Virginia B. Ball Creative Writing Scholarship Competition - 2025-2026 School Year
Ends on
Between August 30th 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 full tuition (including room and board) to its winner, renewable for each year they attend Interlochen Arts Academy as a Creative Writing major. 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.
Portfolio submissions for the 2025-26 school year are now open.
1. All students in grades 8-11 during the 2024-2025 school year are eligible to apply.
2. Your submission should include no more than five samples of original creative work written or revised during the last year. Your submission should be no longer than 4,000 words or 20 pages.
- The samples must represent at least two of the following genres:
- Poetry
- Fiction (including novel excerpts)
- Creative Nonfiction (e.g. personal essay, memoir, nature writing)
- Screenwriting
- Playwriting
- Spoken Word
- Humor Writing
- Comics / Graphic Narrative
- Hybrid Genre / Experimental Writing
3. Please submit all written work as PDF files. Video/audio may be submitted as mp3, mp4, .mov, or YouTube links. 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 "poetry" and "personal essay." 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.
We are not interested in seeing academic essays or book reports.
To preserve the anonymity of entries, please do not include your name within the document or the file name.
4. Submissions will be accepted until Nov. 15, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
5. Finalists will be required to complete a formal application to Interlochen Arts Academy by Jan. 15, 2025 in order to remain eligible. Application fee waivers will be provided.
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.
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.
9. Students currently enrolled at Interlochen Arts Academy are ineligible for this contest.
Submission must be received in Submittable no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on Nov. 15, 2024.
If you have any questions, email the Director of Creative Writing at karyna.mcglynn@interlochen.org