Enter the Margaret Harvin Wilson Writing Award for a chance to hone your writing skills and win a cash prize

Are you an undergraduate student enrolled in the arts, humanities, social sciences and physical sciences? Do you like to write? Then, apply your imagination and writing skills by entering the Margaret Harvin Wilson Writing Award contest. Finalists will receive a cash award.

Enter in these categories:

• poetry – may submit up to three poems, maximum five pages

• drama - one-act play, one submission, maximum 20 pages

• short story – typed and double-spaced, one submission, maximum 20 pages

There will be two separate contests: One for first-year or sophomore students and one for junior or senior students.

This award was established in memory of Margaret Harvin Wilson, ’34, who was born Nov. 11, 1913, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. After her parents divorced, her mother remarried and moved to Grovetown, Georgia, in 1923. No one in the family had attended college, but Margaret was determined because “high school was not enough.”

Fortunately, her father provided a small trust ($1,250), and Margaret enrolled in Georgia State College for Women, which is now Georgia College, and finished in three years (English major, French minor). Margaret waited tables in the dining hall in exchange for discounted tuition and lived in a “free dormitory.”

When she was a senior, a teacher encouraged her to enter a short story contest in the English department. Winning first prize in 1933 for “Sympathy Speaks” gave her great confidence for her subsequent career as a teacher.

Margaret married Leland Wilson in 1938 and enjoyed a wonderful and interesting life with him in academe. Their three daughters, inspired by the importance of education in their parents’ lives, pursued careers in medicine, law and higher education.

Her college experience was critical to Margaret’s intellectual growth, development and in stimulating her desire to explore the world beyond her hometown.

Entry forms for the Margaret Harvin Wilson Writing Award are attached below. Entries must not have any identifying information to be accepted and must be submitted with a coversheet by 5 p.m., Feb. 16, 2023 to: melinda.martin@gcsu.edu.

The award ceremony will take place March 28, 2024 at 5 p.m. in the Mayfair Hall Presentation Room. Finalists must be present to win.

Visit the Margaret Harvin Wilson Writing Award webpage to learn more.