Vice-Chancellor's Office

$15,000 REWARD: For Macquarie writers

By Steven Schwartz, Vice-Chancellor

Have you something to say on issues of public or personal importance? Can you write in a clear and persuasive way? Then here is your chance to express yourself and win a substantial prize by entering the Macquarie University Vice-Chancellor’s Writing Competition.

The competition is open to all Macquarie University staff and students. No-one is left out. If you are a member of the academic staff or the professional staff, if you are full-time, part-time, or casual - even if you are a contractor, you are eligible.

If you are an undergraduate or postgraduate of the University, full-time or part-time, you are also eligible.

There is also a special category for students, undergraduate and postgraduate, whose first language is not English.

I encourage you all to submit an essay into this competition. The topic – What mattered then, what matters now – provides plenty of opportunity for good writing, for using your imagination and your critical and analytical skills. Email your essay and entry from to write@vc.mq.edu.au by 5pm on July 21, 2008.

Please read the terms and conditions posted under the “rules” link on this website before entering your essay.

There are some great prizes on offer – worth about $15,000 in total.

The prizes are:

• For Undergraduates:
  • $3000 first prize donated by Unicom
  • $1040 in food vouchers from U@MQ
  • $500 of books donated by the Coop Bookshop
• For Postgraduates:
  • $3000 first prize donated by CRI
  • $1500 second prize donated by Campus Living Villages
  • $500 of books from the Coop Bookshop
• For Staff:
  • $3000 first prize donated by NAB Education
  • $1500 second prize donated by SIBT
  • $500 worth of books donated by the Coop Bookshop
• For students whose first language is not English:
  • Two $1500 prizes donated by Macquarie International

I would like to thank all our sponsors for their help in making this competition so rewarding.

Good, clear communication on complex issues is as vital today as it ever was. I also believe that university life can be enlivened by discussing subjects not necessarily confined within a discipline area. So have a go – you could win one of the great prizes on offer.

I look forward to reading your entries.

- Steven Schwartz

 

Meet the Judges

The judges for the Macquarie University Vice-Chancellor’s Writing Competition are distinguished academics and noted communicators in their fields.

 

Stephen Thurgate
Professor Stephen Thurgate is Dean of the Division of Information and Communication Sciences.

Professor Thurgate’s research interests have been in experimental surface science and he has built a substantial array of surface analytical equipment, including several unique instruments. He continues to research and collaborate both nationally and internationally.

 

 

Pam Peters
Emeritus Professor Pam Peters’ work with the Dictionary Research Centre and the Style Council Centre at Macquarie University has made her one of the country’s leading authorities on Australian style.  Her most recent publications on writing and usage issues are the Cambridge Guide to Australian English Usage (2007) and A Word on Words (2005).

 

 

Willa McDonald
Dr Willa McDonald is a senior lecturer in Macquarie’s Department of Media. Willa began writing professionally in 1983 when she took a cadetship with the Sydney Morning Herald. Since then she has worked as a journalist/writer with the Bulletin, the Times on Sunday, and as a speechwriter. Her work in the electronic media includes researching the award-winning television documentaries Ladies in Lines and  The Time of Your Life. Her writing includes the non-fiction books The Writer's Reader: Understanding Journalism and Non-fiction, co-edited with Susie Eisenhuth and one forthcoming on the peace activism of the Australian poet and academic Dorothy Auchterlonie Green.

 

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