Anyone in the world, of any age, may enter the World Handwriting Contest.
Our team of judges will evaluate your entry within ONE of the following age groups.
1. Children (age 7 and under)
2. Pre-Teens (ages 8 through 12)
3. Teens (ages 13 through 19)
4. Adults (ages 20 through 64)
5. Seniors (age 65 and over)
Within each age group, the judges will sort submissions into two categories of handwriting.
Functional Handwriting:
Functional handwriting strives for legibility, speed, and fluency without aiming at artistic effect. For this category, the judges will further separate entries as cursive, which joins 50% or more of its letters or manuscript printing, which joins fewer than half of its letters.
Artistic Handwriting:
Artistic handwriting uses a monoline or calligraphy marker, pen, or brush along with decorative strokes, flourishes, and/or combinations of shading, hairlines and/or thick and thin strokes to create an artistic effect.
Paper
Use either lined or unlined paper, 8 1/2 x 11 inches or A4 size.
The written quote must fit on the front side of ONE sheet of paper. Allow at least a 1/2-inch margin on all sides of the quote.
Writing Instruments
Use any of the following writing instruments: ballpoint pen, fountain pen, felt/fiber tip marker, or calligraphy pen/brush. Use the same writing instrument throughout the entry.
Back Ink Only
Because we scan winning entries for display, please use only black ink and white or light-colored paper, either plain or lined, with no preprinted pictures or decorations.
Info Required:
On the reverse side of your entry, not on the front, or in the text of the email to which a scan of an entry is attached, write or type in English:
1) Your full name
2) Your full address
3) Your age on July 1 of the year in which you enter
4) Your phone number
5) Your email address (if any)
Students:
Please give your school name, address, phone number, and email address, along with your own name and address. Your school will receive notification if you win.
Send Your Best Work!
Do NOT send rough drafts. If you make a mistake, start over: do NOT erase, cross out, “white out,” or cover up your errors. Visible erasures/cross-outs/cover-ups/”whiting out” will count more heavily against your work than the original errors themselves.
The World Handwriting Contest awards first and second prizes in each of the above categories and subcategories.
Prize-winners’ names and writing samples are announced and posted on this website and our social media by October. Winners’ names & handwriting samplesWinners’ names & handwriting samples are displayed on this website for a full year.
For Children Through Age 12:
HANDWRITING: that action of emotion, of thought, and of decision that has recorded the history of mankind, revealed the genius of invention, and disclosed the inmost depths of the heart. Handwriting ties us to the thoughts and deeds of our forebears and serves as an irrevocable link to our humanity. No machine or technology can replace the contribution or continuing importance of this skill. It has been necessary in every age and is just as vital to civilization as our next breath.
– Michael R. Sull
For Ages 13 – Adult
HANDWRITING: that action of emotion, of thought, and of decision that has recorded the history of mankind, revealed the genius of invention, and disclosed the inmost depths of the soulful heart. It gives ideas tangible form through written letters, pictographs, symbols, and signs. Handwriting forms a bond across millennia and generations that not only ties us to the thoughts and deeds of our forebears, but also serves as an irrevocable link to our humanity. Neither machines nor technology can replace the contribution or continuing importance of this inexpensive portable skill. Necessary in every age, handwriting remains just as vital to the enduring saga of civilization as our next breath.
-Michael R. Sull
One Entry per Year::
To keep the contest open to the greatest possible number of entrants and winners, please submit only ONE (1) entry per year.
Past Winners:
Past winners of the Contest may enter. However, to keep the contest continually open to aspiring handwriters, we ask any entrant who has won three prizes in the Contest to refrain from entering future World Handwriting Contests.
Lifetime Winner
Lifetime Winners’ names and winning samples will be permanently added to the Triple Crown Lifetime Winners’ page! Hail to all who earn their Triple Crown!
