The Rocky Mountain Review online student journal at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, MT, invites submissions for its second annual High School Creative Writing Contest! Categories include fiction, poetry, and personal essay. A winner will be selected for each category, and a runner-up may also be chosen. Any student enrolled in a Montana high school curriculum (including face-to-face, online, hybrid, and homeschool instruction) is eligible to submit one entry. Submissions are free.
Winners in each category receive $50, publication in Issue #8 of The Rocky Mountain Review, and a chance to read their winning work at the issue release party on the Rocky Mountain College campus; runners-up will receive publication. Issue #8 will publish in April 2027 online at www.therockymountainreview.org.
Please submit one of the following, on any topic/theme:
- a personal essay of up to 3000 words
- a poem of up to 50 lines
- a short story of up to 3000 words
What delights us: a clear and confident voice; fresh images and strong verbs; writing that pops off the page with fully realized characters, a developed setting, and compelling action.
What we’re not so much fans of: twist endings, poetry with end rhymes, fan fiction, stories that are really dreams, violence for violence’s sake, anything generated by AI.
The nitty gritty: Submissions should include your full name, grade, email address, and the name of your high school, as well as a title for your piece. Any submission lacking this information will not receive consideration. Please double-space prose entries; poems may be single-spaced.
To submit: All entries must be electronic. Send your final submission to your English teacher, who should send all student submissions as a single .docx or PDF attachment to The Rocky Mountain Review at rockymountainstanley@gmail.com. Individual submissions by students will not be accepted.* Revisions to submitted pieces will not be accepted. Submissions will be de-identified before judging. Please note: Parent/guardian signature is required for all publication agreements.
*If you are a homeschool student, your parent/guardian may send your submission individually. Parents/guardians: please note that your student attends homeschool (and the town/area you reside in) in the submission.
Deadline for submissions: Friday, December 18, 2026, 11:59 p.m.
Winners and runners-up will be contacted by mid-March 2027 to begin the editing process. Payment is awarded upon publication in Issue #8.
We’re so excited to read the wonderful work you create!
