This scholarship, which is renewable for up to four years, will be awarded to an incoming first-year student majoring in English. The scholarship is based foremost on academic record and intellectual promise, secondarily on financial need. To apply, students must submit an unofficial high-school transcript and a 500-word essay on why you wish to pursue an English major through Scholarship Universe by February 1. 

This scholarship will be awarded to an incoming first-year or transfer student majoring in English. The student must be a Missouri resident and be able to demonstrate financial need. The award is renewable for up to four years for first-years and up to two years for transfer students. To apply, students must submit an unofficial high-school transcript and a 500-word essay on why they wish to pursue an English major through Scholarship Universe by February 1.  

This scholarship, funded by English Department alumni and created by the English Department Leaders Board, annually rewards an outstanding undergraduate English major. The Alumni Scholarship requires a minimum of a 3.5 overall GPA.

Candidates will be judged by their unofficial transcript and a one-page essay (single spaced) on the following question: What piece of writing had a profound effect on you and why? 

To apply, students must submit their unofficial transcript and essay through Scholarship Universe by March 1. 

This scholarship rewards a current English major who submits two outstanding essays of academic criticism (essays can be on literature, rhetoric and writing, linguistics, film/visual studies, culture, theory, etc.). Essays must be between 4-7 pp., double-spaced. Among the possible criteria on which judges will base their decision are:

• quality of the research
• innovation in approach
• stylistic elegance
• structure and organization
• persuasiveness of argument and/or richness of ideas/themes.

Students must also have a minimum of a 3.5 overall GPA and be eligible for financial aid. To apply, submit your unofficial transcript and two writing samples through Scholarship Universe by March 1. 

This scholarship rewards a current English major who submits two outstanding pieces of writing from any English course excluding ENGL 1000. Among the possible criteria on which judges will be basing their decision are:

• Innovation/originality
• Style/Voice
• Richness of ideas

Students must also have a minimum of a 3.5 overall GPA as well as demonstrate financial need. To apply, submit your unofficial transcript and two writing samples through Scholarship Universe by March 1st. 

This scholarship rewards a current English major who submits one outstanding piece of writing from any English course excluding ENGL 1000. Students must also have a minimum of a 3.5 overall GPA. To apply, submit unofficial transcript and essay through Scholarship Universe by March 1st. 

Open to all undergraduates at MU, regardless of major, this award recognizes the most promising creative nonfiction writing. A first and second place prize will be awarded.

Please see Scholarship Universe for detailed award information, including the deadline. 

Open to all undergraduates at MU, regardless of major, this award recognizes the most promising poetry writing. A first and second place prize will be awarded.

Please see Scholarship Universe for detailed award information, including the deadline. 

This award was established in 1961 by Sybil Pommer of Columbia, Missouri. Open to first-year students at MU of any major.

Please see Scholarship Universe for detailed award information, including the deadline. 

Open to all undergraduates at MU, regardless of major, this award recognizes the most promising fiction writing. A first and second place prize will be awarded.

Please see Scholarship Universe for detailed award information, including the deadline. 

The Academy of American Poets sponsors a prize for the best poem by a student currently enrolled at MU. Please email Gabriel Fried (friedg@missouri.edu), Director of Creative Writing, for more information. 

ABOUT THE COMPETITION

LITERATURE EMITTING DIODES presents poetry and prose by talented writers in public venues on a scrolling LED display. LITERATURE EMITTING DIODES began as a monthly publication in Chicago in 2015, and in recent years, has partnered with the Undergraduate Juried Showcase and the George Caleb Bingham Gallery in the School of Visual Studies at the University of Missouri-Columbia to found an Undergraduate Juried Writing Competition. 

Now an annual writing competition sponsored by the MU Creative Writing Program, the competition solicits unpublished writing of up to 500 words from MU undergraduate students of any major. One work will be chosen for display on a scrolling LED sign outside the George Caleb Bingham Gallery on the MU Campus. The winning writer will also receive a publishing award from THERETHERENOW, a Columbia-based curatorial and publishing project founded and run by Travis Shaffer, an Assistant Professor in MU's School of Visual Studies, to produce a limited-edition print publication.

