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#223 Academia

A recent re-watch of Gilmore Girls has had me thinking about academic life — there’s something uniquely compelling in the combination of idolized institutions, tweed, the pursuit of knowledge, and thousands of young people all living in close quarters. I’m not alone: dark academia is an established genre by now.

This week, let’s step into the halls of ivy together — I’ve got academics, libraries, students, and exams in these prompts, so whether your imaginary life in the academy is dark, fantastical, suspenseful, or humorous, I hope you’ll find a prompt that feels right.

This week's prompts

Start your story with a student discovering a hidden room in a university library.

Mystery – 77 stories

Write about two rival academics pursuing the same grant.

Character – 14 stories

Write a story in which a jaded academic makes an unexpected, rash decision.

Angst – 41 stories

Write about a student reporter uncovering a university scandal.

Mystery – 22 stories

Set your story during exam season, when tensions run high and a minor incident sends your protagonist into a panic spiral.

Character – 30 stories

Stories

Enlightenment

Sol Caine

Submitted to Contest #223

I bellowed a very tired and exhausted yawn, as I stretched my arms skyward and pointed my toes in a direct line beneath the desk. Studying with minimal sleep for who knows when, had frazzled my mind beyond tolerable measures. Cranky toward needless interruptions and far too serious for my own good, I was balancing on the edge of burnout due to information overload. One of the failings in my life was to offer up my research services for free. Once people found out about my excellent skills on a multitude of topics, I began to be inundated wi...

20 likes

Beneath the Lobby

Hannah Lynn

Submitted to Contest #223

My stomach lurched in perfect rhythm with the elevator’s herky-jerky ride down to the lobby. I held my cart for dear life praying that I wouldn’t see an encore performance of last night’s shots of liquid courage. Those books didn’t deserve the misfortune of that mess, they were innocent little stories just waiting to go back to their homes assigned to them by the Dewey Decimal System. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes in an actual cold sweat. Please let me get through this shift. Four hours isn’t asking too much. ...

19 likes

Uncovered

Nina H

Submitted to Contest #223

Victoria Mary Beth Keegan was about to stumble upon the most monumental story of her fledgling journalistic career. How did I know? Because I was the one planting it right in the palm of her naive little hand. I met Mary Beth in my History of the English Language seminar class, three months ago. Sh...

19 likes

Energy Drinks

Michael Mackenzie

Submitted to Contest #223

Bobby peered into the fridge resting atop the small desk in his room when a scream echoed from across the hall. He knew not to question the scream because there would always be another one. That’s how it was in Quirk Hall. The screams that came from room 34 you learned to live with. Since there were no more energy drinks in the fridge, he checked the closet, behind the bed, and under the desk. The anger and frustration and headaches worsened every second he couldn...

19 likes

Pig Meds

Tom Skye

Submitted to Contest #223

Professor Smyth-Gladstone is ten minutes late. Lynn, his PA, assures me he is on campus. Standing with my back to his door, lightly tapping my head against the wood, I consider making chit-chat with Lynn but hold off as she devours what looks like a field of carrots.Twenty minutes late. I shuffle the three sheets of organic molecules, mechanisms, and tabulated data in my hand for the fiftieth time. They're still the correct print-offs; they're still the correct data. I lift on my toes, still tapping my head. The cold coat hook slides against...

19 likes

Bread and Circus

Submitted to Contest #223

“Delivery, delivery, delivery – delivery is everything.” – Cicero * ** How would Cicero have handled this inquisition? Konkle, Whipple, Achebe, Hustis, Buttersowrth, Bartles, and Diamond. They are the Faculty Grievance Committee. I have affectionately nicknamed them the seven dwarves. Because either by nature or habit, each has a characteristic quirk, and they always stay true to character in these meetings. Konkle, for instance, is the Master of Ceremonies and the Disciplinarian. Bartles is the sardonic wisecracker. Achebe is the silent...

18 likes

No Need to PANIC - Oh Really?

Thomas Moon

Submitted to Contest #223

NO NEED TO PANIC – OH REALLY? In the fall of 1972, Greg Monson arrived on the campus of Indiana University. (The week before, he had received a letter giving him instructions on where and when to meet.) The meeting began with each of the nine new candidates introducing themselves. Followed by: “The entrance exam shouldn’t take more than thirty minutes to complete... As you know, the exam consists of questions: English/Vocabulary, Mathematics and History-Geography. You’re on your own...there will be no proctor...we o...

