The Crowder Quill, Crowder College’s literary-art magazine, is now accepting entries with revamped contest categories emphasizing digital art.
As the course that produces the Quill transitions into the Career and Creative Writing certificate at Crowder, 2D and 3D Art categories will be discontinued in order to align with curriculum, create more space for writing, and encourage digital visual arts streamlined into one category: Digital Art.
“Artists working in traditional 2D and 3D are encouraged to enter the Digital Art category by adapting their work and exploring new creative skillsets,” stated Latonia Bailey, Quill Adviser. For example, artists may scan a painting into editing software to add finishing touches.
Digital Art also includes computer-generated artwork and heavily edited photographs that use special effects. Examples include graphic designs created in Adobe Illustrator and creative photo edits made in Photoshop. For more information, read “Contest Opens with Altered Categories” at CrowderQuill.com.
Starting with the 2026-27 contest, the Quill will accept entries in six categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, color photography, black-and-white photography, and digital art.
“This move to a new program allows the magazine to continue its 45-year tradition of supporting and celebrating creativity at Crowder College and in the surrounding community,” Bailey said.
Entries should be submitted digitally through the online portal at www.CrowderQuill.com under the “To Enter Contest” tab. Participants may submit up to four entries per category by the Feb. 1 deadline. Full guidelines and details are available on the website.
The contest is open to Crowder College students, area high school students, and community members. High school entrants are also eligible to win a $500 scholarship for top placement in each category.
Entries are eligible from within a 100-mile radius of any Crowder College campus. The Crowder Quill is a nationally award-winning publication.
Winners will be notified by mid-March with the publication available in May. The magazine is distributed free on campus, throughout the community, and online.
Begun in 1980, the Crowder Quill is a free literary/art magazine published at Crowder College in order to encourage and showcase the creative abilities of local writers, artists, and photographers, as well as provide a cultural link between Crowder College and our surrounding communities.
The Crowder Quill course is produced by students in COMM 215 Publication and Production in which students gain hands-on experience in publication production and promotion, content selection, professional design, and editing as well as self-publication.
