Zuihitsu Shunjyu Award

ずいひつしゅんじゅうしょう

An open submission essay literary award sponsored by General Incorporated Association Zuihitsu Shunjyu. No age restrictions, soliciting works of approximately 5 pages (400-character format), and selecting Excellent Award, Honorable Mentions, and Selected Entries.

Essay

Established: 1995
Organizer: General Incorporated Association Zuihitsu Shunjyu
Category: Essays, Miscellanies, and Travel Writing
Selection Method: Open call
Target: Open
Frequency: 1 per year
Application Deadline: around August–September
Announcement Period: around December
Status: Active

Description

The Zuihitsu Shunjyu Award is a public submission literary award established to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the founding of the coterie magazine "Zuihitsu Shunjyu." The genre is essay. Topics and themes are free, with no age restrictions, and the work specification is approximately 5 pages in 400-character format. The total number of submissions exceeds 400 each year, approaching 1,000 in fiscal 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. It selects 1 Excellent Award recipient, several Honorable Mentions, and approximately 20 Selected Entries, with works at Selected Entry level or above published in the magazine.

Prize

Main Prize: Excellent Award: 1 recipient, Honorable Mentions: several, Selected Entries: approx. 20

Selection

Criteria

Writing about people
Making an effort to convey to the reader
Appearing as oneself in the 'I' persona

Application Tips

Dos

Narrow the theme to humans and write about familiar people such as family or friends
Focus on describing inner emotions and thoughts rather than superficial depictions
Express not only admirable qualities but also foolishness and ephemerality as they are
Use easy-to-understand words and common-use kanji as much as possible
Use metaphors to devise ways for readers to visualize scenes in their minds
Aim for expressions that touch the reader's heartstrings
Appear as 'I' within the work to draw empathy from the reader
If using a first-person perspective other than 'I', consider whether the reader can empathize emotionally
Note that works where the author barely appears tend to have weaker appeal