Expository Writing Program

Prairie Lights

Made possible by the generous support of the Manhattan Mercury, Prairie Lights serves as the showcase for the best writing in Expository Writing I/II as well as Honors English I/II. All students currently enrolled in these classes are encouraged to submit their writing.

Call for 2006 Prairie Lights Essays and Student Design Competition 

Essay Competition

All students enrolled in Expository Writing I/II as well as Honors English I/II during the 2005-2006 academic year are encouraged to submit their best work for publication. Any writing that you do for class is acceptable, as long as it is not imaginative fiction, poetry, or drama. The Expository Writing Program hopes to publish a broad range of writing, possibly including

• Biographical narratives and personal essays
• Profiles of people, places, and events
• Informational reports
• Evaluations, reviews, and critical analyses
• Letters to the editor and editorials
• Position papers on controversial issues
• Proposals

Please check submission forms outside the English Department Writing Center (ECS 122) for more entry information.

Design Competition 

All undergraduate students at KSU are invited to submit a design for the cover and layout of the 2006 edition of Prairie Lights.

The winner of the competition will receive $100 and recognition in the journal, which reaches over 2,000 students, alumni, and friends of Kansas State University.

The format for the journal is 8 ½” by 11”.  Each edition includes a Table of Contents, a brief foreword, and twelve to fourteen student essays.  The journal is about 32 pages long.

Entries should include camera-ready copy of a design for the cover of the journal and a design and/or format for page layout, headings, and subheadings.  Entries should be submitted in a 9” x 12” envelope with a cover letter including the designer’s name, local address, university standing (first-year student, sophomore, junior, or senior), department major, local telephone number, and email address. 

Entry Deadline and Contact Information

The deadline for both the essay and design competitions is May 12, 2006. Feel free to submit entries anytime before then to:

Phillip P. Marzluf

Director of the Expository Writing Program

Department of English

124 English/Counseling Services Building

CAMPUS