W. W. Norton & Company 2023 Norton Writer’s Prize

The Norton Writer’s Prize recognizes outstanding original nonfiction by undergraduates. The contest is open to students age 17 and above who are enrolled in an accredited 2- or 4-year college or university during the 2022–2023 academic year.

• Table of Content
• About William Warder Norton and Company
• Norton Writer’s Prize
• Aim and Benefits of Norton Writer’s Prize
• Requirements for Norton Writer’s Prize Qualification
• Application Deadline
• How to Apply

About William Warder Norton and Company

“Books are the weapons in the battle of ideas.” These were the words of William Warder Norton, who 96 years ago launched the firm that bears his name. Today, the three-person company he once ran from his living room has become the oldest and largest publishing house owned entirely by its employees.  In 1923, Norton and his wife, Mary Dows Herter Norton, hired a stenographer and began transcribing and publishing the lectures delivered at the People’s Institute, the adult division of Cooper Union in New York City. While initially modest in scope, this enterprise embodie... continue reading

Norton Writer’s Prize

Aim and Benefits of Norton Writer’s Prize

Three cash prizes of $1,000 apiece will be awarded in 2023 for coursework submitted during the academic year, one in each of the following three categories:

• Writing by a first-year student in a 2- or 4-year college or university
• Writing by a student in a 2-year college or university
• Writing by a student in a 4-year college or university

Requirements for Norton Writer’s Prize Qualification

• The Norton Writer’s Prize contest (the “Contest”) is open to individuals age 17 and above who are enrolled in an accredited 2- or 4-year college or university in the 2022-2023 academic year.
• Employees of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. (“Sponsor”), including its member companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, suppliers, and agencies, and their immediate family members and persons living in their households, are not eligible to enter or win.
• Contest is not open to previous Contest winners or runners-up.

Application Deadline

How to Apply

Submissions must be between 1,000 and 3,000 words in length. Literacy narratives, literary and other textual analyses, reports, profiles, evaluations, arguments, memoirs, proposals, multimodal pieces, and other forms of original nonfiction will be considered if written by a student age 17 or above in fulfillment of an undergraduate course requirement at an eligible institution. Entries submitted in accordance with the Official Contest Rules will be considered for all applicable prizes, but no more than one prize will be awarded to any single entry. Current and former students of individuals acting as judges are not eligible to enter or win, and any entry recognized by any of the judges will be automatically disqualified.

For more details, visit W. W. Norton & Company website.