The 2024 Southeast Wisconsin Festival of Books is offering a writing contest for college students this fall named for the late Lillian Boese who was a key force in the Festival’s fifteen year history. The Lillian Boese Award for Writing Excellence will include competition in essays, fiction and poetry, and is open to college students who reside or attend college in Southeast Wisconsin.
1st Place: $350
2nd Place: $250
3rd Place: $100
Winners will be announced at an Awards Ceremony to be held on December 6th at UWM at Waukesha
SUBMISSION INFORMATION:
No Prompts–Just Write!
Word Limits:
2500 words for Fiction and Essays
250 words for Poems
You must be a college student who lives in or attends college in Southeast Wisconsin to enter
Submissions due November 15, 2024
Read about Harper Pugh, a 3-time winner of the Festival of Books Century Fence Middle and High School Student Writing Contest, and what entering and winning writing contests has meant to her!
Lillian Boese, who died in June, was the Executive Director of the UWM-
Waukesha Foundation when the Festival of Books was created as an activity of the
Foundation in 2009. After her retirement, she continued as Community Co-Chair and as
Fundraising Chair for several years. She was active on the committee to save the
Festival this year.
