Call for Submissions:

The Evan Wolfson Prize in LGBTQ Studies (established in 2014) recognizes the outstanding work of an undergraduate student at University of Colorado Boulder whose sole-author paper or creative work deals with LGBTQ issues, broadly defined. The annual award is named after Evan Wolfson, the attorney, author, gay rights advocate, and founder of Freedom to Marry. The Wolfson Prize is made possible through the generous gifts provided by Thomas Stephens (University of Colorado, class of 1974) and Todd Enders.


Wolfson Prize Flyer

Eligibility: Eligible papers and creative work must have been authored or produced by a CU Boulder student in the previous calendar year. Contestants must be enrolled in an undergraduate degree program at CU Boulder for the duration of the spring semester (at the time of application), or have graduated from a degree program at CU Boulder during the prior fall semester. Students do not need to be pursuing the Undergraduate Certificate in LGBTQ Studies to be eligible. Students may only submit one paper or creative work for consideration per awards cycle.

Criteria: There are two general categories for submissions: (1) Research Paper and (2) Creative Work, including but not limited to fiction, nonfiction, poetry, photography, and film. Entries in each category will be evaluated based on relevance to the field of LGBTQ Studies and on the quality of writing and/or originality of creative work. Paper must be written in English and cannot exceed 20 double-spaced pages, including notes and bibliography. Entries should be proofread and should follow standard manuscript format (double-spaced, one-inch margins, page numbers, etc.).

Procedures and Submission Deadline: All entries should be submitted through our online form. Please indicate the category. Essays and written work must be submitted as a Microsoft Word document. Digital photography or visual work should be sent in a single PDF document. Video or film entries should be posted on Vimeo (or similar site) for online viewing. Please email link (and password, if applicable) to access materials. Video and film submissions up to 10 minutes in length will be considered; for projects exceeding 10 minutes in length, applicants should indicate which ten-minute excerpt reviewers should consider. Please do not send original art or irreplaceable materials with your submission. In order to ensure anonymity during the review process, please do not put your name in the body of the document.
Submission deadline is Friday April 12, 2024.

Judging: Prizes will be awarded at the discretion of the awards committee. A prize may not be awarded if the judges do not deem any entries to be of exceptional merit. All entries will be submitted to a plagiarism detection service. If multiple submissions are deemed exceptional, judges may elect to give the award to two recipients and divide the monetary prize accordingly.

Prizes and Notification: The Wolfson Prize winner will be honored at the Lavender Graduation ceremony held at the end of the spring semester in May. The award winner in each category will receive $500. Note: the award may be subject to tax. 

Submit all Entries to: https://www.colorado.edu/lgbtq/wolfson-application

Previous Prize Winners

2024

Kelila Rose 

Kaylan Madrid

Riley Dudley

2023

2022

2021