HKU Life Story Prize
Presented by HKU GUILD in collaboration with the HKU Academy for the Gifted
Please visit the following Website for recent call!
talented.hku.hk/other-opportunities/hku-life-story-prize
Categories
Category A: Secondary 1-3/ Grade 7-9
Category B: Secondary 4-6/ Grade 10-12
The Selection Committee will be chaired by Dr Page Richards, Chair of Creating Writing and Theatre, HKU Department of English.
Prizes
- Essay Awards:
– Winners can present their pieces at the HKU Black Box. It is a home to creative writers and the arts in Hong Kong where students join together and forge a life-long community of writers.
– Winning pieces will be published at websites on HKU Academy for the Talented (the Academy), HKU GUILD and SLYCE, A Journal of Multilingual Creative Arts - HKU Scholarships – Winners can attend HKU summer programmes organised by the Academy.
- Coaching on Creative writing – Winners will have the privilege to attend a Creative Writing Lab, guided by the Director and/or graduates of the HKU Creative Writing programme or the HKU Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.
Writing guidelines for submitting your personal stories
- Length
Your personal story may be any length, short or long. Each student can submit one personal story that will up to 1000 words. We encourage various formats, including, memoir, poems, or documentary. - Font
Please be sure to submit your personal story in 12-font, whether Times New Roman, Cambria, Arial or any other non-cursive and clear font. - Line Spacing
Please be sure to submit your written work with either 1.5 line spacing, or double spacing. Also make sure that your pages are numbered at the top or bottom. - Multi-Media Options
You may also choose to submit a personal story that is multi-media: for instance, your written work along with a companion video/documentary not longer than 3 minutes. - Title for your Personal Story
Be sure to discover a title for your personal story, before sending to us. Your personal story has a “name” just as you do!
Previous Winners
Jointly organised by the HKU Academy for the Talented and the HKU GUILD, the competition attracted close to 70 impressive entries in 2020. The best will be published in SLYCE, a prestigious international journal of creative writing overseen by HKU, which has been around for 20-plus years and was previously known as Yuan Yang.
Eight secondary school students were selected to win the HKU Life Story Prize 2020 at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). At a time when much of the world was in lockdown, they shared their hopes, fears and experiences in heartfelt personal tales reflecting both courage and some justifiable concerns. Congratulations to the eight awardees, featured in the SCMP Young Post. Read their winning stories here.