The annual Lacuna Writing Competition is now open for entries. The competition invites entries from all current undergraduate and postgraduate students at Warwick Law School.
COMPETITION GUIDELINES:
Write a short story (or the beginning of a story) on a current issue that includes themes of injustice and human rights. Your story must be no longer than 800 words and we’re not looking for an academic essay but a piece of journalism or creative writing that appeals to mainstream readers. You choose the topic and the style. You may choose to write a journalistic feature, a piece of creative fiction, an opinion piece, memoir or some other artistic response. Your aim is to:
- challenge indifference to suffering,
- inspire action for change,
- promote wider understanding of complex rights issues and/or
- shine a light on injustice.
The best entry will receive valuable feedback from our editors and, where feasible, the opportunity to develop their story for publication by Lacuna Magazine*.
For guidance on how to write a Lacuna article visit the Law Skills Handbook and read the advice on our website. Your submission must be your own original work. It must not have been published anywhere else and cannot be submitted in any form to a university assignment.
How to enter
To submit your entry, email Alex Breeze at Lacuna@warwick.ac.uk with the subject: “Lacuna Writing Competition 2023”.
Deadline
All entries must be submitted by midnight on Monday 13th November 2023.
*Publication of winning entries may not always be possible and will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the editors.
Previous winners:
MOVE: A Rohingya child dances for hope in the world’s largest refugee camp
Undergraduate student, Amber Shah, wrote creatively about a child's experience of living in a refugee camp.
Teaching in lockdown: Emergency English classes for refugee children
Postgraduate student Ruby Turok-Squire wrote a story inspired by her experience of volunteer teaching.
‘Window dressing’ in the COVID-19 pandemic: The troubling story behind the rainbows in the windows
Postgraduate student Amanda Kowalczyk write about her experience of parenting during the Covid lockdown.
Fleeing Palestine – and what happened next
Undergraduate student Salma Eleyan’s memoir of fleeing Palestine with her mother was highly-commended for its powerful storytelling.
Reopening old wounds: The never-ending tale of police brutality in Kenya
This well-researched blog post by undergraduate student Anokhee Shah, explored how Covid curfews exacerbated the problem of police brutality in Kenya.
