Category: contest (Page 2 of 3)

The Southern Cross Short Story Competition, run by Ballarat Writers Inc., closed on September 30. Writers were asked to submit up to 3000 words on the theme Turning Away.

We had an impressive 215 entries for the competition! They came from every corner of the country and as far away as the UK and South Africa, with a huge diversity in the types of stories submitted. Competition readers were impressed by the depth of writing talent, so long-listing in a such a competitive contest is a credit to these writers.

Congratulations to the final 20 long-listed submissions. These will be short-listed and announced in the lead-up to our 24 November meeting at which the results will be declared. Judge Julie Koh will have the enviable task of selecting the winner. She will also be awarding prizes for second and third place, as well as two Highly Commended certificates.

The longlist is, in no particular order:

The Cakemaker by David Campbell
Dogs by Timothy Loveday
Be Your Own Hero by Vicky Daddo
Driving by Christine Kearney
Body Parts by Helga Jermy
Dreams of Police by Tobias Barnfield
Millie Lorraine by Josephine Sarvaas
Orbit by Jake Dean
Listing by Ian Reid
The Look of Love by Elizabeth Egan
The Hard Saying by Samuel Medley
Wheeler by Benjamin Forbes
The House Three Houses To The Left by Ivana Crol
How To Spot a Bruise On a Diamond by Paulette Smythe
Turning Away by Roland Renyi
Epilogue by Rosemary Stride
Feeling Through The Blue by Taylor Mitchell
How To Leave Your Childhood Behind by Ros Thomas
I Will Not Become You Brittney Crellin
Whole by Cynthia Fenton

Ballarat Writers Inc. (BWI) invites writers to enter the 2021 Southern Cross Short Story Competition.

Opening date:            1 August, 2021

Closing date:              30 September, 2021

Short stories to 3000 words on the theme, TURNING AWAY.

First prize –                $1000 AUD

Second Prize –          $400 AUD

Third Prize –              $100 AUD

Two Highly Commended certificates will also be awarded.

To be announced November 2021

Entry Fee to be paid online at: https://www.trybooking.com/BSYVW

Ballarat Writers Inc is a non-profit organisation, Incorporation No. A001874SK

2021 JUDGE – JULIE KOH

Julie is the author of two short-story collections. Her full-length collection Portable Curiosities was shortlisted for numerous awards, including the Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction 2016 and the Queensland Literary Awards – Australian Short Story Collection – Steele Rudd Award 2016. Portable Curiosities was one of The Guardian’s Best Australian Books of 2016.

Julie’s short stories have appeared in many publications, including The Best Australian Stories in 2014 to 2017, Best Australian Comedy Writing, The Sleepers Almanac 7 to X, The Canary Press, Liminal, Meanjin and The Lifted Brow. 

She judged the 2017 Monash Undergraduate Prize for Creative Writing, Writing NSW’s Varuna Fellowships 2017, the Sweatshop Youth Week Writing Competition 2018, the 2018 Stella Prize, the 2018 Woollahra Digital Literary Award – Flash and Short Fiction, and the 2019 Liminal Fiction Prize.

More at https://jylkoh.com/

WINNING WRITERS AND STORIES

The winning stories will be announced at an award presentation in Ballarat in November 2021. The full results and judge’s report will be published on the Ballarat Writers Inc website www.ballaratwriters.com in December 2021.

COMPETITION GUIDELINES

1. Competition is open to anyone over the age of 18 years as of 1 August, 2021
2. Entries must be NOT MORE THAN 3000 words including the title
3. All entries must have a title
4. Entries must be the original work of the applicant
5. Entries must not have been published anywhere, broadcast, or won a prize in any competition
6. Entry fee for non-BWI members is AUD$20 per story/entry
7. Entry fee for BWI members is AUD$15 per story/entry
8. Entrants may submit up to three entries, each at the specified entry fee
9. The entry fee is payable online by credit card before midnight on the closing date 30 September 2021 – refer to submission instructions below
10. Entries must be emailed to the email address below, before midnight on the closing date 30 September 2021 – refer to submission instructions below
11. All entries to be in English, double-spaced and using the standard 12 point font ‘Times New Roman’
12. Entrant’s name must not appear on/in the story
13. Fees will not be refunded
14. No corrections will be accepted, or correspondence entered into
15. Results will be announced on the website: www.ballaratwriters.com in December 2021
16. Copyright remains with the author
17. The judge’s decision is final
18. Neither the BW Competitions Co-ordinator nor any person involved in pre-reading or judging of entries may enter.

N.B. By submitting an entry, or entries, to this competition, you give permission for your work to be published in part or in full on the Ballarat Writers Inc website, and/or in any Ballarat Writers Inc publications, and you further agree and declare that the work submitted is your own original work and has not been copied in part or in full from any other source.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

The 2021 submission process has two parts:

1. PAY the entry fee online by credit card through Trybooking. A booking fee of 50 cents applies to each entry. See below for the payment website.
2. EMAIL your story to the email address below (ballaratwriterscompetitions@gmail.com). Save your story as a PDF file, and attach it to your email. In the subject title of your email, put ‘Southern Cross Competition 2021’. In the body of the email, include your full name and address, the title of the story and the word count. The email address by which you submit your entry will be the email address we use to contact you if necessary.

Both parts above must have been completed before midnight on the closing date 30 September, 2021.

Failure to follow/abide by any of the stated rules may make your entry, or entries, ineligible.

Submissions:
PAY fee online at: https://www.trybooking.com/BSYVW
EMAIL  story to: ballaratwriterscompetitions@gmail.com

Queries:

Email: ballaratwriterscompetitions@gmail.com
Competition website: www.ballaratwriters.com