The Authors' Challenge

Launched for its first cycle in 2018, the Authors' Challenge #WordUp is a provost-funded writing initiative where students will compete for a funded writing course, retreat, or internship abroad. The program aims to harness a culture of creative writing in all schools and disciplines across The American University in Cairo (AUC) and has the potential to make a positive impact on the writing culture on campus.

Housed under the Undergraduate Research program, one of the program goals is to be an enriching learning experience for all undergraduate students regardless of academic major. With expert workshop leaders and substantial prizes, the initiative is an attractive means of encouraging students to expand their skillset.

Categories of writing that may be included but are not limited to short stories, podcasting, spoken word poetry, script-writing, and graphic novels. In each category, an expert practitioner and/or faculty may run a series of three to four workshops throughout the academic year, with the aim of mentoring students as they develop their writing skills and as they work on producing a final draft by the end of the workshops. Two finalists from each category will be chosen to compete for the final prize in their category which may align with the Research and Creativity Convention (RCC) held during the spring semester of each year.

The initiative is headed by the AUC faculty.

You can find their online presence on Facebook and Instagram.