The Zebulon Awards are presented to the winners of the Pikes Peak Writers Fiction Contest each year during the Awards Banquet at the Pikes Peak Writers Conference.

The ​Zebulon began as the ​Paul Gillette Memorial Writing Contest in 1998 in conjunction with the sixth annual Pikes Peak Writers Conference (PPWC). It was named ​to​ honor Paul Gillette (1938-1996), who was a New York Times Best Seller, a member of the faculty at the first PPWC, and a mentor of the Conference’s founder, Jimmie Butler.

Prior to 1998, the PPWC co-sponsored a writing contest with the Friends of the Pikes Peak Library District, so the history of a Pikes Peak Writers writing contest is as old as the Pikes Peak Writers Conference itself!

In 2010 the contest became known as the Pikes Peak Writers Fiction ​Writing ​Contest​, better known as The Zebulon, a reference to 19th century explorer Zebulon Pike for which Pike’s Peak is named​. Winners ​of The Zebulon can be proud of their ties to the rich history of this contest.

To read more about ​The Zebulon Awards, and see a list of the most recent ​winning writers, please visit our Contest page.