Call for Submissions: Jessie O'Kelly Student Composition Award

The Program in Rhetoric and Composition invites students to submit to the 2026 Jessie O'Kelly Student Composition Award, which recognizes U of A undergraduate students for writing exemplary papers in first-year Composition courses during the 2025 calendar year.

The award's monetary prize is $500. Submissions are due March 13, 2026.

The criteria for submission:

• Student must be currently enrolled as a full-time undergraduate student at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and plan to enroll for fall 2026.
• Student must have been a freshman or sophomore when taking the Composition course.
• Student must have taken the Composition course in 2025, spring, summer or fall.
• Papers must have been written for a major assignment in Composition 1 or 2 or Technical Composition 2, including Honors and online versions.
• Papers must be at least three pages, in a recognized document and citation format (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.), incorporate outside sources and demonstrate skills in originality, organization, argumentation and language.
• Students should include their university ID number with each submission.
• Students may submit more than one essay.

Submit papers via email at rhetcomp@uark.edu by noon on Friday, March 13. Papers will be judged by Program in Rhetoric and Composition teaching staff, who will select winners. If you have questions, please contact LewEllyn Hallett at 479-575-2248 or lhallett@uark.edu.

About Jessie O'Kelly: Jessie Freyschlag O'Kelly, for whom this award is named, was a beloved instructor for the English Department from 1944 through 1968. Upon her death some years later, her colleagues, friends and students established the Jessie O'Kelly Freshman Essay Award in her honor. We are privileged to maintain this tradition, to honor her and our composition students who do such effective work.

About the Program in Rhetoric and Composition: The Program in Rhetoric and Composition develops and manages writing courses that help students become effective writers, thinkers, researchers and rhetoricians. These courses emphasize development of the reading, writing, thinking and research skills and processes necessary for student success in the university and beyond. In addition to first-year writing, the program offers undergraduate courses in developmental writing, advanced composition, essay writing, technical and professional writing.