The Wallace Foundation Short Fiction Contest was first
awarded in 2016, replacing a previous contest, begun in 2014 by express. It gave New Zealand LGBTIQ writers an
opportunity to prove their creative skills and the chance to publish and
publicise their work. This year, for the first time, the contest will be for non-fiction writing.
The competition provides a safe and supportive environment
for both emerging and established writers to write on a topic relevant to us
all. The theme for the 2018 Wallace Foundation Creative Nonfiction Writing
Contest is: ‘The gay [LGBTIQ]
community’: myth or reality? Other
than a word limit of 1500 words there are no creative restrictions; you are
free to develop the theme in any way you like, from close-reasoned argument to
whimsical satire; from personal experience to political polemic.
The word limit is a maximum of 1500 words and should not be exceeded.
Participation is the most valued aspect of the Wallace
Foundation Creative Nonfiction Writing Contest. It is a competition, however,
and we are blessed to have a kind and generous benefactor — so the prize is
fabulous!
With the support of The Wallace Foundation, we are awarding
$600 cash for the winning entry and $300 cash for the best writing from a young
writer aged under 25. Please state in your covering email if you are entering
this emerging youth category. All entries will be judged for the overall
contest winner.
Our judges are well known in queer literary circles and they
take their duties very seriously. They
are looking for original thought and creative expression. This year the judges
are Peter Wells, well-known novelist
and historian, whose books include Dangerous
Desires, Iridescence, The Hungry Heart and Journey to a Hanging, and Aorewa McLeod, who taught in the University of Auckland
English Department for 37 years until her retirement. She has published as a
critic, edited anthologies and published the book Who Was That Woman Anyway?. They are both thoroughly looking
forward to the experience. Their decision is final.
If the Wallace Foundation Creative Nonfiction Writing
Contest encourages us to keep thinking about our society and our place in the
world, it will have achieved its aim.
2018 COMPETITION RULES
1. Entries must be
your own work, and not previously published.
2. Entries must be
original prose works, and any quoted material must be referenced.
3. Entries should have relevance to the broader New Zealand
LGBTIQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer) community.
4. Entries should be
at least 1000 words in length but must not exceed 1500 words. Any entry over
this limit will be disallowed automatically. Please include your word count at
the end of your entry.
5. Entries must be
emailed as attachments in Word to: litergayture@outlook.com
6. Entries must be
received by midnight on 10 January 2018. Late entries will not be accepted.
7. Please include
your full name, email address and contact phone number in your submission
email.
8. Please state in your covering email if you are entering
your entry for the award for the best writing from an emerging writer youth
category. If you are, please confirm that you are aged under 25. You will still
be eligible to win the overall award.
9. Your name must not appear in headers or footers or
anywhere in your entry – our judges read all entries in blissful ignorance of
the writer’s identity.
10. Please give your work a title. This helps us identify
each piece.
11. If you submit an
entry for the competition, you are also giving us permission to publish it,
which may be online or in a printed publication.
12. The winner
may be invited to read their work at our winner’s event during Same Same But
Different the weekend of 10 February 2018.
13. You may submit
more than one entry.
14. We only accept entries
from writers resident or normally resident in New Zealand.