Details

• The award-winning author will receive a prize of $25,000.
• The award will be presented at a public event co-hosted by the The National Writers Series in Traverse City, MI in April 2027. 
• The award-winner will participate in a 2-3 day residency at Interlochen Center for the Arts in April 2027. The scope and nature of this engagement will be created to suit the award winner.   

Eligible Books

• This prize recognizes the best of fiction or nonfiction literature that centers on the creative process of an artist or the arts—broadly defined—as its theme. 
• Eligible books include full-length books of fiction and nonfiction or collections of short stories and/or essays by a single author. Books of poetry are not eligible.
• Works must be originally created in English and cannot be self-published.
• Eligible books must have a copyright date of 2024 or 2025.
• Books by current Interlochen Center for the Arts faculty or staff and books by authors who were members of Interlochen’s faculty or staff at the time the book was written are not eligible.
• We follow Community of Literary Magazines and Presses Guidelines for contests and are committed, in all we do, to the highest ethical standards. If you are a close personal friend, family member, student (outside of brief, one-off workshops), or if you have engaged the editing/consultation services of any Book Committee Member, or if you are a former or current intern or staff member of any Book Committee Member, please refrain from submitting. Email us at bookaward@interlochen.org if you have questions about eligibility.

 Criteria for Selection

• The books considered for this award will inspire, illuminate, or exemplify creative achievement in fields such as creative writing, dance, film and new media, music, theatre, and visual arts.    

Nomination Process

• Nominators must complete an award submission form for each book submitted.
• The entry form opens on December 15, 2025 and closes on May 15, 2026.
• There is no cost to submit a book for the award.
• The Selection Committee will be made up of representatives from Interlochen Center for the Arts and The National Writers Series.
• Finalists will be contacted in September 2026 for review copies. Interlochen will request from the publishers seven copies and a PDF of those books selected for further review. The winning author will be announced in December 2026 and will participate in an awards ceremony and residency at Interlochen in April 2027.

The Interlochen Review is an online literary journal edited by creative writing students of Interlochen Arts Academy. We’re thrilled to invite high school writers, singer-songwriters and artists (grades 9-12 or high school postgraduate year) from around the world to submit their work. We look forward to receiving a diverse range of voices and welcome work that exhibits passion, skill, and an innovative approach to craft.      

Interlochen Review Singer-Songwriter Submission Guidelines:        

The deadline for singer-songwriter and submissions is Friday, February 20 by 11:59pm, Eastern Standard Time. 

You may submit up to 6 songs total. Please submit each song with accompanying lyrics individually as directed below. 

Songs - Singer-songwriters are invited to submit original songs, submitted in either audio (.m4a, .mp3 or .wav) or video (.mp4 or .mov) format. These submissions will be published along with their lyrics.  or video (.mp4 or .mov) format. These submissions will be published along with their lyrics. Accompanying lyrics may be submitted in .docx format. All submissions must be accompanied by a brief artist bio. Please do not include your name anywhere on the submission except for in the bio statement.            

Please e-mail us at interlochenreview@interlochen.org with any questions.            

We’re looking forward to hearing your original songs!           

Sincerely,           

The Editors of the Interlochen Review

Interlochen Review Visual Arts Submission Guidelines:         

The Interlochen Review is an online literary journal edited by creative writing and visual arts students of Interlochen Arts Academy. We’re thrilled to invite high school artists (grades 9-12 or high school postgraduate year) from around the world to submit their work. We look forward to receiving a diverse range of pieces and welcome work that exhibits passion, skill, and an innovative approach to the arts.             

The deadline for visual arts submissions will be Monday, April 20 by 11:59pm, Eastern Standard Time. Submissions can be uploaded using our Submittable account. Please follow the submission guidelines below.      

Individual Visual Arts submissions must adhere to the following guidelines:  

• Students are limited to 10 visual arts submissions total. 
• Submissions must be 300 dpi and no greater than 8" x 10".
• Each submissions must be uploaded separately in .jpeg, .tif, .PDF, .mp4 or .mov file formats. 
• Please list the medium(s) use to create each piece.
• Any medium is accepted; 2D or 3D photographed. Art films or video documentation welcome.
• Black and white or full color welcome. 
• If you are interested in submitting a visual arts portfolio instead of individual pieces, please see the submission guidelines for portfolios below. 
• Pieces submitted in portfolios may also be submitted individually.
• All submissions must be accompanied by a brief author or artist bio. Please do not include your name anywhere on the submission except for in the bio statement. 

