Each year from 2011 to 2020, Hippocampus Magazine held its Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction. In those years, we awarded more than $6,500 in cash prizes to winners and finalists, and have seen these talented writers go on to publish more essays and even books, as well as earn award nominations/wins.
Beginning in 2016, we’ve invited the winner to attend (and read at) our annual writing conference, HippoCamp; and we were delighted to hear Carol Smith (2015) and Dina Honour (2016) bring their essays to life in front of a live audience of CNF fans the summer after their essay appeared.
We’re also grateful for the time spent by our special guest judges, which have included Beverly Donofrio, Kaylie Jones, Paul Lisicky, J. Michael Lennon, Laurie Jean Cannady, and Krystal Sital. In 2012-2017, the previous grand prize winner has also served on the panel.
Our contest has grown over the years both in number of submissions and in grand prize amount, and readership of the contest issue has also grown by leaps and bounds. The contest entry fee supports the prizes and magazine contributor payment fund.
Each year, we open for submissions in the spring, spend much of the summer reviewing them before turning our top picks over to that year’s guest judging panel. Then we share finalist and winning stories in the November issue.
Hippocampus Contest Winners Through the Years
The story image from the 2017 contest winner, Helix. Photo by Barbara L. Hanson, Flickr Creative Commons.
The link will take you to the winning story.
- 2011 – Susan Rukeyser, “X-Rays Are My Souvenirs”
- 2012 – Janice Anderson, “How to Move in One Direction While Flying in Another”
- 2013 – Dorothy Brooks, “Laughing in Navajo: My Journey to the Rez”
- 2014 – Jennifer Alise Drew, “Lessons in Sign”
- 2015 – Carol Smith, “Object Lessons”
- 2016 – Dina Honour, “1001 Nights”
- 2017 – Anne Gudger, “Helix”
- 2018 – Linda Stead, “The Cyclops Child”
- 2019 – Jen Minarik, “Cold Fusion and the Poochie Overnighter: An Essay About Infertility”
Remember in November Contest Results/Judges Through the Years
The link will take you to the contest results blog post.
- 2011 Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction
- 2012 Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction
- 2013 Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction
- 2014 Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction
- 2015 Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction
- 2016 Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction
- 2017 Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction
- 2018 Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction
- 2019 Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction
If you’re not already on our email list, signing up means you’ll get a reminder by email about calls for submissions. [Sign up here.]
Congrats to all of our finalists and winners from throughout the years!
