Showcase Awards (PDF available)

1. Grand Showcase Award - 3 Prizes ($200/$100/$50) 

• Write a short story (any genre). Put the genre's name at the top of the entry, above the title. Show us your best work!

• Limit 2000 words. 

• Sponsor: Ozark Creative Writers Board of Directors. 

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2. Oxbow Award in Memory of Dusty & Pat Richards - 3 Prizes  ($200/$100/$50) 

• Western short story must take place between 1820-1900.

• The west is any location west of the Mississippi River, including Alaska.

• Limit: 2000 words. 

• Sponsor: Ozark Creative Writers Board of Directors

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3. Founding Member Award in Memory of Arkansas Poet Laureate Peggy Vining - 1 Prize ($100) 

• Poem in honor of the 60th Anniversary of OCW. 

• Limit: 24 lines. 

• Sponsor: Ozark Creative Writers Board of Directors. 

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4. Mike Willis Memorial Award - 1 Prize ($150)

• Write a short story about your most embarrassing moment real or imagined.

• Fiction with a hint of truth (be funny, be creative, be imaginative).

• Limit: 2000 words. 

• Sponsor: Chrissy Willis, in memory of her late husband, Mike Willis

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5. Velda Brotherton Memorial Contest - 1 Prize ($100) 

• Western short fiction with a strong female lead character. 

• Limit: 2000 words. 

• Sponsor: Anthony Wood

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​6. Show Me Your Book Cover Children's (Picture Book-Middle Grade Book)- 1 Prize ($50). 

Your entry should include the following (A single document)

• Page 1- The front cover of your book (published in 2025, or 2026).​

• Pages 2-3 (500 word max) Date of publication, the ISBN, genre of your book, and the back cover description. 

• Judging will be based on how well the cover portrays the theme of the book.​ Judges will consist of a panel of artists and book designers. Judges will not be affiliated with OCW/Solander Press/Paper-Back Press

• Sponsors Paperback-Press and Solander Press

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​7. Show Me Your Book Cover- (YA/Adult Fiction/Nonfiction)1 Prize ($50). 

• Your entry should include the following (A single document)

• Page 1- The front cover of your book (published in 2025, or 2026).​

• Pages 2-3 (500 word max) Date of publication, the ISBN, genre of your book, and the back cover description. 

• Judging will be based on how well the cover portrays the theme of the book.​ Judges will be from the art and design field and unrelated to OCW.

• Sponsor Ellen Withers

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Grand Conference Awards- 3 Prizes ($50/$30/$20)

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8. Published Newspaper Column/Blog Award

• ​Best opinion essay or column published in a newspaper, online news outlet, or blog for the 12 months preceding August 1, 2026. Columns or blogs may be on any subject or theme, including reviews or humor.​

• Limit: 2500 words

• Sponsor: Max McCoy

9. Best Hook Contest​

• In 25 words or less, provide the best opening for the thriller, suspense or mystery novel. It must grab the reader and make them want to read the rest of the story.

• Limit: 25 words

• Sponsor: J.C. Fields

10. Search for Excellence Award  

• Nonfiction memoir about someone or some event that has positively influenced your life.

• Limit: 1500 words 

• Sponsor: Leon Combs  

​11. "Gimme 500" Flash Fiction Contest​

• A sparkling story that leaves readers stunned, smiling, sobbing or satisfied.

• Limit: 500 words or less.

• Sponsor: Micki Fuhrman

12. Point A to Point Z​

• Write a complete story in 26 sentences. Each complete sentence must begin with a sequential letter of the alphabet from A-Z.

• The first sentence must begin with the word a or a word beginning with a. The second sentence must begin with a word beginning with the letter b and so on so that the 26th sentence begins with a word beginning with the letter Z.

• Limit: 500 words.

• Sponsor: Saturday Book Club

13.  Sleuths' Ink Contest 

• Short story, mystery, thriller, crime, ending in a cliffhanger.

