Inaugural Pearl Prize to be presented during Midsumma

Queer arts and cultural organisation Midsumma has announced the inaugural Pearl Prize: Writers Award, presented with independent publisher Osbourne and Fawkner Publishing, which will be awarded at the 2024 Midsumma Festival in Melbourne.

In the call for entries, Midsumma described the prize as providing queer writers with ‘a platform for self-expression through the writing landscape and into publication’. The prize is accepting short pieces of unpublished prose and/or poetry from LGBTIQA+ writers and their allies on the theme ‘A Brave(R) Space’.

Fifteen finalists will be announced in October 2023, with their works to appear in an anthology published by Osbourne and Fawkner Publishing. The anthology will be available for purchase during the Midsumma Festival, which takes place from 21 January to 11 February next year.

Festival events are planned for two Melbourne bookstores, including a launch, winner announcement, author meet and greet, and a book signing, and discussions are currently taking place regarding wider distribution of the anthology.

Entries close on 31 August. For more information, see the Midsumma website here.

Category: Awards Local news