2026 Writing Competition

Our famous writing competition is back!
Full details will be here shortly, including the submission form, but meantime:

How does it feel to be Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Shia …? What was it like to convert? Did you ever meet an atua? Write about it in up to 2500 words and be in to win. All genres welcome.

Theme: Religious Experience
Deadline: 20 September 2026
Word limit: 2500
First prize: $500
Judge: Prof Paul Morris

This year we have two entry categories:
1. VUW students, and
2. VUW alumni and staff

This competition is being organised by chaplains Matthew Packer, Ginni Shaw and Matthew Bartlett. Feel free to get in touch with us.

2025 Utopian Writing Competition

Dystopian stories are everywhere, and disaster is perennially exciting. But can we imagine a better future for society? The 2025 Chaplaincy VUW Utopian Writing Competition was an experiment to find out! The competition closed on 28 June 2025,
and the prizegiving event was held at Ramsey House 10 September 2025.

Our judge was Elizabeth Knox. She chose as overall winner Margaret Mitchell’s piece 'Utopia – I call it Otūrēhua’. Runners-up were '“Just about the corner”' by Carla Hazel Finn, and ‘Forecast for Tomorrow’ by Rohit Gunasekaran. Congratulations to those three, to the 14 people who made the long-list, and to everyone who took the time to submit an entry.

You can read all the finalists in the below booklet (or download it here).