Babbitt's Prize for Short Fiction

Begun in 1997 as the Clockwatch Review Prize for Short Fiction, the all-campus competition is sponsored each spring by Babbitt's Books in Normal, Illinois, to encourage and promote excellence in creative fiction writing.  IWU alum Brian Simpson owns the store at 104 North Street, which has become a popular hangout for local writers, professors, and students from IWU and nearby Illinois State University. Students submit one short story, with entries screened by the English department and judged by an accomplished writer not affiliated with IWU. Previous winners:

2013--Rob Diehl

2012--Lauren Burke

2011--Nicole Vavalle

2010—Osama Awan

2009—Kaelyn Riley

2008—Sooji Kim

2007—Diego Baez

2006—Chandler Kaiden

2005—Erin Crawley

2004—William R. Porter

2003—Megan Thoma

2002—Michael Elwood

2001—Annie Wright

2000—Christine L. Pacyk

1999—Rebecca Murphy

1998—Mary Etta Eastin

1997—Christine L. Pacyk