Competitions · Humanities and writing · Columbia College Chicago Young Authors
The Columbia College Chicago Young Authors Writing Competition.
Six submissions across three genres - the most generous entry allowance of any writing competition here. And it accepts work you have entered elsewhere, provided you tell them if it is taken.
Read this first
This is Columbia College Chicago.
The name causes constant confusion, and the two institutions have nothing to do with each other.
A college in Chicago, not the Ivy League university
Columbia College Chicago is a separate institution from Columbia University in New York. The competition is run by its English and Creative Writing department.
And it is a serious arts school
Known for film, photography, theatre and music, and a member of CILECT, the international association of film and television schools.
With a real record
Its alumni include two Academy Award winners, three Emmy winners, two Tony winners and two Pulitzer winners, alongside recipients of BAFTA, César and Golden Horse awards.
The competition has run since 1995
It is a well-established American national competition for high school writers and has received tens of thousands of entries from around the world.
What you can submit
Six files, and how they divide.
The allowance is generous but structured. You cannot put all six in your strongest genre.
| Genre | Files allowed | What a file can contain |
|---|---|---|
| Fiction | Up to two | One piece per file, ten pages maximum |
| Creative non-fiction | Up to two | One piece per file, ten pages maximum |
| Poetry | Up to two | Each file may contain between one and five poems, within the ten-page limit |
Six files in total, two per genre. You may not upload three or more in the same category. Note what the poetry rule allows: two files of five poems each means up to ten poems submitted, which is the largest poetry allowance of any competition on this site.
At a glance
The essentials.
Everything is submitted through the competition website. The formatting rules are specific and the file-type rules are absolute.
- Who can enter
- High school students in grades 9 to 12, worldwide
- Length
- Ten pages per entry. There is no word count - the limit is pages
- Spacing and type
- Double spaced, in 12 point Courier New or Times New Roman
- Title page
- Your name and the title may appear on the first page of the work
- Filename
- Genre, surname, title - for example Fiction_Smith_A Very Good Story
- File types accepted
- doc, docx or pdf
- File types refused
- rtf, txt and pages. Cloud document links such as OneDrive or Google Drive are also not accepted
- Previously published work
- Not accepted
- Simultaneous submission
- Permitted. If the work is accepted elsewhere you must notify the organisers immediately and withdraw it
- Where you submit
- The competition website
The simultaneous submission rule
Unusually permissive, with one obligation.
Most competitions on this site require exclusivity. This one does not, which changes how a student can use a single strong piece.
You may enter elsewhere at the same time
The organisers explicitly permit simultaneous submission to other competitions and magazines.
But you must tell them if it is taken
If the work is accepted anywhere else, you are required to notify them immediately and withdraw it from this competition.
Already-published work is out
Work that has appeared in a national publication or won another competition is not accepted. The rule is about publication, not about entry.
Which makes it a good first destination
A student with one strong story can send it here and elsewhere at once - unlike the Marshall Society competition, where entry is exclusive.
Preparation
How Hanlin prepares an entry.
Six files is a portfolio rather than a submission, and it should be assembled like one.
Using the allowance properly
Two fiction, two non-fiction, two poetry. A student who writes in only one genre submits two files; one who writes across genres can show range. Both are legitimate strategies.
Working to ten pages, not to a word count
The limit is pages at double spacing in 12 point, which is roughly 2,500 words. Formatting first and writing to the space avoids a late cut.
Using the poetry allowance
Up to five poems in one file, and two files. Ten poems is enough to show a voice rather than a single good piece.
And checking the file type before uploading
doc, docx or pdf only, correctly named. Pages files and cloud links are rejected, and that is a preventable way to lose an entry.
Why Hanlin
Preparation for Columbia College Chicago Young Authors 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 Columbia College Chicago Young Authors 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 Columbia College Chicago Young Authors 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 Columbia College Chicago Young Authors, 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 Authors competition, briefly answered.
What students and families ask before entering.
Is this run by Columbia University?
No. It is run by the English and Creative Writing department at Columbia College Chicago, a separate institution from Columbia University in New York.
Who can enter?
High school students in grades 9 to 12, anywhere in the world.
How many pieces can I submit?
Six files in total - up to two in fiction, two in creative non-fiction and two in poetry. You may not upload three or more in the same category.
How many poems can go in one file?
Between one and five, within the ten-page limit. With two poetry files, that allows up to ten poems.
How long can each entry be?
Ten pages maximum per entry, double spaced in 12 point Courier New or Times New Roman. There is no fixed word count.
How should files be named?
Genre, surname, then title - for example Fiction_Smith_A Very Good Story.
What file types are accepted?
doc, docx or pdf. Files in rtf, txt or pages format are not accepted, and neither are cloud document links such as OneDrive or Google Drive.
Can I enter the same piece in another competition?
Yes - simultaneous submission is permitted. But if the work is accepted elsewhere you must notify the organisers immediately and withdraw it.
Can I submit work that has been published?
No. Work that has already appeared in a national publication or won another competition is not accepted.
Do I have to submit everything at once?
Entries in different categories can be handled separately through the website. Check the current guidance for the exact process.
Related
Other creative writing competitions.
What students enter alongside this one.
Young Authors enquiries
Six files, three genres, and you may enter elsewhere too.
The generous allowance and the simultaneous submission rule make this a good place for a student to send a body of work rather than one piece. Tell us what they have written and an advisor will help assemble the six.