National Writing Award: The Humanities and a Freer Tomorrow
The application for this contest is now closed. Thank you to all who applied or nominated students!
NCTE, in partnership with the National Humanities Alliance, is proud to bring forth a new opportunity for student writers based on the National Endowment for the Humanities’ 2023 Jefferson Lecture.
The title of Ruth J. Simmons’ 2023 Jefferson Lecture, “Facing History to Find a Better Future,” offers an invitation for inquiry, empathy, and imagination. The humanities help us better understand the past so that we can envision a better future for ourselves, our communities, and our country. As Simmons reflects, “From the time I first encountered history and literature as a child of poverty, I have been on a path of learning and self-discovery that has empowered my work in every decade of my life. Persuaded that the humanities can mean everything to young people struggling to understand what their lives can be, I have encouraged students . . . to embrace the humanities as a lifeline to happiness and success.”
Prompt:
What is an example of an under- examined object of the humanities (e.g,. a historical account, a poem, a work of multimedia art) that serves as a personal lodestar for how to step into a freer tomorrow? In what ways might this work provide personal guidance and inspiration? How might it be relevant or useful for broader groups of people?
Award structure:
- Nominating teachers can submit work from current 11th and 12th graders
- Up to four pages, double-space; entries longer than this will not be reviewed beyond four pages
- Submit to one category (fiction, prose, poetry or essay), as only one submission per writer is allowed
- Submitted writings should be in PDF form, with only the student’s first and last name and the submission title included with the writing
Awards:
- One prize of $1,000
- Four (4) prizes of $500 each
- The top five (5) will have the opportunity for excerpts to be published by NCTE
All participating students would receive a certificate of Superior Writing (all submissions sent to the second round of review) or Honorable Mention.
Timeline:
- Today: Watch the recording of this year’s Jefferson Lecture and discuss the lecture and prompt with your students and communities
- September 26 to October 28: application open to submissions
- Early 2024: winning students and their teachers will be notified
We extend our thanks to the Teagle Foundation for its support of this award.
Please email studentwriting@ncte.org with any questions.