This issue, we take to the skies and migrate. Whether in search of shelter, love, peace, we know that above all, we search for life. Swallows sweep the globe, found on all continents including Antarctica; we are universal. And when we grow wings, do we cry out in pain for the feathers pressing through our skin? Or is the newfound gift of flight a comfort? Imagine matters of the throat. Imagine what we consume, where it comes from, what hard-to-swallow pills must be taken. Remember that food is not all that finds itself in our mouths.
Jargon magazine
10 February 2025
A-Level students invited to participate in King's writing contest
The Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures has opened its annual writing competition for A-Level students interested in modern languages and comparative literature.
Entries are welcomed from all students in Year 12 or 13, and S5 or S6 in Scotland. All participants will be invited to a workshop and prize-giving event at King’s in March 2025.
Winners will receive a voucher and have their work published in one of the department’s four student magazines:
- Des Nouvelles, Héloise? – French
- Jargon – Comparative Literature
- Königspost – German
- Sobremesa – Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan
The information below outlines the themes, requirements and entry deadlines for each topic. Entry forms are available at the end of the page.
Comparative Literature
We invite original essays on any topic relating to food and migration, addressed from any angle. In what ways are the memories, narratives, sensory experiences, or networks of food and migration intertwined? You may choose to reflect on your own experiences, or to draw on a literary text of your choice.
For inspiration, you may also wish to consider the related theme of SWALLOW for the upcoming issue of Jargon, which the winning essay will be featured in:
Entries should be 400-450 words in length and can be a discursive essay or a more creative form. Writing will be judged on the basis of both content and language.
Submissions should be emailed to Alice Xiang with your name, school and contact details.
Deadline: 25 February 2025
French
To speak another language is to enter another world. What aspects of the French-speaking world resonate with you or surprise you?
You are invited to submit 400-500 words of either academic or creative writing on this topic.
Your entry should be sent in Word of PDF format to kclfrenchnewsletter@gmail.com with your name, the name of your school, and your class.
Deadline: 28 February 2025
German
Who gives you hope during difficult times? Why does this person inspire you? How has their work or life helped you reimagine your place in the world?
These questions are inspired by the book project anders bleiben: Briefe der Hoffnung in verhärteten Zeiten, ed. by Selma Wels (2023), in which 21 authors write to the poets, friends, authors, family members, teachers, and artists, who have helped them ‘stay different’ and imagine just futures.
We invite you to write a letter to a German-speaking individual from any time or place, who has influenced your life and given you hope. Share your thoughts, feelings, and what you find inspirational about them in the form of a letter to this person.
Entries should be 400-450 words and written in German, and submitted to Lisa Banning.
Deadline: 7 March 2025
Spanish and Portuguese
For Spanish, entrants are invited to consider: what if Christopher Columbus were a woman? And for Portuguese: what would happen if Pedro Alvares Cabral were a woman?
Write a text in which you change the course of history and the relationship between this explorer and the lands and people she has encountered on her travels. What would be different? What do you think would change?
Entries should be 400-450 words and written in Spanish or Portuguese. They need to be submitted by email:
- For Spanish, to Raquel Fernández-Sánchez
- For Portuguese, to Alexandra Lourenço Dias
Deadline: 28 February 2025
Competition entry forms
Forms are only required for German, Spanish and Portuguese entries.