Writing Department Awards
Please read the instructions carefully to confirm whether an application is required.
Scholarships marked with an asterisk (*) are funded by the University of Victoria Foundation.
Awards
- Chapman Achievement Award*
- Gerald G. Few Achievement Award*
- Hallam Achievement Award*
Value: Varies | Number: Varies
Deadline is November 15 (subject to change- please check with your department).
Achievement Awards recognize undergraduate students who have demonstrated outstanding commitment to the pursuit of excellence in their endeavours. Fine arts, athletics, and other areas where individual expression becomes public are recognized through these awards. Recipients must have demonstrated financial need and a minimum 3.5 sessional grade point average for students continuing at or transferring to UVic, or a 70% admission average for students commencing postsecondary studies for the first time. Departments will distribute application forms to prospective students, who will complete and return them to the Office of the Dean of Fine Arts.
Bursaries
Students may be considered for the following bursaries by completing the general bursary application. Only one application is necessary to be considered for all bursaries.
- Access the general bursary application
Charles Kint Bursary
Value: Varies | Number: 1
A bursary is awarded to a mature undergraduate student in a major degree program in the Department of Writing.
Cyril and Frances Gagnon Bursary*
A bursary will be awarded annually to a needy 3rd or 4th year student in the Department of Creative Writing who was born in British Columbia and is or was a resident of a rural area of British Columbia.
Donald N.L. Gain Fund Bursary
Value: Varies | Number: Varies
One or more bursaries are awarded to undergraduate students in the Department of Writing. Preference will be given to students interested in journalism.
Fine Arts Festival Bursary*
One or more bursaries are awarded to students continuing in the Faculty of Fine Arts.
Patti Barker Bursary in Creative Writing*
A bursary is awarded annually to a student in a first or second year Creative Writing course.
Trudy Martin Memorial Bursary*
One or more bursaries are awarded to undergraduate students in Writing. Preference is given to students entering fourth year. This is made in memory of Trudy Martin, Manager of the UVic Bookstore from 1970 to 1998.
Applications are required for in-course scholarships listed in this section. These scholarships are governed by the general regulations for scholarships, medals, and prizes.
- Unless stated otherwise, the application must be made through completion of the in-course scholarship application on UVic Online tools.
- The deadline, unless stated otherwise, is May 31.
- Some of the following awards may require application through the Department of Writing; please review the eligibility criteria and application instructions below for further information.
Candis Graham Writing Scholarship, Lambda Foundation Fund*
Value: Varies | Number: Varies
One or more scholarships are awarded to academically outstanding undergraduate and/or graduate students in the Department of Writing who achieve excellence in writing that demonstrates originality, accessibility, creativity, or impact. Preference will be given to students with involvement in, or who are supportive of any lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, two-spirit, intersex, asexual, queer, or questioning communities.
In the case of a graduate award, approval will be made by the Faculty of Graduate Studies Graduate Awards Committee upon the recommendation of the Department of Writing. In the case of an undergraduate award, approval will be made by the Senate Committee on Awards upon the recommendation of the Department of Writing.
Ethel Dent Banks and Margaret Maunsell Award
Value: Varies | Number: Varies
One or more awards are given to undergraduate women students continuing in either the Department of English or the Department of Writing with demonstrated financial need. Preference will be given to Indigenous women students.
Lorna Crozier Scholarship*
Value: Varies | Number: Varies
One or more scholarships are awarded to academically outstanding undergraduate students in the Department of Writing entering the fourth year Poetry Workshop who have submitted a portfolio of ten pages of poetry that have been deemed to be of high quality. Poetry submissions are to be made prior to September 15th to the Department of Writing.
Approval of the recipients will be made by the Senate Committee on Awards upon the recommendation of the Department of Writing.
Rosamund Dashwood Memorial Award in Dramatic Writing
Value: Varies | Number: Varies
One or more awards are given to undergraduate students entering third or fourth year in the Department of Writing whose focus is dramatic writing and who have demonstrated financial need.
Approval of the recipient(s) will be made by the Senate Committee on Awards upond the recommendation of the Department of Writing.
Skeena Award in Creative Writing
Value: Varies | Number: Varies
One or more awards are given to transferring or continuing undergraduate students in a BFA in Writing with a focus on creative nonfiction or poetry and who have submitted a writing sample (maximum 2 pages).
Preference will be given to applicants in the following order of priority:
1) A woman student who grew up in or has spent the majority of their life in rural and northern communities in Canada. Further preference will be given to a student from Northern British Columbia (North of 50° N).
2) An Indigenous student who grew up or has spent the majority of their life in rural and northern communities in Canada. Further preference will be given to a student from Northern British Columbia (North of 50° N).
