Available now:
The 2011 Anthology of Award-Winning Writing
The Write Path
The best creative writing from the 2011 NAWG Writng Competitions.
£5.99 post free. Cheques should be made payable to NAWG.
Send cheque with name, address and email address if available to
Pam Fish, 65 Riverside Mead, Peterborough, PE2 8JN and a copy will be sent by return.
The NAWG 2012 Creative Writing Competitions are now OPEN
Win an elegant engraved trophy, and see your work published on the website and in our 2012 Anthology
Closing date 30th April 2012
Winners receive trophies – winners, runners-up, highly commended and commended receive certificates. Winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony Gala Dinner on the Saturday of the Annual Festival of Writing, to be held once again at Nottingham University, 31st August, 1st & 2nd September, 2012.
Please consider coming to the festival to receive your award.
FREE ENTRY - Open only to members of National Association of Writers’ Groups. Affiliated Writers’ Groups and Associate Members.
Full details below, or you may download an entry form:
Competition Categories
1. Open Poetry
Any style. Maximum 40 lines. Single spaced.
2. Formal Poem
In any set form. Please state the form used.
Single spaced.
3. Poem for Children.
Any style or form. State approximate reading age of child. Single spaced.
4. Short Story with a given phrase.
Up to 2,000 words. Double spaced. Somewhere, within the story must be the phrase, ‘a shout and they were gone’.
5. Crime Short Story
Up to 1,500 words. Double spaced.
6. Picture Book Text.
Intended for children aged 4 – 6 years old. No artwork or pictures should be sent, just the text.
7. 10 Minute Radio Play.
A ten minute / ten page script for radio. Double spaced.
8. Poem by Children.
Age Categories: 7-11 and 12-16.
Competition is open to children / grandchildren of NAWG Members and New Writers UK. Any theme and any form of poetry (including blank verse and free verse) are acceptable. Work must either be printed or written legibly. Only include hand drawings if they are really necessary for the meaning of the poem. Do not include clip art. All entries must be the child’s own work – i.e. No help from adults please.
9. Group Anthology – the Denise Robertson Anthology Trophy.
Two anthologies required with entry form, please.
Minimum presentation standards for an anthology.
a) Either in finished, ready to sell, book format or a format suitable for presentation to a publisher. (Please note: the pages of the anthology must be bound for ease of reading. e.g. ring binder.)
b) Consistent layout and typeface.
c) Cover with the title and group name clearly printed.
Published anthologies will be judged equally with print ready ones and not on the quality of typesetting or printing – purely on their content, mix of writing talents and the pleasure of reading them.
The Group winning the Group Anthology will be expected to judge the 2013 Group Anthology category.
Please come to the festival to receive your awards if you possibly can, details on this page - details 2011 Festival/
Chris Huck, Competition Administrator, Old Vicarage, Scammonden, Huddersfield, HD3 3FT, email: chris.huck@ymail.com
PLEASE, READ THE RULES
Please, follow these rules, which apply to categories 1 to 8 on the Entry Form.
i. Two copies of each entry, to be submitted with entry form. (No email entries)
ii. Only one entry per person will be accepted for each category. Entries cannot be returned. The Competition Administrator cannot accept changes to any submitted entry nor are substitute entries acceptable.
iii. Identifying marks must not appear on entries.
iv. All entries to be in English.
v. Line count to be given on poetry entries and word count given on prose entries.
vi. All entries to be typewritten on plain white A4 paper in a standard black typeface on one side of the page only. (Category 8 may be handwritten)
vii. Postage rules: First or second class mail only, with correct postage paid. Do not send by Recorded Delivery or Special Delivery. Email entries not accepted. The Competition Administrator has to deal with a large volume of entries and it would be appreciated if you could ensure your package is as easy to open as possible while still ensuring its safe transit through the postal system.
viii. Entries must be received by 30th April 2012.
Copyright remains with the author.
One copy of your two submissions is sent to the judge, who has no way of knowing the creator of that entry. Submissions are numbered and the judge chooses the winners by the title and number only. The Administrator then tallies that number with a writer. No-one but the Administrator can know who has won any category until the winners are announced at the Festival.
