We bring you news of two essay competitions which may have escaped your attention.
CentreForum marks the 10th anniversary of the Orange Book
Can you believe it’s 10 years since the Orange Book? That publication is celebrated by some, reviled by others within the Liberal Democrats. It can never be accused of being boring though. It stimulated one of the biggest policy debates in the history of the party. It was also much maligned as some sort of right wing credo but people forget that Steve Webb wrote for it.
In order to mark the anniversary, CentreForum is holding an essay competition. You’ll have to get your skates on if you want to take part as the deadline is just 8 days away. They say:
Contributors are asked to set out an effective response to the challenge they identify and assess the impact this response might have on government and public policy.Our door is open to any liberal from any camp. The deadline for submissions is 6pm on Thursday 15 May, so don’t miss out.Selected contributors will see their work feature in a new publication that will mark the ten year anniversary of the Orange Book.Essays should no more than 2,000 words in length (excluding footnotes and references), can be single- or multi-author and might broadly follow one of our four key themes:
- Economic liberalism: damned, discredited or indispensable?
- Delivering effective public services: the reform agenda for the next ten years
- Living in a multipolar world: a liberal perspective
- Taking ‘The Orange Book’ forward: a liberal agenda to 2025
Essays can be submitted electronically to [email protected] or by post to Anna Claeys, CentreForum, 6th Floor, 27 Queen Anne’s Gate, London SW1H 9BU.
What does Liberty mean to you?
Human rights organisation Liberty celebrates its 80th anniversary. So far, 79 authors have given their account of what the word Liberty means to them and they are holding a competition to find the 80th:
Send us no more than 500 words on the idea or word, Liberty, in any format – essay, fiction or poetry.
Do remember to use the judges’ tips below and our existing writers’ pieces for inspiration. Submit your piece using the entry form at the bottom of this page by 12noon on Monday 30 June 2014.
You could quite easily lose yourself for an afternoon reading the authors’ submissions and the judges’ tips for entrants are brilliant.
I suspect the challenge will be writing only 500 words on a topic close to our hearts, but you have plenty time after the elections to get your submissions together so get to it.
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A deadline of 15th May.
Obviously designed for people who have no interest in any elections taking place over the next couple of weeks.
To be fair, it’s been going for months, John. This is just a last minute reminder. I think you should write something, though. Important to get a wide range of views in the mix….:-).
Believe it or not John, not every Liberal spends every waking moment campaigning on the doorstep. If one can find time to read and comment on LDV, one can probably find time to write a modest length essay if they really wanted to.
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you will be free, my son!
Not a hint of plagiarism……. 🙂
So, for those not too busy in the elections which take place a week later, here’s something interesting to do.