A scholarship for the creative mind

For the Phyliss J. McCarthy Scholarship for Excellence in Writing, entrants must be high school juniors or seniors to win. Complete rules & details can be found here.

2023 Prompts: 

​In 2000 words or fewer, respond to one of the following prompts: 

• NARRATIVE: Bring characters from mythology to life in a story detailing an event from your own life. You may choose characters from any culture’s legends (ex. Greek, Chinese, Egyptian, etc.) or mix and match to strike the balance of personalities needed for your story to feel most true to your experience.     

*(In the “anything to add” box in the entry form, please outline the event in your life you are describing if it might be unclear from the story you submit).   

• META: If / when you become a parent, what is something you wish to teach or provide to your child(ren)? 

• WACKY: Complete the 11 Mad-Lib-style fill-in-the-blanks provided in the website, then craft a piece of poetry or prose that includes both a secret message* as well as each of your chosen words at least once (in no particular order)

​*Note: You may choose to include your secret message (or a hint to it) in the ‘Anything you’d like to add?’ box in the submission form below. Or not.

For more information, visit https://www.learncurious.com/scholarship.