A short history of commonplacing...

Commonplace book (noun): a personal repository used to compile and organize interesting or useful information gathered from external reading. It functions as a personalized encyclopedia where you collect quotes, ideas, facts, recipes, and proverbs to reflect on and reference later.

From the parchment scrolls of the middle ages, to the notebooks of the 19th century, and even to the Notes app today, artists, writers and intellectuals have saved the tidbits that inspire them. Spending time with books, art, and movies exposes us to new ideas. Saving these ideas in one place can help us see conections and spark new ideas. And it's from these ideas that the next great works - of analysis, of novel-writing, of TV - are born.

We are asking you to go through your commonplace books, find an idea you jotted down about a book that interests you, and write the ensuing analysis.

The brief: what we are looking for

The Commonplace Prize is an annual award for the best literary analysis essay written by a Victorian student under the age of 19.

The name comes from the tradition of keeping commonplace books - journals in which to retain ideas, reflections, and excerpts of prose the reader personally finds delightful while reading.
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The award aims to highlight the contributions of young authors to literary analysis. Students are to write an analytical essay unpacking something about what a text of their choice says about human nature or the human experience. Love, loss, friendship, faith, grief, gluttony - the exact aspect is up to you, as long as it is an eternal experience. Students may write on any book, movie, TV show, play, or video game of their choice; however we recommend picking something of literary merit that explores the experiences of its characters.

Structure and eligibility:

Who: Year 9–12 students (ages 14–18) across Victoria.

‍Categories
Junior Division: Years 9 & 10
Senior Division: Years 11 & 12

‍Format: One prompt-based expository or persuasive essay, 800–1,000 words. Footnotes and endnotes are not permitted aside from where they are required to identify a text or source.

Prompt: Write an essay analysing what a text of your choice explores or suggests about human nature or the human experience.
Permitted texts: novels, movies, TV shows, plays, short stories.
Non-permitted texts: poetry, poetry collections, short story collections. Analysis of a single short story is permissable, though consider how length of a text impacts the author's ability to achieve depth of message.
Length requirements: all chosen texts must be analysed in their totality. Written words must be of at least 3500 words, movies and TV shows must be of at least 90 minutes runtime.
Clarity requirements: please ensure the text chosen and its author are clearly expressed in the essay itself. If you write on a text such as an obscure short story and we are unable to find the original work, we will be unable to accurately judge your submission. If you are unsure, we recommend adding a footnote
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Am I allowed to write on the text I am studying at school? Yes, in the 2026 iteration of this prize we are allowing students to submit on any text of their choice, including texts they may be studying this year at school. We do encourage students to broaden their reading, however: originality of analysis and text selection are part of the judging criteria in and of themselves.
If I write on a TV show, do I have to analyse all 3/7/10 seasons? No, you may pick a single season to analyse in detail. Do consider the season in its totality, however.
If I write on a long novel (300+ pages), do I have to analyse the whole text? Yes. The word count of your submission will not permit a close reading of the entire text, but your analysis should require an understanding of the full plot.

Judging criteria
Pieces will be assessed on:
- Complexity of text chosen and ideas taken from said text
- Interesting-ness and originality of analysis
- How well the submission explores what the chosen text suggests about human nature or the human experience
- Close reading and use of the text to evidence arguments
- Fluency, clarity, and style of prose

The prize

Senior Division
1st place: $500 + certificate
2nd place: $250 + certificate
3rd place: $100 + certificate
Highly Commended (×3): Certificate

Junior Division
1st place: $300 + certificate
2nd place: $150 + certificate
3rd place: $75 + certificate
Highly Commended (x3): Certificate
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All prize winners will also be published in our Commonplace Zine after awards have been announced.

For teachers

For our printable schools pack, please contact us at the following email address:admin@hellosmart.com.au

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