ELIGIBILITY:

Students who are eligible for the 2022 SSW Essay Contest are:

  • Currently in grades 6-12
  • Currently enrolled in a school located on the South Side OR currently live on the South Side

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Extended to May 8, 2022 at 11:59pm

REQUIREMENTS:

Please include the following information:

  • Name (pronouns optional)
  • School name & grade
  • Address
  • Email 
  • Phone number
  • Twitter/Social media handles (if applicable)

Prizes:

1st Place Middle School

  • $500
  • $150 gift card to 57th Street Books/Seminary Co-op Bookstore
  • Signed copies of Eve L. Ewing’s books
  • South Side Weekly t-shirt
  • 1-year print subscription to the South Side Weekly
  • A commemorative plaque with your essay printed in the South Side Weekly

2nd Place Middle School

  • $250
  • $50 gift card to 57th Street Books/Seminary Co-op Bookstore
  • Signed copies of Eve L. Ewing’s books
  • South Side Weekly t-shirt
  • 1-year print subscription to the South Side Weekly
  • A commemorative plaque with your essay printed in the South Side Weekly

1st Place High School

  • $500
  • $150 gift card to 57th Street Books/Seminary Co-op Bookstore
  • Signed copies of Eve L. Ewing’s books
  • South Side Weekly t-shirt
  • 1-year print subscription to the South Side Weekly
  • A commemorative plaque with your essay printed in the South Side Weekly

2nd Place High School

  • $250
  • $50 gift card to 57th Street Books/Seminary Co-op Bookstore
  • Signed copies of Eve L. Ewing’s books
  • South Side Weekly t-shirt
  • 1-year print subscription to the South Side Weekly
  • A commemorative plaque with your essay printed in the South Side Weekly
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All essays should respond in some way to the essay contest prompt.

PROMPT: 

Read Eve L. Ewing’s poem, “I saw Emmett Till this week at the grocery store.” 

Write a piece of Chicago history—a person, an event, a place that no longer exists—into 2022.

If you’re writing about a historical figure, you can start by asking questions like: Where would they frequent? Who would they spend their time with? What types of organizations or movements would they be involved with? How would they interact with and inhabit Chicago, and the world, in its current form? 

If you’re writing about an event, you can re-imagine how it would unfold in the current world. Who would attend? How would advances in technology change the structure of the event, if at all? How would people react? 

These are just a few brainstorming questions to get you started, but feel free to get creative with both the content and the form. Though the contest is formally called an “essay contest,” we will accept poetry, fictional articles, or whichever form in which you feel most comfortable expressing your ideas!

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SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: 

Please submit all submissions through this form. 

All submissions must be attached as a link to a Google Doc file with *edit access* or a Word document (.doc .docx). Alternatively, submissions can be copy/pasted into the text box included on the form.

Essays should range from 500-1500 words and have a title. 

Four student essays will be chosen as winners to have their essays printed in the South Side Weekly, and will receive additional Weekly swag.

Questions? Please email madeleine.parrish@southsideweekly.com

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