Quick Summary
Submit your writing for the Minnesota Digital Library (MDL)'s creative writing contest! Using any item in MDL as a prompt, participants can write a fictional short story, poem, or other creative piece, and winners will be published in an online exhibit.
Ever imagined what it would be like to live in the past? Now is your chance to write about it.
In honor of our 20th anniversary, the Minnesota Digital Library (MDL) is hosting a creative writing contest based on historical content found in our digital collections. Using any item in the MDL collections as a prompt, participants will write a fictional short story, poem, or other creative piece—and share it using an online submission form. The story must be 750 words or less.
A panel of volunteer judges will select the top entries from youth and adult categories. The winning stories will be published in a special online exhibit on MDL’s website. The deadline to enter is November 30, 2025.
For more information, read through the guidelines and find the link to the submission form on MDL’s creative writing contest page.
Image credit: Woman seated at a desk at the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), Minneapolis, Minnesota, c. 1910. James K. Hosmer Special Collections Library.
