Inspiring other Young Writers
Granted annually to two Georgia College & State University undergraduate students (a first-year student or sophomore and a junior or senior), The Margaret Harvin Wilson Writing Award offers cash prizes, certificates of achievement, and recognition of the top candidates at a public ceremony as a celebration of excellence in writing.
First- and Second-Year Students
Student Entry Form
Third- and Fourth-Year Students
Student Entry Form
About Margaret Harvin Wilson
This award was established in memory of Margaret Harvin Wilson, ’34, who was born Nov. 11, 1913, in Chattanooga, Tenn. After her parents divorced, her mother remarried and moved to Grovetown, Ga., in 1923. No one in the family had attended college, but Margaret was determined because “high school was not enough.”
Fortunately, her father provided a small trust ($1,250), and Margaret enrolled in Georgia State College for Women, which is now Georgia College, and finished in three years (English major, French minor). Margaret waited tables in the dining hall in exchange for discounted tuition and lived in a “free dormitory.”
When she was a senior, a teacher encouraged her to enter a short story contest in the English department. Winning first prize in 1933 for “Sympathy Speaks” gave her great confidence for her subsequent career as a teacher.
Margaret married Leland Wilson in 1938 and enjoyed a wonderful and interesting life with him in academe. Their three daughters, inspired by the importance of education in their parents’ lives, pursued careers in medicine, law and higher education.
Her college experience was critical to Margaret’s intellectual growth, development and in stimulating her desire to explore the world beyond her hometown.
This writing award is designed to inspire students to explore new worlds — grounded but imaginative and creative.
The contest is open to undergraduate students currently enrolled at Georgia College within the following disciplines — arts, humanities, social sciences and physical sciences. There are two awards: one award for first-year and sophomore students for writing excellence in poetry, drama, or short story and one award for juniors and seniors for writing excellence in poetry, drama, or short story.
Award inspires young writers
Five inspiring writers achieved finalist status for their poetry and/or short story earning the Margaret Harvin Wilson Writing Award from Georgia College & State University.
Recent Awards
Recent Awards
2024
JUNIOR AND SENIOR
First Place: "Psalm for Bachman's Warbler" by Charlotte Aexel (poem)
Second Place: "Nature's Prison" by McKenzie Weathers-Skinner (poem)
Third Place: "Grow Me Towards the Sun” by Lauren Macer (poem)
FIRST-YEAR AND SOPHOMORE
First Place: "The Last Sheep" by Kennedy Welker (poem)
Second Place: "The Pearls of Majorca" by Alexia Schauer (short story)
Third Place: "December 2016" by Kennedy Welker (poem)
2023
JUNIOR AND SENIOR
First Place: "A God's Ice-Cold Diet Coke" by Aner Gendellman (poem)
Second Place: "Portrait of My Mother Mowing the Lawn" by Kayla Goode (poem)
Third Place: "Fruit of Your Soul” by Hannah Mitchell (poem)
FIRST-YEAR AND SOPHOMORE
First Place: "Miss Flannery" by Charlotte Aexel (poem)
Second Place: "Indiana's Ghost" by Charlotte Aexel (short story)
Third Place: "The Silent Song of Mushrooms" by Olivia Ver Steegh (short story)
2022
JUNIOR AND SENIOR
First Place: "Running Yellow" by Olivia McClure (poem)
Second Place: "A Hope for Warmth" by Olivia McClure (poem)
Third Place: "Passing the Time” by Olivia McClure (poem)
FIRST-YEAR AND SOPHOMORE
First Place: "Man in the Fog" by Charlotte Aexel (poem)
Second Place: "Delanna’s Day" by Charlotte Aexel (short story)
Third Place: "A Jewish Woman’s Plead to Christ" by Aner Gendellman (poem)
2021
JUNIOR AND SENIOR
First Place:" Maine" by William Tanner Howard (poem)
Second Place: "Decide" by Jacob Dallas (poem)
Third Place: "Moths and Rust: by Chloe McDargh (poem)
FIRST-YEAR AND SOPHOMORE
First Place: "The Forest" by Madeline Teigen (short story)
Second Place: "I Know I’m a Great Person, Please Listen" by Olivia McClure (poem)
Third Place: "The Wolf" by Jaylon Brooks (short story)
2020
JUNIOR AND SENIOR
First Place: Madeline Ender, "Don't Let Me Forget This" (short story)
Second Place: Jonesha Johnson, "To Perish on Brim Parcel" (poem)
Third Place: Mallory Wheeler, "It Takes a Village" (play)
FIRST-YEAR AND SOPHOMORE
First Place: Emma Gullo, "Catching Moonbeams with Little or No Experience" (play)
Second Place: Tanner Howard, "Artistic Healing, or Filling White Spaces with Greens and Blues" (poem)
Third Place: Tanner Howard, "A Letter from Eden" (poem)
2019
JUNIOR AND SENIOR
First Place: Madeline Ender, "The Women of 213 North Hampton Drive" (short story)
Second Place: Claire Korzekwa, "The Food of the Gods is Beneath Our Feet" (short story)
Third Place: Elisabeth Barreto, "The Plan" (play)
FIRST-YEAR AND SOPHOMORE
First Place: Mallory Wheeler, "The Disengagement Party" (play)
Second Place: Kinsley Moon, "Drowned Girls Club" (short story)
Third Place: Matthew Malstrom, "Stacy Smith's Guide to Social Etiquette" (short story)
Fourth Place: Alyssa Carrad, "Fable, Lost to History" (poem)