The School of Cities, along with the departments of English at the University of Toronto Mississauga and University of Toronto St. George, hosts a short story & image competition inspired by the School of Cities’ annual themes. The winning story and visual art components substantively engage with an aspect of urban experience related to one of the School of Cities’ annual themes (climate and justice; migration, belonging, and thriving in cities; or inequality, data, and democracy) and can be about any city, anywhere in the world!
The competition is divided into two categories, undergraduate and graduate, and is open to U of T students from any discipline, department, or campus. Applications in the two categories are evaluated separately, and three finalists are selected from each group:
- Undergraduate competition: one winner and two honorable mentions
- Graduate competition: one winner and two honorable mentions
The winner in each category receives a prize of $500. The honourable mentions receive $250 each.
Check back regularly for updates on the next competition
2026 story & image competition winners
Undergraduate category
First place: The Crocodiles of Manila by Lily Paez, BA English & Urban Studies
Honourable mention: No One Told Us To Leave by Liya Chen, BEng
Honourable mention: Summer Storms by Javeria Sajid
Graduate category
First place: Blue Again by Marina Klimenko, PhD candidate English
Honourable mention: Polite Society by Gurher Sidhu
Honourable mention: They Wonder if I Dream of the Green Bin by Jingshu Yao
2025 story & image competition winners
Undergraduate category
First place: Hiding Places by Catherine Zhang, BA Psychology & English
Honourable mention: Aanu and I by E.E., BA English
Honourable mention: The American Dream by Eryn McDevitt, BA Environmental Studies & Urban Studies
Graduate category
First place: Sylvie by Noah Khan, PhD candidate Social Justice Education
Honourable mention: Chongjin Bicycles by Steve Tu, PhD Leadership, Higher & Adult Education
Honourable mention: Cammie and the Coyote by Kevin Corcoran, Master of Information Library and Information Science
This competition is supported by the School of Cities, the Department of English and Drama at UTM, and the English Department at St. George.