Essay Competition
Every year we hold an annual Essay Competition, with prizes for the best essays in first-year, second-year, and upper-division courses, as well as prizes for runners-up in each category. These are judged by our Awards Committee at the end of the Spring semester. Make sure you keep copies of your best writing throughout the year for submission to the committee. See below for procedures and deadlines; there will also be announcements in your classes.
The English department also hosts an Awards Ceremony each September, during which we honour the winners of the Essay Competition and the various scholarships and awards.
English Department Essay Competition:
Regulations and Process
Important note: Please include, with all submissions, an email address and phone number. And if you wish to have your material returned to you, please include a "SASE" - self-addressed, stamped envelope (see sample).
Submit all entries to:
Clay Armstrong, Sandra Hagan, or Richard Arnold
in the English Department
All submissions must be works written by students for VIU English courses and recommended to the competition by English instructors.
Submissions will be accepted from students at all levels, first to fourth year.
Normally submissions will be presented in the research essay format with MLA or APA documentation; however, other writings (short essays, reader responses, for example) will be considered.
Essays from both fall and spring semesters will be accepted.
Instructors may recommend a maximum of 2 submissions by a student in a given course.
All submissions must have the original marked and graded assignment, and a revised/rewritten copy.
Students who wish to have their papers returned must supply a large, self-addressed and stamped envelope.
All submissions must be received by a member of the Essay Competition Committee no later than the second Friday in May.
Normally, adjudicators will decide on one first-place award and one second-place award for each of the 4 years of English courses. However, it is possible in a given year to have more than one first-place award or none.
In the event that only one essay is submitted for a given year, that essay may be awarded honourable mention if warranted.
Awards will be based on the year of the course for which the essay was written, not the year of the student’s programme.
Students will be informed of the competition results by letter in June. Winners will be congratulated and non-winners thanked for their submissions.
An informal awards ceremony will be held in September to honour award winners. First and second place winners will receive a book prize/book certificate and a certificate of recognition. As well, the winning essays will be made available in a booklet of photocopies which will be kept in the department archives and at the Writing Centre.