Thanks to the generosity of local business owner Sherry Traylor, IUPUC students can enter a creative writing contest and earn a $1,000 scholarship good toward next year’s tuition expenses.
Offered by the Division of Liberal Arts and Columbus-based Traylor Writing Services Center, competitors can be current students or incoming students who will begin their studies at IUPUC this fall.
The contest, which begins February 11 and ends at 5 p.m. on April 8, is based on original creative works submitted for consideration by a panel of judges.
Acceptable genres for contest entries include: fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, short story, novel excerpt, short shorts, flash fiction, memoir, and multimedia/multimodal works.
Traylor, a current IUPUC student who will graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in English literature, established the $1,000 annual Robert G. Traylor Scholarship scholarship in honor of her late father.
“We are delighted that Sherry wants to acknowledge and nurture creative writing talent at IUPUC,” explained Dr. Katherine V. Wills, interim head of the Division of Liberal Arts.
According to Wills, as a student Traylor majored in English literature with a minor in creative writing. “As a liberal arts student, Sherry earned several awards, including the 2011 Outstanding English Student and 2010 Best English Essay Award. We appreciate her desire to pay it forward by helping other IUPUC students be recognized for their talents.”
Traylor said her father encouraged her writing from a young age, which is why she wanted to create a scholarship in his memory. “Dad’s dream was for his children to complete their college degrees and never stop learning,” she explained, noting that she is the first of her siblings to earn a college degree.
As an emergency preparedness officer for a U.S. Army base in Evansville, Robert was a decorated WWII veteran who spent most of his life educating others. He retired as a lieutenant colonel in the Army after 30 years of service. After retirement, Mr. Traylor took correspondence courses to continue his passion for lifelong learning.
“My father encouraged people to be the best they could be through education and service to others. He believed it was a duty to use one’s education to help educate others. I want to carry on his vision of service and education by giving IUPUC students some financial support to continue their educations,” she added.
To qualify for the $1,000 creative writing scholarship, contestants must: (1) Be currently enrolled, full-time students taking at least nine (9) credit hours at IUPUC; (2) Be incoming full-time students who will take at least nine (9) credit hours at IUPUC this fall; (3) Complete the entire fall semester to receive the funds, which are good toward tuition expenses at IUPUC during the 2013-14 academic year.
Entrants should submit 15 to 30 pages of original creative writing in in a Microsoft Word file that meets the contest guidelines.
Complete contest guidelines, due dates, and other information are posted online atwww.iupuc.edu/scholarships/applications.
The entries will be reviewed by a four-member panel of writing experts between April 9 and 15, after which the winner will be announced.
Contact Vicki Kruse at vikruse@iupuc.edu or 812.348.7393.
For information, contact Vicki Kruse at vikruse@iupuc.edu or 812.348.7393.