Walking Together: flash writing competition
Orana Arts partnered with the international walking creatives network, walk · listen · create (WLC), to offer a prize for writers living and working in Regional NSW, for a 250-word story or poem about ‘Walking Together’. Entries closed 19 August.
September 2024
REGIONAL NSW WINNER
Bronwyn Birdsall for Connecting
Bronwyn Birdsall, Brunswick Heads
It’s a real honour to have been awarded the Regional prize of the Walking Together competition run by walk · listen · create in the UK. As a regional writer, I’m so grateful to Orana Arts for this opportunity to be recognised in an international competition.
When I heard about the competition and the theme ‘Walking Together’, I thought back to how it felt to be a young adult living in a regional area, feeling like there was a whole world out there waiting for me. The piece I wrote is inspired by both my younger self, and the current yearning I feel for friends who I once shared my everyday life with, and now are seldom seen and far away.
Thank you to everyone at Orana Arts for supporting regional writers.
Congratulations to all who entered the competition, to other long and short listers, and to the overall winners of the Writing About Walking Together competition, Chantal Lyons (prose) and Damaris West (poetry).
READ THE SHORTLISTED WORKS HERE
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SHORT LIST ANNOUNCEMENT (REGIONAL NSW ONLY)
Bronwyn Birdsall (Brunswick Heads)
Leanne Wicks (Captertee Valley)
Annette Lyons (Brunswick Heads)
READ THE SHORTLISTED WORKS HERE
The winners and runners-up will be announced at the online Writing About Walking Together Showcase on 28 September UTC (2.30am AEST, 29 September). We’ll announce the winner of the Regional NSW award on Monday, 30 September.
LONG LIST ANNOUNCEMENT (REGIONAL NSW ONLY)
The Regional NSW long-list writers are:
Leanne Wicks (Captertee Valley)
Jason Richardson (Leeton)
Sharon Bonthuys (Narromine)
Annette Lyons (Brunswick Heads)
Bronwyn Birdsall (Brunswick Heads)
There are 27 poems and stories in the long list and we're now reading those regional entries in the long list in preparation for the short-list announcement and ultimately the winners. In the meantime, have a read, mark your favourites, leave comments and share on social media. The short-listed writings will also be published in an illustrated, print chapbook anthology.
Writers from across Regional NSW are invited to enter this year’s walk · listen · create flash writing competition for stories or poetry about ‘walking together’. Your work must be fiction and not exceed the 250-word count, but interpretation of the theme is open.
Orana Arts is supporting the competition with one cash prize of A$165 for a piece written by a resident of Regional New South Wales. The category winner will be selected from the prose and poetry long-lists.
walk · listen · create will publish an anthology of the best poetry and prose submissions in an illustrated chapbook anthology, as well as an audio locative podcast. Shortlisted pieces will also be showcased during Sound Walk September 2024, including a public online event where shortlisted authors and poets can read their work.
KEY INFORMATION
WORD COUNT & GENRE: 250 words of fictional prose (stories) or poetry
PRIZES: Overall winners of each - €100 cash and Silver Membership to walk · listen · create, and an invitation to be a walk · listen · create on-line Poet- or Writer-in-residence for 2024/5…and an artwork illustrating their poem or story by Alban Low; the Regional NSW category winner sponsored by Orana Arts - A$165 cash (equivalent of €100). Shortlisted authors will receive 2 complimentary copies of the anthology, be invited to an exclusive Writers’ Circle event on Saturday, 28 September, and will be invited to read their work at the Write About Walking Showcase. All long-listed works will be published on the walk · listen · create website from 1 September, 2024. More details on the WLC website
ENTRY FEES: €9 (about A$17.30) for one entry and €15 (about A$28.80) for two (entrants are limited to 2 entries only). See the WLC website about fee waivers.
HOW TO ENTER: REGISTER on the walk · listen · create website if you aren’t already (it’s free to register). Register here. Once you have a profile on the site, go to the competition page and you’ll find the entry payment details at the top of the page - PAY WITH CARD (credit card only).
ENTRIES CLOSE - midnight UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) Monday, August 19 2024…but do not leave your entry until the last minute!
