Essay Contest
To foster the study and appreciation of Jane Austen, JASNA conducts an annual student Essay Contest, with support generously provided by the Sonia Raiziss Giop Charitable Foundation.
Students interested in the life and works of Jane Austen are encouraged to enter. The Essay Contest is open to students world-wide at the high school, college/university, and post-graduate levels of study. Entrants do not need to be members of JASNA. Students must be enrolled full-time or part-time in coursework during one or more semesters/quarters of the contest year. Home-schooled students at the high school level are also eligible. Part-time is defined for the college/university level as a minimum of six credit hours and for the post-graduate level as a minimum of three credit hours.
2012 Essay Contest
The 2012 Essay Contest topic aligns with the JASNA Annual General Meeting theme, “Sex, Money and Power in Jane Austen’s Fiction”:
How do sex, money, and power enable characters in Austen's novels to manipulate each other, and what forms of resistance are there to that manipulation? Consider no more than two of Austen’s novels or other major works and analyze the modes of manipulation, whether successful or unsuccessful.The Submissions page includes important rules about format and submission of essays and a link to the official Essay Contest entry form. Entries must be e-mailed by May 15, 2012.
Essay Contest Awards
JASNA awards scholarships to the winners in each of three categories: High School, College/University, and Post-Graduate.
First Place
- One year’s membership in JASNA for both the winner and his or her mentor
- $1000 scholarship
- Free registration and two nights’ lodging for JASNA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in New York [Note: Transportation to New York is not provided.]
- Recognition at the AGM and on the JASNA web site
- Publication of the essay on JASNA’s web site
- One of Jane Austen’s novels
Second Place
- One year’s membership in JASNA for both the winner and his or her mentor
- $500 scholarship
- Free registration and two nights’ lodging for JASNA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in New York [Note: Transportation to New York is not provided.]
- Recognition at the AGM and on the JASNA web site
- Publication of the essay on JASNA’s web site
- One of Jane Austen’s novels
Third Place
- One year’s membership in JASNA for both the winner and his or her mentor
- $250 scholarship
- Free registration and two nights’ lodging for JASNA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in New York [Note: Transportation to New York is not provided.]
- Recognition at the AGM and on the JASNA web site
- Publication of the essay on JASNA’s web site
- One of Jane Austen’s novels
Please review the Essay Contest FAQs. If you still have questions, contact Eric Nye at eric.nye@jasna.org. You must use “JASNA Essay Contest” in your subject line.