2026 Teen Writing Contest

To mark our 13th anniversary and to encourage future award-winning writers, MFOB is again sponsoring a Teen Writing Contest. This year, the contest includes three writing categories: short fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. New Jersey high school students are invited to submit either a fictional short story, a poem, or a nonfiction personal narrative (maximum word count: 1,000 words). Students may submit only one piece of writing (in only one category), and stories should stand alone and not be part of a larger work.

Contest Theme

This year, in the short fiction and poetry categories, we ask writers to respond to the prompt: Circles. As a shape or concept, as a noun, verb, or adjective (a circle, to circle, circular), pieces should use or evoke “circles” in some fashion. Otherwise, short fiction and poetry can be any genre or style. Meanwhile, nonfiction entries do not need to respond to the prompt, but they should be a true personal story of a single, meaningful event that led to revelation or change.

Submission Details

Submissions are now closed. Winners will be announced at our Keynote Event on Friday, Oct. 9th!

Contest Sponsors

The Gunzler Family Memorial
The Festival’s Teen Writing Contest is sponsored in memory of John and Marianne Gunzler. They both had a zest for life, and although their formal educations were limited by their circumstances, they each had passions for learning and reading. They would have been thrilled to be associated with this event, as they believed in encouraging young minds, especially in terms of curiosity and creativity.

Justice Stewart Pollock (retired)
Justice Pollock is sponsoring the contest’s nonfiction category in grateful appreciation for the teachers at Morristown High School.

Prizes

Three finalists will be selected in each category: three in short fiction, three in poetry, and three in nonfiction (for a total of nine finalists). Honorable mentions will be awarded at the discretion of the judges. In each category, the first-place winner will receive $300. The second-place winner will receive $200. And the third-place winner will receive $100. Any honorable mentions will be recognized and included in the Festival, but receive no prize money.

Authors will be notified in September 2026 if their work is selected as a finalist. Finalists will be announced at the Festival and invited to read their work during a special presentation on Saturday, October 10, 2026. Prior to the Festival, the winning entries will be posted on the Morristown Festival of Books website.

Judging

Judging will be based on the following criteria:

• Originality (of concept, subject, insight)
• Creativity (of perspective, structure, language)
• Writing style (voice, phrasing, vividness, emotionality)
• Appropriateness of form (fulfills expectations of genre and/or of prompt)
• Overall writing quality

For additional information please email teenwritingcontest@morristownbooks.org. 

The Morristown Festival of Books will be held on October 9 & 10, 2026, in Morristown, NJ. 

Contest Rules and Regulations

All entries must:

• Be no more than 1,000 words.
• Be written in the English language.
• Be wholly the original work of the entrant, written solely by the entrant.
• Not be copied from any other source.
• Not have been previously broadcast or otherwise distributed or disseminated in any media or format.
• Not be in the public domain.
• Not be in violation or in conflict with the trademark, copyright, rights of privacy, right of publicity, or any other rights of any kind or nature of any other person or entity.
• Not include any language or other content that is inappropriate, offensive, pornographic, or otherwise unfit for dissemination or broadcast, as determined by the Morristown Festival of Books in its sole discretion.
• Be submitted by the stated deadline.

Submissions not satisfying these criteria in any respect will be disqualified. If the Morristown Festival of Books, in its sole discretion, has reason to believe that any entry contains any material that may infringe or violate any law or any rights of a third party, or that the use or broadcast of such entry in the manner described herein may infringe or violate any law or any rights of a third party, the Morristown Festival of Books may immediately disqualify such entry and take any other measures the Morristown Festival of Books may deem appropriate or necessary.  

Grant of Rights

By submitting a written entry, the entrant grants to the Morristown Festival of Books:

• The right to edit the writing for grammar, spelling, and punctuation; and
• A nonexclusive, assignable, perpetual, license to produce, publish, distribute, transmit, exhibit, exploit, and license the written work and any portions thereof in any format (collectively “distribute” or “distribution,” as applicable) by any and all means, uses, and media, whether audio, print, audiovisual or otherwise, now or hereafter known, throughout the universe in all languages without financial compensation.  

Not Eligible to Participate

The following, and their family members, are prohibited from participation in this contest:

• The Board of the Morristown Festival of Books
• The panel of 2026 judges

2026 Judges Panel

• Noga Beer, Director of the Middle School, The Red Oaks School
• Jeff Campbell, Author and Writing Teacher
• Matt Daly, English Teacher, Co-Director Life Design Lab, Morristown High School 
• Dr. Linnea Hasegawa, English Teacher, Morristown Beard School
• Ellen Papazian, Writer and English Teacher, Livingston Public Schools