Damon Runyon Writing Contest
for Pueblo High School Students
Calling all high school students in Pueblo, Colorado! This is your chance to showcase your storytelling skills and connect with other young creatives!
Why let AI have all the fun? You can write your own story and win prize money based on your creativity. And what better place for story inspiration than Pueblo, Colorado? (See “Who was Damon Runyon?” page below.)
Pueblo Central
Pueblo East
Pueblo Centennial
Pueblo West
Pueblo South
Pueblo County
Creative people are interesting!
Contest Rules
Eligible Participants: All public, private, and online students who attend a high school in Pueblo, Colorado, during the 2026-27 school year.
How to Enter: Submissions must be received no later than March 15, 2027, via the submission link. Hard copies can be submitted if desired. Recommended format is .pdf, but Word is acceptable.
Genres & Themes: All genres and themes are welcome.
Categories (3):
Short stories/books or plays: Short stories should be a minimum of 1,000 words, with no maximum length. Plays/movie scripts should be no less than 10 pages (approximately 10 minutes) to full length.
Pre-defined scenario: Write a story or play based on the following scenario:
The year is 2050. Riley graduated from a Pueblo high school in 2027 and is going to meet his/her former prom date at a famous Pueblo eatery (Pass Key, Mill Stop, Gray’s Coors Tavern, Fuel & Iron or other). The prom date, who moved away from Pueblo following graduation, is visiting his/her grandparents in Pueblo.
***
The story or play should explore what Pueblo might look like in 25 years, what happened to classmates who graduated, as well as Riley’s role and the decisions that shaped his/her future. Note: The story or play can exist entirely in the eatery or expand to multiple settings and characters.
Miscellaneous category: If you write it, we’ll read it. Possibilities include poetry, songs, comic strips, monologues, a description of how you see your life turning out, etc. We suggest that submissions tell a story.
Maximum Submissions: Participants may enter one submission per category (three entries total). Entries that are written as an assigned school project are eligible for submission as long as they fulfill all contest requirements.
Prizes
Short Stories, Books, Plays
First place, $500 Second place, $200 Third place, $50
Pre-defined Scenario
First place, $500 Second place, $200 Third place, $50
Miscellaneous
First place, $200 Second place, $100 Third place, $25
Contest organizers reserve the right to change the number of winners based on the quantity and quality of the submissions.
Stories will be judged on the following (1-10 in each category):
Storytelling/plot
Originality/creativity
Emotional impact/engagement
Clarity/writing skills
Overall impression
Winners are selected by contest judges. All decisions are final.
Judging Criteria
Entries must be the original work of an individual student. Participants may not use AI to create an entry. Judges may request copies of early drafts of works to verify the author’s compliance with this rule.
Entries must not have been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Entries may be submitted to other contests.
Disqualifications:
Plagiarized content will result in disqualification.
Stories that contain libelous or inappropriate content will not be considered.
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) or automated writing tools in the creation or development of an entry will result in disqualification.
Illustration and Publication Rights: By entering the contest, participants grant the organizers the right to publish their stories in an anthology or in promotional materials. All other rights remain with the author.
Reservation of Rights: We reserve the right to modify, amend, or change contest rules at our discretion, at any time, without prior notice. It is the responsibility of the participant or user to review and stay informed about any updates to the rules.
Other Information
Damon Runyon was one of America’s most distinctive short-story writers and playwrights. The hit Broadway play Guys and Dolls, which is still produced today, was based on stories, characters, and plots created by Runyon.
What is not well known is that Runyon spent his adolescence in Pueblo, Colorado, an experience that deeply shaped his writing voice, humor, and interest in colorful characters.
Runyon moved to Pueblo in 1887 at the age of seven, when the town was a booming steel and railroad center. As a teenager, he took his first step into professional writing at The Pueblo Chieftain, where he covered baseball, boxing, crime, and human-interest stories. Often getting tips and tall tales from gamblers, hustlers, and saloon regulars who wandered Union and Santa Fe Avenues, Runyon developed his tough, slang-filled, humorous “Runyonese” style of writing from the characters he observed in the Steel City.
In his early twenties, Runyon left Colorado for Kansas City, later moving to New York. Still, he repeatedly credited Pueblo as the place where he learned to write, observe, and appreciate the peculiar charm of street-level Americana.
Who was Damon Runyon?
Should I enter?
If you have an imagination, you should enter.
The Damon Runyon Writing Contest is designed to reward great stories, values, and connections over technical writing skills.
Damon Runyon, the contest’s namesake, would have encouraged you to enter. Bright, but undisciplined, he was not particularly fond of sitting in class. While Runyon attended local schools, he was more drawn to work, and writing about the street life around him.
In fact, Runyon had so many run-ins with school authorities that his father sent him to a Kansas military academy for a year to straighten him out. He later returned to Pueblo, where he graduated.
In other words, if you’ve gotten into a little trouble during your school years, you should really enter this contest. Turn your life experiences into a story! And if you haven’t gotten into trouble, you should enter the contest too.
Uncertain where to start?
Hollywood has always liked coming-of-age stories that describe what it is like to grow up as a teenager in the current world. And as we know, it’s not easy these days.
Your story could include drama, comedy, inspiration, or a combination of emotions.
When outlining your story, think about:
What struggles is a character facing?
What choices do they make as a result of those struggles?
How do their choices change the character internally and in society?
You have it in you. It takes courage to try—writers often open themselves up, which can be scary…but also rewarding.
You have it in you. Your creativity makes you interesting!
Damon Runyon Contest
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Damon Runyon Contest 〰️
Enter Contest
For each entry, please include a cover page that includes the title and contact information.
Pueblo photos were made available by local photographers at SharePueblo.com.