Elizabeth Boatwright Coker
Student Prize in Short Fiction
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Winner: Jonathan Allen Wood is a writer and student at Furman University in the class of 2025. For two consecutive years, he was invited to present his short stories at the national Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society convention: in 2024, he presented his short story “Am I a Man Now?” at the 100th annual convention in St. Louis, and in 2025, he presented his short story “How’s the Weather?” at the 101st annual convention in Pittsburgh.
Judge John Dufresne’s comments on “When You Cannot Leave or Stay”: Here is an engaging story about intriguing characters that is energetic, funny, and smart with a surprise on every page. Illuminating prose that I wish I had written. It is grammatically flawless and has the benefit of being timely. |
Deadline: Ended March 20, 2025
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The Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Student Prize in Short Fiction, supported by the Penelope Coker Hall/Eliza Wilson Ingle Fund of Central Carolina Community Foundation and sponsored by the South Carolina Academy of Authors, recognizes the talent of college student fiction writers in the state of South Carolina.
The award is $250 and an invitation to be honored at the SCAA Induction Ceremony. There is no restriction on form or content, but submissions may not exceed 15 pages double-spaced and must be either one original, unpublished short story or one excerpt from a longer, unpublished work. You may submit multiple entries. Entry is free. We will accept entries in doc, docx, rtf, and pdf file formats. Applicants must be 18-25 years old at the time of submission, legal residents of South Carolina, and enrolled full time at a private or public South Carolina institution of higher education. Applicants also must not have won this Prize in the previous three years. Your name should not appear anywhere on the pages submitted. Include contact information in the appropriate fields along with a brief bio in the cover letter field on the submission manager. Be sure to click on the correct SC Academy of Authors submission link. This year’s final judge will be John Dufresne. Questions about the Coker Student Prize in Short Fiction should be sent to: [email protected]. |
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John Dufresne is the author of six novels: Louisiana Power & Light, Love Warps the Mind a Little, (both New York Times Notable Books of the Year) Deep in the Shade of Paradise, Requiem, Mass., No Regrets, Coyote, and I Don't Like Where This Is Going. He also wrote two short story collections: The Way That Water Enters Stone and Johnny Too Bad, as well as three chapbooks: Lethe, Cupid, Time and Love; Well Enough Alone; and I Will Eat a Piece of the Roof and You Can Eat the Window. He has two books on writing and creativity: The Lie That Tells a Truth: a Guide to Writing Fiction and Is Life Like This?: a Guide to Writing Your First Novel in Six Months.
John was one of the thirteen authors of the mystery novel, Naked Came the Manatee. His short story “The Timing of Unfelt Smiles” was included in Miami Noir and in Best American Mystery Stories 2007. Another short story, “The Cross-Eyed Bear,” was included in Boston Noir and Best American Mystery Stories 2010. John wrote a full-length play, Trailerville, which was produced at the Blue Heron Theatre in New York in 2005.He also wrote the screenplay for the award-winning short film The Freezer Jesus. He co-wrote the screenplay for To Live and Die in Dixie with Don Papy. John was a 2012-13 Guggenheim Fellow and teaches in the MFA program at Florida International University in Miami. |