The decision of the judges is final. Contest judges will evaluate entries based on three criteria:
1) Legibility: How easily we can read the writing
2) Fluency: The smoothness, grace, and flow of the writing
3) Competence: Choice of layout and margins; spacing between letters, words, and lines; consistency of letter size and forms; accuracy of the quote; neatness and general appearance; spelling; and whether the entrant strove to follow the letter and spirit of the Contest rules.
4) Spelling: Spelling is used to evaluate care taken with the assigned material. Entries will be disqualified if they misspell the first word in the assigned quotation, the same word within the assigned quotation, and/or the name of the author of the quotation. Other misspellings will not immediately disqualify an entry, but will each deduct a significant number of points from the final score of that entry.
If you have general inquiries about the contest and need a response before the judging begins, put the words “QUESTION for World Handwriting Contest” on the envelope/email subject line.
Do not mail or email your entries before January 1. All material remains unopened until the Judging Period begins. All entries become the property of the Contest. The World Handwriting Contest will not return submitted entries.
World Handwriting Contest distributes prizes to the contest-winners each year, distributing all prizes by December.
Frank Smith
A signsmith and calligrapher from Albany, New York, USA, who believes that handwriting is of great importance provides calligraphic certificates to each winner as the prize.
Mr. Ashok Batra
From India, Mr. Batra, a Lifetime Triple Crown Winner of the World Handwriting Contest, contributes one writing instrument a high-quality pen of his choosing. He holds that writing on paper forges a personal bond that can never be achieved through the latest technologies like internet and mobile phones. The personal touch in handwritten letters, he believes, is incomparable.
Thiruvengadam Madanagopal
A skilled calligrapher in Tamil Nadu, India and Lifetime Triple Crown Winner of the World Handwriting Contest contributes one writing instrument: a high-quality pen of his choosing. He is the father of another sponsor who is also a very skilled handwriter: Narendramoorthi Madanagopal.
Narendramoorthi Madanagopal
Another Lifetime Triple Crown Winner of the World Handwriting Contest, and the son of Thiruvengadam Madanagopal, this expert penman has committed to contribute a pen set for the World Pen-Champ — the best of all winners in a given year.
Wonder Print Shop
The full-service customization print-on-demand company Wonder Print Shop provides selected Contest winners with various handwriting-related items, selected from a specialty collection. For each winner who is a child, preteen, or teen, Wonder Print Shop provides a luxury pen/pencil organizer case.
Federalist Pens and Paper
This deluxe stationery store specializes in fountain pens, ink, writing paper, handwriting improvement books, and everything else to meet the needs of those who love handwriting and wish to maintain and advance it. Federalist Pens’’ founder and owner, Frank Limper, is donating deluxe multi-functional pen-and-pencil cases with a variety of interior pockets, writing tool securement loops, and other useful features. These are going to five selected adult and senior winners of the World Handwriting Contest who are resident in the USA: beginning with the winners for 2023, and continuing for 2024 and future years. Here is a photograph of the strikingly designed pen-and-pencil cases — each one boldly patterned with the officially registered Handwriting Tartan — that will be supplied to the adult and senior winners.
It shall be the purpose of Handwriting For Humanity to foster the study and use of handwritten communications. The organization shall carry out this purpose through activities such as:
The promotion of handwriting and its instruction in educational institutions, as well as for personal home study.
Making handwriting instruction and materials available to all children regardless of cultural and financial barriers.
Sponsoring an annual handwriting competition.
Recognizing individual and corporate efforts in the promotion of handwriting and its instruction.
Tracking technical trends in the development of handwriting, and its instruction and materials.
HANDWRITING: that action of emotion, of thought, and of decision that has recorded the history of mankind, revealed the genius of invention, and disclosed the inmost depths of the soulful heart. It gives ideas tangible form through letters, pictographs, symbols, and signs. Handwriting forges a bond across millennia and generations that not only ties us to the thoughts and deeds of our forebears, but also serves as an irrevocable link to our humanity. Neither machines nor technology can replace or equal the contribution or continuing importance of this inexpensive portable skill. Necessary in every age, handwriting remains just as vital to the enduring saga of civilization as our next breath. – Michael Sull
