English Department News

Throughout the school year the Oak Bay English Department hosts a number of writing contests.  This space will honour each month’s 3 finalists and highlight the criteria for each contest. Thank you to all writer’s for your submissions!

Creative Writing Winners February 2020

Shona Sinclair
Morgan Scaia-Wilson
Sophia Abad

 

Robyn Hendry
Mohannah Singh

 

Creative Writing Contest for May

The challenge = to write the best short story
The topic = space
(interpret ‘space’ as you like)

Criteria:

  • 500 word maximum (must include word count)
  • Double-space, please
  • Multi-paragraph stories only
  • Must have title
  • Focus on a dynamic character
  • Remember to ‘show’, not ‘tell’
  • Must have clear resolution; no “it was all a dream” or “to be continued”… kind of endings
  • Include writer’s first and last name, and teacher’s name

Caution!  Caution! 

Stories that do not meet the above criteria will not be considered. 

Prizes!  Prizes! 

Top 3 story writers will each receive a $10 Starbucks card. 

 DUE = Wednesday, May 29, by 3pm

Submit to envelope in the library.

April 2019 Creative Writing Contest

April Creative Writing Contest Winner : Allegra Paradiso

April Creative Writing Contest Winner :Makayla Dickinson

April Creative Writing Contest Winner : Marleigh MacLaren

 

February 2019 CREATIVE  WRITING  CONTEST

February Creative Writing Winner Catherine Palfy

February Creative Writing Winner Sarah Bryan

 

JANUARY 2019 CREATIVE  WRITING  CONTEST

Write a 300 word short story in response to this image.  Include word count.
[Must be original work, cannot have been previously marked.]

DUE:  Friday, January 25, 2pm, in the creative writing envelope in the library
Remember to include your first and last name, and your English teacher’s name.
TOP 3 ENTRIES will each get a $10.00 Starbucks card, and a prize certificate

December Creative Writing – Annika Weir

December Creative Writing – Rohan Gupta

December Creative Writing – Shannon McMillan

 

The below writers were recognized for their original poetry inspired by the prompt “The image I project”.  Over 130 writers submitted to the contest.  Well done all!

Georgia Taylor

Sofia Tunkl-Korinek

Evelyn Griffin

Emily Jackson

Liam McColl

Francesca Biello

Gavin Termuende

Madi Novac​

Read their poems here.

 

Our latest English Department Writing Contest challenged participants to compose a “Twitter-sized” narrative.  Twitter, a powerful social media platform, limits tweets to 140 characters.  Writers needed to pen a compelling piece under this limitation.  Here are our finalists and congrats to all who participated!

 

The below finalists were recognized in the 300 word short story contest.  Students used a visual prompt to guide them into their story and were challenged to create an engaging and meaningful narrative in no more than 300 words.  Congratulations to Chloe, Sarah, and Kyla!

See These Hands by Peter MacBeth

The Train Station by Sarah Bryan

Five Words by Kyla Basbaum