STUDENT PUBLICATIONS

1. ENGLISH LITERATURE BA PAPERS

Starting in 2010-2011, the English Literature section awards an annual prize to the best BA paper in the field of English literature at Ghent University. The prize, which is generously sponsored by J. Story-Scientia, is in the form of a book voucher with a cash value of 50 EUR.

The winning BA paper and the runners-up are published below in pdf format. Intended as a reward for the efforts of the students concerned and as inspiration for their successors, the award and the online publication round off the English Literature seminar, a preparatory course for the BA paper that simulates the process of conceiving, researching, and writing a scholarly article.

2011-2012

Maarten Luyten was declared the winner for the 2011-2012 academic year and received the prize during the first class meeting of the English Literature seminar in February 2013.

2010-2011

Alexandra Cousy was declared the winner for the 2010-2011 academic year and received the prize during the English Literature info session for BA3 students on 5 October 2011.

• Sean Bex, "Charles Dickens: Judge and Partaker of Victorian Commercialism" (supervisor: prof. dr. Gert Buelens; co-supervisor: Jasper Schelstraete)
• Sophie Coolsaet, "Paratexts and Their Influence on Interpretation: On the Importance of the Final Chapter of Anthony Burgess‟s A Clockwork Orange" (supervisor: dr. Yuri Cowan)
• Alexandra Cousy, "The Descent into Hell in the Poetry of Eavan Boland" (supervisor: prof. dr. Stef Craps)
• Bjorn Delbeecke, "John Milton: The Religious Economics of Paradise Lost" (supervisor: prof. dr. Sandro Jung)
• Hannah Eeckhout, "Investigating the Ambiguities and Contradictions in the Representation of Female Same-Sex Desire in Eighteenth-Century Erotica, Particularly Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure " (supervisor: prof. dr. Gert Buelens; co-supervisor: prof. dr. Sandro Jung)
• Sarah Malfait, "The Representation of the Public School in the Boy’s Own Paper and Chums " (supervisor: dr. Yuri Cowan; co-supervisor: prof. dr. Marysa Demoor)
• Sean Wille, "Ambiguity in the Works of John Keats: A Comparative Study of the Setting, the Characters and the Female in La Belle Dame sans Merci and Lamia" (supervisor: prof. dr. Sandro Jung; co-supervisor: dr. Sören Hammerschmidt)

2. SIMILE

Simile is:
- literary terminology: an explicit comparison indicated by words such as 'as' or 'like';
- a place to compare and bring together Belgian and English-speaking cultures and literatures;
- an acronym (sort of) for Student Magazine of Literary English, because that's what we are!

For more information, follow us on www.simile.ugent.be, drop us an email at or find us on Facebook!

Creative Team:
Michelle Verdonck (Editor-In-Chief)
Jorin Carpels (Prose Editor)
Matthias Opsomer (Review Editor, Lay-out and PR Design)
Caroline Tilleman (Artwork Coordinator)

Staff assistance from:
Joanna Britton
Nils Smeuninx

Simile 2012 (pdf)

Simile 2011 (pdf)

Simile 2010 (pdf)

3. CREATIVE WRITING COMPETITION

In 2012-2013 the English section ran a creative writing competition, in two categories (prose and poetry), on the theme of 'crowds'. This was open to all UGent students. The entries were judged blind, so it was with great surprise that, after deciding on the winners, the judges (Professor Gert Buelens and Dr Kate Macdonald) found that the same person had won both poetry and prose categories. The winning entries are attached as pdf files.

Prose
1) Dinah Wouters 
2) Esther De Baecke 

Honourable Mention: Lisen Maebe 

Poetry
1) Dinah Wouters 
2) Mathijs Debaene 

The next competition will be announced in September 2013.