Free contest, ESC Student Writing Competition, top prize: £300 (UK)

Deadline: 3 May 2011

Student Writing Competition 2011

“What do English or Creative Writing have to say to an age of austerity?”

Answer this question in a 1000 word essay or piece of creative writing, and you could win £300 (and the runner-up £200) in gift vouchers from a major high street retailer of your choice. This opportunity is open to anyone studying English Literature, Language or Creative Writing as part of their degree course.

The winning entry will be published on the English Subject Centre website, featured in our magazine WordPlayand the writer will be invited to the Higher Education Academy Conference in Nottingham on July 5th-6th 2011, all expenses paid.

NB: We reserve editorial rights for any essays we choose to publish.

Deadline for submission: 3rd May 2011.

Why not have a look at the winning entries from previous years?

If you have any questions please email esc@rhul.ac.uk .

Please email your essay on the attached application form to esc@rhul.ac.uk.

Additional Guidance

Entries will be assessed against the following criteria and should:

* Answer the question by clearly communicating your opinion to others based on your experience of Higher Education.
* Be addressed to the general public rather than to the Subject Centre or an academic audience.
* Relate to what you are learning and experiencing in your course and in higher education.
* Be sensitive to cultural, contextual and institutional differences (i.e. it should not expose particular individuals or openly criticise an individual department. Ideally you should anonomise the entry or, if used, we will.)
* Provide an individual and honest account.
* Be entertaining and interesting to read.
* Be well written in terms of structure, grammar and spelling.
* Not exceed the 1000 word limit by more than 10% either way.
* Be submitted in electronic format (with the coversheet below pasted at the top of the essay) to esc@rhul.ac.uk by the 3rd May 2011.

Downloads

Application form - Please add the cover page to the top of your essay and submit to esc@rhul.ac.uk

If you are an English Lecturer and would like to advertise the competition to your students a poster is now available to download.

More information here.