sUBMISSIONS ARE Now cLOSED For
The 2nd Annual
Liminal Scholarship

wINNER WILL BE aNNOUCNED IN MAY 2024!

Sponsored by Deuxmers Publishing & S. K. Kruse

The Liminal Scholarship: $500

Submission Deadline: February 29, 2024

Award Date: May 2024

Dr. Timothy Carson

This year’s essay contest will be
judged by Dr. Timothy Carson.

Timothy Carson is an author, teacher, writer, TedX speaker, and web curator. He is the author and editor of four books on liminality and teaches liminal studies in the Honors College of the University of Missouri.

The Liminal Scholarship Criteria

  • Applicants must be 18 or older and enrolled in an undergraduate program at an accredited college or university in the U.S. for the 2023-2024 or 2024-2025 academic year.

  • Scholarship winner must send proof of enrollment prior to receiving funds.

  • Applicants shall submit an essay of 700-1,000 words on an aspect or aspects of liminality in “The Ferryman and His Brother” from S. K. Kruse’s short story collection, Tales From the Liminal. A free copy of the story can be downloaded here. (No purchase required.)

  • Applicants must fill out and submit the online application form and essay by 11:59 pm CST, February 29, 2024. Application form can be found below.

  • The decisions of the judge are final and binding.

  • Friends and relatives of publisher, author, and judge are ineligible to apply.

    BE sure to:

  • Remove ALL identifying information from essay document

  • Include ONLY YOUR INITIALS with essay title and page number in header of each page

  • MATCH essay title in form field to essay title in document

  • Use standard MLA formatting

In May of 2024, the scholarship winner will be notified and shared on skkruse.com, deuxmers.com, and social media, as well as with scholarship winner’s school and relevant media outlets. A picture and short bio of the winner will be requested at that time. The winning essay will be posted to skkruse.com and deuxmers.com.

So, what is THE LIMINAL, anyway?

THE LIMINAL is a time, place, or state of being that’s transitional. (Though you can get stuck there, so watch out for that.)  It’s often described as “betwixt and between” or “neither here nor there.” If it’s a time, it could be the summer you graduate from high school before you leave for college, a stint of unemployment, or a time of war. If it’s a place, it could be an elevator, airport, staircase, or hallway. If it’s a state of being, you’ve got soul work to do. You didn’t end up there by accident. Some new thing is emerging in you, and for that to happen, some old things need to die away. Darkness, confusion, and disorientation are to be expected. Don’t be afraid though. Let the liminal do its work. You’ll be glad you did.

The Liminal Scholarship

And in case you missed last year’s announcement…

CONGRATULATIONS TO the WINNER OF the
2023 LIMINAL SCHOLARSHIP,
AUDREY SIZEMORE of Arizona State University, for her essay “In Between at the Stretch Motel.”

Thank you to all who submitted essays for the 2023 Liminal Scholarship! We received a number of excellent essays and, of course, one by ChatGPT (which was nowhere near the quality of the essays written by the humans.) Thank you to Dr. Lee Siegel, Emeritus Professor of Religion at the University of Hawaii and author of many books including Love in a Dead Language, for judging the contest.