Budding Writers Contest 2021

Welcome! This page is for submissions to the 2021 Budding Writers Contest. Are you a Western undergraduate student? The Bachelor of Medical Sciences Association (BMSA) and Western Libraries are proud to present this opportunity to unleash your creativity, show off your writing, and compete to win amazing prizes!

This year’s theme is: "something you wish was talked about more ". To enter, follow the submission guidelines below for a chance to win a prize as well as have your work published on Scholarship@Western.

Categories

Poetry Prompt:

  • Write a work of poetry about something you wish was talked about more.
  • Max. word count: 1000

Short Story Prompt:

  • Write a work of short fiction about something you wish was talked about more.
  • Max. word count: 1000

Schedule

Beginning to accept submissions   Nov. 15 at 6:00 a.m.
Deadline for submissions   Dec. 17 at 11:59 p.m.

Prizes

First place prize – Best Poetry Submission award:

  • $250 Amazon gift card
  • Published in Scholarship@Western
  • Poetry Runners-Up (2):

    • $50 Amazon gift card
    • Published in Scholarship@Western

    First place prize – Best Short Story Submission award:

    • $250 Amazon gift card
    • Published in Scholarship@Western
    • Short Story Runners-Up (2):

      • $50 Amazon gift card
      • Published in Scholarship@Western

      Important Links

      Submission Guidelines
      Policies
      General Judging Criteria

      All submissions will be reviewed by a panel of student judges, followed by a final round of judging by our panel of experts.

    • Kristi Thompson, Data Management Librarian, amateur poet and poetry connoisseur
    • Leanne Olson, Digitization and Digital Preservation Librarian, and short story author extraordinaire
    • Tracy Isaacs, Professor - Associate Dean, Academic, Faculty of Arts and Humanities
    • Neha Khoral - Graduate Teaching Assistant, Faculty of Arts and Humanities

      Ready to Submit?

      Submissions are now closed. Thank you!

      Questions?

      Contact Saniyah Qureshi, BMSA co-VP Communications or Ronnie Du, BMSA co-VP Communications

      • Email: squres55@uwo.ca or gdu6@uwo.ca
      • Subject line: QUESTION - Budding Writers Contest

      Winners

      Congratulations to all of these students!

      Poetry

      • First place: Jacqueline Chen - Exhaustion, Carved into Bone
      • Runner-up: Ananya Singh - Welcome to a Woman's World
      • Runner-up: Ameena Abid - I used to be immortal
      • Short Story

        • First place: Roshan Sivarajah - Grazing in the Grass
        • Runner-up: Ripon Singh - The Story of Winston Kapoor or The Story of All Men and People of Colour: A Case of Tragic Pessimism of The Modern Times
        • Runner-up: Garggie Talukdar - A Letter Left Unsent (I Want to Tell You)

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Submissions from 2022

PDF

I Used to Be Immortal, Ameena Abid Ms

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Exhaustion, Carved into Bone, Jacqueline Chen

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Welcome to a Woman's World, Ananya Singh

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The Story of Winston Kapoor or The Story of All Men and People of Colour: A Case of Tragic Pessimism of The Modern Times, Ripon Singh

PDF

Grazing in the Grass, Roshan Sivarajah

PDF

A Letter Left Unsent (I Want to Tell You), Garggie Talukdar