Entries Now Open:
The 2013 Commonwealth
Essay Competition
(win a trip to UK)
Deadline: 1 May 2013Are you a writer? Are you interested in the world around you? Do you want your voice to be heard by others? If so, the Commonwealth Essay Competition is definitely for you. We encourage you to be creative in your response to our topics. You can submit a poem, letter, article, story, essay or even a short play. The choice is yours. Just get writing!
Every year, the Commonwealth Essay Competition inspires thousands of young writers from all over the world. Run by the Royal Commonwealth Society since 1883, it is the world's oldest and largest schools' international writing competition. Past winners include Mr Lee Hsien Loong, the Prime Minister of Singapore and Elspeth Huxley.
The competition is free to enter and in 2012 over 1,000 young writers, from 245 schools, in 38 countries across the Commonwealth received an award for their entry.
For 2013, we're delighted to announce that the Competition will be run in partnership with Cambridge University Press, whose support will enable us to engage even more young writers across the Commonwealth.
The Competition celebrates and nurtures the creative talents of young people across the Commonwealth, providing a platform for students to compete with their peers in each of the 54 nations which make up this unique association. Entrants are judged in two age groups, Junior (under 14 years) and Senior (14-18 years).
The closing date is 1st May 2013 and results will be announced in the autumn of next year, when a Junior and Senior Prize Winner and Runner Up will be announced and our judges will make a number of Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards.
PRIZES:
TOPICS:
- Win a certificate
- Win resources for your school
- Be flown to London
- Be invited to meet famous authors; take part in workshops to learn news skills; and do work experience at international organisations
- See your entry featured in RCS publications and worldwide media
Junior Category (Born after 1st May 1999)
Senior Category (Born between 2nd May 1994 and 1st May 1999)
- When has hard work paid off for you?
- Creative thinking saved the day.
- Tell us about a moment of opportunity which changed the life of your family, community,
- country, continent or the entire planet.
- Is change a good thing?
- Opportunities galore!
Junior and Senior (A bonus topic open to all entrants)
- A funding agency has asked you to make a pitch for an idea involving schools that would benefit your community.
- “I knew this was my moment.”
- Discuss one or more examples of social and/or environmental development where enterprise
- plays, or could play, a key role in changing the way people live.
- “How enterprising!” a voice said as I closed the door behind me.
- Are we too risk-conscious these days?
RULES:
- To boldly go ...”
*As Hong Kong is a former British Overseas Territory residents and/or nationals of Hong Kong are eligible to enter. Fiji is currently suspended from the Commonwealth but nationals and/or residents are still eligible to enter. Although Zimbabwe left the Commonwealth in 2003 residents and/or nationals are still eligible to enter.
- The Competition is open to nationals or residents of all Commonwealth countries and territories.
- Special dispensation applies to entrants from Hong Kong, Fiji and Zimbabwe who are entitled to enter the Competition.
- Entrants must select a Senior or Junior topic depending on how old they are on 1st May 2013.
- Entries must be written in English and be the original work of the writer.
- Entrants must submit an entry form alongside their entries and complete all the mandatory fi elds.
- The maximum word-counts are 1500 words for Senior entries and 750 words for Junior entries.
- Entries will be disqualifi ed if they fail to meet these requirements.
HOW TO ENTER
Via the internet: Entries can be submitted online in 2013 at www.thercs.org/youth/competitions. Please read all the information and follow the instructions carefully. It is essential that entrants fi ll in the mandatory fi elds in the online entry form.
By Post: Please complete your entry form in block capitals and attach it to the front
of your essay. Send entries…Download: entry form (for submissions by post)
- Directy to us: Fao Young Commonwealth Competitions, The Royal Commonwealth Society, 25 Northumberland Avenue, London, Wc2N 5Ap Uk
- Americas/Caribbean: Fao Young Commonwealth Comeptitions, The British Council, 19 St. Clair Avenue, St. Clair, Port Of Spain, Trinidad And Tobago
- Africa: Fao Young Commonwealth Comeptitions, Baobab College, Po Box 350099, Chilanga, Zambia OR Fao Young Commonwealth Competitions, The British High Commission, Po Box 296, Accra, Ghana
CONTACT INFORMATION:
For queries: competitions@thercs.org
For submissions: via the online submission website
Website: http://www.thercs.org/
Disclaimer: Writers Afrika is a resource for writers and is not involved in this opportunity or associated with its organizers. Queries and submissions should be directed to the appropriate e-mail address found under the Contact Information section of this post.