Writing Awards
The University of Michigan-Dearborn Writing Awards promote and recognize excellence in writing among undergraduates.
Awards will be made in the following categories:
- Poetry
- Bill Linn Fiction Prize
- Researched Writing
- Creative Non-fiction
- Writing Through Image and Sound
- Writing in the Public Sphere
- First-Year Writing
- Honors Writing
- Scientific/Technical Writing
$7,500 in total awards. Awards are made possible by the Office of the Provost and the UM-Dearborn Annual Fund.
The Bill Linn Fiction Prize is funded by the family of Professor Bill Linn as a tribute to his love of literature and teaching. The family hopes award recipients treasure their gift of writing and use it to enrich the lives of others.
Final submission deadline Friday, May 8, 2026 at 5 pm. For rules and inquiries, see the Writing Awards website, call the LCA office (3011 CB; 313-593-4778) or contact [email protected]. Students submitting agree to comply with all rules on the Writing Awards website. Winners posted by June 19, 2026.
Rules subject to update
Eligibility
If you're an undergraduate enrolled at the University of Michigan—Dearborn for at least six hours during the Summer 2025, Fall 2025, or Winter 2026 semesters, you’re eligible to enter the Writing Contest.
You may submit work in up to three categories but only one entry per category. You may not submit the same entry in multiple categories. Winning a first-place award in a category makes you ineligible to enter that category in subsequent years.
All entries must be your original work; for collaboratively-created projects, include the names of all authors/creators and detail the contributions of each individual on the entry form.
Entries may not have been previously published (except in student publications).
Final submission deadline is Friday, May 8, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. Winners will be posted by June 19, 2026.
Awards will be reviewed and approved by the University of Michigan-Dearborn. In the case of debts owed to the University, awards will be applied to outstanding balances.
Required AI Disclosure: You are required to disclose specific AI use in your writing. If you fail to accurately disclose your AI use, you risk forfeiting your award.
Award winners in the Bill Linn Fiction Category agree to have their work shared privately with the Bill Linn family.
Categories
Poetry: May be of any length. Up to 3 poems as a single entry
Bill Linn Fiction Prize: Up to 30 double-spaced pages; one story per entrant
Creative Non-fiction: Up to 30 double-spaced pages; one essay per entrant
Honors Writing: Writing completed for any Honors course, including COMP 110 & 220
First-year Writing: Writing completed in COMP 105, 106, 227, 270 & 280
Researched Writing: e.g., the critical essay or other researched writing making use of secondary and/or primary sources; up to 30 double-spaced pages
Writing Through Image and Sound: E.g., Web-based writing, digital films with scripts, music and scores, projects that incorporate both text, sound, and/or visual elements
Writing in the Public Sphere: Writing completed in Academic Service-Learning courses, service learning or community-based writing projects, projects related to advocacy or activism, writing about current events
Scientific / Technical Writing: Writing completed in COMP 270, researched projects and/or investigative reports in engineering and natural sciences
Manuscript Format
To ensure objectivity, you must invent a Pen Name. A pen name is a fictitious name that is not your legal name. Your legal name can only appear on the entry form. Neither the judges nor the administrators of the contest will know your identity until the winners have been determined. Type your pen name only on every page of your manuscript.
Each written manuscript must be typed, double-spaced, and uploaded using the online submission system. Label your file with the title only (or titles, for poetry) of your manuscript, ex. Tom's Left Foot.doc.
For multiple media projects that include sound/pictures and/or video that exceed data uploading restrictions, submit a link to your work online via Word document and follow the regular submission process.