17 likes

bitter, cold coffee

Submitted to Contest #223

There was a pounding ache in the back of her head, ringing in her ears, and burning in her eyes. She ran her shaky hands through her messy, short hair and glared at the text book pages in front of her. Frustrated tears blurred her vision as she tried to take notes for her final philosophy paper. No one told her there would be so many essays. No one warned her how hard it would be. After all, she never had anyone; she was always alone. Angrily, she swiped her fingers under her eyes, clearing away the wet drops that were dripping out of her ti...

17 likes

Behind the Dusty Bookshelf

Timothy Gabriel

Submitted to Contest #223

Jonathon couldn’t believe his eyes. There was no way of telling from the outside of the building that this room was even here. He had discovered a small entrance discreetly hidden behind a shelf of old, rarely looked at, even more rarely used reference books gathering dust in the northeast corner of the library. Traversing a small tunnel, it eventually opened up into this large room, bristling with items that defied description. The only reason he had even been looking there was a term paper he had to write on artists forced into hiding from...

17 likes

Dog Day Aftermath: A Mike Dodge Mystery

Martin Ross

Submitted to Contest #223

A insane amount of this is true, though nobody died…November 10, 1979Indiana State UniversityTerre HauteWhen a poet laureate comes to town, folks just by god gotta know about it.OK, so it was the poet laureate of Illinois, a few miles on the wrong side of the Wabash. But Gwendoline Brooks had been named to Jimmy Carter’s Commission on the National Agenda for the Eighties (get mugged, call a cop; need a little vision for what promised to be a letdown decade, you want somebody who knows their Modernist verse). Besides, this was a universi...

17 likes

Hidden in Plain Sight

Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #223

By the time I discovered the room my Uncle James had told me was hidden in the Bodean Library I had discovered far more than the room itself. In fact, my voyage of discovery almost eclipsed the original reason for my search. I had hunted high and low and had long since given up on the room as I suspected that it was a device of Jimmy’s to hook me and have me undertake something useful in my three years away from home. Such subterfuge was not beyond my uncle, he knew that I was a kindred spirit. Everything came easily to me and as a result I ...

17 likes

Timeline Homework

Khadija S. Mohammad

Submitted to Contest #223

" - topic is the Sistine Chapel, one of the great ancients Arts."Rymere almost missed his wrist sensor vibrating Class dismissed as he lifted his head from his desk. He felt his cheek burning where he had leaned it on his arm to sleep.Around him, his classmates were tapping their home coordinates into their wrists and evaporating until he was one of only two left.His head cleared and he looked down at his wrist, tapping his own coordinates in and disappearing before he had to explain himself to the teacher.His mother opened the front door wh...

17 likes

The River of Time

Jack Kimball

Submitted to Contest #223

The truth is Jason may not have killed himself. Sure, we all knew the statistics about university students doing themselves in while pursuing dead end rip off degrees. “My generation will never have the lifestyle yours has. Baby boomer trips to Greece or Rome. River cruises on the Danube. We’re stuck in dead-end jobs, in my case manager of the convenience store near the airport. You know the one. People coming in all day after getting off a flight, coming from places we will never go. At night the homeless straggle in for warmth, gloves with...

16 likes

A survivor of exam week

Gail Ormsby

Submitted to Contest #223

Exam season was in full swing, and the air was tense. At the university, Students everywhere were spending most of their time hunched over books and laptops, cramming for their upcoming tests. Which often lasts from a week to 2 weeks, depending on how many subjects they took. Anya was no exception. She had been studying for weeks, but she still felt like she didn't know enough. To pass this chemistry test, she worried over every test, even the tiny quizzes. Anya carried a 4.0, but she always pushed herself so hard. Anya always studied until ...

16 likes

Yellow or Purple?

Luciano Cortese

Submitted to Contest #223

“The white people are at it again, Professor King.” Hiraya deadpanned as soon as she found her favorite librarian.Professor Isagani King burst into laughter, interrupting the miniature tutoring he’d been giving a student. “Apologies. Do you think you understand the material now? I can come back to help later if you need it.” He crooned softly to the student he’d been with before Hiraya entered. Hiraya picked at her dark purple uniform sweater as she waited.“I think I’ve got it now! Thank you, Professor King. Can you check my work later?” The...

16 likes

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Contest #224

This contest has ended. Thank you for your submissions.

$250

Prize money

184

Entries

83

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Nov 10, 2023 EST

Won by AnneMarie Miles 🏆

Title: Cerulean

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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