It would be useful to have your work ready, in electronic form, should it be short-listed. This helps considerably with preparing work for publication.
Below are details of last year’s winners.
The 2011 NAWG Writing Competition Finalists
Now to include Winners – announced at the Gala Dinner, 3rd September 2011
This is the news that those of you who entered our competitions have been waiting for. Finalists are listed in alphabetical order, within their class. It is declared that only the Competition Administrator and the Chairman who will print the certificates, knows who is a winner. No-one else knows – come to the Festival and hear the results after the Gala Dinner.
There are names in the list which crop up regularly. These writers are to be congratulated for their consistently high level of work.
We would like to thank the judges for the effort that they have put into their judging. We shall publish their notes and comments at a later date.
Open Poetry, judged by James Nash
Shortlisted
STEPHEN MIDDLETON, Pest control, Hexham Writers;
JOHN WILLIAM PRATT, One Day, Moorside Writers.
Specially Commended
BARRY ADAMS, Evocation, The Inn Scribers;
ALFREDA BENNETT, Changing Seasons, Carlisle Writers Group;
JAYNE OSBORN, Fight, The Northampton Literature Group.
And the winner was John William Pratt
Haiku, Tanka and Triolet, judged by Tim Wilson:
Shortlisted
JULIET PATRICIA ANNE BOTHAMS, Three lovesick Poems, The Fellowship of the Pen;
CHRIS RAETSCHUS, Snow, Hexham Writers Group
DOROTHY COOKE, Laura’s Garden, Moorside Writers;
SHEILA CRAWFORD, Soldier’s Wife, Hexham Writers.
Highly Commended
JILL FRICKER, Tyranny, Hastings Writers Group;
LESLEY JAMES, Blades, The Inn Scribers;
TONY O’NEILL, Births, Marriages and Deaths, The Poised Pen.
And the winner was Sheila Crawford
Poem for Children, judged by Pat Thomson:
Shortlisted
JOAN CONDON, Children by the Stream, Associate member;
ELIZABETH PARISH, How the Rainbow Became, Salford Women Writers & A Thursday Group; MAGGIE SPOONER, The Drop, Wilmslow Writers’ Group.
Highly Commended
LYN CLARKSON, How was it then, Granny? Leigh and Atherton Writers;
CATHERINE ANNE NORMAN, Black Jack, Moorside Writers;
DIANA READ, Football on the Moon, Woking Writers’ Circle.
And the winner was Elizabeth Parish
Short Story with a Final Line, judged by Linda Lewis
Shortlisted
JENNIFER FOSTER, The Pumpkin Patch, Salisbury Writers’ Group;
CRAIG PAY, Five-a-day Friends, Associate Member.
Highly Commended
WENDY FLECKNEY, Lady Penelope, Associate Member;
DAVID MASON, My Allotment, Hexham Writers.
And the joint-winners were Craig Pay and Jennifer Foster
Crime Short Story, judged by Roz Southey
Shortlisted
SHEILA CRAWFORD, Forest Secret, Hexham Writers;
MEG GARDNER, The Bookworm, Petersfield U3A Creative Writing Group;
DAVID LAKE, Destiny Falling, Writers in Somerset;
MARIANNE PIESLEY, Pussy in the Well, Weymouth & Portland U3A Writing Group;
LYNNE C POTTER, Who do you think you are? Hexham Writers;
LESLIE WILLIAMS, Kinds of Missing, Thames Valley Writers.
Highly Commended
ELIZABETH PARISH, Like Father ,like Daughter, Salford Women Writers & A Thursday Group;
PATRICIA SWAN, Someone Special, Willpower Writers Group;
ROSE TAYLOR, Shadows of Himself, Truro Creative Writers Group.