We do accept work recognized by Scholastic Art & Writing Awards and YoungArts. We do not accept previously published work from other journals, online or in print, with the exception of work that has appeared previously in the Red Wheelbarrow.            

Please e-mail us at interlochenreview@interlochen.org with any questions.             

We’re looking forward to receiving your work!             

Sincerely,           

The Editors of the Interlochen Review

Interlochen Review Visual Arts Portfolio Submission Guidelines:      

The Interlochen Review is an online literary journal edited by creative writing students of Interlochen Arts Academy. We’re thrilled to invite talented high school artists (grades 9-12 or high school postgraduate year) from around the world to submit their work. We look forward to receiving a diverse range of pieces and welcome work that exhibits passion, skill, and an innovative approach to the arts.      

The deadline for visual arts portfolio submissions is Monday, April 20 by 11:59pm, Eastern Standard Time. Submissions can be uploaded using our Submittable account. Please follow the submission guidelines below.      

Visual Arts Portfolios must adhere to the following submission guidelines: 

• Students wishing to submit a portfolio of up to 20 pieces of artwork that are connected aesthetically and/or thematically should submit these using the Visual Arts Portfolio category.
• Students are limited to submitting one Visual Arts Portfolio.
• All pieces in the portfolio should be uploaded as one submission.
• Submissions in portfolios must be 300 dpi and no greater than 8" x 10"
• Submissions in portfolios can be uploaded in .jpeg, .tif, .PDF, .mp4 or .mov file formats.
• Please include the title of each piece and the medium(s) used to create it in the file name. For example, "Overflow (oil on wood).jpeg"
• Any medium is accepted; 2D or 3D photographed. Art films or video documentation welcome.
• Black and white or full color welcome.
• All portfolios must be accompanied by an artistic statement explaining how the portfolio is connected aesthetically and/or thematically and describing what themes or artistic processes the artist is exploring in this collection. Please do NOT include your name in the artist statement.
• All submissions must be accompanied by a brief artist bio. Please do not include your name anywhere on the submission except for in the bio statement.         

We do accept work recognized by Scholastic Art & Writing Awards and YoungArts. We do not accept previously published work from other journals, online or in print, with the exception of work that has appeared previously in the Red Wheelbarrow.  Please e-mail us at interlochenreview@interlochen.org with any questions.         

We’re looking forward to receiving your work!         

Sincerely,         

The Editors of the Interlochen Review

The Interlochen Review is an online literary journal edited by creative writing students of Interlochen Arts Academy. We’re thrilled to invite high school writers, singer-songwriters and visual artists (grades 9-12 or high school postgraduate year) from around the world to submit their work. We look forward to receiving a diverse range of voices and welcome work that exhibits passion, skill, and an innovative approach to craft.       

The deadline for creative writing and submissions is Friday, February 20 by 11:59pm, Eastern Standard Time. Submissions can be uploaded using  Submittable.        

Please follow the submission guidelines below.      

Interlochen Review Writing and Singer-Songwriter Submission Guidelines: 

Scripts/Screenplays -  Scripts should be below 40 pages in standard manuscript format. Screenplays should be below 40 pages in standard screenplay format. Screenplays should be submitted as a .PDF. Scripts should be submitted as a .docx. Please upload each script or screenplay individually.      

 All submissions must be accompanied by a brief author or artist bio. Please do not include your name anywhere on the submission except for in the bio statement.       

We do accept work recognized by Scholastic Art & Writing Awards and YoungArts. We do not accept previously published work from other journals, online or in print, with the exception of work that has appeared previously in the Red Wheelbarrow. We accept simultaneous submissions but request that you notify us immediately if your work has been accepted by another journal. Please e-mail us at interlochenreview@interlochen.org with any questions.       

We’re looking forward to reading your work!      

 Sincerely,       

The Editors of the Interlochen Review