Part of the inspiring legacy of Paul Kalanithi is his bestselling memoir When Breath Becomes Air. His use of creative writing as he searched for meaning through his illness has inspired Stanford’s Palliative Care Section to sponsor a writing contest in his name.

For the second year, the Palliative Care Section is soliciting unpublished short stories, essays and poems for the Kalanithi Award. Open through December 1, 2017, the contest focuses on work that addresses patients and providers facing chronic or life limiting illness.

Although Stanford affiliates are encouraged to submit their writing, the contest is open to all. Prose entries must be fewer than 4,000 words, and poems must be fewer than 50 lines. Please submit writing to pamanda@stanford.edu. Judges include Lucy Kalanithi, MD, professor of primary care and population health, and  Abraham Verghese, MD, professor of medicine, and other Stanford faculty.

Three winners will be published in Pegasus, and a Stanford Palliative Care benefactor has made possible an honorarium.