• About the Nora Prize

The Nora Magid Mentorship Prize is given each year to a senior at the University of Pennsylvania who shows exceptional ability and promise in non-fiction writing and editing, and who would benefit most from combined mentorship of Nora's network of former students and their colleagues. The prize is $1000 to be used for transportation, lodging and meals as the student travels to New York, Washington and elsewhere to develop professional contacts at magazines, newspapers, publishing houses and broadcast networks. The winner also receives unparalleled access to a growing network of Penn alumni in various media—including Nora's former students and their colleagues--who can assist in the student’s professional development. In this way, the student will get the kind of quality mentorship during the last semester of college that Nora's students received when she was alive. After graduating and taking a first job, prize-winners are expected to become part of the network and help other graduating seniors.

Your application should include:

• A letter (no more than two pages) describing your career goals, your interests and influences as a writer, and specifically how you would hope to use the prize and the mentorship network

• Three journalistic writing samples. Published work is best, but unpublished articles or well-reported course work is acceptable. Please do not send fiction or poetry

• A current resume

• A recommendation (sealed) from the Penn faculty member most familiar with your writing

Nora Prize season begins in late September with an evening at the Kelly Writers House to discuss careers in media with a variety of Penn alums from the Nora board. Consult the KWH calendar for details.

Applications will be accepted until January 17th 2017. The winner will be notified by February 15th. Please send submissions to:

Nora Magid Mentorship Prize
c/o Eliot Kaplan Hearst Magazines
300 West 57th Street, 41st Floor
New York, NY 10019

For more information about the prize process and former winners check out our Facebook page or our page at Penn's Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing site. The Nora Prize is given in partnership with the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing, the Daily Pennsylvanian and the Kelly Writers House