• Limit: 100 words (not including the title)

• Sponsor: Sleuths' Ink, Springfield, Missouri

14. Spooky Campfire Stories​

• Write spooky tale that you might tell while sitting by a campfire.

• Limit: 1000 words

• Sponsor: Homegrown Books

​ 15. Ozark Romance Authors Award 

• Two sworn enemies want to adopt the same dog from their local animal shelter. Neither backs down, so they agree to share custody. What happens next? 

• Must contain the following words: fall, elementary, ghost.

• Limit: 750 words

• Sponsor: Ozark Romance Authors, Springfield, Missouri   

16. My Sister the Mooch

• Write a short story about a sister that is a mooch.

• Limit: 1000 Words
• Sponsor: Kathy Brown in memory of her son Jonathan Brown

17. Native American Short Story​

• Write a short story featuring a strong Native American character

• Limit: 1500 words 

• Sponsor: Clouse Literary Arts and Theater

Conference Awards- 3 Prizes ($25/$15/$10)

18.  Anniversaries: The Good, The Bad, or Ugly

• Write about a memorable anniversary: Good or Bad or Ugly.

• Fiction or Nonfiction

• Must have a title (Does not count in the 300 word limit).

• Limit: 300 words

• Sponsor: Coffee and Critique Writers of O'Fallon, Missouri

​19. Junk Drawer Contest​

•  A short story, any genre. Please give us your best creative fiction

• Limit: 2000 words

• Sponsor: Little Red Writing Hood.

20. A Scream in the Night​

• A western horror short story

• Limit: 3000 words

• Sponsor: Tahlequah Writers

​​21. Historical Western Romance Contest

• Historical Western Romance short story

• Limit: 3000 words

• Sponsors: The Deadline Dames (Joy Keeney & Rhonda Harvey)

22. Hometown Nostalgia  Column​

• Write a nostalgic article about the Ozarks suitable for a newspaper column. The article should have a headline (title). Give your column a name.

• Limit: 500-1000 words.

• Sponsor: Lonnie Whitaker

23. The Scary House Around the Corner (Myth, Legend, or Real?)

• Devise a creative endeavor about "The Scary House Around the Corner"

• Be creative, not graphic or obscene.

• Any style of writing or voice

• Limit: 250 words

• Sponsor: Marcia Gaye

​24. Quotable Quote Blog

• Choose a favorite quote and blog about it.

• Limit: 500 words.

• Sponsor: Linda Apple

25. Space Journey​

• Science fiction genre in the style of 50’s Sci-Fi movies.

• Limit: 2000 words.

• Sponsor: Tahlequah Writers

26. ​Travel Article

• Write it as if you were sending it to a reputable magazine. No photos, please. 

• Limit: 1500 words.

• Sponsor: Johnny D. Boggs

27. Show Me Mystery

• A murder mystery of any genre, era, or type

• Must include a Murder

• Limit: 1500 words

• Sponsor: Ellen Withers

28. Things That Go Bump in The Night!​

• Paranormal short story (No Horror).

• Limit: 1000 words.

• Sponsor: Ruth Weeks

29. Best First Paragraph

• Hook us with your best first paragraph from a novel or short story.

• Sponsors: Margarite Stever and Bonnie Tesh

30. Rainbolt Children's Book Award​

• Easy Readers: K-3rd grade

• Limit: 1000 words.

• Sponsor: Doris Jean Shaw

31. Middle Grade Fiction for Kids 9-12​

• Limit: 1500-2500 words

• Sponsor: Renee La Viness

32. Give Us the Best of Friends​

• Short story about best friends, any genre.

• Must use the following words: elevator, diamond, argument, crusade.

• Limit: 1500 words

• Sponsor: Joni Cogbill and Betsy Gray

33. Senior Moment​

• Short story with a protagonist over 50.

• Limit: 1500 words.

• Sponsor: Betsy Gray

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 On-The-Spot Contest- One Prize $25

• Open only to those attending the full OCW Conference in October

• Details to be announced at the conference

• Entries are due by noon on Saturday

• Must be present at the Awards Banquet Saturday Evening to win

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