A Tribute to Carol Oen and Cleva Marrow
Grace Writers is featuring its annual writing contest in memory of two members, Carol Oen and Cleva Marrow, both Oak Ridge writers. The contest consists of three awards, including the Carol Oen Memorial Fiction Prize, the Cleva Marrow Memorial Non-Fiction Prize and a Grace Writers Excellence in Poetry Prize. Entrants receive a plaque and $125 for first place, $50 for second, $25 for third, $20 for fourth, and $15 for fifth. Honorable Mention certificates are awarded at the judges’ discretion. The fourth and fifth positions are new this year.
The Carol Oen Memorial Fiction Prize is awarded to an UNPUBLISHED* short story, novel excerpt, or children’s fiction story (2,000-word limit). The Cleva Marrow Memorial Non-Fiction Prize (1,000-word limit) is awarded for an UNPUBLISHED* column, article, essay, or blog post. The Grace Writers Excellence in Poetry Prize is awarded for one UNPUBLISHED* poem, any form, limit two pages in length.
Guidelines
- Entries should be emailed as a Word or pdf document.
- All manuscripts should be in a 12-point readable font such as Times New Roman or Arial.
- Double-space entries except poems, which should be single-spaced.
- No name or identifier should be on manuscript except title and word-count. A separate cover page should be attached TO EACH ENTRY with the author’s name, address, phone and email address.
- All entries will be blind-judged by an independent person not associated with the contest or with Grace Writers. Decisions of the judges will be final.
- No manuscripts will be returned.
- A writer may submit unlimited entries but a $5 fee will be assessed per entry.
- Email entries are preferred to contest@writersofgrace.org; however, local residents can deliver entries and fees by check or money order to the Grace Lutheran Church office, 131 W. Gettysburg Ave., Oak Ridge, TN 37830, during regular business hours. For email entries, mail your fees to the same address and state in your email how much you are sending. You can address entries to Pat Hope, Contest Chair.
- Entries will be accepted beginning January 1, 2023. Deadline is midnight, February 28, 2023.
- Winners will be notified by email in Spring 2023.
- *UNPUBLISHED entries include print and online publications. Entries may have won other contest prizes but if they win first in one of the Grace contest categories, the contestant cannot enter that category next year. Past winning entries of this contest may not be re-entered, even in a different category.
- An awards luncheon will be held in conjunction with the Flower Festival in April 2023.
Also, for members of the local writing community, Grace Writers offers scholarships from the proceeds of its anthology, In God’s Hand. Based on need and writing goals, this tuition can be used to attend some of the upcoming events in the area, such as Tennessee Mountain Writers’ April conference (check it out at tmwi.org). You can find a scholarship application at writersofgrace.org.
Cleva Marrow freelanced for The Oak Ridger and The Knoxville News Sentinel. Her memoir “Growing Up on the Farm” is included in the 2017 Grace Writers anthology, In God’s Hand.
Carol Oen wrote poetry, freelance articles for magazines, and a senior romance novel, Songs That Remember, about Alzheimer’s and caregivers. She taught memoir writing for the Oak Ridge Institute of Continued Learning (ORICL). Three of her poems are included in the 2017 Grace Writers anthology, In God’s Hand.