Calling all storytellers! When was the last time you read a great piece of writing? What quality made you want to share it far and wide? Why did it strike such a powerful chord? If you were asked to replicate that feeling — to craft an essay that leaves readers caught up in the rapture of an unforgettable narrative — could you do it?

We believe you could. You showed us as much in the past: the Pandemic Reflections writing prompt resulted in hundreds of submissions in the first month. Our call for entries to the #StopAsianHate blog resulted in hundreds of perspectives shared in the first week. And now we want to help discover and nurture great writing again, with The Medium Writers Challenge.

The challenge, which will take place over the course of four weeks, is a chance for you to share your best ideas with an esteemed panel of judges and millions of Medium readers — plus, an opportunity to win $50,000.

Here’s how it will work. We’re providing four guiding prompts: Reentry, Death, Work, and Space. Each is accompanied by a descriptive paragraph to help you get your wheels turning — but don’t feel confined. Your experiences or perspectives might take you down other roads that are well within the parameters of the prompt.

An expert panel of cultural leaders, editors, and writers will join as guest judges to select their favorites. Those judges include

With the help of the judging panel, Medium will select four finalist winners — one for each prompt — who will each be awarded with $10,000 each. One of the four finalists will be selected for a grand prize of $50,000. Additionally, 100 honorable mention selections will each win $100.

Entering the challenge is easy: Just write to one — or more — of the writing prompts outlined below, and include the associated tag when publishing your story on Medium. (Once you hit “Publish” on your post, you can type it into the “Add a tag…” box.)

REENTRY

Tell us about an experience you’ve had coming back to something — or someone — after time away. What changed in your absence? How did youchange? What are the funny moments, faux pas, discomforts, and joys that came with returning to an old situation (or your pre-pandemic life) with new eyes?

TAG: MWC Reentry
JUDGES: Imani Perry, Julio Vincent Gambuto, Saeed Jones, Jude Ellison Doyle

DEATH

People die, of course, but so do other things. Ideals. Relationships. Jobs. Life phases. Pieces of who we once were. A death isn’t always inherently sad, either; sometimes, it’s a positive step, freeing us from what was weighing us down or allowing us to move forward. Illusions can die. Grudges. Bad habits. Tell us about a death you’ve experienced, for better or worse, and how you marked the loss — whether it was with mourning or celebration.

TAG: MWC Death
JUDGES: Susan Orlean, Robert Kolker, kelly corrigan, Eve L. Ewing

WORK

“Work” is a term that contains multitudes. Maybe your work is a key pillar of your identity. Maybe it’s the thing that allows you to focus on other pursuits. Maybe it fulfills you; maybe it drains you. Maybe the real work in your life isn’t the same as the way you make money. We want to know what “work” means to you — and the factors that have shaped your thinking. What’s the most important work you do, however you define it? What’s the value of work in your life? What’s your dream job? Isthere such a thing as a dream job? Is there a moment, a person, a role that’s changed the way you approach your work?

TAG: MWC Work
JUDGES: Roxane Gay, Kurt Andersen, David Dennis, Jr.

SPACE

Whether we’re letting our imaginations run wild or focusing on what’s in front of us, our day-to-day lives are defined by space: living space, personal space, outer space. We make space. We claim space. We practice social distancing. We turn spaces into homes, into communities, into refuges, and we forge relationships with others and ourselves within those spaces. We wonder, with varying degrees of skepticism and belief, about the beings that occupy the space beyond our planet. However you define it, tell us a story about a role space has played in your life.

TAG: MWC Space
JUDGES: Natalie Portman, Dao-Yi Chow, Bonsu Thompson