Dorothy Clarke Wilson Peace Writing Prize 2026
Dorothy Clarke Wilson of 91, was an internationally known peacemaker who was committed to writing on social issues and world peace. To encourage today’s University of Maine students to share in the commitment, Dorothy Clarke Wilson established a $500 annual award for the most compelling written work on a peace-related topic. This competition is open to all University of Maine students.
2026 Topic
Applicants were asked to respond in a submission of around 750 words to the following quote by Bell Hooks:
“Beloved community is formed not by the eradication of difference but by its affirmation, by each of us claiming the identities and cultural legacies that shape who we are and how we live in the world”
—Bell Hooks, Killing Rage: Ending Racism
2026 Winner of DCW Peace Writing Prize: Alicia Bell
From Our Director: “Congratulations to the 2026 Dorothy Clarke Wilson Peace Prize winner, Alicia Bell! A graduate student in the Intermedia MFA and Digital Curation programs at the University of Maine. She is a full-blooded Navajo from the Rotating Mountain reservation in New Mexico. Her work centers on Indigenous knowledge, digital media, and storytelling, focusing on her culture. She lives in Ellsworth, ME, where she continues to develop projects that bring together tradition and technology.”
Read Alicia Bell’s winning piece, Hózhǫ́ǫ́gi naaznilígíí: Honoring Difference Through the Navajo Loom, here: