Italy Writes Competition
Building on the tremendous success of JCU's Italy Reads program that began in 2009 with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), JCU launched Italy Writes, a national English-language writing competition for Italian high school students that includes on its panel of judges professors from one of America's most highly-ranked creative writing centers: the University of Iowa's International Writing Program.
Participate in the Program
Italy Writes engages high school students in the development of their English creative-writing skills and is open to all students enrolled in Italian or international high schools that do not have English as the primary language of instruction. Students compete annually for awards for the best creative writing piece. This national competition takes place each spring and the winners will be announced in May/June.
PCTO opportunity: Percorsi per le Competenze Traversali e per l'Orientamento (PCTO, Dlg. 107/15): students can earn up to 10 hours for PCTO with the Italy Writes Competition. To earn PCTO recognition, students must be registered for this activity by their English teacher. Teachers can register their students for this program and receive additional resources that can be used in their in-class workshops with their students. PCTO certification is based on the teacher's evaluation of in-class activities, the use of the digital resources provided, and participation in the Italy Writes Competition.
All students are encouraged to participate in the contest regardless of their interest in earning PCTO certification.
Only original pieces of writing can be submitted to the contest. Students must declare any use they made of Generative AI as a tool in the development of their writing and submit an illustration of the prompts used and how they were developed during the author's engagement with AI in a separated document.
Categories: Fiction (Narrativa), Non-Fiction (Saggistica)
Resources: Student Guide to AI
1 March - Deadline to submit entries using this Contest Submission Form. The award ceremony will be held online late May/early June. Awards will be announced by the Writer in Residence for JCU's Institute for Creative Writing and Literary Translation. For more information write to [email protected].
Prizes for each category: 1st Place: €300 voucher; 2nd Place: €200 voucher; 3rd Place: €100 voucher
A. Evaluation criteria: Submissions will be evaluated on, for Fiction: Technical Merits (i.e. grammar, spelling, mechanics); creativity in concept, imagination, innovation; storytelling style: dialogue, character, plat, narration, pacing, vividness of detail; for Non-fiction: Technical Merits (i.e. grammar, spelling, mechanics); Rhetoric: effective development of an issue.
B. Do NOT include your name or any identifying information in your submission.
C. Your submission document will have the TITLE as the name of the file.
D. Upload your submission in Word or pdf format by March 1st.
E. All submissions to the contest must NOT exceed 1000 words
F. All submissions must be sent using this Italy Writes Submission Form.
In May, the finalists will be invited to meet with an instructor in the JCU Writing Center to select a brief excerpt from their work to be read at the Award Ceremony in June.
According to Professor Carlos Dews, Director of the Creative Writing Institute, "Finding creative expression in a language other than one's own is an exciting exploration of the emotions at the core of the human spirit. Following the lead of Italy Reads, JCU hopes to continue our tradition of providing support for English language learning in the Italian high school community." Italy Writes is wholly funded by John Cabot University.
Special thanks go to historic external member of the panel of judges, Professor Christopher Merrill, Director of the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program, and his team for their support of Italy Writes and contribution to the Resources for Teachers and Students. We sincerely appreciate having the IWP as part of JCU’s Italy Writes and its mission to support Italian high school teachers and students over the years.
Non-Fiction
1st place (€300 gift certificate) to Ludovica Santoro, 3rd year at Istituto Paritario
Bonifacio VIII in Anagni (Prof. Kate Samuels) for Blossoms
2nd place (€200 gift certificate) to Sanya Noghrekar, 5th year at Liceo Classico/Linguistico
Statale Tito Lucrezio Caro in Rome, (Prof. Serena Strianese) for Iranian Women’s Condition
3rd place (€100 gift certificate) to Maria Vittoria Barcaccia Pucci, 5th year at Liceo
Ginnasio Statale Dante Alighieri in Rome, (Prof. Patrizia Caronna) for Silent Scars: the Hidden Tragedy of Femail Genital Mutilation
Honorable Mention to Cristian Dilauro, 3rd year at Liceo Scientifico Statale Isacco
Newton in Rome, (Prof. Mary Lovaglio) for The Great Attractor.
