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The Kasdan Scholarship in Creative Writing

The Kasdan Scholarship in Creative Writing was established by University of Michigan graduates Lawrence and Meg Kasdan. The recipient of the award will be selected on the basis of excellence in the writing of screenplays, teleplays, or drama. The manuscripts will be judged by a U-M emeritus professor and a judge at the Kasdan Company. 

Rules of Eligibility

Applicants must be currently enrolled graduate or undergraduate U-M students. Contestants may submit manuscripts in the areas of screenplay, teleplay, or drama, but may only submit one work. Preference will be given to the area of screenplay, all other considerations being equal. Screenplay manuscripts must be 90–110 pages in length. Teleplays must be at least 50 pages in length. One-act plays must be 50–60 pages in length and full-length plays 80–100 pages. Only completed works, as opposed to works in progress, may be submitted. A contestant may submit only one screenplay or full-length play, but may submit two one-act plays. 

Entries should be in 10-12 point font, with a left-hand margin of 1 inch, in PDF format. A contestant must use a pen name - one that is entirely different from his or her real name. Please make sure that the pen name in your profile matches the one on your PDF. The same pen name must be used for all fall and winter term contests. This name should only appear on the title page, nowhere else in the manuscript. 

The PDF must have a title page on which shall appear: 

  • The title
  • The pen name
  • The contest and area (e.g., the Kasdan Scholarship in Creative Writing--Screenplay)

The same manuscript may be submitted in contests administered by the Hopwood Program; manuscripts that have already won prizes may also be submitted in this contest. If you receive need-based financial aid and would like us to delay payment until the beginning of the Spring term (May) so your award won't alter your current findancial aid allocation, please indicate that on the entry form.  Note:  fiction, nonfiction, and poetry may not be entered in this contest.

Announcement of Awards

The winner of the Kasdan Scholarship will be announced at the April Hopwood Awards Ceremony. A student who has won this competition may not enter it a second time. However, students are allowed to enter Kasdan manuscripts in certain other competitions: Hopwood Contests, the Arthur Miller Award, and the Roy W. Cowden Memorial Fellowship.