Between September 1 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 2026-27 school year are now open!
1. Students in grades 8-11 during the 2025-2026 school year 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.
- 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
- 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. 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, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Finalists will be notified no later than December 19.
5. Finalists will be required to complete a formal application to Interlochen Arts Academy by Jan. 15, 2026 in order to remain eligible for the Scholarship. Application fee waivers and portfolio 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. 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, 2025.
If you have any questions, please email the Director of Creative Writing Karyna McGlynn at karyna.mcglynn@interlochen.org