And the winner was David Lake
Fantasy Short Story for Children, judged by Steve Bowkett
Shortlisted
CHRISTINE LOWES, Night of the Midnight Moon Flood, Hexham Writers;
ROSE TAYLOR, Dream of Dragons, Truro Creative Writers Group;
ANGELINE WHEELER, The Woods, Wrekin Writers;
Highly Commended
MARGARET BREWSTER, Athabasca’s Quest, Blyth Writers;
STEPHEN MIDDLETON, Prize Day, Hexham Writers;
ALAN MURTON, What else are they not telling us? Truro Creative Writers Group.
Commended
LAURIE CLARK, Adventure in a Gallery, Associate Member;
JULIE LOUISE PHILLIPS, Mr Horton’s Apple Tree, Wrekin Writers;
PATRICIA ROSE, The Blue Bird, Hexham Writers;
And the winner was Christine Lowes
Ten Minute Play, judged by Marvin Close
Shortlisted
ANDREW CONNOLLY, The Tate Gallery Tragedy, Writers’ Reign;
LYNDA TURNER, The Fat Pound, Burton Monday Writers;
SHELAGH WAIN, Love’s not Time’s Fool? Burton Monday Writers.
And the winner was Shelagh Wain
The Denise Robertson Group Anthology
Shortlisted
Wish You Were Here, Deal Writers;
Hoovering the Roof 2, East Dulwich Writers Group;
Another Light Raid, Reading Writers;
Pick and Mix, Thames Valley Writers Circle.
Highly Commended
Out of Our Minds, The Poised Pen.
And the winning group was East Dulwich Writers’ Group
We all had a wonderful time last Saturday – it was great to see so many of the winners receiving their awards. If by any chance you are named as a winner and this is the first that you’ve heard of it, please get in touch. Pam, Chairman.
Winner of the 2010 Yule Competition:-
The winning entry: The Twelve Days of Hell by Judie Jones
It’s the twelfth day of Christmas, Epiphany approaches and 364 gifts later my home is in ruins.
Dad has locked himself in the cellar with a whole stilton and a crate of whisky. Mum has been carted off to a home for the bewildered and I’m on the point of suicide. All because …
The Twelve Drummers Drumming have, without provocation, grievously attacked the Eleven Pipers Piping and in their retaliation, the clashing and breaking of musical instruments and the shouting and swearing, the noise has become unbearable.
The Ten Lords a-Leaping have cast aside their coronets and in a mad display of passion have raped the Nine Ladies Dancing, who are screaming blue murder and have kicked over the pails of the Eight Maids a-Milking.
The Seven Swans a-Swimming have left their pond and gone on a honking rampage, leaving in their wake the trampled eggs of the Six Geese a-Laying, who have taken their revenge by cruelly de-beaking the Four Calling Birds.
The Three French Hens have completely de-feathered the Two Turtle Doves, who’ve shaken the Pear Tree so hard the Partridge has fainted and fallen to the ground. Amongst the cacophony of the musicians fighting, the weeping and wailing of the dancing ladies as they splash their way through a sea of spilt milk, broken eggs, blood, feathers and droppings, I’m searching desperately for the Five Gold Rings.
These will pay for my defence as I’m on my way to strangle my True Love.
Thank you Judie – that was brilliant!
A bit about the group that judged the competition:
Blyth Writers
We are a small but perfectly proportioned group of masochists who enjoy the shared agony of putting pen to paper (or finger to computer) in the hope of producing a piece of writing that will astonish, amuse and sometimes even alarm each other. We meet each week for two-and-a-half hours of friendly comment on the work produced from the previous week’s prompt. When time permits, twenty minutes is given for ‘off the cuff’ writing on a subject suggested by one of the team. It’s truly refreshing to hear twelve different approaches to the same subject matter, whether a poem, a piece of factual writing or a piece for children.
Occasionally we invite a visiting author to come along to give us help towards better writing. This encouragement certainly gives us a boost.
One member found success in writing for Mills and Boon, another won first prize for a short story competition held by Writing Magazine, yet another was twice successful in the annual NAWG competition.
Our work throughout the year is brought together in a yearly ‘in-house’ magazine, which we edit and print ourselves. Apart from each of us having a copy, we send out three further copies to the local libraries, thus hoping to encourage others to take up the writing habit.
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