Apply by April 10: Vázquez-Valarezo Poetry Award and Audre Lorde Prize

Applications for the Audre Lorde Prize and Vázquez-Valarezo Poetry Award are now open.

The deadline to submit for both awards is April 10, 2026.

Vázquez-Valarezo Poetry Award

The Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program is pleased to administer the annual Vázquez-Valarezo Poetry Award, sponsored by Dr. Jeanneth Vázquez, Professor of Spanish.

In addition to recognizing excellence, the award is designed to encourage student poets to submit their work for consideration. Entries are judged on the basis of originality, creative imagination, characterization and artistic quality.

The theme for the 26th annual Vázquez-Valarezo Poetry Award is "Voices of Freedom," an opportunity for students to reflect on freedom for people of all genders, ethnicities, and nationalities.

For consideration, unpublished poems should be emailed to wgss@augustana.edu as a PDF or Word document (.docx). Submissions are limited to three poems per student.

The prize for first place is $75, second place $50, and third place $30.

Audre Lorde Prize

The Audre Lorde Prize are given annually by the Augustana Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program. They recognize excellence in scholarship in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at the undergraduate level.

Awards will be presented in three categories:

• Short analytic essay (5-7 pages)
• Long analytic essay (8 or more pages)
• Creative expression: reflective/personal writing, visual art or musical creations, creative writing, short performances (theater, dance, etc.), videos, or podcasts (approx. 5-10 minutes), etc. Submissions in this category should include a 1-2 page (200-400 word) artist’s statement that explores how the ideas and intentions of the work are informed by WGSS perspectives and/or theories

Entries will be accepted for student work created in courses during Fall 2025, J-Term 2026, and even as far back as Spring 2025. Work created this semester by graduating seniors is also eligible. 

First place winners for each category will receive $100, second place winners will receive $50, and honorable mention winners will receive $25.

Submission guidelines:

• Remove any references to your name from the pages of the text/piece itself.
• Create a separate title page with your name, project/art piece title, course, instructor's name, and the semester in which it was created.
• Also on the title page, clearly identify which of the three categories your submission belongs to: Short Analytic, Long Analytic or Creative Expression.
• Email your submission including the title page as a single PDF to wgss@augustana.edu. For visual art and performance, submit a high-quality (at least 3000 dpi) jpeg, tiff, mp3 or mp4.
• Students may submit no more than 2 entries. Entries may be in the same prize category or in different categories.
• Winning work will be published in Augustana Digital Commons if applicable and desired by the author. Please view previous prizewinners here.