2022 Blacktown Mayoral Creative Writing Prize

Congratulations to the winners and highly commended recipients of the 2022 Blacktown Mayoral  Writing Prize!

 

Prizes

The total prize pool is $1,600. Winners ages 17 or younger will receive $100 and the teacher or teacher librarian who is supporting them will receive a corresponding $100 as an incentive to encourage the budding authors of our local area. Adult winners will receive $200.

 

 

We’re thrilled to be able to deliver this year’s publication, launched at the Max Webber Library. This year’s theme ‘What now?’ has inspired some thoughtful and meaningful prose and poetry. We can’t wait for you all to read it! 

 

The 2022 Blacktown Mayoral Writing Prize was open to adults and children in Grade 4 and above, who live, or go to school, in Blacktown LGA. Entries can be in the form of short story, narrative non-fiction, memoir or poetry.

 

 

Presented in partnership with
Blacktown City Council

                 

 

What is the Blacktown Mayoral Writing Prize? 
The 2022 Blacktown Mayoral Creative Writing Prize is open to adults and children who live in Blacktown city. Entrants will write a short story or poem responding to the theme of
 What Now? The total prize pool is $1,600.

Overview
The 2021 Mayoral Creative Writing Prize is open to adults and children aged 8 years and above, who live in Blacktown city. The poems and short stories must be works of fiction.

Key Dates
Entries opened: Friday 1st July, 2022
Entries closed: midnight 3rd October, 2022
Presentation date: Thursday 8 December 2022 at 6 pm to 7 pm.
Venue: Max Webber Library Function Centre

Competition guidelines and criteria
Categories
All entries can be either poetry or short stories.
They will be judged in the following age categories, 8 – 11 years, 12 – 14 years, 15 – 17 years and adult (18+).
All entries must respond to the theme: What now?
What was…
was,
And what has been, has been, well…
We have had pandemics, fires, floods, arguments, new people enter our lives, and leave them… a new government and an old one leave.
Changes. So many changes.
So…
What now?

Judging
Your work will be judged on how original it is, how you have constructed your story or poem, the use of language, (including creative expression, grammar, sentence structure, punctuation and spelling), the way you have developed characters, atmosphere, or setting or used words in a creative way and how it relates to the theme.

It is critical that this work is original and not copied in any way. Copied work will be disqualified. Short stories exceeding the 500 words limit, or poems longer than 25 lines will also be disqualified. An independent judging panel will assess all submissions.

For more information, please contact WestWords on 1800 WestWords or admin@westwords.com.au

Prizes
The total prize pool is $1,600. Winners aged 17 or younger will receive $100, and the teacher or teacher librarian who is supporting them, will receive a corresponding $100 as an incentive to encourage the budding authors of our local area. Adult winners will receive $200.

Announcement of the prize winners
The presentation ceremony will take place on Thursday 8 December 2022, at 6 pm.
All winners and highly commended recipients will be invited to attend.

Submission criteria

  1. The work must be original and completed in the last 6 months.
    Entries can be either:
    • poem, maximum of 25 lines
    • short story, maximum of 500 words.
  2. Only one entry per person is permitted in each category.
  3. Each entry must have one entry per online form.
  4. Members of staff, members of Council, their partners and members of their immediate families are ineligible to enter this competition.
  5. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
  6. All participants will receive a letter acknowledging the receipt of their entry and their participation. A presentation ceremony will be held on Thursday 8 December 2022, where the winners will be announced.

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