WMU launches climate crisis-inspired writing competition

KALAMAZOO, Mich.— We live at a moment when a reasonable fear of global apocalypse haunts us all. Whether we feel hope or despair—or hope in despair—the climate crisis affects our heart’s weather.

The Office for Sustainability, Department of English and Climate Change Working Group announces "The World's Climate, the Heart's Weather: Creative Writing in the Anthropocene." The competition seeks submissions about how the planet’s emergency affects the inner life, psychology and imagination of a global citizen. In this first annual creative writing competition on climate change, poets, fiction writers, essayists and playwrights are encouraged to submit original work.

“One invaluable gift of literary art—making it and being around it—is the way it engenders community and fosters connectivity with the wider world, however beleaguered. Isn’t that the only endurable way forward: together and awake?” says Alison Swan, faculty specialist In Western's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.

Undergraduate and graduate Western students are welcome to enter the competition; submission from students in all majors and departments is encouraged. Prizes for undergraduate and graduate winners include:

• First place: $500
• Second place: $300
• Honorable mention: $100

Entries are due by April 1, 2022, and will be blind reviewed by Western faculty and graduate students. The final round will be judged by Liz Jensen, a world famous climate fiction writer.

For competition details, submission guidelines and frequently asked questions, see the competition website.

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