Approval of the recipient(s) will be made by the Senate Committee on Awards upon the recommendation of the Department of Writing.
Applications from students are not required for scholarships listed in this section.
Unless otherwise indicated in the Terms of Reference, recipients are approved by the Senate Committee on Awards upon the recommendation of the Department of Writing.
These scholarships are governed by the general regulations for scholarships, medals, and prizes.
Audrey St. Denys and M.E. Johnson Scholarship*
Value: Varies | Number: Varies
One or more scholarships are awarded to undergraduate or graduate students in Faculty of Fine Arts.
In the case of a graduate award, approval will be made by the Faculty of Graduate Studies Graduate Awards Committee upon the recommendation of the Department of Writing. In the case of an undergraduate award, approval will be made by the Senate Committee on Awards upon the recommendation of the Department of Writing.
Gloria Kendal Whelen Prize in Writing*
Value: Prize | Number: 1
This prize is given by Professor S.W. Jackman in memory of his friend, Gloria Kendal Whelen. The prize is awarded to a student entering third year in the Department of Writing who has completed a second year course in fiction in the Department.
Approval of the recipient will be made by the Senate Committee on Awards upon the recommendation of the Department of Writing.
Hazel Partridge-Smith Scholarship in Writing*
Value: Varies | Number: 1
A scholarship is awarded to an outstanding second, third or fourth year student in Writing.
Approval of the recipient will be made by the Senate Committee on Awards upon the recommendation of the Department of Writing.
Keith and Shirley Wagner Prize for Writing*
Value: Prize | Number: 2
Two prizes donated by Gordon and Ivy Wagner of Comox, B.C., are awarded to students entering the third or fourth year of the Writing program for the most outstanding achievement in the field of dramatic writing, stage play, radio play, film script or television script.
Approval of the recipients will be made by the Senate Committee on Awards upon the recommendation of the Department of Writing.
Mary Aitken Legacy Scholarship in Writing*
Value: Varies | Number: Varies
One or more scholarships are awarded to academically outstanding undergraduate students entering their third or fourth year in Writing with an interest in using technology to expand the horizons of literature. Preference will be given to students in the Digital and Interactive Media in the Arts Minor program.
Approval of the recipients will be made by the Senate Committee on Awards upon the recommendation of the Department of Writing.
Millen Undergraduate Scholarship*
Value: Varies | Number: 2
A total of two scholarships are awarded to undergraduate students entering Year III and Year IV in Writing.
Selection of the candidates will be based on high academic standing and an assessment by the Department of Writing: of an original lyric poem, beautiful in form and content, or a prose original, fact or fiction, of not more than thirty-five hundred words, which is beautiful in form and content.
Approval of the recipient will be made by the Senate Committee on Awards upon the recommendation of the Department of Writing.
Pat Bevan Scholarship in Writing*
Value: Varies | Number: Varies
One or more scholarships are awarded to outstanding students in a Major Program in the Department of Writing.
Approval of the recipients will be made by the Senate Committee on Awards upon the recommendation of the Department of Writing.
Philip Pickering Award in Poetry*
Value: Varies | Number: 1
A scholarship is awarded to an academically outstanding 4th year student in the Department of Writing who has submitted a portfolio of ten pages of poetry that has been deemed to be of high quality.
Approval of the recipient will be made by the Senate Committee on Awards upon the recommendation of the Department of Writing.
Roger J. Bishop Writing Prize*
Value: Varies | Number: 1
One prize will be awarded to either an undergraduate or graduate student who is the author of the best piece of original creative work (play, poetry, short story or novel) submitted to the Roger J. Bishop Writing Competition. Graduate students must have a minimum GPA of 6.0. Submissions must be handed in to the Department of Writing by September 1st each year.
Approval of the undergraduate recipient will be made by the Senate Committee on Awards upon the recommendation of the Department of Writing. In the case of a graduate student, approval of the recipient will be made by the Faculty of Graduate Studies Graduate Awards Committee upon the recommendation of the Department of Writing.
Rosalind Hulet Petch Memorial Scholarship in Writing*
Value: Varies | Number: 1
A scholarship is awarded to an outstanding student in Writing who is continuing studies at the University of Victoria.
Approval of the recipient will be made by the Senate Committee on Awards upon the recommendation of the Department of Writing.
W.P. Kinsella Scholarship in Fiction*
Value: Varies | Number: Varies
One or more scholarships are awarded to students in the Department of Writing who are entering the fourth year Advanced Fiction Workshop.
Approval of the recipients will be made by the Senate Committee on Awards upon the recommendation of the Department of Writing.