In College Writing, students are challenged to write more critically and creatively, and to become new and more thoughtful writers even as they develop existing strengths. Below is a sampling of the work produced by students in College Writing, as well as various recognition opportunities available to students at Washington University. Our hope is to make real for students the idea that there are real audiences for their work, that their writing participates in and contributes to a broader intellectual community, and that their writing can matter.
Featured Writing
Amelie Maltz, Lydia Marie Pita and Alex Bonham Walsh named 2024 Recipients of McLeod Writing Prize
Rosy Almazan and Nina Todreas named 2023 recipients of McLeod Writing Prize
REMAKE
REMAKE is a space for the new thought and vision of first-year students at Washington University. Our annual journal will showcase how first-year work—everything from art to research to creative writing—changes our campus by challenging our assumptions, rethinking our ideas, and giving new shape to the perspectives we hold and the stories we tell.
remake.wustl.eduEmerging Voices
The College Writing Program hosts a reading of first-year writing produced in College Writing classrooms at the end of the spring semester. Emerging Voices has long been an outlet for first-year expression—to declare, as a university and as a writing community—that the thoughts, desires, and diverse experiences of the first-year body matter, that your words on the page have meaning.
Dean James E. McLeod
First-Year Writing Prize
The Dean James E. McLeod First-Year Writing Prize was created to encourage first-year students to begin engaging in research in the early stages of their undergraduate careers. Research is a significant, valued, and valuable part of the undergraduate experience. Students whose research explores some aspect of race, gender and/or identity can be nominated. Two prizes are awarded each year; one to a student in the College of Arts & Sciences, and one to a student in McKelvey School of Engineering, Olin Business School, or Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts. Winners receive a certificate of award, $250, and the possibility of publishing their work.
2021. From L to R: Deanna Benjamin, selection committee co-chair; Dean Erin McGlothlin; Jessie Wills, honorable mention; Renata Shen, runner up; Kaden Chaudhary, runner up; Clara McLeod; Lily Coll, winner in Arts & Sciences; Shriya Penmetsa, winner in Olin Business School; Dylan Mack, honorable mention; Peter Monahan, director of College Writing Program; Aileen Waters, selection committee co-chair.
The 2019 McLeod Writing Prize. From L to R: Deanna Benjamin, Selection Committee Chair; Tarrell Campbell; Leah Witheiler, semi-finalist; Peter Monahan, College Writing Program Director; Kasey Grady; Olivia Williams, 2019 winner; Grace Myers, honorable mention; Kate Bloomquist; Clara McLeod; and Eileen G'Sell.
The 2018 McLeod Writing Prize winners with Clara McLeod and Dean Jen Smith. From L to R, they are: CeCe Heard, Grace MacArthur, and Elizabeth Schwartz.
The 2017 McLeod Writing Prize winners with Clara McLeod, Prof. Sowande' Mustakeem, and Dean Jen Smith. From L to R, they are: Luka Minglu, Ella-Marie West, and Gabrielle Ruskay-Kidd.
The 2016 McLeod Writing Prize winners with Dean Jen Smith and Clara McLeod. From L to R, they are: Adon Wade-Currie, Emily Wyland, and Olivia Crow.
The 2015 McLeod Writing Prize winners with Dean Jen Smith. From L to R, they are: Akua Owusu-Dommey, Emma LaPlanta, and Kelley Zhao.
The 2014 McLeod Writing Prize winners with Clara McCleod. From L to R, they are: Claudia Vaughan and Senit Kidane.
Undergraduate Research Symposium
All College Writing students undertake a research project on a topic of their choice. Every semester students with exceptional research essays are selected by the College Writing Program to be included in the Office of Undergraduate Research's Undergraduate Research Symposium. The symposium highlights excellent research being conducted by undergraduates throughout the University. Below are some of the College Writing students that have been featured in the past.
Lily Pecoriello
Jade Pita
Rhys Williams
Jade Zhang
Eric Zixu Wang
Elizabeth Spera
Outside the College Writing Program
English Department
Each spring, the department of English judges and presents seventeen annual prizes for the best student writing in drama, poetry, prose fiction, non-fictional prose, and critical essays analyzing literature.
Carl Neureuther Student Book Collection Essay Competition
The Carl Neureuther Student Book Collection Essay Competition encourages students at Washington University to read for enjoyment and to develop personal libraries throughout their lives.
The Spectacle
The Spectacle is committed to publishing work from under-represented voices, including people of color, women, people from LGBTQIA+ communities, and people who have disabilities.
Mendel Sato Research Award
The Sato Research Award is looking for projects that draw from research conducted with the Julian Edison Department of Special Collections. Projects can be in any medium from written papers to multimedia projects.
Washington University Undergraduate Research Digest (WUURD)
WUURD, published annually, is a scholarly journal comprised of peer-reviewed, full-length student feature articles alongside a compilation of student research abstracts from the most recent Undergraduate Research Symposia.
Go explore, they say. / But all I am is a snail, / who likes its round shell.
―Richard Xie2019 Haiku Contest WinnerHaiku Contest
Students currently enrolled in a College Writing course can submit an original haiku based on their course theme (Dreams & Nightmares, Writing Identity, etc.) Winning haikus will be published on the College Writing Program website. Don't know how to write a haiku? It's a simple three line poem with a 5-7-5 syllable count.