About
From the founder:
My name is Meaghan Townsend, and I founded this contest with the support of the Harvard Office for Sustainability and its Student Grant Program.
I teach 11th grade English in Dorchester, MA, and am earning my Master's from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. (I graduated Harvard College in May 2021, from the English department.)
The idea for this contest emerged from a science fiction unit I ran this December. My juniors defined "sci fi" broadly: writing that addresses problems of science, technology, society, and environment.
Students chose from a fleet of current news articles addressing such issues—from rising incidence of natural disasters to the effect of caffeine on the teenage brain. Their task: to extrapolate their chosen problem into the future, and write a short story such that someone in the present is inspired to act differently.
The unit was a success, and I was struck by the clarity of students’ insights. I wondered aloud when I was an undergraduate about what made for effective climate writing. Now, given the opportunity, I am incentivizing its production with a contest for Harvard undergrads. We’ll see if you can top my juniors!
My hope is that this contest will inspire exceptional writing. I know how busy an undergraduate spring can be, but I believe that these questions are worth answering. I look forward to reading your entries alongside the judges.
Many thanks to the Office for Sustainability (where I worked as an undergrad), and the Harvard University Employees Credit Union, for their generosity and time in supporting the contest.
-Meaghan (meaghan.e.townsend@gmail.com)