Competitions · Humanities and writing · Bennington Young Writers Awards
The Bennington College Young Writers Awards.
First prize is $1,000. The part worth reading twice is underneath it: a finalist who goes on to Bennington receives $40,000 across four years, and a winner $60,000.
The scholarship
The prize money is not the prize.
This is the only competition on this site where a result converts into a named, quantified scholarship at a specific college. Whether that matters depends entirely on the student.
Cash prizes are $1,000, $500 and $250
For first, second and third place. Respectable, and not what makes this competition unusual.
Finalists get $10,000 a year at Bennington
A finalist who applies to Bennington and is admitted receives $10,000 annually - $40,000 across a four-year degree.
Winners get $15,000 a year
$60,000 across four years, again conditional on applying to and being admitted to Bennington.
Which is worth weighing honestly
That is real money and it is tied to one college. If Bennington is genuinely of interest, this competition is worth more than its prize table suggests. If not, it is a $1,000 writing prize.
At a glance
The essentials.
The awards exist to recognise outstanding writing by high school students. More than five thousand students submit poetry, fiction and non-fiction each year.
- Who can enter
- Students in grades 9 to 12, worldwide
- Who it suits
- Students writing original work who are thinking about becoming novelists, poets, journalists or biographers
- Three categories
- Poetry, fiction, and non-fiction
- Fiction
- A short story of 1,500 words or fewer, or a one-act play running no more than 30 minutes
- One category only
- Entrants may submit in one category, once a year. There is no entering two
- Original work
- Required
- Presentation
- All entries must be typed, with the author’s name on every page
- Window
- Opens 1 September and closes 1 November
- Fee
- An application fee applies. Ask the college for the current amount
Choosing the category
One shot a year, so choose deliberately.
The one-category rule makes this decision more consequential than in competitions that accept several entries.
Fiction has two forms
A short story of 1,500 words or fewer, or a one-act play of no more than thirty minutes. The play route is rare in a writing competition and worth considering if the student writes dialogue well.
Poetry and non-fiction stand alone
Each is its own category, judged against work of the same kind rather than across the whole entry.
You cannot hedge
One category, one submission, once a year. Sending a weaker poem alongside a strong story is not an option here.
And the window is two months
September to November. Writing over the summer and submitting in September is a better plan than drafting in late October.
Preparation
How Hanlin prepares a Bennington entry.
A field of five thousand and one entry each means the piece has to be finished, not promising.
Choosing the strongest single piece
Not the most ambitious - the most complete. With one submission a year, a finished short story beats an interesting fragment of a novel.
Writing to 1,500 words in fiction
That is a short story with one turn in it, not a compressed novel. Understanding the form is worth more than the plot.
Taking the one-act play seriously
Thirty minutes of stage time is a real play, and far fewer entrants attempt it than attempt short fiction.
And deciding about Bennington early
If the college is a genuine possibility, the scholarship changes the value of a result substantially. That is a conversation to have before submitting, not after.
Why Hanlin
Preparation for Bennington Young Writers Awards at Hanlin is taught by full-time subject tutors, on a course tier chosen by placement paper rather than by year group.
Programme formats
Five ways this is taught.
Group size is the whole difference between these. It decides how much of the tutor's attention a student gets and how far the course can bend to them, so it is worth choosing rather than accepting.
| Format | Group size | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| One-to-one | One student | Content, pace and emphasis set by what this student actually needs rather than by a syllabus. The only format that can be rebuilt mid-course. |
| Small group | Three to eight | Opens at three. Frequent discussion, and the tutor can slow down or move on according to what the group has absorbed. Most students chasing a higher award are taught in this one. |
| Class | Eight to twelve | Taught by the subject lead or a medal coach. Less back-and-forth, so it suits a student who will say when something is unclear. |
| Large class | Ten to twenty | For students in the middle of the placement range, and a way to try a competition before committing. Students often move to a small group or to one-to-one afterwards. |
| Past-paper class | No cap | Past papers worked through in sequence in the weeks before the sitting. Free to students already enrolled. |
Course length for Bennington Young Writers Awards is set after a placement paper. The gap between where a student is and what the paper asks for is what the course has to close, and that gap is not the same for two students in the same year group.
