2018 Alan Marshall Short Story Award and the Nillumbik Ekphrasis Poetry Award

Are you short story writer or a poet? Then these two competitions from Nillumbik Shire in Victoria might be up your alley and are now OPEN.

The Nillumbik Shire in Victoria is running a short story competition and a poetry competition for Australian residents. They are the Alan Marshall Short Story Award and the Nillumbik Ekphrasis Poetry Award.

According to the website:

To celebrate the life and work of Alan Marshall, Nillumbik Shire is inviting Australian writers to enter the 33rd Alan Marshall Short Story Award.

Alan Marshall AM OBE HON LLD (1902-1984) is one of Australia's most famous authors. His most well-known books are I Can Jump Puddles and This is the Grass. In 1920 Alan started his first job as a junior clerk at the Eltham Shire Offices in Kangaroo Ground. He lived in Research in the 1940s and moved to Eltham in 1955 where he lived for almost 20 years.

To find out more and to enter go to the Nillumbik Shire website.

In addition to the short story award, they’re also running a poetry competition called Nillumbik Ekphrasis Poetry Award.

Ekphrasis (Ek-fra-sis) is a genre of poetry that explores works of art and seeks to ‘get inside’ its visual subject. Nillumbik Ekphrasis Poetry Award is a celebration of the Nillumbik Art Collection and the Literary Arts.

The Nillumbik Ekphrasis Poetry Award invites Australian poets to respond to artworks from the Nillumbik Visual Art Collection or exhibition program. This year poems are invited to respond with 12-line poems to artworks from the Baldessin and Friends commemorative folio, recently acquired for the Nillumbik Shire Art Collection.

To find our more and to enter go to the Nillumbik-Ekphrasis-Poetry-Award.

Details for the 33rd Alan Marshall Short Story Award:

There are two categories, one which is open to all Australian residents, another for locals.
The winner of each category not only wins a cash prize, but will also receive mentoring.

Maximum of 2,500 words
Entries close: 5pm, 30 April 2018
Entry fee: OPEN Category—Writers aged 18+ who live in Australia, $20 per entry
Prize: $2,000 and mentoring with the mentor of your choice through Australian Society of Authors (ASA) and an annual ASA membership
Entry fee: LOCAL Category—Writers aged 18+ who live, work or study in the Shire of Nillumbik, FREE entry
Prize: $700 and mentoring with the mentor of your choice through Writers Victoria (WV) and an annual WV membership

Details for the Nillumbik Ekphrasis Poetry Award:

Entries close: 5pm, 30 April 2018
Entry Fee: OPEN Category—Poets who live in Australia, $12 per entry
Prize: $550
Entry fee: LOCAL Category—Poets who live, work or study in the Shire of Nillumbik, FREE entry
Prize: $350
Entry fee: YOUTH Category—Poets aged 11-18 years, FREE entry
Prize: $200

Good luck to everyone entering!