College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences > Academics > Writing, Rhetoric and Discourse > Undergraduate > First-Year Writing > Writing Showcase

First-Year Program Writing Showcase

​Each academic year students from all First-Year Program courses are invited to submit their writing projects to the annual Writing Showcase at DePaul. This event celebrates the role of writing and writers in our academic, public, and private lives.

The Event

The Writing Showcase honors the work of students and faculty in First-Year Program courses. A panel of judges from across the university will invite authors of the outstanding entries to display their work. Beyond the honor of being featured in the Showcase, student authors will also receive awards funded by DePaul’s colleges. Attendance at the event is open to members of the DePaul community, their friends and families, and the general public. A panel of judges from across the university will invite authors of outstanding entries to display their work.

Who can enter

Current DePaul students may enter work written for the following courses:

  • FYSW 102
  • WRD 102, 102x, 103, 103x, 104 and 104x
  • Focal Point Seminars LSP 112
  • Discover LSP 110 and Explore Chicago LSP 111
  • Honors 100, 110, 111 and 180
  • Quantitative Reasoning LSP 120

Texts may include

  • Essays (including narrative, analytical, reflective, critical, researched, and others)
  • Digication Portfolios
  • Multimodal Projects
  • Reports and interviews from field work

The First-Year Program Library Research Prize

  • This separate prize (research essays only) recognizes outstanding achievement in the application of information literary skills in developing search strategies, using information resources and evaluating materials. For more information, visit the University Library website.

How Does It Work? 

  1. ​​Students complete the entry form to submit their writing for consideration for the general or library research prize. Students may submit entries for both the General Prize and the Library Research Prize.
  2.  A panel of faculty judges from across the University assesses and selects the most outstanding entries to be honorees at the Showcase. Winners will be notified in Late April. 
  3. Winning honorees will participate in a Writing Center workshop to create a digital poster to accompany their selected writing project. This poster will be displayed on our website​ and presented at the Showcase event. 
  4. Honorees are invited to share and display their digital posters at the Showcase in May in the company of peers, family, friends, and DePaul community members. The celebratory event includes a short program with remarks from a keynote speaker and an award ceremony. 

Please visit our website for more information and to see winning submissions from previous Showcases. 

Writing Program Director: Erin Workman

For questions about uploading your entry, contact: wcenter@depaul.edu​