Competitions: The Winners Announced!
A great crowd showed up to the announcement of the writing competition, we had 120 people come down to the LibraryMuseum and pack out the foyer. Congratulations to all our winners (listed below) and Thank you to all who came to celebrate the evening.
Short Story Competition (open)
There was no theme for the open short story competition in 2011. Entrants were asked to submit a story in 3000 words or less. The winning and highly commended entries are available to download (below).
Winner: Beverly Lello, The Solution Through the caring portrayal of an older man's grief at his son's death, the story takes us unexpectedly to his deepening relationship with his young grandson. The moments between them have a complicated tenderness, with a nicely understated emotional pull. There is room with these two characters for a much longer story if that is the author's wish, but the story succeeds on it's own terms at its present length. Warm and well-paced, The Solution achieves that difficult thing: in a few short pages, it makes you believe that people can heal from loss. Highly Commended: Rosemary Borella, Cuckoos A neighbourhood drama over the new folks who've moved in and the narrator's innocent gesture of friendliness. The foreigners are another species and the fears turn out to be well-founded. Cuckoos is imaginative and intriguing, leaving room for more than one reading. Highly Commended: Susan Yardley, Hunting the Button A quick, clipped description of a man's nineteen days in "the hole" — solitary confinement. The author's selection of certain convincing details (like the button) and the increasing disarray of his thoughts bring the reader along for the descent.Nano Story Competition - Read the winning and highly commended entries in all categories
In 2011 the schools' competition, with categories ranging from Year 3 to Year 10, asked the students to write a 'nano' story - a story in exactly 50 words. The Nano Story Competition proved popular among students with some quite imaginative stories submitted - some even managed to include the signature short story 'twist' at the conclusion, a great effort in only 50 words! Year 9 and 10 Winner: Clare Cudars, Just Sleeping Highly Commended: Jacqui Garvey, Cry as the Eagle
Year 7 and 8
Winner: Liam Harrison, Trapped Highly Commended: Mikaela Rixon-Zonnenbergs, The Day We Lost Everything Highly Commended: Darcy Rhian White, Our Murray Highly Commended: Alexandra Croft, The Beast
Year 5 and 6
Winner: Eliza Carey, Gotchya! Highly Commended: Laurence Adorni-Dickson, Oops I Wet The Bed Highly Commended: Ephraim Zilberman, Surprise
Year 3 and 4
Winner: Mattea Little, The Huge Storm Highly Commended: Miriam Cereman, Friends Highly Commended: Alana Diver, The Eagle's Thoughts
Write around the Murray would like to send a big "Thank you" to the judges of our competitions this year. We appreciate the time and effort you have committed to the competitions. We acknowledge: Steven Amsterdam, Jane Downing, Louise D'Arcy, Dylan Clift, Susan Berran, Margaret Royle and Shirley Dobson.Write around the Murray would also like to say "Thanks" to the Friends of the Library for their continued support.
The Solution by Beverly Lello (95 KB)
Cuckoos by Rosemary Borella (142 KB)
Hunting the Button by Susan Yardley (104 KB)
Winners and Highly Commended entries Nano Story Competition (362 KB)