In its fourth year, the National Jazz Writing Competition this year focuses on the short story. Entries are now invited for the competition, which has a 1st prize of $750 and publication in the first issue of extempore due for release in November this year. 2nd and 3rd prize winners will receive CD packs from Birdland Records in Sydney and publication in extempore.
The National Jazz Writing Competition was started three years ago to raise the profile of jazz-related writing, with a focus on reviews of Australian jazz CDs and concerts. It soon became clear that we needed to expand beyond reviews and the competition will now rotate through different types of writing each year. Writers, artists and musicians draw inspiration from each others’ work and this year we celebrate that cross-pollination by moving the competition into short fiction.
Each year the competition has attracted judges who represent the spectrum of Australian jazz expertise from education, performance, composition, writing and broadcasting; all outstanding in their respective field. This year we continue that tradition with our two judges Gerry Koster (Jazz Up Late, ABC Classic FM) and Professor Catherine Cole, creative writer, academic and researcher at RMIT University in Melbourne, and recently of the University of Technology (UTS) in Sydney.
Entries:
Stories should be up to 2,000 words in length. To be eligible for consideration, the story needs to be about, inspired by or responding to jazz or improvised music. If the link to jazz or improvised music is not obvious in the story, the author needs to include a brief description (200 words maximum) of the link. For example, if a story was inspired by the music at a gig or on a recording the description should name the musician(s) and give details of date and venue or CD.
Dates:
Entries are open from 1 March to 30 June, and winners will be announced in late August.
Winning stories will be published and launched at an event in November, with live music and readings.
More information:
Submission guidelines and more information area available on the competition website at www.jazz-planet.com/njwc or contact Miriam (Competition Coordinator) at
njwc@jazz-planet.com or on her mobile 0407 664 202
For more information about extempore go to the website at www.extempore.com.au
