Hear My Voice: A Trine University Writing Competition
The Amy Salyer-Nicholls Writing Center presents Hear My Voice: an annual, campus-wide writing competition to find the best submissions in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and academic writing.
Category Details
- Academic:
These submissions include research papers, argumentative or persuasive essays, rhetorical and literary analyses, and other styles of formal writing. - Creative Nonfiction:
These entries are true stories written in vivid, compelling styles. Literacy and personal narratives, memoirs, journalistic work, reflections, and profiles are all examples of creative or literary non-fiction. - Fiction:
Entries for this category include imaginative short-stories which follow a general story structure and incorporate literary techniques. - Poetry:
All genres and forms of poetry are welcome in this category.
2024 Contest
The 2024 Hear My Voice Writing Competition is now closed.
Winners were annouced March 25th and our awards ceremony took place on Thursday 11 April; Thank you to everyone who submitted!
Come back later to read our 2024 winning submissions.
Past Winners
With questions about the contest or the Amy Salyer-Nicholls Writing Center, please contact Dr. Janelle Pulczinski.
History
The Hear My Voice Writing Competition is an annual writing competition organized by the Writing Center with support from the Trine HAC department, the Humanities Institute, and HAC Media. The contest was formerly named after Walter Cunningham, a Tri-State University alumnus from the school of business who has sponsored the competition for years.
Early in his career, while working for the U.S Department of Labor, Mr. Cunningham and his team were asked to write reports that would be used as evidence in federal court cases. He found this experience so challenging that he was inspired to embark on a successful campaign to teach himself to write more effectively. Consequently, he and his wife Don Nell sponsored this annual writing competition from 2008 - 2023. When discussing his own writing experience, Mr. Cunningham noted, “It has been my lack of English and writing skills throughout my life that encourages me at this time in life to attempt to help others understand in some small way, the importance of obtaining these skills early.”
The ASN Writing Center hopes to uphold his legacy by continuing to support student creativity, critical thinking, and clear articulation of ideas through the Hear My Voice writing competition.