ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (December 12, 2023) – The Poynter Journalism Prizes, the newly renamed contest honoring the best in U.S. journalism, is creating a prize in honor of Roy Peter Clark, the author and longtime Poynter writing instructor often called “America’s Writing Coach.”
The Roy Peter Clark Award for Excellence in Short Writing will recognize compelling writing in any medium with pieces of 800 or fewer words. Clark, Poynter’s senior scholar who retired in 2018 after more than 40 years at Poynter and Poynter’s Tampa Bay Times, is the author and editor of 20 books, including “How to Write Short: Word Craft for Fast Times.”
Entries for the 2024 Poynter Journalism Prizes will open Jan. 8, and winners will be announced in April. This is Poynter’s first year running the 45-year-old journalism contest, which formerly was run by the News Leaders Association, with many of the categories originally coming from the American Society of News Editors’ Distinguished Writing Awards. The NLA transferred the contest to Poynter as it winds down operations.
Roy Peter Clark
“Few names are more closely associated with coaching great writing — including the skill of telling important stories in short, compelling ways — than Roy Peter Clark,” said Poynter President Neil Brown in announcing the award. “When Poynter became the new stewards of this important competition, we knew we wanted to expand the prizes to honor someone who has made a difference to the careers of so many journalists and writers over the last 40 years.”
Clark said that when it comes to journalism awards, longform work, such as investigative projects and long narratives, typically “gets the juice.”
“But when I think of the greatest writing of all time, I lean toward the short: the 23rd Psalm, the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the Gettysburg Address. Since the origins of literacy, writers have chosen to express their most important thoughts in the shortest possible texts,” Clark said.
“We know that compelling work can be accomplished in 800 words, or even in 80. We know that it can be written on deadline. Because of its brevity, short writing, at its best, creates the most memorable work in the public interest,” Clark said.
Clark was hired by Eugene Patterson, former editor of the then-St. Petersburg Times and former chairman of the Poynter Institute, as a writing coach at the paper in the 1970s. He later moved to Poynter where he taught thousands of journalists over the decades. He has written and edited many books, including 2023’s “Tell It Like It Is: A Guide to Clear and Honest Writing.” He was one of the original editors of a series of books called Best Newspaper Writing that Poynter published featuring the winners of the then-ASNE contest.
Clark will also help in the judging of the prize.
Entries for the prize may be from an individual or team, and may include up to five items, each of which must be fewer than 800 words. The winner will receive a $2,500 cash award, which is sponsored by the Poynter Institute.
The Roy Peter Clark Prize joins nine others in the 2024 Poynter Journalism Prizes competition, which also includes categories honoring overall writing excellence, local accountability reporting, column writing, social justice reporting, innovation, editorial writing, diversity, freedom of information and distinguished coverage that makes a difference to communities.
The deadline to enter is Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. Early entry discounts apply until Jan. 31, 2024. For more information, visit www.poynter.org/prizes.
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