2025