Students

Mary L. Carver Poetry Prize
Original poetry by a student

Established in 1967 by a bequest from Ruby Carver Emerson, Class of 1904, in memory of her mother, Mary Low Carver, Class of 1875, who was Colby’s first woman graduate. Mary Low Hall is named for her.

Katherine Rogers Murphy Prize for Original Poetry
Original poetry by a freshman or sophomore woman

Established in 1987 by Katherine’s parents, Marjorie Murphy Shuman ’37 (nee Gould) and the late Howard R. Murphy.  This prize was created in memory of Katherine Rogers Murphy ’71, who died tragically while still a first year student at Colby. Katherine was an English major from New York, and is remembered for her outgoing personality, her love of the outdoors, and her love of reading. Her parents and friends sponsored the creation of the award in memory of the potential she had possessed. The recipient of the award is someone who will be able to go on to do the things Katherine Rogers Murphy was terribly sadly denied.

Elmira Nelson Jones Prize for Creative Writing
Short story writing

Established in 1959 by Elmira’s daughter, Margaret H. Jones, M.D.  Elmira Nelson Jones, Class of 1897, was one of the women who attended Colby before the idea of a college-educated woman was readily accepted. She was a public school teacher and spent five years on the Portland School Board. The winner of this prize will be someone who is as much a lover of the written word as Elmira Nelson Jones was.

Kristina Stahl Prize for Creative Nonfiction
For excellence in the writing of creative nonfiction

Established in 2015 by Kristina’s parents, this prize is created in memory of Kristina Stahl ’99, who died tragically in 2002. She was a talented English teacher at Kingswood Oxford School in West Hartford, CT, and was pursuing her Masters in English at Middlebury during summers at the Bread Loaf campus. Kristina loved writing fiction, poetry, and nonfiction.

The Pequod

Pequod is Colby College’s student literary magazine. It is published on a biannual basis, once each semester, and is comprised of both creative writing pieces and studio art works. It is entirely student run from the pieces themselves to the publicity, selection and publication processes. The magazine has been a strong part of Colby’s Creative Writing Program since 1968, though in the earlier years faculty had a larger role both as contributors and editors than they do now. The shape of the magazine has changed over the years, as there used to be a strong connection with the Mary Low Coffeehouse to bring life to the works with live readings and displays of art. The actual physical shape of the magazine has changed as well over the years, as we feel strongly that the content should dictate the format and not vice versa. There is no formula for how many pieces of fiction versus poetry versus nonfiction that we accept. Instead we take the strongest pieces overall, which might mean a longer magazine one semester and a much shorter one the next. Students with creative work – whether produced in writing workshops, studio classes or on their own time – can submit their pieces to [email protected] throughout the semester, but earlier is better. A cut off date for submissions will be announced via the general announcement emails and posters around campus. We look forward to discovering and honoring the wonderful creativity of Colby students.

Please click here to see the Pequod’s art website!

Inklings

Inklings is a literary magazine on campus focusing on peer-led writing workshops throughout the year. We will meet in groups of fiction/ creative nonfiction and poetry writers to help each other improve our work. At the end of each semester, we will publish the pieces from the workshop in a print magazine. We will also be running a blog throughout the semester with works in progress, interviews with professors, essays on the craft of writing, and more!

Inklings welcomes creative writers of all genres, backgrounds, and experience levels. If you weren’t able to get into a creative writing course but love to write, if you write in your free time but have never taken a formal course, or if you’ve taken every single creative writing course offered at Colby and want more opportunities to improve your writing, Inklings is for you! The workshops are casual but productive and focus on author-led discussion about his or her work. 

The fiction/creative nonfiction workshop meets on Mondays at 4:00pm in the Mary Low Coffee House, and the poetry workshop meets on Thursdays at 6:00pm in the Mary Low Coffee House. If you’re interested in poetry but can only meet on Mondays (or fiction/creative nonfiction and can only meet on Thursdays), please feel free to bring your work to the meeting that is most convenient for you!

Please click here to see the digital copies of the Inklings magazine.

2022-2023 Creative Writing Open Mic Readings

Thursday, December 8th @ 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM
Thursday, May 4th @ 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM

All readings will take place in Marylow Coffeehouse!