New Writings in Women's Studies: Selected Essays from the First Women's Studies Network (U.K.) Association Essay Contest‪.‬

Introduction The aim of this special issue of the Journal of International Women's Studies (JIWS) is to showcase the winning and shortlisted entries for the 1st Annual Essay Competition, run by the Women's Studies Network (UK) Association (WSN) in 2002. The WSN aims to promote women's studies, feminist research and teaching both nationally and internationally, and the publication of the essays in JIWS constitutes a valuable opportunity, through its international readership, to develop new and productive points of connection between those working in this field. The remit of the competition was deliberately inclusive, inviting undergraduates and postgraduates to submit previously unpublished work "that carries on the Women's Studies traditions of innovation, interdisciplinarity and feminist challenges to mainstream academic conventions". Entries were invited from feminist scholars of any academic discipline, as well as from those working within journalism, feminist activism or conducting independent feminist research. The aim of the competition was "to encourage and celebrate a new generation of feminist scholars", and as we hope this special edition illustrates, the winning and shortlisted entries offer substantial assurance to those who are witnessing the institutional decline of Women's Studies in the UK that feminist scholarship is alive and well, and as exciting and diverse as ever. We also hope that this special issue will counter more generally the view that younger women are no longer identifying politically as feminists, conversely showing, if anything, a sustained feminism amongst young scholars. The standard of the competition entries was very high, and we are very grateful to the external readers and to the members of WSN executive committee who contributed to the difficult task of selecting the winners. Our congratulations go to Angela King, who won the undergraduate competition, and Esperanza Miyake, who won in the postgraduate category.