Now may be the perfect time to dust off that unpublished short story you wrote during lockdown and enter the Lord Mayor’s Creative Writing Awards.
Win up to $12,000 if your original work is judged to be the outstanding entry across five categories.
Our biannual Creative Writing Awards celebrate the achievements of emerging writers and storytellers, and help ensure that Melbourne’s famous literary tradition continues into the future.
Melbourne is a UNESCO City of Literature and has a proud history of great Australian writing, whether readers’ tastes run to Helen Garner or Christos Tsiolkas, George Johnston, Alice Pung or our most recent Creative Writing Awards winner, Yamiko Marama.
Melbourne City of Literature research tells us that Melburnians consume more books, magazines and newspapers per capita than any other Australian city.
We know how important writers are to our community and the Lord Mayor’s Creative Writing Awards are firmly grounded in this deep wellspring of literature. In recognising emerging writers, we aim to promote our city as a place of ideas and creativity.
The awards offer plenty of scope across all genres.
This year sees the introduction of a new category. The inaugural Selftold Stories by Writers Living with a Disability will provide an opportunity for underrepresented voices in media and literature.
The Life Writing Award for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Writers will be awarded to an outstanding work that discusses or highlights a uniquely Victorian story of Australia’s First People. This prize supports City of
Melbourne’s ongoing commitment to promoting Indigenous culture and reconciliation.
Winners in each category receive $2000. The overall winner of the Lord Mayor’s Creative Writing Award will win an additional $10,000. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are encouraged to apply for all categories.
The awards close Thursday 30 June.
The Lord Mayor’s Creative Writing Awards include the following categories:
- The Dorothy Porter Award for Poetry (up to 100 lines)
- Narrative Non-fiction (no more than 5000 words)
- Short Story Set in Melbourne (no more than 5000 words)
- Life Writing Award for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Writers (no more than 5000 words)
- Self-told Stories by Writers Living with a Disability (no more than 5000 words).
For more information, visit Lord Mayor’s Creative Writing Awards.
