John+Marsden+Prize

The John Marsden Prize for Young Australian Writers Competition entrants will be given the opportunity to share in prize money and be published online and in the December issue of //Voiceworks// magazine, #95 “Prime”. The prize is judged by John Marsden himself, who also donates the cash prize. The categories open to you are: • Short fiction or first chapter of a novel • Poetry by writers aged under 18 First place winners of both the Poetry and the Short Story Prize receive $500 each. First place winners are also published in the December issue of //Voiceworks//. Second and third place winners, as well as honourable mentions, are published on the Express Media website. ** Entries close 10:00am Monday 19th August, 2013 ** Winners of each category will be announced by John Marsden as part of the **Express Media Awards** on December 5.

Thank you to Emmilia Johnstone, Steph Russell and Liam Diviney for your hard work and creative energy. Entries are in and I wish you all the very best of luck!

“Light is important to us humans. It influences our moods, our perceptions, our energy levels. A face glimpsed among trees, dappled by the shadows and the green-tinged light reflected from the forest, will seem quite different to the same face seen on a beach in hard, dry, sunlight, or in a darkening room at twilight, with the shadows of a venetian blind striped across it like a convict’s uniform.” ― __[|John Marsden], //[|Everything I Know About Writing]//__

I really like this quote from John Marsden. Not only does he say what I feel about writing and learning, he also says it beautifully. See if you can find a quote that inspires you or illustrates why you write and send it in to the 'Quotes' discussion thread. Before you begin, if you haven't already started, have a look at the exemplar submissions from 2012 and 2011 and see if you can pinpoint why Marsden thought they were winning entries. Is it:
 * Concept
 * Narrative voice
 * Characterisation
 * Setting

Become an editor or critic. What would you change, how would you approach the same subject. Let us know what you think in the 'Everyone's a Critic' discussion thread.

__Short Story/ First Chapter__ samples are in the files below: Prose: 2012

Prose: 2011 

Poetry: 2012

Poetry: 2011