The winners of the 2008 National Jazz Writing Competition have been announced at the Melbourne Writers Festival.
First prize was awarded to Peter Newall from Sydney for his story I Thought About You. Second prize went to Sydney writer Matt Asprey for Gut Bucket Blues, and musician and writer Spike Mason took third prize for Taking the A Train.
The three winning entries were chosen from 57 entries received and a short list of 10.
This year’s judges were broadcaster Gerry Koster and Dr Catherine Cole, Professor of creative writing at RMIT University, Melbourne.
In previous years the competition has focused on critical writing about jazz performance but the emphasis changed in 2008 to focus on creative writing dealing with, or inspired by, jazz.
The winning stories will be published in the first issue of extempore, Australia’s newest literary journal. The first issue will be launched on 31 October at the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and will be available at selected bookshops and online from 1 November.
Photo: Allan Browne announces the winners at the Melbourne Writers Festival.
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Find out more
Hear National Jazz Writing Competition founder and extempore editor Miriam Zolin on ABC Radio National’s Book Show
National Jazz Writing Competition
