We invite people from all perspectives and places to put their ideas into the world for the Homeworld Ideas writing challenge. We seek compelling ideas and visions that explore how biology can be studied or used for a positive future. We encourage pieces from technical experts and non-experts alike.
Homeworld Ideas is our way to provide a public sphere for creative dialogue that today might only come from university lab hallways. It is our way to encourage people to write down their ideas and to hone their storytelling, in a way that may inspire future technologies and research projects. It is writing as manifestation.
Homeworld Ideas is co-led by writer Niko McCarty (author of Codon). Runners-up prizes are generously provided by Pillar VC.
Topic: Explore how biology can enable a positive future.
Application deadline: October 15, 2023
Eligibility: All are welcome. You may submit under a pseudonym. If your submitted piece is published elsewhere, it must have been published after August 1, 2023, and you must have rights to the piece.
Prize: Grand prize is $10,000. First runner-up prize is $2,000. Third and fourth runners-up prizes are $250.
Publishing: Prize winners and honorable mentions will be published on Homeworld Collective’s website.
Details
Prompt
Help us imagine a positive future enabled by biology. Your words could paint a broad vision of the future, dive into specific details about improving some process, outline a new foundational or applied technology, or anything in between.
See the Inspiration section below for examples; they include poetry, science fiction, speculative essays, and imagined designs for future technologies.
Entry and prizes
Please submit your writing here by October 15th at 11:59pm EST. Valid entries are URLs linkingto a PDF or other text file that has not been published, an existing online publication, or anything else.
The grand prize winner will receive $10,000. The first runner-up will receive $1000, and the third and fourth runners-up will receive $250. Prize winners and honorable mentions will be published on Homeworld’s website (and we encourage entrants to publish elsewhere as well!).
Entrants grant Homeworld Collective the right to publish submitted pieces on our website upon competition entry. Winners will be announced in November.
Pieces can be argumentative, science fiction, essayistic, reportage, poetry, or anything else. There are no length restrictions or stylistic specifications. Entrants may use pseudonyms. Each entrant may submit up to three pieces for consideration.
Entrants may submit work that has already been published elsewhere, but they must retain the rights to all submitted work, as the submission may be published on Homeworld Collective's website. Previously-published submissions must have a publication date on or after 1 August, 2023.
Prize selection criteria
Winners will be selected by a panel of expert judges based on Novelty, Clarity, and Impact.
Novelty: Are the ideas original?
Clarity: Does the piece present ideas clearly? Is it well-structured? Does it communicate why the ideas matter?
Impact: Would the piece’s vision enable a positive future? Could it inspire new technology?
