The Paul G. Quinnett Lived Experience Writing Competition

The Paul G. Quinnett Lived Experience Writing Competition was launched in 2014 as a partnership between the American Association of Suicidology (AAS) and Dr. Paul Quinnett, PhD, the Executive Chairman of the QPR Institute. The purpose of the annual competition is to promote stories of survival, hope, and recovery from suicidal ideation and/or suicide attempt(s).

The Competition:

A personal essay describing the author’s experience with suicidal ideation and/or attempt(s). The writing describes impact on the writer and tells the story in a way that is accessible and understandable to the greater community. Poetry, creative fiction, and biographies are not accepted.

Prizes:

First Place: $1,500
Second Place: $1,000
Third Place: $500

Deadline:

October 6th, 2023, 11:59pm EST.

Guidelines:

Word limit: 2,500
Font: Open Sans or Times New Roman
Font Size: 12pt
Spacing: Double-spaced
Margins: Normal (1″)

Messaging About Suicide:

Entries must follow the guidelines below:

Using “died by/of suicide” instead of “committed”
Avoiding usage of “unsuccessful” or “failed” attempt
Avoiding describing attempt(s) in graphic details

Waiver:

Writers must waive copyright restrictions and must allow AAS and others to reprint or reproduce the writing.

Confidentiality within the writing:

Names of any individuals or organizations will be redacted for the judges. We encourage you to consider having conversations with individuals who will be named since the story will be publicly accessible.

Previous Submissions and Participants:

Past participants may submit previously submitted works. Previous winning authors are not eligible to submit new or previously submitted work.

Ratings by Judges:

Our volunteer judges are professional writers, writing instructors, and/or members of the suicidology community. Each entry will be reviewed by at least two judges, who are randomly assigned. All entries will be evaluated on a double-blind basis. Neither entrant nor judge will know which individuals have participated in the competition. Due to time constraints, writers are not provided feedback.

Judges will rate submissions on a scale from 1-5. No decimal numbers are allowed. This is an award of points for quality, the better the submission, the higher the rating. The combined score of those judges will be the submission’s total score.

The rated categories will be:

Increases public awareness about understanding of the experiences of suicidal people
Challenges the field to think about suicide survivorship in new ways
Good writing – compelling, engaging, understandable to a wide range of audiences

Questions? Email communications@suicidology.org

2023 WINNERS

1st Place:

1st Place:

Redeemed by Dese’Rae L. Stage

2nd Place:

No Title by Tricia Ellis

3rd Place:

How It Started by Helen Evrard