Coastal Carolina University is sponsoring the second annual “Creative Sociology Writing Competition” which invites submissions of poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction that align with the theme “Family Matters.” This contest is open to undergraduate and graduate students from any academic discipline enrolled in a South Carolina college or university who want to use creative writing as a tool to think critically and creatively about our social world. The submission deadline is February 3, 2025. A virtual award ceremony and reading will take place on Friday, March 28, 2025. SC Humanities supported this project with a Fast Track Literary Grant.
The competition is intended to elicit inspiring pieces of writing that combine the Sociological Imagination and the craft of writing to cultivate perspective taking among readers. The goal is to help those studying and practicing sociology engage with nonacademic audiences and practice in a more public, interdisciplinary format. This year’s theme welcomes submissions that explore families in any form or configuration—from the families we are born into, to the families we choose throughout our lives, and everything in between. The theme ‘Family Matters’ may be interpreted broadly; stories about the importance of family, as well as the unity or conflict within families, are all encouraged. Topics may include but are not limited to the evolution of parent-child and sibling relationships; the adherence to or breaking of family traditions and patterns; the dynamics of intergenerational households or caregiving; the impact of adoption, foster care, marriage, and divorce on kinship bonds; or the influence of broader trends in politics and the economy on family life.
Project Director Dr. Lisa Winters said, “At its core, sociology is about exploring the human experience and trying to make sense of the social world. Unfortunately, sociologists do not always engage with nonacademic audiences or other disciplines in meaningful ways. The proposed literary project is important because it promotes a more accessible sociological scholarship. In other words, it encourages the practice of a more public, interdisciplinary sociology.”
Cash prizes will be awarded to contest winners: First place: $500; Second place: $300; Third place: $200. Winners may also be published in Waccamaw: A Journal of Contemporary Literature.
The 2025 South Carolina Creative Sociology Writing Competition received 36 entries of short-fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction from students at 14 different universities and colleges across the state. Entries were blind reviewed by panel of four judges—two sociologists and two creative writers—from Coastal Carolina University.
The 2025 winners are:
Kristen Huynh – Clemson University
Fiction: “The Paper Rabbit”
Sarai M. Winkler – Clemson University
Fiction: “Night Crawler”
Reed Tanner – Clemson University
Fiction: “Thread for the Quilt”
Winners will present their work at a virtual reading event on Friday, March 28, 2025 at 3:00 PM. Please click here to sign up for a Zoom link to attend this event.
More information about the competition can be found at https://www.coastal.edu/soc/creativesoc/.
The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. Established in 1973, this 501(c) 3 organization is governed by a volunteer 20-member Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state. It presents and/or supports literary initiatives, lectures, exhibits, festivals, publications, oral history projects, videos and other humanities-based experiences that directly or indirectly reach more than 250,000 citizens annually. South Carolina Humanities receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as corporate, foundation and individual donors. The National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.
