Here’s a chance to express your thoughts and win cash in the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Jamaica (ICAJ) Writers Competition!

This annual competition gives entrants the opportunity to win quarterly prizes and an overall award - the ‘Diamond Pen Award,’ to be presented during the Institute’s Annual Awards Dinner, held each December, the first to be presented in 2010.

The competition is open to:

• Members of the ICAJ
• Jamaican Registered Public Accountants who are not ICAJ Members
• Members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Caribbean
• CGAs and CPAs
• Students and graduates of the ICAJ/ACCA Joint Scheme examinations
• University Business Students - undergraduate and postgraduate

Terms of the Competition

In addition to the Diamond Pen Award, presented annually, quarterly token prizes will be presented to an individual whose article is adjudged to be the best for that period. The four quarterly winners will qualify to win the Diamond Pen Award.

Winners will automatically grant ICAJ all rights pertaining to the use of their articles.

* Rules to govern the competition:

• Articles must be written so as to benefit the general public. They must not be too technical in focus and, if having a technical slant, must be written in layman’s terms.
• Articles must be relevant to Jamaica’s economic climate.
• Articles must be original, i.e. not reproduced from any other source.
• Focus of articles must be in an area of Economics, Business, Management, or any other area of interest to the profession.
• The length of articles should be between 1,000 and 1,200 words.
• Material, to be submitted in soft copy, should not be submitted in pdf format, or any other format that would prevent manipulation or editing by ICAJ, and should not be handwritten.

Prizes

The Diamond Pen Award winner will receive $15,000 and a plaque, as well as one ticket to the ICAJ Annual Awards Dinner. Each quarterly winner will receive $10,000 and an engraved pen.

Other prizes:

• The overall winning article, along with the second and third prize winners, to be published in the Jamaica Observer and the Gleaner
• CPD credits  to be earned by quarterly winners who are ICAJ Members
• The overall winner and the quarterly winners to be recognised on the ICAJ website, www.icaj.org, and in the ICAJ newsletter

Topic

Writers may choose any topic in keeping with the rules of the competition. The evaluation deadline for the submission of articles each year is as follows:

• 1st quarter – March 31
• 2nd quarter – June 30
• 3rd quarter – September 30
• 4th quarter – December 31

The overall winner will be picked from among the winning articles for four quarters - the final quarter of a given year, along with the first three quarters of the following year.

Email submissions to the Public Relations Officer at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or deliver to the ICAJ secretariat at 8 Ruthven Road, Kingston 10, Attention: Public Relations Officer.

* The ICAJ Writers Competition is an undertaking of the Current Affairs Committee. The decisions of the Committee are final.