English Department Essay Contest Deadline is May 3

Students, turn your prose into profit and get published! Enter your essays in the Kalamazoo Valley Community College annual essay contest to be eligible to compete for cash awards and publication in the 2019 volume of Winning Essays. This publication becomes part of the Kalamazoo Valley library’s permanent collection. Entries should be essays written in English 098, 110, 111, and 160. In addition, essays written in any 200-level English literature class may also be entered in the contest. Winners will be notified by mail during the summer of 2019 as soon as the judges have made their decisions. Just follow the directions on the entry form. The final deadline for submission is Friday, May 3, 2019.

The Ron Miazga Memorial Award for Descriptive Writing, a category introduced in the 2012-2013 essay contest, will be part of this year’s competition as well. The $150 award for this category’s winner will recognize the essay or short fiction piece that best captures a sense of place. The winner should demonstrate effective descriptive writing, which includes such elements as specific detail, figurative language, and an appeal to multiple senses. Freshness, vividness, and inventiveness in language that put the reader in the place the writer has experienced or imagined is critical to this effort. Essays entered in this category should have been written in English 110, 111, 160, or 220 during the summer and fall of 2018 and the winter of 2019.

Essays are due no later than 5 p.m., Friday, May 3, 2019, to the Faculty Reception Desk. All entries should be marked to the attention of Caroline Whiting.

Entry Form

NOTE: Submissions must include two printed copies of your essay and an electronic submission to the following email address: engessay@kvcc.edu. A hard copy of the entry form, with your signature, must be turned in with the hard copies of your essays. You may submit two different essays, not more than that.