Go Creative is our flagship project promoting the collaboration with high schools from the Lublin region. This is a competition based on the idea of the project-based learning an active method that develops the maximum involvement and participation of students in the learning process. The topics and the tasks promote awareness, reflexivity and a critical spirit, facilitating deeper understanding of the contemporary world seen through the eyes of high school students.
Dear High School Students,
The English Students' Association of Maria Curie-Skłodowska University is pleased to announce the 2nd edition of our competition for all aspiring writers! We invite you to participate in our fanfiction writing competition with the theme "The Choice".
We're looking for creative and captivating stories that explore the concept of making difficult decisions, and the consequences that come with them. We want to see your imagination run wild as you craft compelling narratives that talk about the power of choice.
To participate, all you have to do is submit your best work of fanfiction* based on the theme "Choice". You're free to choose any fandom or genre you like, as long as your story stays true to the theme.
* Fanfiction is a type of fictional writing created by fans of a particular work of fiction, such as a TV show, movie, book, or video game. Fanfiction typically involves using characters and settings from the original work to create new stories or continuations of existing storylines.
The deadline for entries is May 10, so you have plenty of time to craft your masterpiece. Submissions must be in English, and must be no longer than 3,000 words.
The top three entries will receive prizes, including a certificate of achievement and a book prize. Additionally, the winning entries will be published on our website and social media pages, so you'll have the chance to showcase your writing skills to a wider audience.
To submit your entry, simply send it as a Word or PDF document to kna@mail.umcs.pl with the subject line "Go Creative: your name and surname". Make sure to include in the body of the email the following information:
We're excited to see what your stories will be about and we wish you the best of inspiration!
Sincerely,
The English Students' Association of Maria Curie-Skłodowska University
Koło Naukowe Anglistów UMCS
https://www.facebook.com/anglistykakn
https://www.umcs.pl/en/english-students-association,21550.htm
The aim of the 2021 competition was to make young people reflect on freedom, understood both personally and collectively, and express their thoughts and feelings in a creative way. The questions we asked the participants were the following:
- How do you understand the concept of freedom?
- Is it important to you at this particular moment in your life, or do you rather think of freedom as a privilege of adulthood?
The participants were encouraged to express themselves creatively in English by writing a story about freedom - a literary form in which the protagonists convey the students’ vision of freedom [max. 1000 words]
The aim of the 2021/22 competition was to make young people reflect on freedom, understood both personally and collectively, and express their thoughts and feelings in a creative way. The questions we asked the participants were the following:
- How do you understand the concept of freedom?
- Is it important to you at this particular moment in your life, or do you rather think of freedom as a privilege of adulthood?
Participants were encouraged to express themselves creatively in English by writing a story about freedom - a literary form in which the protagonists convey the students’ vision of freedom [max. 1000 words]
In the first edition of the Go Creative 2021 - Freedom competition, two equal first prizes for a short story and two honorable mentions were awarded. The works were judged by two independent juries: the Jury of the Faculty at the Department of English and American Studies at MCSU and the Jury of Students from the English Students’ Association. Both teams indicated their respective winner of the 1st place, while the distinctions were awarded unanimously by the faculty and the students. All the stories were excellent, but the winners’ assured and moving pieces of storytelling commanded the awards. Here is the list of winners:
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1st prize (ex aequo) |
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„The Memories that Clip our Wings” Marta Hałabis III Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Unii Lubelskiej w Lublinie
Jury of the Faculty Department of English and American Studies at MCSU |
„The Key” Franciszek Matraszek V Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie w Lublinie Jury of Students MCSU English Students’ Association |
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Honorable Mentions |
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„Dear Theodore” Kinga Purchała Zespół Szkół Ogólnokształcących nr 2 im F. D. Kniaźnina w Puławach
„Free in prison” Katarzyna Drozd V Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie w Lublinie
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Go Creative 2021 - Freedom competition’s finale took place on June 9, 2022 at the Faculty of Political Science at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University. We welcomed all the participants and their teachers who represented high schools from Lublin and Puławy. The award ceremony was accompanied by two workshops: on American pop culture (in English, conducted by Dr. Izabela Kimak from the Department of English and American Studies) and on storytelling (in Polish, led by Dr. Elżbieta Pawlak-Hejno from the Department of Media Communication) followed by a short meeting with the English Students' Association - the organizer of the competition.
The storytelling workshop inspired the young writers to explore the intricacies of the first sentence in a story:
We are delighted that young people responded so eagerly to our initiative which was set up to celebrate novice authors creating short fiction on the topic of freedom – so relevant at the dawn of a new era forced upon the world by the Russian Federation's war in Ukraine.
