New Westwords/Ultimo Prize announced
WestWords and Ultimo Press have partnered to offer a new prize for emerging writers with ‘a connection to Western Sydney’.
Free to enter, the Westwords/Ultimo Prize offers the winner $5000 prize money, a week at Varuna, and a publication deal with Ultimo Press. It is open to emerging fiction and narrative nonfiction writers with a completed previously unpublished manuscript, who have a connection to Western Sydney either personally, through their manuscript, or ‘the subject matter they deal with and its relevance to the issues and concerns of this dynamic region’.
‘Western Sydney, its stories and concerns, are a rich tapestry that exemplifies the forefront of new Australian writing,’ said WestWords executive director Michael Campbell. ‘WestWords is dedicated to nurturing and providing opportunities for writers to have their stories told and celebrated. The partnership with Ultimo Press is so important because it provides the linkage between new writers and writing and national audiences.’
Ultimo publishing director Robert Watkins said: ‘At Ultimo Press we’re driven to be the home for the best new writing coming out of Australia—which is why we’re so excited to be working with WestWords to discover amazing new voices. We can’t wait to see what stories the WestWords/Ultimo Prize uncovers, and to share those new voices with readers everywhere.’
For more information and entry details see the WestWords website here.
Blake Poetry Prize winner announced
In related news, WestWords has announced Simone King as the winner of the 67th Blake Poetry Prize, for her work ‘Surfing Again’.
The biennial Blake Poetry Prize is managed by Casula Arts Powerhouse and Liverpool City Council in collaboration with WestWords and ‘challenges contemporary poets of disparate styles to explore the spiritual and religious in a new work of 100 lines or less‘.
For more information about the prize and to read the winning and shortlisted poems, see the WestWords website here.
Category: Awards Local news