LITERATURE EMITTING DIODES is a project of PARTIAL PRESS, a small press based in Columbia, Missouri, established and run by Carley Gomez and Levi Sherman. The MU Creative Writing Program is grateful to Carley and Levi of PARTIAL PRESS for founding the LED Undergraduate Writing Competition, and is excited to begin hosting the annual competition in 2020.

For more information about PARTIAL PRESS, THERETHERENOW, and the George Caleb Bingham Gallery, please visit the following websites:

https://partialpress.net/

http://www.theretherenow.com/theretherenow

https://visualstudies.missouri.edu/gallery/bingham

COMPETITION RULES

No more than three unpublished poetry and/or prose submissions per student; each submission cannot exceed 500 words. Authors must be undergraduate students at the University of Missouri. Formatting will not be retained by the LED display. All standard English letters, numerals, and punctuation will display. Submissions will be reviewed by jurors from the MU English Graduate Student Association.

In addition to display at the George Caleb Bingham Gallery, the winner will receive a broadside publication award from THERETHERENOW, a Columbia-based curatorial and publishing project. THERETHERENOW will create a limited-edition print publication and launch it with a reading event at the beginning of the semester following the competition, usually in the early spring. 150 copies will be split evenly among the MU Creative Writing Program, THERETHERENOW, and the winning writer. Three runners-up will also be invited to read their selected submission at the reading.

• 1 winner, 3 runners-up
• Deadline: November 6th

Any currently enrolled student may apply, though preference is given to graduate students. In order to be eligible for the award, you must demonstrate that you have applied to a summer workshop or residency. You are not required to attend that summer workshop or residency; you must only demonstrate that you have applied and give your reasons for applying.

Please see Scholarship Universe for detailed award information, including the deadline. 

The MU English Department Composition Program seeks candidates for the Mahan First-Year Writing Award. We invite first-year students enrolled in English 1000 for any 2024or 2025 semester to submit writing projects completed in ENG 1000. We're seeking well-crafted writing that demonstrates an insightful response to the rhetorical expectations of the assignment and engages in interesting ways with the topic. All papers from first-year students in ENG 1000 are eligible. A $300 first prize and a $200 second prize will be awarded. 

To enter, submit your paper as a PDF via Scholarship Universe. If you have any questions, please contact Director of Composition Cheryl Hall at hallch@missouri.edu.  

Only one submission per student. Only winners will be notified.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: April 7, 2025

This award will be given to a sophomore or junior English major who submits an outstanding 5 pg. (1250 word) maximum critical essay written for an English class during the previous calendar year. The essay can be on any topic and take a variety of approaches, from a traditional, researched essay to one that blends creative and critical writing. Students can revise the essay prior to submission. To apply, submit unofficial transcript and essay through Scholarship Universe by March 1st. 

Deadline: April 19.

The Honors Thesis Prize is awarded to the two best honor theses written during that calendar year, one in criticism and one in creative writing. The prize is open to all students registered in English 4996 in the fall and who are writing an Honors Thesis the following spring. To apply, log in to Scholarship Universe, search for the prize, and follow the instructions there.

This contest seeks to recognize and reward outstanding student research. It differs from other research paper contests in that it does not judge only the paper itself, but also the research process and the student’s ability to articulate his or her experience conducting research. View details about this contest.

The National Day on Writing (NDOW) was established by the National Council of Teachers of English ten years ago to celebrate writing and literacy. Every October, the MU English Department Composition Program, Writing Center, and Campus Writing Program celebrate Mizzou’s National Day on Writing (NDOW). We invite MU students, staff, faculty, and alumni to celebrate writing. Previous celebratory activities and events have included: 

• Social media: Tweet, Instagram, or post on other social media a short response to the prompt “Why I Write.” We share participants' stories and photos on social media to celebrate writing at Mizzou and highlight its role in our academic, professional, and civic lives.
• Writing Marathons: hour-long writing events to walk around campus, write, and share.
• Collaborative Writing: help our university community create a group piece of writing
• Language Origins: Where does language originate? How does it develop?
• Pizza for a Poem: Write a Mizzou Poem and Get a Slice of Pizza

This award will be given to a current English major who submits an outstanding 5-12 pg. double-spaced critical essay written for an English class during the previous academic year. The essay can be on any topic and take a variety of approaches, from a traditional, researched essay to one that blends creative and critical writing. Students may revise the essay prior to submission. To apply, submit unofficial transcript and essay through Scholarship Universe by March 1st. 

