Connecticut Student Writers

The Connecticut Student Writers Contest

The Connecticut Writing Project (CWP) sponsors the Connecticut Student Writing Contest and Connecticut Student Writers (CSW) Magazine, both of which were established in 1987 by the Connecticut Writing Project to honor excellence in writing and art by Connecticut students from kindergarten through high school. Annually, hundreds of students from across Connecticut submit entries demonstrating their passion for writing and art. Selections from this large pool of submissions in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and art are chosen to be recognized at each grade level, and a select few appear in our annual magazine, Connecticut Student Writers.

Connecticut Student Writers is made possible by generous funding from the Connecticut State Department of Education.

Submission Guidelines and Forms

For submission guidelines for the 2025-2026 Connecticut Student Writers, click here.

To access the parent/guardian permission form, click CSW Parent/Guardian Permission Form. 

Deadline to submit is February 16, 2026.

Connecticut Student Writers 2026 Winners

Click here to see a list of this year’s Connecticut Student Writers Award Winners!

2026 Student Recognition Night

On May 14, 2026, from 5:30–7:00 PM EST, the Connecticut Writing Project-Storrs will celebrate our student writers and artists with our Student Recognition Night, an annual event that invites students and teachers recognized by our yearly student writing and art contest to a celebration of student work at UConn’s Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts. Selected student speakers from grades K-12 will read their winning pieces from the stage. 

About - Jennifer De Leon

This year, we are proud to welcome keynote speaker Jennifer De Leon—award-winning author, Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Framingham State University, and faculty member of the Newport MFA Program directed by Ann Hood. Jenn is known for the YA novels, Borderless, featured on the TODAY show, and Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From. She is also the author of White Space: Essays on Culture, Race, & Writing, which won the Juniper Prize from the University of Massachusetts Press. She is currently at work on two children’s picture books—Sammy and Samuel, and a biography of Nobel Peace Prize winner, Rigoberta Menchú. Jenn is the editor of Wise Latinas: Writers on Higher Education, an International Latino Book Award-winning anthology. You can hear her discussion of the essay collection, White Space, here.

Connecticut Student Writers Magazine – click to view past CSW issues

magazine cover

Photos from past Recognition Nights