Penguin Random House | New York, 10/14/2022

‘Michelle Obama Award for Memoir’ Makes Its Debut

For 29 years now, Penguin Random House has awarded college scholarships to public high school students in the U.S. as part of its Creative Writing Awards writing competition. Now, the U.S. publishing group is dedicating one of the competition’s categories, “Memoir/Personal Essay,” to Michelle Obama, former First Lady of the U.S. and bestselling Penguin Random House author.

Penguin Random House in the U.S. is dedicating a category of its annual “Creative Writing Awards” writing competition to Michelle Obama, former First Lady of the U.S. and bestselling Penguin Random House author. On November 15, Penguin Random House will publish “The Light We Carry,” Michelle Obama’s new book, in all its markets worldwide, as reported. Beginning next year, the “Michelle Obama Award for Memoir” will be awarded, along with a $10,000 college scholarship, to a public high school student in the U.S. for a literary work in the memoir/personal essay category.

“I know firsthand how nerve-wracking it can be to share the most intimate stories from your life with the world,” said Mrs. Obama, commenting on the prize. “But after publishing my memoir ‘Becoming’, I’ve learned that writing your own story can be a powerful tool. When we share the whole of ourselves, we offer others the opportunity to not only see us as we are, but maybe even think about themselves in a new way. This allows us to harness the things that set us apart and helps us see the world as the nuanced, messy, beautiful place that it is. That’s why I am so excited about this new award, and I can’t wait to read what this next generation of young writers will share with us all.”

“Through her decades-long commitment to supporting educational opportunity and mentorship, Michelle Obama has established herself as a forceful champion of the creative potential of young people,” says David Drake, President of Crown, the Random House imprint that published “Becoming” and will publish her forthcoming book, “The Light We Carry”. “Just as her own memoir Becoming inspired millions of readers of all generations to recognize the value of their own stories, we hope the Michelle Obama Award for Memoir will encourage students to discover and cherish the power of their own voice through storytelling.”

Since 1993, the Creative Writing Awards program has awarded more than $2.8 million to public high school students. The prizes are awarded annually in four categories: Original Poetry (the Amanda Gorman Award for Poetry), Memoir/Personal Essay (now the Michelle Obama Award for Memoir), Fiction/Drama, and Spoken Word Composition (the Maya Angelou Award for Spoken Word). A fifth prize, the NYC Entrant Award, traditionally goes to a young writer from New York, where Penguin Random House is headquartered. The Creative Writing Awards program is run in partnership with the grassroots non-profit We Need Diverse Books, which advocates for more diversity in children’s and youth literature.

This year’s competition launched on Wednesday, October 12 and closes on February 1, or when 1,000 applications have been reached, whichever occurs first. Current high school seniors who attend public school in the United States, including the District of Columbia and all U.S. territories, and are planning to attend college – either a two-year or four-year institution – in the fall of 2023 are encouraged to apply.

In addition to the scholarships, Penguin Random House hosts a virtual development week for the Creative Writing Awards winners each summer that includes one-on-one virtual meetings with Penguin Random House editors, networking workshops, a panel about career opportunities in publishing, and fireside chats with Penguin Random House authors.