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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#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

“Finished by Rachel Emma Samson” by Janni Roberts

Submitted to Contest #223

The library had been closed for two years when Rachel Samson walked into it. The shelves were empty now and dust rested peacefully where books used to stand. The lighting gave the room a yellow, hazy tone. The air was stale and hot, and Rachel could feel her allergies waking up as she walked towards what used to be the checkout counter. Yellow highlighters, sticky note pads, old pencils and library hour flyers littered the counter top. Rachel stepped behind the counter and looked around the library that she had recently inherited from an unc...

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“If You’re Quoting Me, That’ll Do” by Michael Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #223

For the past three years, California’s Tyson Tigers have been college baseball’s toothless pussy cats, with no wins in fifty-four games. When the Tigers start the current season winning ten in a row, freshman reporter Bertrum Cornell is assigned the task of demystifying the miracle. With a two-week deadline, Bertrum knows his debut article could either propel him to front-page feature writing or condemn him to writing horoscopes. As Bertrum watches the team from his seat along the first base line, the reason for the team’s success quickly b...

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“Hells Bells” by Ray Murphy

Submitted to Contest #223

Todd lifted his head from the crease of a textbook. A blue mullet. I can’t believe I dreamed I had a blue mullet. He shuddered off the idea and thought about the day ahead. That night would be another best night of his life. Fiesta Grande,he thought as he got up and accidentally kicked one of the many Red Bull cans strewn about the floor. The night before had been devoted to studying for his physics exam, after which the greatest party of the year would be held. Fiesta Grande was the best way for everyone to say goodbye until ...

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“Midterm Exam” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #223

Don’t panic. Don’t panic. As long as the exam questions don’t involve the French and Indian War, or anything from like the 1700-1900s, I’m golden. Well here we go… Name: Jennifer Carver (Do we get points for our name? I hope so, and it seems fair to give points here.) Please read the questions carefully and answer completely for full credit. Question 1: Evaluate the extent to which the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War, 1754–1763) marked a turning point in American relations with Great Britain. Further a...

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“Professor Hawthorne's Hidden Chamber” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #223

"I have A Ouija Board." Meghan pulled it out from under her bed. We were both undergraduates at Hopkins University in Barton, Indiana, sharing A room in the dormitories. "My parents would have A fit if they could see this." She shook my head as she closed my biology textbook. Studying seemed suddenly out of the question. Once Meghan got an idea in her head, it was hard to talk her out of it and to be honest, I needed A distraction. Biology made my mind foggy. "I got something from my boyfriend Clint after class." S...

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“The Shift” by Chris Miller

Submitted to Contest #223

Barnaby gazed out of his office window and imagined himself smoking moodily on the steel footbridge three floors below. He missed smoking and in his daydreams about it he was often overcoated and windswept in some gritty urban setting, giving off a sort of vaguely eastern European vibe. The footbridge over Chancellor’s Drive wasn’t exactly the Berlin Wall, but the mean little bridge which stapled the concrete campus to a surrounding fringe of woodland was the best he could do. Three papers was all he’d got through before his mind ha...

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“Behind Closed Doors” by Hayden Gabrilska

Submitted to Contest #223

It was my first year at Mason University, known for its horror stories and urban legends. I did not come here for that reason; in fact, I did not wish to entertain the idea of the truth behind those stories. But the superstition found me, anyway. It seemed as if once every class, a student would bring up an unnatural account from the night before. And the teachers always bared the same response: nerves, and then, denial. Words may have been enough to fool other students, but body language told me more. The teachers were hiding something, and...

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“War” by John Jeffire

Submitted to Contest #223

War American History. Honkey history. Presidents and generals and captains of industry. All white. All male. Wouldn’t know there was a woman or black or brown or yellow or red person ever set foot on the continent except to pick cotton or stand up for target practice in another glorious military victory. Enslaved our bodies, now trying to enslave our brains. Count on one hand anyone who questions a damn thing in this school. Where our role models? Only black people work here are custodians, secur...

