The Intersectional Social Justice English Essay Awards are awarded to students whose essays explore how working toward social justice involves identifying the intersection of various identities and forms of oppression embedded in many narratives and discourses. Three prizes will be awarded annually to the best first-year, second-year, third-year, and fourth-year essays written as part of English classes that fit with the theme of the contest. The awards committee will endeavour to find publication opportunities for the essays, such as Alight, the English Department's in-house undergraduate journal.
Essays and creative projects must meet the following criteria:
- Essays should offer a well-written treatment of a topic that addresses intersectional social justice, broadly interpreted, in a meaningful way.
- Essays or projects critiquing and analyzing literary and visual texts from an intersectional social justice perspective will be accepted.
- Submissions should be at least 1000 words in length (or at least 500 words if accompanied by a creative project).
- Essays written as part of English classes during the Summer 2025, Fall 2025, and Spring 2026 semesters may be self-nominated by students in 2nd, 3rd, or 4th year classes, or nominated by instructors. Instructor-nominated essays must be submitted with a permission form completed by the student and nominating instructor.
Nomination Deadline: For the Summer 2025-Spring 2026 contest, instructors or upper-level self-nominating students should submit nominated essays by May 8, 2026 to isjawards@kpu.ca.