Rees Quilford, left, Karen Bateman and Linda Cuttriss are judges for the 2022 Bass Coast Prize for Non-Fiction.
TWO former winners of the Bass Coast Prize for Non-Fiction take their place on this year’s judging panel for the writing prize, one of the richest competitions for non-fiction in Australia.
It’s also one of the few regional writing prizes, open to any writer with a strong connection to Gippsland. Entries must pertain to the Gippsland region, issues or people.
The first prize winner will receive $5000, second $2500 and third $1000. This year there is a new section for shorter pieces (2000-4000 words) with a $1000 first prize and $500 for second.
It’s also one of the few regional writing prizes, open to any writer with a strong connection to Gippsland. Entries must pertain to the Gippsland region, issues or people.
The first prize winner will receive $5000, second $2500 and third $1000. This year there is a new section for shorter pieces (2000-4000 words) with a $1000 first prize and $500 for second.
The three judges for the 2022 competition are Rees Quilford (winner of the 2021 Bass Coast Prize), Linda Cuttriss (winner of the 2020 Bass Coast Prize), and Karen Bateman (author, editor and librarian and highly commended in the 2019 and 2020 prizes).
Prizes are sponsored by Bass Coast Shire Council, Myli: My Community Library (formerly the West Gippsland Regional Library Corporation) and ArtSpace Wonthaggi.
Younger writers, novice writers of any age and those who may not have entered a competition before may still enter the main prize (4000-10,000 words) but, if that's a little too daunting, we encourage them to 'have a go' and enter the shorter section (2000-4000 words).
The 42 entries for last year’s prize came from most parts of Gippsland and there was a good range of ages, from the 20s to the 90s.
Personal and family memoirs were well represented as were local history, natural history, military histories, profiles, travel and true crime.
Rees Quilford, a PhD student at RMIT University’s writing lab, won first prize with a mixed-media piece documenting his daily swimming, walking and watching at Cape Paterson during the first COVID winter.
Like several of the other writers who submitted entries, he said the prize provided much-needed encouragement for non-fiction writing in general and for his own career in particular.
“Articulating the personal and intricate connections that we share with the special places in our lives is a highly rewarding endeavour. However, sharing those reflections in public is quite daunting so it was heartening to learn that the Bass Coast literary community found something engaging in my writing.”
Graeme Wheeler, a 93-year-old author from Foster, won second prize with his story of the search for two young women missing in the high country in 1953.
Inverloch writer Judy Vradenburg won third prize with an inside story of community activism.
Bass Coast Post editor and chair of the organising committee Catherine Watson said that while the generous prize money was important, just as important to writers were a deadline and a guarantee that their work would be read.
Entries for this year’s prize close on September 14, 2022 and prize winners will be announced in November.
The winning entries will be published in the Bass Coast Post and may be republished in an anthology following consultation with the writers.
For more information and entry criteria, visit Bass Coast Prize for Non Fiction at basscoastprizefornonfiction.weebly.com/, email editor@basscoastpost.com or phone Catherine Watson on 0401 817 796.
Prizes are sponsored by Bass Coast Shire Council, Myli: My Community Library (formerly the West Gippsland Regional Library Corporation) and ArtSpace Wonthaggi.
Younger writers, novice writers of any age and those who may not have entered a competition before may still enter the main prize (4000-10,000 words) but, if that's a little too daunting, we encourage them to 'have a go' and enter the shorter section (2000-4000 words).
The 42 entries for last year’s prize came from most parts of Gippsland and there was a good range of ages, from the 20s to the 90s.
Personal and family memoirs were well represented as were local history, natural history, military histories, profiles, travel and true crime.
Rees Quilford, a PhD student at RMIT University’s writing lab, won first prize with a mixed-media piece documenting his daily swimming, walking and watching at Cape Paterson during the first COVID winter.
Like several of the other writers who submitted entries, he said the prize provided much-needed encouragement for non-fiction writing in general and for his own career in particular.
“Articulating the personal and intricate connections that we share with the special places in our lives is a highly rewarding endeavour. However, sharing those reflections in public is quite daunting so it was heartening to learn that the Bass Coast literary community found something engaging in my writing.”
Graeme Wheeler, a 93-year-old author from Foster, won second prize with his story of the search for two young women missing in the high country in 1953.
Inverloch writer Judy Vradenburg won third prize with an inside story of community activism.
Bass Coast Post editor and chair of the organising committee Catherine Watson said that while the generous prize money was important, just as important to writers were a deadline and a guarantee that their work would be read.
Entries for this year’s prize close on September 14, 2022 and prize winners will be announced in November.
The winning entries will be published in the Bass Coast Post and may be republished in an anthology following consultation with the writers.
For more information and entry criteria, visit Bass Coast Prize for Non Fiction at basscoastprizefornonfiction.weebly.com/, email editor@basscoastpost.com or phone Catherine Watson on 0401 817 796.