85% of Aralia Students Place in Top Writing Competitions
1. What is the JASNA Jane Austen Society Essay Contest?
The Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) is dedicated to the celebration of Jane Austen and constitutes over 5,000 members across the continent. Each year, JASNA hosts an annual essay writing competition for high school, college, and graduate school students worldwide to encourage the continued study of her works and legacy. The competition winners receive grand scholarships of up to $1,000 along with a trip to a JASNA literary conference.
2. What is the Essay Topic?
2024 Essay Topic:
Debate both sides of the following statement: Resolved: That Jane Austen’s novels are still relevant and speak to us after 200 years.
In the first part of the essay, students were instructed to attack this claim; in the second part defend it, backing up each position with quotations and examples from Austen’s works.
2023 Essay Topic:
Discuss and compare the types of marriages and courtships found in Austen’s novels.
2025 Essay Topic:
The 2025 competition topic will be released this fall 2024. Bookmark this blog to stay updated.
3. When is the 2025 Jane Austen Society Essay Contest?
The contest will be accepting submissions starting early February 2025.
Submission window estimate: early February to the end of May. Previous deadline: June 1, 2024.
Winners are announced in August 2025.
4. What Are the Submission Guidelines?
Divisions
Students compete in one of three divisions based on age: 1) High School Division, 2) College/University Division, and 3) Graduate School Division. Essay requirements differ depending on the division; the main difference being how many sources students should cite in their writing.
Citing references
High school students must cite at least one novel. Undergraduate and graduate students are expected to cite at least two. Students may cite both her finished and unfinished works.
Essay format
Students may assume that the reader is familiar with Jane Austen’s works; plot summaries are unnecessary.The essay must be in MLA format (double-spaced and in 12-point font throughout, with one-inch margins on all sides of each page). Read more on MLA format.
The title of the essay should appear at the top of page one; further pages should be numbered on the top right; the student’s name must not appear on the essay.
The essay must be 6-8 pages in length, not including the Works Cited page.
The essay must use MLA documentation, including a Works Cited page and parenthetical citations in the body of the text. Use end notes only for substantive notes. Source material that is directly quoted, paraphrased, or summarized must be cited. Quotations from the Jane Austen work under discussion should be cited as well.
The essay must be written in English.
Fee
There is no entry fee. The contest is free entry for all participants to enter. Each student can only submit one entry each year.
If you win first place, you are invited to a JASNA literary conference, where the registration fee and lodging are covered by the organization. However, the winner must pay for their own transportation to the conference.
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5. Who Is Eligible to Submit for the Jane Austen Society Essay Contest?
All high school, homeschooled, college and graduate school students from any country are eligible to enter the Jane Austen Society essay contest. Undergraduate students must be enrolled in at least 6 credits, and graduate students must be enrolled in at least 3 credits.
Participants do not need to be a member of JASNA to enter this contest.
6. Why Enter in the Jane Austen Society Essay Contest?
Winning the competition comes with many lifelong benefits, such as scholarship money, the rare opportunity to publish your work online, hearing from and networking with decorated JASNA members at the literary conference, gaining notable recognition for your literary talents, and accumulating impressive accolades to make your college application stand out.
Prizes
Three winners will be selected from each division. Honorable Mentions will also be awarded, and the number of awards varies yearly.
1st place winner receives a $1000 scholarship and a funded trip to JASNA’s annual members-only three-day literary conference. The selected student wins a remarkable opportunity to speak with 700+ experienced literary figures and attend special exhibits, events, workshops, and a banquet with the organization.
2nd place winner wins a $500 scholarship.
3rd place winner wins a $250 scholarship.
Scholarships are awarded as cash prizes. There are no restrictions on whether they must be applied to or sent directly to any specific college.
Additional prizes
All three winners will have their full essays published online. Honorable Mentions will have their name and essay title listed on the website. JASNA also gifts winners with one year of membership into the society and a new set of Norton Critical Editions of Jane Austen’s novels.
College
Participating in writing contests will always be helpful for college, both in terms of preparing the necessary skills and decorating your application. In college, you’ll write many literary analysis papers and be asked to produce your independent, evidence-backed opinions, regardless of your major. This is an excellent opportunity to practice and gain recognition and constructive criticism.
The Jane Austen Society essay contest, especially, highlights your unique intellectual curiosity as a student; a student with colorful interests spanning beyond the standard academic requirements is attractive to college admission. Additionally, having your writing published by a reputable institution such as JASNA adds points to your college application, especially if you’re considering majoring in English, History, Literature, or applying to any liberal arts college.
7. How to Prepare for the Jane Austen Society Essay Contest
Each year the essay topic changes for the Jane Austen Society essay contest, but all require students to have read more than just a couple of her works. The essay topics center around literary analysis of overarching themes in her writing. Thus, while the 2025 essay topic remains unreleased, you can still preemptively prepare by critically examining her entire collection. Jane Austen’s finished published works includes six novels, listed in chronological order: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion. Since students are also permitted to cite Jane Austen’s unfinished works, it’s recommended to familiarize yourself with her unfinished novels—Sanditon, The Watsons, Lady Susan—as well as her earlier works compiled in The Juvenilia and her letters.
Read winning essays from all three divisions in 2024, 2023, and 2022. If you’re having trouble understanding a certain book, or you’re looking for ways previous winners have tackled analyzing a particular theme, try searching winning entries by topic (i.e. adaptations in film, bibliographies, Austen’s life and circle, literary legacy, etc.) and by book title.
8. Work with a Writing Coach at Aralia Education
The hardest part of entering a writing contest is knowing how to start and how to edit. A writing coach with years of experience bringing students to successful wins can help you navigate your writing process. Over 75% of students who worked with Aralia Education instructors have won competition awards in 2024. Learn more about how Aralia can help you prepare for the 2025 Jane Austen Society Essay Contest and check out our other writing competitions you may be interested in!
This class is offered in the summer every year. Students from 13 to 18 years old wanting to learn how to shape their written English into effective and publishable creative pieces will find this particular Writing Competition course very exciting. The class will be shown a range of tools to learn the nuances of controlled, purposeful writing, including: figurative language, effective structuring and specific forms that they will apply to their own pieces.
