2018 Black Lives Matter Writing Contest

Department: African American Studies

Date and Time: October 16, 2018 - December 7, 2018 | 8:00 AM-4:00 PM

Event Location: Humanities Gateway 3000

Event Details

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This year's Black Lives Matter Writing Contest is titled Black Sexuality: Marsha P. Johnson and the Intersectionality of Sex and Gender in Blackness. 

Submission Guidelines:
     Any UCI undergraduate student

     Genre: any form of written word such as essay, personal narrative, poem, prose poem, short story, flash fiction,
     literary journalism (can be but is not required to be multi-modal)

     Required manuscript format:  typed, 11 or 12 pt. font, double-spaced, printed on both sides, no name on
     manuscript, title

Any written or multi-media genre and any length from one to fifteen pages. Works previously submitted for a class can be further polished and entered into the contest.  Students can bring their work to the Center for Excellence in Writing and Communication, Science Library 193, for a writing consultation.  (No one from the Writing Center will serve on the judges’ panel.)

Please submit two copies with the title but without the author’s name, plus a cover sheet with title, author’s name, and author’s contact information, in a manila envelope, to the Center for Excellence in Writing and Communication, Science Library 193.  There will be a box at the front desk to place submissions.

First prize will be $200, second prize will be $100, and third prize will be $50, in the form of gift cards.

Judging Criteria

     Engagement: Writers should convey the sense that they have put deep thought into the topic and understand
     its nuances, importance and urgency.

     Creativity:  Regardless of genre, writers should do original work.

     Polish:  Writers should carefully revise and proofread their work before submitting it.

     Audience Awareness:  While writers should feel free to discuss subject matter of their choice and make strong  
     assertions, they should also demonstrate that they have considered the effects of their words on the UCI
     community in particular and a wider audience as well.  Put another way, writers should imagine their work
     published in a UCI-sponsored student outlet.

Co-Sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Writing and Communication and the Department of African American Studies.

Deadline: Friday, December 7th, 2018 @ 4 p.m.