2025-2026: Janine Ruszkowski and Cooper Stokes

2024-2025: Kate DeGarmo and Christina Fugate

2022-2023: Chance Walker

2021-2022: Sherell Williams and Shea Wilson

2020-2021: Ethan Anderson and Katy Bond

2019-2020: Ethan Anderson and Annalee Roustio

2018-2019: Rebecca Oliver and Emmalee Wilkins

2017-2018: Allyson Chapman and Jamie Berry

2016-2017: Ameerah Sanders and Jamie Berry

2015-2016: Kaitlin Beardmore

2014-2015: Erin Niederberger

2013-2014: Tegan Blackwood

2012-2013: Jaclyn Herr and Arriana Hayes

2025-2026: Esther Boyd

2024-2025: Hannah Wocjik

2022-2023: Reagan Swatosh

2021-2022: Rebecca Jackoway and Sherell Williams

2020-2021: Vivan Herzog and Lauren Hynes

2019-2020: Alyssa Ripley and Macy Mundwiller

2018-2019: Lauren Pike and Peter Baugh

2017-2018: Sarah Pribe, Lauren Pike, and Amy Taylor

2016-2017: Taylor Ysteboe, Sherell Barbee, and Autumn McLain

2015-2016: Bradford Barnhardt, Erin Niederberger, and Tonya Eberhard

2014-2015: Katherine Hobbs, Hannah Salings, and Jennifer Para

2013-2014: Enrique Meijia and Kristin Carranza

2012-2013: Edward Hart, Grace McNamee, and Karlyn Skinner

2025-2026: Samantha Jessen and Josephine Sellers

2024-2025: Brooke Echternacht and Esra Jackson

2022-2023: Reagan Swatosh and Taylor Kelley

2021-2022: Katy Bond

2020-2021: Ethan Anderson

2019-2020: Ethan Anderson

2018-2019: Shelby Hart

2017-2018: Emily Hanneman and Rebecca Jaeckels

2016-2017: Marleigh Anderson and Sarah Judd

2015-2016: Marleigh Anderson and Marek Makowski

2014-2015: Jacqueline Land

2013-2014: Tegan Blackwood

2012-2013: Enrique Meijia and Charnissia Smith

2025-2026: Alex Tyrrell

2024-2025: Kate DeGarmo

2022-2023: Esra Jackson (Runners up: Chance Walker and Macee Borrowman)

2021-2022: Shea Wilson

2020-2021: Olivia Flagg-Bourke

2019-2020: Annalee Roustio

2018-2019: Emily Hanneman

2017-2018: Shelby Hart

2016-2017: Jamie Berry

2015-2016: Lindsey Marschka

2014-2015: Hannah Salings

2025: Esra Jackson, "Living in the 'Through': Transgender Identity in Miller Oberman's 'On Trans'" (written for Prof. John Evelev's ENGL 2100 class)

2025: Jasmine Jackson, "Resentencing Malvolio Through the Lens of History" (written for Prof. John Evelev's ENGL 2100 class) 

2024: Brooke Echternacht, "Pop and Porn: An Analysis of song 'Blurred Lines' as an Extension of Prostitution" (written for Prof. Dorothy Atuhura's ENGL 3080: Sexuality and Gender Theory)

2024: Reagan Swatosh, "Bromance? In Medieval Literature?" (written for Prof. Lee Manion's ENGL 4106: Medieval and Renaissance Romance)

2023: Colton Hicks

2022: Elizabeth Busch, "'Neither of woman nor of man': Gender, Drag, and Theatrical Costume in Charlotte Brontë's Villette"

2021: Katy Bond, "Mouths in a Glass: Reflections Between Cordelia and Hamlet" (written for Prof. Bill Kerwin's ENGL 4167: Shakespeare's Tragedies)

2021: John Romer, "Pedagogy and the Complex of Voice, Body, and Place in the Old English Judith" (written for Prof. Johanna Kramer's ENGL 4206: Old English Literature)

