Between September 3 and the deadline of November 15th, Interlochen Arts Academy will be accepting submissions for the Virginia B. Ball Creative Writing Scholarship Competition. This scholarship offers the winning writer full tuition to attend Interlochen Arts Academy (a prestigious arts high school in Northern Michigan) as a Creative Writing major. The scholarship includes room and board, and renews each year the student is enrolled. The scholarship is made possible by the Edmund F. and Virginia B. Ball Foundation. Please visit our website to learn more about Creative Writing at Interlochen Arts Academy.
We are looking for the best teen writers in the US and beyond! Think that might be you? Check out the guidelines below!
Portfolio submissions for the 2027-28 school year are now open!
1. Only students who are currently in grades 8-11 are eligible to apply. Students currently enrolled at Interlochen Arts Academy are ineligible for this contest.
2. Your submission should include no fewer than five and no more than seven samples of original creative writing created and/or revised during the last year. Your submission should be no longer than about 4,000 words or about 20 pages total. (Please don't worry about exact word counts and page lengths; we're not fussy about that!)
- The samples must represent at least two of the following genres:
- Poetry
- Fiction (e.g. short stories, novel excerpts, flash fiction)
- Creative Nonfiction (e.g. personal essay, memoir, nature writing)
- Screenwriting
- Playwriting
- Spoken Word
- Humor Writing
- Graphic Narrative
- Hybrid Genre / Experimental Writing
3. Please submit all written work as PDF files. Include the name of the genre in the file name. For example, if you are submitting poetry and personal essay, you should create separate PDF files titled with your last name and the genre (e.g. "Smith Poetry Sample" and "Smith Novel Excerpt.") Text-based work should be typed, in a standard format and font, double-spaced for prose, single-spaced for poetry—unless deviations are deliberate and integral to the text. To preserve the anonymity of entries, please do not include your name within the document or the file name. Optional video/audio may be submitted as mp3, mp4, .mov, or YouTube links.
4. Submissions will be accepted until Nov. 15, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Finalists will be notified in mid December.
5. IMPORTANT: In addition to your Submittable submission, you must submit an application for admission to Interlochen Arts Academy & a financial aid application by Nov 15th in order to remain eligible for the Scholarship. You can access both applications (and application fee waivers below): Interlochen Arts Academy Application Link https://interlochen.my.site.com/interlochen/IEE_Registration
Application Fee Waiver Code: VBALL27
Clarity Financial Aid Application Link https://app.clarityapp.com/sign-up
Clarity Application Waiver - please contact alicia.jablonski@interlochen.org for individual fee waivers
6. The first-prize scholarship will cover full tuition to attend Interlochen Arts Academy. Second and third place winners will also be recognized and remain eligible for financial aid. Please note that the scholarship is not transferrable to Interlochen Arts Camp.
7. The winner will be notified and other entrants will be informed of their admission decision during the month of March. All applicants will be considered for financial aid.
8. If submissions do not meet the standards set by the judges, Interlochen Center for the Arts reserves the right to designate no first prize winner and award no scholarship.
Submission must be received in Submittable no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on Nov. 15, 2026. If you have any questions, please email the Director of Creative Writing Karyna McGlynn at karyna.mcglynn@interlochen.org