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“346a” by Lara Deppe

Submitted to Contest #223

Like a true nerd, Rue was caught up in her pysch textbook and had lost all track of time. #easily distractible. She cursed as she looked at her watch. And cursed again for good measure. She crammed the volume in her backpack and threw it over her right shoulder where it thumped heavily against her back and sprinted for the library doors. #lateforworkagain. She had found a grassy spot in the sunshine and was soaking up some Vitamin D while exploring the vast expanse of the human brain. Rue had been promised that her general ed classes at...

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“Typewritten Treason” by Keelan LaForge

Submitted to Contest #223

Trigger Warning - references to sexual abuse. I was an overeager reporter with a dodgy laptop and an unquenchable thirst for stories. My university had its own newspaper and I’d signed up to it as soon as I’d enrolled in my classes. I didn’t know what on Earth I’d end up writing about, but I knew when I got to hear that comforting clickety clack of an overworked keyboard, I was bound to be happy. Whenever I walked into the paper room, it was strangely quiet. I’d expected the buzz of a typical newspaper, but maybe there was limited news...

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“The Celestial Odyssey” by Zachary Marsh

Submitted to Contest #223

Samuel Hawthorne, a lanky figure with unruly curls and a pair of glasses perched on his nose, had always felt an invisible pull towards the arcane and the unknown. His roots in the small town of Hawthorne Hollow, steeped in familial traditions of stargazing, had laid the foundation for a cosmic journey that would intersect with the venerable halls of Harvard in ways he could never have anticipated. It was during Samuel's sophomore year, a seemingly ordinary evening in the labyrinthine corridors of Widener Library, that the course of his aca...

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“Misunderstood Communications” by Evan S.

Submitted to Contest #223

What am I going to do? What am I going to do? I didn’t sleep last night, and now it’s exam day and I’m hardly pre- “Jeez Lily, relax, it’s not a matter of life or death” Startled, I turn around abruptly, snapped out of my thoughts by Jill. Jill looks back at me. “What? I can see you sweating, and I know you’re worried about the exam because you’ve been muttering to yourself about it for the past 10 minutes.” I sigh. Jill is always everything that I’m not. Relaxed, extremely intelligent, and just overall better than me. With long, perfect bla...

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“My first 'meet cute'” by Rebecca Detti

Submitted to Contest #223

Rachel was ridiculously relieved when at last she saw the signs on the motorway for Bath. She wasn’t clueless behind the wheel but had found herself turning off prematurely a few times on the journey from Cornwall. When she felt completely lost, she’d had to park up somewhere to reset, look at the map, grab a coffee, quick wee break and then chant quite a few positive mantras mostly to help her stay awake for the last few miles ‘Come on Rachel, stay awake, almost there.’In recent years, Rachel and her best friend from college, Fiona or ‘Fi-F...

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“The Cost of Magic” by Amanda Stone

Submitted to Contest #223

One. The library sat in eerie silence as if the hands of time had coiled around the ancient shelves, and the air was thick with the scent of parchment and the forgotten wisdom of the ages. Aria's footsteps barely made a sound as she ventured deeper into the corridors, her heart driven by an inexplicable force. It was like an invisible thread, woven with ancient secrets, had entwined itself around her heart, urging her forward. In the dim light of the flickering candle, she discovered an unassuming door, its wood weathered by countless years....

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“The Lost Chamber of Knowledge: Unveiling Secrets in the University Library” by Ryan Middleton

Submitted to Contest #223

In the heart of the sprawling university campus, the library stood as a monument to knowledge, its massive stone walls exuding an air of wisdom accumulated over centuries. For Andrew, a diligent history major with a hunger for adventure, this place was not just a center of learning but an uncharted territory brimming with the potential for discovery. Over the years, Andrew had spent countless hours within the library's grand halls, poring over dusty tomes, crumbling manuscripts, and hidden treasures. He felt an inexplicable connection to t...

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$250

Prize money

184

Contest entries

84

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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