Since 2009, the Norman Mailer Center has collaborated with the National Council of Teachers of English to present the Mailer Student and Teacher Writing Awards. Awards have been given for fiction and non-fiction writing, and the first awards for poetry will be presented in 2012. National winners in each category receive a cash prize presented at the Norman Mailer Annual Benefit Gala in New York City, and winners in some categories also receive a scholarship to spend time at the Writers Colony in Provincetown. Recognition is also extended to writers whose work earns top scores in early evaluation rounds.

In 2012, the Norman Mailer Center and the National Council of Teachers of English will present five awards in the categories below.

• The Mailer High School Teacher Writing Award is open to current full- and part-time high school teachers (of any subject). The winner will receive a $10,000 cash award and a scholarship to the Norman Mailer Writers Colony during the summer of 2013.
• The Mailer Four-Year College Writing Award is open to students currently enrolled full-time in four-year colleges. The winner will receive a $10,000 cash award and a scholarship to the Norman Mailer Writers Colony during the summer of 2013.
• The Mailer Two-Year College Writing Award is open to students currently enrolled in two-year colleges, junior colleges, and technical colleges. The winner will receive a $5,000 cash award.
• The Mailer High School Writing Award is open to students currently enrolled in high school. The winner will receive a $5,000 cash award.
• The Mailer Poetry Award is open to students currently enrolled in four-year colleges, two-year colleges, junior colleges, and technical colleges. The winner will receive a $5,000 cash award.

ENTRIES WILL OPEN IN FEBRUARY 2012. Student submissions will be accepted at http://www.ncte.org/awards/student/nmwa and high school teacher submissions at http://www.ncte.org/awards/nmwa.

Entries are accepted online only and may include one or more pieces of writing. Quality is far more important than quantity. Winners receive travel* and lodging to attend the Norman Mailer Center’s Annual Benefit Gala. Entries will be accepted in late winter/spring 2012 (dates may differ slightly from one award to another). Winners will be notified in early September.

Judging Criteria

Submissions will be read by national panels of teachers and writers. They will be judged by how well they achieve several qualities, including the artful treatment of subject matter; originality; quality of insight, voice, and style; artful arrangement of elements and materials; and overall aesthetic, emotional, or intellectual effect. Finalists selected through this process will be submitted to a panel of distinguished authors selected by the Norman Mailer Center, who will choose the winning writers.

*Full funding for travel is limited to the continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii. For Canadian and foreign students, a $500USD payment toward travel will be allotted.