Congratulations to the winners of the Geelong Writers Prize 2024:
1st Prize Louisa Bath for her story ‘The Traveller and the Fae’
2nd Prize Melissa King for her story ‘The Wheel’
3rd Prize Adrian Brookes for his story ‘Atonement’
Congratulations to all the authors of the shortlisted stories:
Adrian Brookes for his story ‘Atonement’
Ross Palmer for his story ‘Bellarine Bigfoot’
Paul Bucci for his story ‘Godelpus’
Christopher McCormack for his story ‘Gods Seeth Thou’
Paul Bucci for his story ‘Hey Ho, here we go again’
Kristine Fitzgerald for her story ‘One More Yellow Bin’
Lyn Chatham for her story ‘The Socks – Biography of a Mother’
Louisa Bath for her story ‘The Traveller and the Fae’
Melissa King for her story ‘The Wheel’
Thank you to Liz Monument for her time and expertise in selecting the award winners. Liz’s comments on the winning stories can be read below.
1st Prize ‘The Traveller and the Fae’
‘From the moment I started to read, I was hooked – this story was the only one of the shortlist set in a full fantasy landscape (as opposed to having some fantastical elements in a real-world modern-day setting). The prose was colourful, the heroine and her predicament were well-painted, and the Fae herself was done with remarkably light touches – but convincingly – throughout. The conclusion was unexpected, and highly satisfying’.
2nd Prize ‘The Wheel’
‘The entertainment value in this story was terrific – the narrator falls by accident into practicing black magic, and then can’t appear to stop himself. I could never predict what was going to happen next, which kept me on the edge of my seat, a sure sign that I was invested in the story. The descriptions of the ritual bowl filling with blood and wax were original, dark and beautifully graphic. The narrator also got to dispatch a pretty nasty character, therefore keeping the reader on side.’
3rd Prize ‘Atonement’
‘The story opens with the revelation of a dramatic event from a soldier’s past. This unfolds into the present day, layer by layer. It’s the layering which made the story so appealing, taking the reader through physical events, mental process, a historical overview, and eventually, landing on a shock twist. The prose was beautifully expressed throughout, and the surprise ending was delivered convincingly.’
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The Geelong Writers Prize is open to writers who live, work or study in the City of Greater Geelong, Borough of Queenscliffe, Surf Coast, Colac-Otway or Golden Plains shires. The competition is also open to writers who are members of Geelong Writers, wherever they live.
The competition is for prose fiction and creative nonfiction works between 2,000 and 3,000 words.
First prize: $2,000
Second prize: $500
Third prize: $250
Entry fee: $20 per story
…………… $15 per story Geelong Writers members
Winners will be announced in June 2024, and shortlisted works will be published in an anthology and on the Geelong Writers website.
COMPETITION GUIDELINES
- The competition is open to writers who live, work or study in the City of Greater Geelong, Borough of Queenscliffe, Surf Coast, Colac-Otway or Golden Plains shires
- The competition is also open to writers who are members of Geelong Writers, wherever they live
- Entries must be a minimum of 2,000 words to a maximum of 3,000 words, excluding the title
- All works must have a title
- Entry fees are $20 per story; $15 per story for Geelong Writers members
- Entrants may submit up to three works, each at the specified entry fee
- Entries must be received, and entry fees paid, by midnight on 28 February 2024
- All entries must be in English, double-spaced, use 12 point Times New Roman font and may be Word documents (.doc or .docx) or PDFs
- Entrant’s name must not appear anywhere on the work as the pieces will be blind judged
- Stories must be the original work of the entrant and must not have been published (personal blog and social media posts excepted ) or been awarded a prize in any competition
- Simultaneous submissions are permitted; however, the writer must notify us if a story is accepted for publication or is longlisted or shortlisted in another competition
- Fees will not be refunded
- No corrections will be accepted, nor any correspondence entered into
- Authors retain copyright of their work
- The judge’s decision is final
- Any member of the committee of management of Geelong Writers involved in the pre-reading process prior to the final judging shall be precluded from entering
- In entering this competition
- You give permission for your work, should it be shortlisted, to be published in full or part on Geelong Writers website, and/or in any Geelong Writers publications
- You declare that the work submitted is your own original work
- You acknowledge that failure to abide by any of the stated rules may make your entry, or entries, ineligible.
JUDGE – LIZ MONUMENT
Liz writes fiction, and coaches all genres (including children’s and non-fiction). She teaches on the Jericho Writers International Unlimited Novel Writing Course, and works privately with all kinds of clients. Some just want to commit family stories to paper for posterity’s sake, others are already mainstream published authors. Liz works hand-in-hand with a small network of international literary agents to accelerate the submission process for writers of talent. Her fiction is published by Fahrenheit Press, UK.
To find out what the judges are looking for, read last years’ anthology, 2023 Geelong Writers Prize: The Shortlist, which includes the judges’ report. Available to purchase here, $20, plus $10.90 postage.
ENQUIRIES
Please direct any enquiries to the Competitions Coordinator at competitions@geelongwriters.org.au