NDSU is set to host the first annual W-Challenge, a writing competition for undergraduate student writers. Winners will be announced during the inaugural Showcase of Student Writing, scheduled for Tuesday, May 3, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

All undergraduates are invited to submit their projects, which may incorporate visual, audio, digital and/or other media, but must include a substantial written component.

“So many people today say that our students can’t (or don’t) write. We’re really excited to prove them wrong through the W-Challenge and Showcase,” said Lisa Arnold, assistant professor of English and competition co-organizer.

“There are a lot of students who are great writers, but don’t have a channel for the many kinds of writing they do. The Writing Challenge and Showcase will give students the chance to not only share their creativity and skill, but to get tangible rewards for their risk taking,” said competition co-organizer Andrew Mara, professor and upper-division writing director.

Judges will evaluate texts across five categories:

• Academic Writing

            Entries may include any project produced for college-level courses in any discipline. It also includes texts produced in the pursuit of scholarly output.

• Professional Writing

            Submissions include texts designed for professional uses outside academia. This includes any genre in the communicative practices of a workplace.

• Everyday Writing

            This category includes texts that serve a variety of purposes, both personal and public.

• Creative Writing

            Examples include short stories, poems, scripts, song lyrics, comedy writing, non-fiction, literary journalism, memoir or satire.

• Writing in Foreign Languages

            This category is open to any student writing in a language that is not their native language.

Students may make one submission per category, but have no more than three total entries.

To assist the student competitors, a "Polishing" workshop is scheduled for Tuesday, March 22, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Memorial Union Hidatsa room.

W-Challenge winners will receive prizes of up to $200. Participants should submit their work to ndsu.writing@ndsu.edu or bring hard copies to the box labeled “W-Challenge Entries” in the English department office, 318 Minard Hall, by April 1. Students who enter before March 11 are eligible for the Sundog Award.

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