2011 Bechtel Prize
Since 2004, Teachers & Writers Collaborative (T&W) has honored the author of an exemplary essay on literary arts education with the annual Bechtel Prize. Submissions for the award address important issues in creative writing education and/or literary studies.
The 2011 Bechtel Prize will be judged by Patricia Hampl. Hampl’s most recent book is The Florist’s Daughter, winner of numerous “best” and “year-end” awards, including the New York Times “100 Notable Books of the Year” and the 2008 Minnesota Book Award for Memoir and Creative Nonfiction. Blue Arabesque: A Search for the Sublime, published in 2006 and now in paperback, was also one of the Times Notable Books; a portion was chosen for The Best Spiritual Writing 2005. Hampl first won recognition for A Romantic Education, her memoir about her Czech heritage, awarded a Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship. This book and subsequent works have established her as an influential figure in the rise of autobiographical writing in the past 25 years. She is also the author of two collections of poetry, Woman before an Aquarium, and Resort and Other Poems. And she has published Spillville, a meditation on Antonín Dvo?ák’s 1893 summer in Iowa, with engravings by Steven Sorman. Virgin Time, about her Catholic upbringing and an inquiry into contemplative life, is available in a recent paperback. Hampl is Regents Professor of English at the University of Minnesota and serves on the T&W Board of Directors.
The essay selected to receive the Bechtel Prize appears in Teachers & Writers magazine and on the T&W website, and the author receives a $1,000 honorarium. Honoraria totaling $500 are shared by the authors of entries selected as finalists for the prize, which may also be published in Teachers & Writers.
Possible topics for Bechtel Prize submissions include contemporary issues in classroom teaching, innovative approaches to teaching literary forms and genres, and the intersection between literature and imaginative writing. The previous winners of the Bechtel Prize can be found at Bechtel Prize Winners.
Selection criteria for the Bechtel Prize include the essay’s relevance and appropriateness for readers of Teachers & Writers magazine, most of whom teach at the elementary, secondary, or postsecondary level. Teachers & Writers publishes work that is concise, lively, and geared to a general audience. Prospective entrants for the Bechtel Prize are encouraged to review a sample issue of Teachers & Writers to familiarize themselves with the magazine’s style. Go to Teachers & Writers to order a sample issue of the magazine for $5.00.
The submission deadline for the 2011 Bechtel Prize is 5:00 PM (Eastern), Thursday, June 30, 2011. Please refer to the submission guidelines below for additional information. For further information, e-mail BechtelPrize or call 212-691-6590.
2011 Bechtel Prize Submission Guidelines
- Entry fee: $20 for each entry (make checks payable to Teachers & Writers Collaborative). Each fee entitles the entrant to a new one-year subscription to Teachers & Writers or a one-year extension of a current subscription. Please indicate your choice and include a complete address for subscriptions.
- Submissions should relate to creative writing education and/or literary studies.
- Submissions must be previously unpublished and under 3,500 words in length.
- Submissions must be typed, paginated, and double-spaced.
- Submissions will be judged anonymously. The author’s name and address must not appear anywhere on the essay/article.
- Two copies of the entry must be submitted. One copy should include a cover page with the following information: the author’s name, mailing address, e-mail address, telephone number, the title of the submission, and where the author learned about the Bechtel Prize. The other copy should include a cover page with only the title.
- Authors of the Bechtel Prize winner and finalists must permit T&W to publish their submissions in Teachers & Writers magazine. The winner must permit T&W to publish the essay on the T&W website. T&W reserves the right to edit the submissions for publication.
- Please mail entries to The Bechtel Prize, Teachers & Writers Collaborative, 520 Eighth Ave., Ste. 2020, New York, NY 10018. Entries may be delivered to T&W between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday. Submissions will not be accepted via e-mail or fax.
- Submissions must be received by 5:00 PM (Eastern), Thursday, June 30, 2011.
- Submissions that do not conform to the above guidelines will not be reviewed for the Bechtel Prize. Submissions will not be returned to the authors.
Support for the Bechtel Prize
To make a contribution to support the Bechtel Prize or Teachers & Writers magazine, please contact T&W Director Amy Swauger at 212-691-6590, e-mail.
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