The University’s annual English Department Awards have returned for the Spring 2021 semester after being canceled last year due to the pandemic.

The annual department awards are given to students who produce and submit exceptional work in the areas of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, writing for film and television, playwriting, journalism, writing on film, literary criticism, linguistic and rhetorical analysis and comics and graphic novels.

This year, $20,000 dollars in awards will be presented spanning across these categories.

For interested students, there are a few mandatory requirements to check out before preparing to apply.

Requirement 1: Students must currently be pursuing an undergraduate degree in English, Film and Screen Studies or American Studies. Students with a minor in Creative Writing, English Literature, Language and Linguistics, Critical Race and Ethnicity Studies, Classical and Medieval Studies, Translation Studies or Journalism and Digital Storytelling are eligible as well.

In addition, any undergraduate student from the New York City or Pleasantville Campus, with any major, who has taken an English course on the NYC campus above ENG 201, above LIT 200 or any FSS or AMS course is eligible to apply.

Student staff and writers for The Pace Press are also eligible.

Requirement 2: Students applying must be enrolled in the University during the current academic year, or previously have been enrolled as a student during the 2019–2020 academic year.

Requirement 3: If students meet these above requirements, they must send their submissions to [email protected] by March 24 at 11:59 p.m.

“I recommended all students apply for the English Department Awards if eligible,” shared University senior and 2018 English Department Award recipient Brooke Sufrin.

“I was compensated for my writing and the accomplishment as a whole is something I am extremely proud of. It is on my resume to this day.”

Once all requirements are checked off, make sure to follow specific guidelines for each category. Interested students may apply to multiple categories.

For all categories, students must include a cover page. The cover page should consist of a heading titled “English Department Writing Awards,” and also include the name of the appropriate category, student name, 9-digit student ID, and major/minor/relevant course of study.

Also included in the cover page should be the student email address, phone number, local mailing address and the title or titles of all the works in the category.

Students should not put their name on any other page aside from the cover page and should not include page numbers.

Below is a detailed breakdown of what submissions should look like in each category:

Fiction: Word document, no more than 30 double-spaced pages or three pieces.

Poetry: Word document, no more than five poems or five pages.

Nonfiction: Word document, no more than 30 double-spaced pages or three pieces.

Writing for film and television: PDF file for writing and a separate word document file for the cover page. Feature-length screenplays should be no more than 30 pages in screenplay format, with a one page (double-spaced) story outline. For television scripts, students can submit a completed spec episode or pilot in standard script format. Students can submit entries for both areas.

Playwriting: PDF file for writing and a separate word document file for a cover page. 10–30 pages maximum in standard play format and a one-page analysis of characters, setting, action and the singular event that sparks the subsequent action.

Journalism: Word document, no more than 25 double-spaced pages or no more than three pieces.

Writing on film: Word document, no more than 25 double-spaced pages or one piece on a formal, historical, or theoretical analysis of film.

Literary Criticism: Word document, no more than 30 double-spaced pages or three pieces.

Linguistic and Rhetorical Analysis: Word document, no more than 15 double-spaced pages. Multimodal pieces and posters are accepted in this category.

Comics and graphic novel essay: Word document, no more than 25 double-spaced pages maximum or three essays.

Comics and graphic novels: Word document, no more than 25 manuscript pages, but comprising script for at least eight comics pages.

“Looking back at my time at the University as a senior, winning an English Department Award for Excellence in Journalism my freshman year was one of the greatest highlights during my undergraduate studies,” added Sufrin.

“Receiving the honor was a great source of validation as someone who is an English major and looking to work in publishing post-graduation. Also, the article I submitted that won the award was on a timely and pressing issue within the school and it rewarding to know my article made a difference. Do not miss your opportunity to apply!” she continued.

The Writing Awards Ceremony will be held on April 22 from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. For news and updates on selected winners keep an eye on the official webpage. Students with questions should contact the Awards Director, Eugene Richie at [email protected].