The Phoenix Writers Club (PWC) celebrates Women’s History Month in March by honoring the founding women who formed PWC 100 years ago after being denied entry to the press club due to their gender. These witty Western women found a peaceful way to promote creativity and camaraderie in the face of adversity, demonstrating tremendous pioneering spirit in establishing a safe space for writers.
Today, the legacy of the Phoenix Writers Club (PWC) is one of inclusion and celebration of community connections. PWC is a social writing group that offers monthly lectures to support writers of all genders through our website, gatherings, and contests. Please join us and see what we are all about! We also support local charities and programs through donations and volunteer work, encouraging the next generation’s love of writing.
We invite all Arizona writers 18 years or older to enter their unpublished poem or essay into our contest and become a part of our rich history. Good luck and happy writing!
Contest Guidelines:
- This year’s theme is Pioneering Spirit.
- Entrants must submit a cover letter with the date of submission, the author’s legal name, telephone number, email address in the bio area, and a letter to the founders (see below), followed by your titled essay or poem.
- Entries accepted January 1st through February 1st, 2026.
- Essays should be no more than 1926 words, 12-point Times New Roman font.
- Poems should be between 19 and 26 lines.
- Essays and poems must be in English, unpublished, and original work.
- The contest is open to writers 18 years old and older.
- Essays and poems should promote the theme given for the contest.
- Essays promoting extreme foul language, offensive topics such as sexism, racism, self-harm, or violence will not be considered serious entries. Also, identified AI-generated works will be disqualified.
- Winning entrants (including honorable mentions) will become the property of PWC for the first-year printing and may be published electronically or in print thereafter by the author.
- You may enter both categories, and an entry fee is required for both.
- The 1-page cover letter and 1–3-page essay or poem must be in a single file.
- Your cover letter must include your name, email address, and phone number, plus a short bio and a summary of your entry in letter format, addressed to the PWC founders, to be considered for this contest.
- The PWC Dear Founders Contest is open to Arizona residents and PWC members (excluding current PWC board members). PWC does not share or sell personal information.
Payment of $10 for the contest is made via Zelle, to phoenixwriters1926@gmail.com.
Please place the phrase “PWC contest” in the Zelle transaction note.
Submit your completed cover letter and essay or poem in a single file
to our contest email: pwc2026contest@gmail.com
with the subject line: Contest
by February 1st.
Electronic submissions only.
Cover Letter
A summary of your entry in letter format addressed to the PWC founders is also required.
The “Dear Founders” portion of the cover letter helps keep alive the almost-lost art of letter writing, so prevalent when the founders formed the Phoenix Writers Club 100 years ago.
Example 1:
Dear Phoenix Writers Club Founders,
Thank you for considering my (word count) (essay or poem) titled (title) for your PWC Centennial Dear Founders contest with the theme: Pioneering Spirit. I believe my (poem or essay) encompasses the theme in (telling the story of or reflecting on…). I look forward to hearing from you.
A Writer
Example 2:
Dear Phoenix Writers Club Founders,
I appreciate your consideration of my 20-line poem titled “The Brave Dandelion” for your PWC Centennial Dear Founders contest. My poem, which focuses on a dandelion growing in a sidewalk crack in front of a busy grade school, embodies to me the theme of your contest: pioneering spirit. I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
A Writer
Example 3:
A writer has published one story and two poems. A writer enjoys writing poetry, novels, and short creative nonfiction stories about plants. A writer can be reached at (phone # and email).
Winner’s Prizes
Essay Winner: $100 check, one-year PWC membership, awards ceremony, certificate, published essay or poem on PWC website, newsletter, and other possible publications.
Honorable mention: one-year PWC membership, awards ceremony, certificate, published essay or poem on PWC website, newsletter
Poetry Winner: $100 check, one-year PWC membership, awards ceremony, certificate, published essay or poem on PWC website, newsletter, and other possible publications.
Honorable mention: one-year PWC membership, awards ceremony, certificate, published essay or poem on PWC website, newsletter
Winners will be notified on March 1st, 2026