The 2012 Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize

NORTH CAROLINA—The North Carolina Writers' Network is now accepting submissions for the 2012 Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize. This annual award is administered by poet Anthony S. Abbott, the Charles A. Dana Professor Emeritus of English at Davidson College in Davidson, NC.

The Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize honors internationally celebrated North Carolina novelist Thomas Wolfe. The winner receives $1,000 and possible publication in The Thomas Wolfe Review. The competition is open to all writers regardless of geographical location or prior publication. The postmark deadline is January 30, 2012.

Acclaimed author Josephine Humphreys will serve as the final judge. Humphreys is a recipient of an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She is the author of Dreams of Sleep (winner of the 1985 Ernest Hemingway Award for first fiction), Rich in Love, The Fireman's Fair, and Nowhere Else on Earth. She lives with her husband on Sullivan's Island, near Charleston, South Carolina.

The 2012 Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize
Postmark deadline: January 30 (annual)
Submissions accepted: December 1 – January 30

Eligibility and Guidelines:


The competition is open to all writers regardless of geographical location or prior publication.
Submit two copies of an unpublished fiction manuscript not to exceed 12 double-spaced pages (1" margins, 12-pt. font).
Author's name should not appear on manuscripts. Instead, include a separate cover sheet with name, address, phone number, e-mail address, word count, and manuscript title.
An entry fee must accompany the manuscript: $15 for NCWN members, $25 for nonmembers. Checks should be made payable to the North Carolina Writers' Network.
You may pay the member entry fee if you join the NCWN with your submission. Checks should be made payable to the North Carolina Writers’ Network.
Entries will not be returned.
The winner is announced each April.


Send submission to:

Professor Anthony S. Abbott
PO Box 7096
Davidson College
Davidson, NC 28035

2011 saw the highest number of submissions in the history of the Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize. Winner Kristin Fitzpatrick of Alameda, California, took home the $1,000 purse.

The nonprofit North Carolina Writers’ Network is the state’s oldest and largest literary arts services organization devoted to writers at all stages of development. For additional information, visit www.ncwriters.org