How it runs
Six steps, four people on your side.
The same process for every student, so that nothing depends on one tutor remembering to do it.
Step 1Pre-course assessment
A placement paper before anything is booked, so the course tier is chosen on evidence rather than on a year group.
Step 2Tutor matching
A subject tutor is matched to the result, and their full background is provided before you agree to it.
Step 3Plan and group
A study group opens with four people on one student: the tutor, a planner, a supervisor and an academic manager.
Step 4Scheduled teaching
The teaching office sets the timetable around the competition date and school term, and teaching begins.
Step 5After-class reports
What was covered, and how the student handled it, reported after every lesson.
Step 6Homework follow-up
The teaching assistant and the form teacher both check that homework is done, which is where most preparation quietly fails.
Free resource pack
Past questions and writing pack
The same material our own Bennington Young Writers Awards students work from. Scan the code, say what you need, and an advisor sends it.
Tell an advisor which competition and year group, and the material comes back the same day. Free, and you do not have to enrol in anything. If we do not already hold what you need, we will go and find it.
- PDFEvery past question the competition has set
- PDFShortlisted and published essays, to calibrate the standard
- PDFStructure, referencing and word-count guide
- PDFEntry checklist and the dates for the current cycle
Teaching team
Who would teach it.
Three of the twenty-two tutors on the published Hanlin roster - the ones whose subject this is.
Lu
Master's in education from the University of Pennsylvania and a double major in psychology and philosophy at Mount Holyoke. Cross-cultural teaching experience across China and the US, with research work in child and adolescent development, cognition, and international students' identity.
Yang
Educated at American Heritage School, then English literature and philosophy at the University of British Columbia and a master's in language education at Toronto. Eleven years in North America, with a close working knowledge of the international curricula and overseas admissions.
Zhang
Master's in cognitive science at UC San Diego on full scholarship, after double honours in neurobiology and behaviour and in cognitive science at UC Davis. Ten years overseas, a perfect TOEFL speaking score, and named an outstanding education scholar at UCSD.
Where it is taught
Hanlin learning centres.
Teaching runs from Hanlin's own centres in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Hangzhou, and online for students elsewhere.
Talk to an advisor
Everything Hanlin does for Bennington Young Writers Awards, in one conversation.
Entry, planning, coaching and the past papers. An advisor will tell you which of these a student actually needs, including when the answer is none of them.
Competition entry and planning
Which competitions suit this student, in what order, and by when - then we handle the registration, including the ones that can only be entered through a school or a centre.
Competition coaching
Taught by full-time subject tutors, on a course tier chosen by placement paper rather than by year group.
International curriculum tutoring
IB, AP, A-Level, IGCSE and the US high school curriculum, taught alongside school and timed around the exam calendar.
Competition past papers, free
A large library of past papers, mark schemes and syllabus breakdowns across every competition on this site. No charge and no enrolment.
Scan to add an advisor
Say which competition or course you are asking about. Replies in Chinese or English.
Or call +86 21 6352 6630FAQ
The Young Writers Awards, briefly answered.
What students and families ask before entering.
Who can enter?
Students in grades 9 to 12, worldwide, submitting original work.
What are the categories?
Poetry, fiction and non-fiction. Fiction accepts either a short story of 1,500 words or fewer, or a one-act play running no more than thirty minutes.
Can I enter more than one category?
No. Entrants submit in one category only, and once a year.
How are entries presented?
All work must be typed, with the author’s name on every page.
When is the window?
Submissions open on 1 September and close on 1 November.
What are the prizes?
$1,000 for first place, $500 for second and $250 for third.
What is the scholarship?
Finalists who go on to be admitted to Bennington College receive $10,000 a year - $40,000 over four years. Winners receive $15,000 a year, or $60,000 over four years.
How competitive is it?
More than five thousand students submit each year across the three categories.
Is there a fee?
Yes, an application fee applies. Ask the college for the current amount.
Related
Other creative writing competitions.
What students enter alongside this one.
Bennington enquiries
One category, one entry, and a scholarship worth reading about.
The prize money is ordinary and the scholarship attached to it is not - if Bennington is somewhere the student might actually go. Tell us what they write and an advisor will help choose the category and the piece.