Literary Competition Rules – Alumni

The Samuel Eells Literary & Educational Foundation runs two literary competitions, one for undergraduate students and one for college alumni. The alumni competition is made possible through a generous donation by the Bowdoin Alpha Delta Phi Chapter Alumni Association.

If you’re looking for information about the undergraduate competition, please click here for the Undergraduate Literary Competition rules and application information.

The Samuel Eells Literary & Educational Foundation Alumni Literary Competition is open to all alumni associated with SELEF at select colleges and universities. “Alumni” includes anyone associated with SELEF who is not currently an undergraduate student. There are four distinct categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, and Photography. The application processes for some categories are identical and may be combined into a single submission area, such as a single entry form for Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Poetry.

Click on a category at Submittable to submit your entries to the competition!

Alumni Literary Competition Rules

  1. The 2022 SELEF Alumni Literary Competition is open to all college alumni and individuals who are members of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity or Alpha Delta Phi Society and not currently enrolled as college students. All entries must be received by January 16, 2023.
  2. There are four categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, and Photography.
  3. First prize of $250 in each category is offered in the form of a charitable donation on the award recipient’s behalf. Based on the availability of funds and the number of second and third prizes awarded, amounts up to $100 may be offered for charitable donation on each award recipient’s behalf. Award recipients may select a charitable 501(c)(3) organization with a primarily literary or educational mission, as provided in the organization’s mission statement or equivalent statement of purpose. The SELEF Board reserves the right to review the designated charities.
  4. Entries must be originals. Entries should not be signed and should not bear information that could disclose the identity of the entrant. Through the Submittable web entry form, the entrant must provide the following information: title of entry; entrant’s name, address and telephone number; and entrant’s college associated with SELEF and graduation year.
  5. Entries must be submitted online via the SELEF submissions website before 11:59 pm ET on the deadline date above. Each submission should be sent via its own Submittable entry form. Any entries submitted together into a single Submittable entry in the same category may be considered and reviewed as a body of work by the judges of that category. Entrants who want to ensure that their entries are reviewed as individual works should submit those entries separately.
  6. Previously published works are not eligible for entry, except works published in college or university publications. Original written material submitted for undergraduate or graduate course work is acceptable. Submit recent works to the competition, rather than works submitted in previous years. SELEF expects that all entries have been proofread. No entrant may submit more than five entries in any single category. Manuscripts must be submitted electronically through Submittable.
  7. For the categories involving written entries, manuscripts of less than 1,500 words are strongly recommended; however, manuscripts of up to 5,000 words will receive consideration. All manuscripts should be intended for the general well-educated reader; none should require highly specialized or technical knowledge.
  8. By entering the Literary Competition, all participants assure SELEF that the submitted work is their own, that all sources are correctly referenced, and that they have the appropriate rights to the content of their submission, to include depictions of characters or other content that is not the sole creation of the entrant. Any entries that infringe on the intellectual property rights of others will be disqualified. In addition to this, all participants grant the Samuel Eells Literary and Educational Foundation the unrestricted right to display all and/or selected entries on a SELEF website, within a printed SELEF literary journal, or in other SELEF and SELEF-affiliated publications. Authors of selected entries may have the opportunity to make non-substantive revisions before publication.
  9. There is no minimum number of submissions required for an award to be made in each category. However, regardless of the number of submissions made, the judges reserve the right not to make an award in any category if they deem that no submissions meet the standards to earn an award. All decisions made by the judges are final and are kept confidential.
  10. Additional rules may apply to specific categories. Please review the rules for each category on the application web site.

If you didn’t see your category at the top of the page, submit your entries using one of these links:

If you have any questions, please contact gradlit@samueleells.org.

Terms of Use: By entering the Literary Competition, all participants assure SELEF that the submitted work is their own, that all sources are correctly referenced, and that they have the appropriate rights to the content of their submission, to include depictions of characters or other content that is not the sole creation of the entrant. Any entries that infringe on the intellectual property rights of others will be disqualified. In addition to this, all participants grant the Samuel Eells Literary and Educational Foundation the unrestricted right to display all and/or selected entries on a SELEF website, within a printed SELEF literary journal, or in other SELEF and SELEF-affiliated publications.