The Diana Woods Memorial Award in | Winners & Finalists
Creative Nonfiction

About the award
Lunch Ticket is honored to serve as the host for the Diana Woods Memorial Award in Creative Nonfiction.

Author Diana Woods exuded unwavering intellectual curiosity, pursuing and receiving secondary degrees in law, social work, political science, and most recently, creative writing. She received her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in creative writing from Antioch University Los Angeles in 2011 at the age of 70.

Diana was born on May 31, 1941 in Long Beach, California and passed on November 2, 2012 at the age of 71 from a recurrent battle with ovarian cancer. She is survived by her son Brian, his wife Emily, their son Benjamin, as well as her daughter Rani and Rani’s fiancée Sonia. When asked how she wanted to be remembered, Diana wrote, “I had so many goals and too little time.” Her passion for exploration of place, self, and identity remains timeless. Diana wrote and published regularly throughout the last decade of her life.

The Diana Woods Memorial (DWM) Award in creative nonfiction was established in Diana’s memory by her family, friends, and the Antioch University Los Angeles MFA community. DWM serves as a special opportunity for authors worldwide to be published in the literary journal Lunch Ticket. Launched in the spring of 2012, Lunch Ticket is produced by the Antioch University Los Angeles MFA program, an innovative creative writing graduate program devoted to the education of literary artists, community engagement, and the pursuit of social justice.

Twice each year an author of a work of creative nonfiction will be selected for the DWM award by the Woods family, a member of the AULA MFA faculty in creative nonfiction, and a special guest judge. The winning submissions will be published in Lunch Ticket and the recipient will receive $250. One author will be chosen for the Summer/Fall issue of Lunch Ticket and one in the Winter/Spring issue.

How to submit
Creative nonfiction authors are invited to submit an essay of up to 5,000 words on the subject of their choice to be considered for the Diana Woods Memorial (DWM) Award in creative nonfiction. Winners will receive $250 and their work will be featured in the next issue of Lunch Ticket. Each award recipient must submit a 100-word biography, current photo, and send a brief note of thanks to the Woods’ family.

To submit, please click on the button called “Submit to Lunch Ticket” above, and choose the category called “Diana Woods Memorial Award.”

The reading period for the award will be February and March for the issue that publishes in June, and August and September for the issue that publishes in December. Please note that previously published work will not be accepted.

All submissions for the award will be considered for publication in Lunch Ticket.