Established in 2019, this annual competition is open to staff, students and alumni.
The University’s annual creative writing competition opens for entries today, with the theme: A place of many firsts.
Writer 2024 is open to Otago staff, students and alumni, with each invited to submit one entry – either a poem or a short story – inspired by the theme.
One of the competition’s organisers, Nicola Cummins, a Senior Teaching Fellow in the English and Linguistics Programme, says this year’s theme was inspired by the University’s new branding, launched earlier this year.
“We have really appreciated the new University branding and thought it would be appropriate in the first year of the new look to have a theme drawing on the name the University has been gifted: Otākou Whakaihu Waka, a metaphor meaning ‘A place of many firsts’.”
“Our advice to writers is not to interpret the theme too literally; let it guide you to unexpected angles, beyond the obvious and mundane. Our winners in previous years have definitely had that unexpected quality. Look back at these past winners or think about this short poem by Margaret Atwood:
You Fit Into Me
you fit into me
like a hook into an eye
a fish hook
an open eye
Selected Poems (1965-1975) by Margaret Atwood, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1987.
The competition was established in 2019 as part of the University’s 150th celebrations and proved to be very popular.
This year’s judge is Mikaela Nyman, a Taranaki-based poet, novelist and non-fiction writer, who is the University’s 2024 Robert Burns Fellow. She is of Finnish heritage from the Åland Islands, born into the Swedish linguistic minority. She has also lived in Vanuatu. Her first novel Sado (2020) was a climate fiction set in Vanuatu. She is currently nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize 2024 for her second award-winning poetry collection in Swedish.
Mikaela Nyman
“We are delighted to have Mikaela as our judge this year,” Ms Cummins says. “She is a triple-threat writer: she has published poetry, prose and creative non-fiction and we very much appreciate her giving up the time in her Burns year to lend her expertise.”
Mikaela says she is excited to judge this year’s competition and is looking forward to reading the entries. She also emphasises that she will be looking for entries that have tackled the theme in surprising ways.
Co-organiser University Publications Editor Lisa Dick says the competition always highlights the depth of writing talent within Otago’s staff, student and alumni communities.
“It is always exciting watching the entries flow in, and seeing the different ways different people interpret the prompt. We can’t wait to read this year’s stories and poems.”
The winning entries will be published across multiple platforms, including print and radio, as well as social media. It also hoped that a publication celebrating the first five years of the writing competition will be compiled late this year.
The competition opens for entries, today [17 July] and closes at midnight on Wednesday, 11 September. Winners will be announced on Thursday, 10 October.
The competition is supported by University Book Shop, Otago University Press, Dunedin City of Literature, Otago Access Radio, and the Otago Daily Times – with prizes for each of the category winners.
Further information can be found here and below.
Here’s what you need to know to enter:
Who can enter?
The competition is open to all staff, students and alumni of the University of Otago.
What’s the deadline?
Entries are due on or before midnight on Wednesday, 11 September 2024.
How do I submit a story or poem?
Email your entry as an attached word document to bulletin.comp@otago.ac.nz
Please label your entry “Writing competition” – and let us know which category you are entering, e.g.: “Writing competition alumni poetry”.
Can I submit any story or poem?
Short stories and poems must relate in some way to the competition’s writing prompt: “A place of many firsts.”
What is the word limit?
Poems can be of any length (within reason), stories must be no more than 2,500 words (though we stress this is an absolute maximum not an aim, any length up to 2,500 will be accepted).
How many entries can I submit?
Just one entry per person across poetry or short fiction, student, staff or alumni categories. You must choose which of the six categories suits you best.
Stories and poems must be original and previously unpublished (entries will be run through the University’s plagiarism checking system Turnitin).
Can my entry be in te reo Māori?
Yes. However, to assist the judge it would be helpful if you included a translation into English.
Who is the judge?
Writer Mikaela Nyman backed up by a small support team which will include Otago Publications Editor Lisa Dick and English and Linguistics Programme Senior Teaching Fellow Nicola Cummins.
Are you happy for us to print and use your poem or story?
By entering, you grant permission for us to post your writing to the University website and Facebook page and other social media, and for your writing to be printed by external media and on posters around campus if selected as a winner in this year’s competition.
Still have questions? Please contact the competition team.
Good luck!