Essay Competition launched on International Day of Peace

21.09.16

PRESS RELEASE: The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition 2017 launched on International Day of Peace

The Royal Commonwealth Society has today launched The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition 2017, focusing on the theme of A Commonwealth for Peace.

The launch coincides with the United Nations’ International Day of Peace.

Building upon the 2016 theme of An Inclusive Commonwealth, this year’s topics ask young people to explore a deeper understanding of the meaning of peace and the role of the Commonwealth as a network of and for democracy, human rights and peace.

The Director of The Royal Commonwealth Society, Michael Lake CBE, said: Peace is at the heart of the Commonwealth as one of the core articles of the Commonwealth Charter. This year’s theme of ‘A Commonwealth for Peace’ asks young writers to explore peace at every level: from the personal to the political to the pan-Commonwealth.

Sponsored by Cambridge University Press, this highly prestigious competition aims to challenge young people’s thinking and the means by which they can express their views, using creative forms of writing such as essays, poems, stories or scripts.

Judges described entries to the 2016 competition as ‘imaginative’, ‘inspirational’, ‘ambitious’ and ‘profound’. A similarly high calibre of writing is expected in 2017.

The competition is open to all citizens and residents of the Commonwealth aged 18 and under and opens today until 1 May 2017. A Winner and Runner-up from both the Senior and Junior categories will win a trip to London for a weeklong series of educational and cultural events. In recent years this week has included a special Awards Ceremony at Buckingham Palace in the presence of HRH The Duchess of Cornwall.

Rod Smith, Managing Director of Education at Cambridge University Press, said: The Royal Commonwealth Society shares our vision of empowerment through education, and we’re thrilled to be sponsoring The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition once again. We were astounded by the exceptional standard of entries in last year’s competition and are looking forward to celebrating exciting new work and to finding new voices from across the Commonwealth in 2017.

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NOTES:

The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition was founded by The Royal Commonwealth Society in 1883 and is the world’s oldest international schools’ writing contest. The competition is sponsored by Cambridge University Press and received approximately 13,500 entries in 2016 from almost every country in the Commonwealth.

The Junior category is open to entrants aged under 14 and the Senior category is open to entrants aged 14-18.

More information about the competition including the entry rules and essay topics can be found here:www.thercs.org/competition

The Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS), founded in 1868, is a network of individuals and organisations committed to improving the lives and prospects of Commonwealth citizens across the world. Through youth empowerment, education and advocacy, the RCS promotes the value and values of the Commonwealth. www.thercs.org

Partners:

Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world’s oldest publishing house and the second-largest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press has been a sponsor of The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition since 2013. www.cambridge.org

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