Nick Adams Short Story Contest
Each year in the spring, ACM sponsors the Nick Adams Short Story Contest. The contest, named for the young hero of many Hemingway stories, was established in 1973 with funds from an anonymous donor to encourage young writers.
Any student at an ACM college is eligible to compete for the cash prize that is awarded to the winner. Students submit stories to their English department, and each department selects the four best to send to ACM. A small committee of faculty drawn from ACM colleges selects the finalists, and the winner is chosen by the contest's final judge.
Final judges in past years have included Jane Smiley, Saul Bellow, Joyce Carol Oates, John Updike, Anne Tyler, Maya Angelou, Barbara Kingsolver, Jane Hamilton, and Stuart Dybek.
2010 Nick Adams Contest
Andrew Watt from St. Olaf College named winner for "Hangmen"
Andrew Watt
Andrew Watt, a junior at St. Olaf College, was been named the winner of the 38th annual Nick Adams Short Story Contest for his story "Hangmen."
Watt, who has a self-designed major called "Writing for Performance," said he has been "seduced by the creative possibilities of telling stories.... I enjoy writing immensely and I believe that there is truth in fiction."
Jennifer Easler, also from St. Olaf College, received Honorable Mention recognition for her story "Breaks."
Chicago writer Alex Kotlowitz served as final judge
Alex Kotlowitz
Award-winning author Alex Kotlowitz has written three books, including Never a City So Real and There Are No Children Here, as well as numerous articles, audio essays, and a play. He covered social issues and urban affairs for The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade and regularly contributes to The New York Times Magazine and public radio's This American Life. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, Rolling Stone, and The New Republic, as well as on PBS (Frontline) and NPR (All Things Considered and Morning Edition).
2009 Nick Adams Contest
Kokoro Lee
Kokoro Lee named winner of the 2009 Nick Adams Contest
Kokoro Lee, a senior at Macalester College with a double major in Japanese and English with a focus on Creative Writing, received first prize for her story "A Flawed Vivarium."
Honorable Mention recognition was awarded to Taylor Eagan from Coe College for "Eleven Kinds of Lonesome" and to Adam Soto from Knox College for "A Collective Approach."
Audrey Niffenegger
Time Traveler's Wife author Audrey Niffenegger served as contest judge
Visual artist and writer Audrey Niffenegger's debut novel, The Time Traveler’s Wife (2003) has been translated into over thirty languages, and a film version was released in 2009, the same year her second novel, Her Fearful Symmetry, was published. Her work is in the collections of the Library of Congress, the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and the Newberry Library.
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