2020: Ethan Anderson, “Mere Friendship: Queer Desire in Theseus’s Athens” (written for Prof. Lee Manion’s English 8220: Resistance, Rebellion, and Revolution in Premodern Britain)

2020: Devon Hoerr, “Carmilla and the Queer Experience” (written for Prof. Lee Manion’s English 4996W: Honors Seminar in English)

2019: Andrew Frein, "Shakespeare's House of Cards: The Social Critique of Family and Politics in King Lear" (written for Prof. Anne Myers’ English 4167W Major Authors, 1603-1789)

2018: Elorm Nutakor, for “An Exploration of Pride in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels” (written for Prof. Stephen Karian’s English 4996W: Honors Seminar)

2018: Andrew Frein, for “The Subconscious of the New Woman in The Romance of a Shop” (written for Prof. Elizabeth Chang’s English 4188: Major Women Writers, 1789-1890)

2017: Andrew Frein, for "The Picture of Dorian Gray as an Immoral Tale" (written for Prof. Julie Melnyk’s English 3210: Survey of British Literature, Romanticism-Present)

2017: Bruno Vernaschi, for "Botched Intentions: On Chaucer, Jews, Calumny, and Hypocrisy" (written for Prof. Lee Manion’s English 4210: Chaucer's Canterbury Tales)

2015: Marleigh Anderson, for “Punctuation and Pulsation: William Blake’s Period” (written for Prof. Lily Gurton-Wachter’s English 4168: William Blake) 

2014: Bradford Barnhardt, “King Henry IV’s Machiavellian Call for the Crusades” (written for Prof. Bill Kerwin’s English 4166)

2013: Kristen Carranza, “Abdicating the Seat of Life: Man in the Stomach of Paradise Lost” (written for Prof. Anne Myers’ English 4167)

2012: Tegan Blackwood, “Topical Polemics in ‘The Life of Christina of Markyate’” (written for Prof. Johanna Kramer’s English 4210)

2025: Olivia Fields, "Like Comet Like Sun: An Analysis of Honor in Henry IV" (written for Prof. Bill Kerwin's ENGL 4166: Shakespeare class)

2024: Adian White, "Setting Her Up To Be Tamed" (written for Prof. Bill Kerwin's ENGL 4166: Shakespeare class)

2023: Reagan Swatosh

2022: ZuZu Burdsal, "An Exploration of Modernism in 'Resume'"

2022: Kathryn Colvin, "The 'List' and the Tryst: Absent and Present Forbidden Encounters in Sonnet Form"

2021: Della Rodenbaugh, "A Close Reading of Fun Home" (written for Prof. Anne Myers' ENGL 2100: Literature and Memory)

2025:

Creative: Sidney Schlesiger, “Hanafuda: An Exploration of Identity Through Modular Storytelling and Japanese-American History” (Advisor: Gabe Fried)  

Critical: Mary Ruth Taylor, “Modern Myth-Spinning: The Radical Power of Naomi Mitchinson’s Travel Light”  (Advisor: Andy Hoberek)

2024:
Creative: Tammie Richardson, "A Critical Introduction to Southern Gothic" (Advisor: Phong Nguyen)  

Critical: Faith Schilmoeller, "The Pen is Mightier Than the Crisis: How Climate Fiction is a Tool for Change" (Advisor: Ginny Muller)

2023:
Creative Writing: Audrey Bush (Runner up: Jesse Perue)
Criticism: Sophie Lewczuk (Runner up: Colton Hicks)

2022: Claire Lynch Huber for "Mocking Mother" (Advisor: Nancy West)

2022: Elizabeth Marszalek for "Bad Romance: Or, Period Drama’s Glamorization of the Gothic (Advisor: Nancy West)

2021: Ethan Anderson, “The Yearning Dove: Sodomy and Shame in ‘The Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale’” (Advisor: Emma Lipton)

2021 (Honorable Mention): Vivian Herzog, “Salty Sweet: Iberian Essays” (Advisor: Julija Šukys)

2020: Sean Dolan, "Everything All At Once: Stories & Studies in the Second Person" (Advisor: Phong Nguyen)

