Writing contest reveals diversity of student experiences

The 2011 Diversity Writing Awards, co-sponsored by the adviser on equity and diversity and UVic Libraries, attracted 33 entries in the categories of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. The creative outpouring came from undergrad and grad students, men and women, on a wide range of diversity-related themes, including ability, race, LGBTQ issues and privilege. Congratulations to winners Laura How (fiction), Joy Fisher (non-fiction) and Timothy Vander Wekken (poetry).

“I was thrilled with the diversity of responses and the calibre of entries. It was difficult to choose the winners,” says Grace Wong Sneddon, adviser on equity and diversity. “Writing gives students opportunities to share things that touch them, things that may be hard lessons. And it gives the community an avenue to hear, listen and learn. What a gift—from them to us and vice versa.”

The annual contest is supported by the Provost’s Steering Committee on Diversity and Equity, the Division of Student Affairs, the vice-president academic, UVic Libraries, the Office of Equity and Human Rights, the Faculty of Graduate Studies and the Malahat Review, with in-kind donations from the UVic Bookstore and Athletics and Recreational Services.

First-prize winners receive a cash prize of $200. Second-prize winners earn $100 while third-prize winners receive a gift basket. The first-prize entries in each category will be published in the Multiplicity newsletter, and are available on the web at http://library.uvic.ca/site/writingcontest/. To view creative writing student Joy Fisher's reading of her winning non-fiction entry, How Could I Ever Tell You You Were Anything Less Than Beautiful, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRrhdq9vims.