10th anniversary student writing contest announced

A student writing contest, in celebration of Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University’s 10th anniversary, has been announced.

The contest, which is being coordinated by the Writing Centre at the University, asks XJTLU students to write a personal narrative answering the question: ‘where do you imagine you will be in 10 years?’

The contest is open to all XJTLU students and the winner will be awarded an iPad Air 2. Entries will be assessed on both originality and creativity, and winners will be announced at the end of May.

The Writing Centre is a service offered through the XJTLU Language Centre and offers undergraduate students in Years Three and Four, as well as masters-level and PhD students, additional writing support through workshops and one-on-one consultations.

The centre also aims to increase interest and participation amongst all students in creative writing, as a way of encouraging exploration of original ideas and supporting critical thinking in student writing.

To help students interested in entering the writing contest, the centre will offer extra workshops focused on writing narrative. The workshops will take place each Thursday of weeks 10 to 12 of second semester, 3-5pm in the Engineering Building, room 571.

Jessie Cannady, who has led on the creation and development of the Writing Centre and who is coordinating the writing contest, said: “As the University imagines the next 10 years, we are asking XJTLU students to do the same. We are looking for a narrative that tells a captivating story, reflects on the theme of the anniversary for XJTLU, and is easy for the reader to understand.

“Through this contest and other activities such as poetry workshops, the Writing Centre wants to provide possibilities for students to play and be creative with language, which can potentially instill more confidence in students in terms of their writing abilities.”

Entries to the contest should be between 450-600 words, students’ original work and emailed as an attachment to writingfocus@xjtlu.edu.cn.

All entries must be received by midnight on Sunday 15 May and any questions about the contest can be emailed to the above email address.