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Notebook and Pen

Meyer (Mike) Greenstein Memorial Student Award for Writing Excellence

Established in 2007 in memory of Meyer Greenstein (UC '40), the Meyer (Mike) Greenstein Memorial Student Award for Writing Excellence offers a single prize of up to $1,000 each year for excellence in any of these categories:

  • Academic Essay
  • Other Prose
  • Poetry
  • Drama
  • Short Story

Conditions Governing the Greenstein Award:

  1. This award is open to students enrolled in University College or to students from other colleges who are enrolled in University College-sponsored or affiliated courses or programs.
  2. Course instructors may nominate a student with the student’s consent.
  3. All entries shall automatically be entered into each of the competitions for which they are eligible. Students may submit no more than one entry in each of the following categories: Academic Essay; Public Writing; Poetry; Drama; Short Story; and Other Prose. (If you do submit more than one entry in the essay category, only the last entry will be considered.)
  4. Entries in the categories Academic Essay and Public Writing must have received a grade of at least 85%. In either category, students registered at UC must submit work from a U of T course; eligible non-UC students may submit work only from a UC program course or course in an affiliated centre.
  5. NEW: Entries in the category Academic Essay must not exceed 6,000 words.
  6. Entries in the category Public Writing must not exceed 1,000 words.
  7. Entries in the categories Poetry, Drama, and Short Story may include a poem or small group of thematically related poems of up to 1,200 words, a play of up to 10,000 words, or a short story of up to 7,500 words.
  8. Other Prose includes such forms as journalism, biography, and travel literature. Entries in the category Other Prose must not exceed 7,500 words.

  9. You may revise past course work before submitting. 

  10. Submissions must be in English.

  11. Group entries cannot be accepted.

  12. NEW: The use of AI is prohibited except as an early-stage tool to discover sources.

  13. The Writing Awards Committee may, if appropriate, choose to move an entry to a different category.

  14. The name of the award winner will appear on the University College website.
  15. Copyright for award-winning entries shall remain with the author.
  16. Entries for the 2027 awards shall be submitted online by May 13.

Submissions are now closed for the 2025-26. Check back here in fall 2026 for details on next year's competition.