Entries due May 4, 2027

Other Information

Entries must be the original work of an individual student. Participants may not use AI to create an entry. Judges may request copies of early drafts of works to verify the author’s compliance with this rule.

Entries must not have been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Entries may be submitted to other contests.

Disqualifications:

Plagiarized content will result in disqualification.
Stories that contain libelous or inappropriate content will not be considered.
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) or automated writing tools in the creation or development of an entry will result in disqualification.

Illustration and Publication Rights: By entering the contest, participants grant the organizers the right to publish their stories in an anthology or in promotional materials. All other rights remain with the author.

Reservation of Rights: We reserve the right to modify, amend, or change contest rules at our discretion, at any time, without prior notice. It is the responsibility of the participant or user to review and stay informed about any updates to the rules.

Who was Damon Runyon?

Damon Runyon was one of America’s most distinctive short-story writers and playwrights. The hit Broadway play Guys and Dolls, which is still produced today, was based on stories, characters, and plots created by Runyon.

What is not well known is that Runyon spent his adolescence in Pueblo, Colorado, an experience that deeply shaped his writing voice, humor, and interest in colorful characters.

Runyon moved to Pueblo in 1887 at the age of seven, when the town was a booming steel and railroad center. As a teenager, he took his first step into professional writing at The Pueblo Chieftain, where he covered baseball, boxing, crime, and human-interest stories. Often getting tips and tall tales from gamblers, hustlers, and saloon regulars who wandered Union and Santa Fe Avenues, Runyon developed his tough, slang-filled, humorous “Runyonese” style of writing from the characters he observed in the Steel City.

In his early twenties, Runyon left Colorado for Kansas City, later moving to New York. Still, he repeatedly credited Pueblo as the place where he learned to write, learned to observe, and learned to appreciate the peculiar charm of street-level Americana.

If you have an imagination, you should enter. The Damon Runyon Writing Contest is designed to reward great stories, values, and connections over technical writing skills.

Damon Runyon, the contest’s namesake, would have encouraged you to enter. Bright, but undisciplined, he was not particularly fond of sitting in class. While Runyon attended local schools, he was more drawn to work, and writing about the street life around him.

In fact, Runyon had so many run-ins with school authorities that his father sent him to a Kansas military academy for a year to straighten him out. He later returned to Pueblo, where he graduated.

In other words, if you’ve gotten into a little trouble during your school years, you should really enter this contest. Turn your life experiences into a story! And if you haven’t gotten into trouble, you should enter the contest too.

Should I enter?

Uncertain where to start? Hollywood has always liked coming-of-age stories that describe what it is like to grow up as a teenager in the current world. And as we know, it’s not easy these days.

Your story could include drama, comedy, inspiration, or a combination of emotions.

When outlining your story, think about:

What struggles is a character facing?
What choices do they make as a result of those struggles?
How do their choices change the character internally and in society?

You have it in you. It takes courage to try—writers often open themselves up, which can be scary…but also rewarding.

You have it in you. Your creativity makes you interesting!

Enter Contest

Damon Runyon Writing Contest

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Damon Runyon Writing Contest 〰️

For each entry, please include a cover page that includes the title and contact information.

For more information, write info@damonrunyoncontest.com

Pueblo photos were made available by local photographers at SharePueblo.com.