Writing Competitions
Throughout the year, the York Historian runs writing competitions for students to get involved in. These uplift areas of history that are often neglected, and ones that align with seasonal themes. We award prizes for the articles that our committee deem the most interesting, most creative and most well-written!
Those wanting to enter into future competitions do not need to be paid members of the York Historian, although purchasing a membership is encouraged regardless to support us as a magazine.
Please look forward to our five competitions running during this academic year of 2024-2025! To enter into each competition when they are open, simply email your submission to our email (yorkhistorian@yorksu.org). The article should stick to our guidelines laid out on our website, being between 600-2000 words, and should include four images, with one to be the article’s online thumbnail. Articles are encouraged to be as creative as possible, meaning it can be about any aspect, such as a museum review, moment in history, historical figure – anything you wish, as long as it focuses on the theme. There will be one winner for each article, who will receive a £20 Waterstones voucher!
2024-2025 Writing Competitions:
Black History Writing Competition: 1 September – 31 October: CLOSED! Thank you for your entries!
- Winning article: Was Britain Ever Really a White Country? by Sinead Bedward
Disability History Writing Competition: 1 November – 31 December: CLOSED! Thank you for your entries!
- Winning article: Should we Retrospectively Diagnose Historical Figures as Autistic? by Oscar Hilder
LGBT+ History Writing Competition: 1 January – 28 February: CLOSED! Thank you for your entries!
- Winning article: Queering Morris by Robin Henderson
Women’s History Writing Competition: 1 March – 30 April: CLOSED! Thank you for your entries!
- Winning article: Lady Margaret Beaufort: Survivor, Kingmaker, Powerhouse by Annon Ford
Local & Community History Writing Competition: 1 May – 30 June: CLOSED! Thank you for your entries!
- Winning article: Heart of the Forest: The Freeminers of the Royal Forest of Dean by Joseph Lowen-Grey
Past Writing Competitions and the Winning Articles:
2022 Disability History Month Article Competition:
Winning article: A Vanishing History: The History of the Uyghurs by Abigail Mangion
2023 Halloween History Writing Competition:
Winning article: To an Icy Grave: The Lost Franklin Expedition, its Legacy, and the Horror of an Arctic Death by Jack Rooney
Runner-up article: The Celtic Origins of Halloween by Seren Davies-Jones