Win $500
Now in its thirty-ninth year, the Thornton Wilder Writing Competition (TWWC) was established by the Friends of Hamden Library to honor long-time Hamden resident and Pulitzer Prize winning author and playwright, Thornton Wilder. The competition is open to all New Haven County public, private, homeschool, and parochial high school students. We encourage all qualifying teens to take advantage of the opportunity.
Competition Guidelines
- The competition is open to all students in grades 9-12, or the homeschool equivalent.
- Entrants must attend school in New Haven County.
- Students may submit up to one entry each for the fiction and poetry categories.
- Fiction entries can be short stories, scripts, one-act plays, or excerpts from longer works.
- Entries may not exceed 2,500 words.
- Each submission must be accompanied by a completed application.
- All submissions are due by midnight on Sunday, February 23.
Download the 2025 application.
Submission Rules
Entries can be emailed, mailed, or delivered in-person. We encourage participants to email their submissions but understand that may not be possible for everyone.
| TWilder@hamdenlibrary.org | |
| TW Writing Competition | Hamden Public Library | 2901 Dixwell Ave. Hamden CT. | |
| In-Person | Visit the Information Services Desk at the Miller Memorial Library |
Prizes
The judges will select a first and second-place winner, as well as an honorable mention, for fiction and poetry.
| First Place | Second Place | Honorable Mention |
| $500 | $300 | $100 |
About Thornton Wilder
Thornton Wilder was born in Madison, Wisconsin in 1897. He studied at Oberlin College and Yale University and later became a teacher of literature and creative writing. Both a novelist and a playwright, he is considered one of America’s foremost writers. Wilder won Pulitzer Prizes for the novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927), as well as two plays – Our Town (1938) and The Skin of Our Teeth (1943). Another play, The Merchant of Yonkers (1939), which he rewrote as The Matchmaker, became the basis for the popular musical Hello, Dolly.
Thornton Wilder utilized his profits from the success of The Bridge of San Luis Rey to construct his residence in Hamden in 1929. Despite his extensive travels and prolonged absences, Wilder regarded Hamden as his primary residence until his passing in 1975. The “Washburn Colonial” continued to serve as the home of his sister, Isabel Wilder, until her death in 1995.
The Hamden Public Library system pays tribute to the legacy of Thornton Wilder by hosting an annual writing competition for high school students. Established in 1986 by Augusta Thomas and the Friends of Hamden Library, the awards presented each year are funded by the generous endowment provided by Isabel Wilder.