March 20 is the deadline for a chance to win $500 in the 19th annual Thompson Writing Awards. 

The contest is open to all CU Boulder students at both graduate and undergraduate levels. Prizes are $500 in each of four categories: fiction, memoir, poetry and creative non-fiction. Enter your writing in any or all of the four categories. 

Your topic should touch on any issue of the American West - past, present or future. To name some examples: growing up in a Western town; visiting a Western place for the first time; Native American history, culture and current events; immigration; myth and stereotype in movies and books about the West; ranching; prairie dogs; wolves; wild horses; water, dams and drought; tourism; public lands; national parks and monuments; energy development. 

Visit our website for details and the entry form and to read winning entries from past years. Contact us with your questions at academics@centerwest.org or 303-735-1399.