College Awards

$150 1st Place $100 2nd Place $50 3rd Place

HIGH SCHOOL AWARDS

$150 1st Place $100 2nd Place $50 3rd Place

Submission Deadline: March 31, 2025

Sponsored by S. K. Kruse and the Guild for Engaged Liminality.

The Liminal Essay Contest Criteria

• High school applicants must be enrolled in high school (or homeschool) and college applicants must be enrolled in an undergraduate program at an accredited college or university for spring semester 2025. Scholarship winners must send proof of enrollment prior to receiving funds.

• Applicants shall submit an essay of 700-1,000 words on an aspect or aspects of liminality in “Summoned by a Star” from S. K. Kruse’s short story collection, Tales From the Liminal. A free copy of the story can be downloaded here. (No purchase required.)

• Applicants must fill out and submit the online application form and essay by 11:59 pm CST, March 31st, 2025. Application form can be found below.

• The decisions of the judges are final and binding.

• Friends and relatives of publisher, author, and judges are ineligible to apply.

  BE SURE TO:

• Remove ALL identifying information from essay document

• Include ONLY YOUR INITIALS with essay title and page number in header of each page

• MATCH essay title in form field to essay title in document

• Use standard MLA formatting

• Select correct entry level in submission form: High School or College

High school and college essays will be judged in separate competitions. In April of 2025, contest winners will be notified and shared on skkruse.com and social media, as well as with contest winners’ school and relevant media outlets. A picture and short bio of the winners will be requested at that time. 1st place essays will be posted on skkruse.com, and if the contest winners would like, S. K. Kruse would be happy to schedule an author video visit with their class.

So, what is THE LIMINAL, anyway?

THE LIMINAL is a time, place, or state of being that’s betwixt and between. Neither here nor there. If it’s a time, it might be a summer of travel, a year of illness, or a period of war. If it’s a place, it might be a staircase, airport, or refugee camp. If it’s a state of being, it might be the experience of not fitting into the world’s tidy categories and feeling like you exist somewhere between them, or the experience of no longer fitting into your own tidy categories but being unable to find a way out of them yet. If this is the case, you didn’t end up there by accident. Something new is emerging in you, and for that to happen, some old things need to fall away. Darkness, confusion, and disorientation are to be expected. Just make sure you let the liminal do its work in you. You’ll be glad you did.

Meet the Judges