Fiction
1st place (€300 gift certificate) to Giovanni Scatto, 3rd year at Convitto Nazionale
Marco Foscarini di Venezia, (Prof. Laura Galante) for Reverse Order
2nd place (€200 gift certificate) to Aurora Girardi, 3rd year at Liceo Scientifico
Statale Isacco Newton in Rome, (Prof. Mary Lovaglio) for Free
3rd place (tie) (€50 gift certificate) to Jessica Pradal, 3rd year at Convitto Nazionale
Marco Foscarini di Venezia, (Prof. Laura Galante) for The Sound of Breathing
3rd place (tie) (€50 gift certificate) to Caterina Quilici, 5th year at Liceo Classico/Linguistico
Statale Tito Lucrezio Caro in Rome, (Prof. Serena Strianese) for They Are Listening
Honorable Mention to Elena Sofia Battisti, 5th year at Liceo Classico/Linguistico
Statale Tito Lucrezio Caro in Rome, (Prof. Serena Strianese) for Alzheimer.
Non-Fiction
1st place (tie) (€250 gift certificate) to India Leaci, 4th year at Liceo Scientifico
Statale I. Newton in Rome, (Prof. Mary Lovaglio) for Change.
1st place (tie) (€250 gift certificate) to Gianmarco Fedele, 5th year atLiceo ScientIfico
Statale Camillo Cavour, in Rome, (Prof. Emanuela Ungaro) for The Choice Of Not Choosing_ Analysis And Awareness In History.
3rd place (€100 gift certificate) to Vittoria Benincasa, 4th year atLiceo Classico/Linguistico
Statale Tito Lucrezio Caro in Rome, (Prof. Serena Strianese) for The Maze of Choices.
Honorable Mention to Flavia Rita Breglia, 4th year at Liceo Scientifico Carlo Pisacane
in Padula (SA), (Prof. Angela Pastore) for Beyond the Veil of Time.
Fiction
1st place (€300 gift certificate) to Giacomo Palladino, 5th-year at Istituto Superiore
Liceo Scientifico Carlo Pisacane in Padula, (Prof. Angela Pastore) for Wintry Will.
2nd place (€200 gift certificate) to Eva Pizzamano, 3rd-year atConvitto Nazionale
Marco Foscarini di Venezia, (Prof. Laura Galante) for Knight In Camouflaged Armour.
3rd place (€100 gift certificate) to Elena Sofia Battisti, 4th-year atLiceo Classico/Linguistico
Statale Tito Lucrezio Caro in Rome, (Prof. Serena Strianese) for What Needs To Be Remembered.
Non-Fiction
1st place (€300 gift certificate) to Denise Messina, 3rd year, Liceo Classico Linguistico
“Immanuel Kant” in Rome (Prof. Gina Reale) for Madness.
2nd place (€200 gift certificate) to Elena Sofia Battisti, 3rd year, Liceo Classico/Linguistico
Statale Tito Lucrezio Caro, Rome (Prof. Serena Strianese) for The Start.
3rd place (€100 gift certificate) to Mariia Komohortseva, 5th year, Liceo Classico/Linguistico
Statale Tito Lucrezio Caro, Rome (Prof. Serena Strianese) for War Through the Eyes of a Teenager.
Fiction
1st place (€300 gift certificate) to Thi Thuc Matilde Rosci, 5th year, IIS Blaise
Pascal, Pomezia (Prof. Giorgia Proietti) for The Girl from The Yellow House.
2nd place (€200 gift certificate) to Caterina Verdecchia, 5th year, Liceo Ginnasio
Statale “Dante Alighieri”, Rome (Prof. Carla Mummolo) for Jivica.
3rd place (€100 gift certificate) to Francesca Di Chiara, 4th year, Liceo Classico
Linguistico “Immanuel Kant” in Rome (Prof. Valentina Popa) for The Last Inheritance.
Italian high school teachers of English who would like to join the more than 170 Italian high schools already participating in one or more of the other Programs for High Schools offered by John Cabot University are invited to visit Programs for High Schools for information.
Learn more about studying English Language and Literature at John Cabot University in Rome.
Learn more about studying Creative Writing at John Cabot University in Rome.