2020 (Honorable Mention): Sabrina Heffern, "The Anatomy of a Strange People: A Study of Ambiguous Loss in Extraordinary Communities" (Advisor: Phong Nguyen)

2019: Abagail Guinn, "Woman Unapologetic: 'something worth learning'" (Advisor: Kimberly McCaffrey) 

2018: Sherell Barbee, “My Mama Meat: An Exploration of African American Women’s Mental Health” (Advisor: Julija Šukys and Christopher Okonkwo)

2017: Marleigh Anderson, “You've Got Mail: Epistolography, Mapping, and Authenticity in Early Literature of Alexander the Great” (Advisor: Lee Manion)

2016: Katherine Hobbs, "‘Immortal Harps’: Milton and Musical Morality in Handel’s Samson” (Advisor: Anne Myers)

2016 (Honorable Mention): Bradford Barnhardt, "‘My Madness Singing’: The Specter of Syphilis in Prufrock’s Love Song" (Advisor: Frances Dickey)

2015: Emily Holtzman, "Indispensable Lives: Magical Realism and Postcolonial Resistance in Ana Castillo’s So Far from God and Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” (Advisor: Guadalupe Perez-Anzaldo, Romance Languages)

2015 (Honorable Mention): Delia Rainey, "Summer of the Sabra Cactus: The Body, Landscape, and Numbed Tourism” (Advisor: Lily Gurton-Wachter)

Isabella Bickhaus (2024): First prize for “Criminal Collections: Book Banning in the United States and Missouri”
Jasmine Jackson (2024): Second prize for “Reorienting Success: Beyond the Outcome”

Liberty Stone (2023): First prize for "Struggles of a Rural Woman: Feeding the Barbie to the Dinosaur"
Maria Silva (2023): Second prize for "Love Language"

Chloe Kerrigan (2022): First prize for Pink Faux-Leather Journal (With a Magnet Clasp)"
Cole Krah (2022): Second place for "Problem-Solving: The Rights of Nature"

Matt Bond (2021): First prize for "They Belong Too: Increasing Accommodations to Combat Poor Mental Health in the Transgender Community"
Micheal Aguirre (2021): Second prize for "What's the Difference"

Jayda Moss (2020): First prize for “Literacy’s Effect on Black Women: A Personal Narrative” 
Michelle Gershkovich (2020): Second prize for “Rushin to Learn English”

Gabriella Salinas (2019): First prize for “First”
Colby Thornton (2019): Second prize for “The Best Men Can Be”

Destiny Landsman (2018): First prize for “Dialectical Issues In The Classroom”
Sara Marquardt (2018): Second prize for “A Face Without a Page”
Fanya Sun (2018): Honorable mention for “The Treasure of Chinese Civilization”

N.F. (2017): First prize for “The Boy of Isolation”
Faramola Shonekan (2017): Second prize for “Social Media and Activism”

Catelyn Williams (2016): First prize for “Why is my Black Culture Only Appreciated When a White Person Is Appropriating It?”
Clemency Neville (2016): Second prize for “The 70s and Saturday Night Fever: The Limitations of Hollywood”

Homer Gaidarski (2015): First prize for “Learning Computer Science: A Secret Wall of Zeros and Ones”
Joseph Henke (2015): Second prize for “Eradicating an Epidemic: How Universities Can Better Protect Women from Sexual Assault”

Amy Brianne Schmiegelow (2014): First prize for “The Word Weavers: A Reader’s Influence on Ever-Changing Definitions”
Derrick Lin (2014): Second prize for “Bryson: Enlarging Vocabularies for a Fuller Language”

Helena Kowalewski (2012): First prize for “Abridging Speech vs. Abridging Lives”
McCullough Mischke (2012): Second prize for “Society in Bell, Book, and Candle and Practical Magic"
Emily Rothove (2012): Honorable mention for “What I Learned at the Kitchen Table”

Kristine A. Kerns (2011): First prize for "Misfortune: Creating Opportunity, or Impeding Happiness?"
Stephen M. Cady (2011): Second prize for "Ramblin' Woman"

Rebecca Taylor (2010): First prize for "The Collapse of the Nuclear Family"
Hannah Spratt (2010): Second prize for "The Dark Side of the Good Women"