Calling all writers...If you're based in Otago or Southland you're invited to feel the fear and do it anyway in a new competition as part of this year’s Queenstown Writers Festival.
You'll have exactly 48 hours over the festival weekend of 11 to 12 November to compose up to 800 words of literary gold, based on prompts released at 5pm on Friday, November 10.
The open section will be judged by award-winning writer Steve Braunias, with the winner claiming $500 cash and being published in the summer issue of 1964 magazine.
Cash prizes and book vouchers will be awarded to winning entries in the Rangatahi section (open to young people in years 9 to 13) and Tamariki (years 1 to 8) sections. Tamariki will have a longer period to prepare their work.
The competition is generously sponsored by Anna-Marie Chin Architects. Anna-Marie wants to see more cross-pollination between creative disciplines, and believes imagination is the key to growing our minds.
“Writing is like a hand sketch,” she says. “It creates a feeling, and everyone will interpret it differently.”
So how does it work? At 5pm on Friday 10 November we'll release three possible prompts on our website, via social media and in our newsletter. You get to choose which you'd like to respond to, in either fiction or non-fiction form. You'll have only 48 hours to polish your diamond though, as submissions close on Sunday at 5pm.
Don't be too intimidated, though. Festival trustee Jen Smart says that often the most interesting ideas are formed under pressure. “We’ve all seen the impressive work produced in the 48-Hour Film Festival – the spirit of this competition is the same. We’re inviting writers to put aside all those things that get in the way of starting, and just begin writing.”
Unlike the 48-Hour Film Festival, entrants will have a choice in the stimulus they respond to, and the form in which they do so.
Open category judge Steve Braunias says he'll be looking for characters who say and do things like real people. “I want stories where things actually happen, and one or two beautiful sentences.”
The Rangatahi section will be judged by award-winning screenwriter and author Michael Bennett (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue), with the winner being given $250 in cash and a book voucher.
A special Tamariki category will be judged by Queenstown author Jane Bloomfield. Unlike the older sections, Tamariki writers can begin work immediately as the three prompts are already available on the festival website.
First prize for Tamariki is $100 and a book voucher. Thanks to the generous sponsorship of Anna-Marie Chin Architects, there will also be four $50 book vouchers for highly commended pieces in this category.