The 2013 Writing Competition is now closed.
Congratulations to our winners!
Results have been decided and can be found at the following links. Thank you for your patience!
essay winners | sijo winners | winning entries | judges
2013 registration and applications
Beginning with our 2013 Writing Competition we will be using a new registration-based system for entry submissions. For students, this system offers the option of emailing submission confirmations and/or PDF copies of entries to teachers; additionally, it enables students to edit entries easily until the competition deadline. Teacher accounts can view and, if necessary, submit their students' submissions.
We would like to stress that all personal information is kept strictly confidential and no information is shared with parties outside of the Sejong Cultural Society.
Please email any questions or concerns to writing@sejongculturalsociety.org. We welcome and appreciate feedback of any kind.
Essay category
Focusing on introducing students and young adults to Korean culture and history through literature, our essay category utilizes folk tales and contemporary literature to explore Korean culture, past and present.
Young adult division (age 25 and younger): For our 2013 Writing Competition we are pleased to announce the addition of the young adult essay division. Contestants are to read Yi Mun-yol's novella Our Twisted Hero and write an essay in response to the provided prompt.
Senior division (grade 12 and younger): Unlike previous years, our senior division will not have a minimum age limit. Contestants are to read Yi Mun-yol's novella Our Twisted Hero and write an essay in response to the provided prompt.
Read Our Twisted Hero on our website.
Junior division (grade 8 and younger): Contestants are to write an essay in response to one of three provided topics regarding a folktale of the contestant's choice. Contestants must choose one of the stories listed on our folktales page.
Sijo category
One division open to students grade 12 and younger: Created in collaboration with the Korea Institute at Harvard University, the goal of our sijo category is to introduce students to a lesser-known style of poetry, the traditional Korean sijo. Read about how to write sijo, or see last year's winning entries.
Mission
The goals of the Sejong Writing Competition are to discover children and young adults talented in writing and to encourage them to learn and write about Korean and its culture. Through this writing competition we hope to increase the awareness and understanding of Korea’s cultural heritage amongst the younger generations growing up in the United States.
Eligibility
This competition is open to all residents of the US and Canada age 25 and younger regardless of ethnic background.