Submission
If you would like to enter the writing contest, make your submission by using this form: 2026 UM-Dearborn Writing Awards
Congratulations to the winners of the 2025 UM-Dearborn Writing Awards
Special thanks to our UM-Dearborn judging panel and external judges:
Camron Amin, Paul Draus, Tobin Dykstra, Jon Haller, Kristin Bartley Lenz, Reb Livingston, Tony Luckett, Kyhl Lydndgaard, Anna Muller, PF Potvin, Harmony Reppond, Alicia Schaeffer, John Taylor
Researched Writing
First Place: Fallon McCue, “Lesbianism, Love, and the Lavender Scare: Queer Identity in Poetry during the Cold War, 1950s-1980s” (tied for 1st place)
First Place: Emily Gonzales, “Two Can Play That Game: Exploiting the Other Only to Become the Other in Joseph Losey’s Monsieur Klein (1976)” (tied for 1st place)
Second Place: Alexander Gregorio, “We Will Always Be Here”
Honorable Mention
- Madison Chervenak, “Facets of Hypnosis and the Cognitive Interview on Eyewitness Memory Recall and Its Potential Effectiveness on Children and Adults”
- Jenny Huynh, “The Search for Meaning: An Analysis of the Human Life”
Science/Technical Writing
First Place: Alexis Schwarz , “What is the Primary Factor Driving the Evolution of Social Cooperation in Hymenoptera?”
Second Place: Nabila Jeba, “Investing in Resveratrol as a Potential Therapeutic Agent in Melanoma Treatment”
Third Place: Madison Chervenak, “First, Last, and…Nothing In-Between?: The Serial Positions Effect”
Honorable Mention
- Yara Mashal, “The Biochemical and Metabolic Consequences of Gaucher Disease”
- Aya Muthanna, Sam Fawaz, Mohammed Ibrahim, Mohammed Mahdi, Logan Roether, “GreenBox Business Concept Paper”
Writing in the Public Sphere
First Place: Saumya Arora, “Teacher Diversity: PCEP’s Missing Element”
Second Place: Zeinab Farhat, “The Fight for Clean Air and Environmental Justice in Dearborn’s South End”
Third Place: Aya Muthanna, “Living in the Shadow of Industry: Metro Detroit and Pollution”
Honorable Mention
- Alyssa Fakih, “Philosophy in The Hunger Games: A Reflection on Power, Perception, and Moral”
- Heather McNeilly, “Current Event: Water Shut-off Prevention Proposal”
First-Year Writing
First Place: Andrew Marshall, “The N Word”
Second Place: May Thazin, “Generational Divides: Medusa as a Symbol”
Third Place: Rayyan Ateequi, “Less Tax from Less Trash”
Honorable Mention
- Nabaa Almaiki, “Reclaiming an Identity”
- Elise Macuga, “Human: A Narrative Essay”
Honors
First Place: Hannah Tial, “Unknown Identity”
Second Place: Jenny Huynh, “The Red on My Face is the Color of My Love”
Third Place: Saumya Arora, “My Invisible String”
Honorable Mention
- Alexander Gregorio, “Shattering the Glass Cage”
- Wallace Bowie III, “Pews in Theatres, Pulpits in Halls: Detroit's Black Church's Response to Urban Renewal (A Pictorial Essay)”
Writing Through Image & Sound
First Place: Wallace Bowie III, “How the Black Church Shaped My Purpose”
Second Place: Syeda Muntaha, “Detroit in the Eyes of an Immigrant”
Third Place: Joshua Irabor, “Rachel”
Honorable Mention
- Meredith Henderson, “A Mosaic”
- Layal Fadi Saab, “Silence”
Bill Linn Fiction Prize
First Place: Tuqa Alshemry, “The Trapper Shack”
Second Place: Rowan Buehner, “The Privilege of Forgetting”
Third Place: Fallon McCue, “Empty Promise”
Honorable Mention
- Shamse Aziz, “The Red Blossom's Arrow”
- Lillian Samulski, “Figures”
Poetry
First Place: Andrew Marshall, “The Boogeyman”
Second Place: Nicole Dickson, “I cut, on the inside”
Third Place: Ana Gonzalez Valencia, “The 43 of Ayotzinapa”
Honorable Mention
- Shamse Aziz, “Spring Blossoms”
- LeAisha Jefferson, “My Next Tattoo”
Creative Non-Fiction
First Place: Sedrah Al-Khateeb, “Wearing My Identity: Between Cultures and Beyond Labels”
Second Place: Ailen Estrada, “The Old Me is Still Me and Maybe the Real Me”
Third Place: Aya Muthanna, “The Big Holiday”
Honorable Mention
- Suhan Idriss, “It's the Small Things”
- Nabila Jeba, “Sidewalks”