The Humanist Essay Contest is geared toward exposing students in grades 9-12 to humanism and issues of importance to humanists while financially helping these young scholars advance in their studies. Prizes are awarded for originality of thought, sense of emotional engagement, clarity and quality of presentation, amount of research evidenced, and future potential shown by the author.

ELIGIBILITY

The 2013 Humanist Essay Contest began on January 1, 2013, and is open to students residing in the United States or Canada who are enrolled in grades 9-12 as of the entry deadline of March 31, 2013.

PRIZES

1st Prize: $1,000, three-year membership to the AHA and an invitation to present your essay at the Annual Conference of the American Humanist Association (does not include travel expenses)

2nd Prize: Humanist library and a three-year membership to the AHA

3rd Prize: Three-year membership to the AHA

Honorable Mentions: One-year membership to the AHA

* Membership includes subscription to the Humanist magazine!

PROCEDURES

Essays must be between 1,500-2,500 words, written in English, and single-spaced. Please provide your name, age, date of birth, mailing address (no post office boxes), telephone number, and email address on the title page of your essay. Only one essay may be submitted by each entrant.

Entries must be received on or before March 31, 2013, emailed to contest@theHumanist.org.

The Humanist reserves the option of first publication of all entries until contest winners are announced in the spring or early summer. Winning and Honorable Mention essays then become the sole property of the American Humanist Association, publisher of the Humanist, while all rights to other essays revert back to their authors. The list of winners will be published in the Humanist and published on the Humanist website.

POSSIBLE TOPICS

Essays applying head and heart to any subject or field of endeavor are welcome. Please note that essays should be on topics suitable for publication; please don’t submit personal scholarship style essays. The definition of humanism used to guide the judging of essays appears on the inside front cover of each Humanist. For topic ideas, recent issues of the magazine may be useful. A free sample copy is available upon request; a one-year discounted subscription is $19.95. (Sample issue requests and subscription orders may be sent by e-mail to info@theHumanist.org.) Former winning essays can be found in the November / December 2009 issue and the Sept./Oct. 2008, July/August 2003, May/June 2004, and July/August 2005 issues (go to the Humanist Archive for these).

We welcome your participation in this contest and encourage you to share this announcement with others.

The Humanist Essay Contest

1777 T Street, NW

Washington, DC 20009-7125

(800) 837-3792

contest@theHumanist.org