Tilia Klebenov Jacobs Religious Essay Prize
1st Prize: $100.... 2nd Prize: $50.... Third Prize:.... $25
Category Details
Up to 3,000 words, double-spaced. No preaching, no proselytizing, no explaining why your religion is right and everyone else's is wrong. Yes to thoughtful writing about any of the following: religion in everyday life; approachable explications of religious texts; stories that fill in the gaps in Biblical narratives. To quote the Supreme Court: "Religion is the conduit of culture." It's part of how we breathe, whether we embrace or reject it.
About Judge/Sponsor
TILIA KLEBENOV JACOBS (Framingham, MA) has a BA in Religion and English from Oberlin College, a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, and a secondary-school teaching certification from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Writing is Tilia's passion, and she has won numerous awards for both fiction and nonfiction. Her work has appeared in The Jewish Magazine as well as the anthologies Phoenix Rising and The Chalk Circle, a collection of intercultural essays. Tilia's debut novel, Wrong Place, Wrong Time, won the Beverly Hills Book Award for Best Thriller; Kirkus described it as "a tense debut action-thriller...[written] with smooth skill and intense readability." Tilia is a member of Grub Street, Boston's premier writing center, and Sisters in Crime. She has taught in middle school, high school, and college; at present she teaches writing in Massachusetts state prisons.
Links:
Tilia on Facebook
LAST YEAR'S WINNERS (2016)
First Prize: Carolyn Finney of Bethesda, MD for “The Place That Claims You”
Second Prize: Sarah Birnbach of Rockville, MD for “Nine Is the Loneliest Number”
Third Prize Lyzette Wanzer of San Francisco, CA for “The Wheel of Life”
Honorable Mention: Sarah Birnbach of Rockville, MD for “I Believe”