Congratulations to Amie & Tiana, winners of the Children's Storywriting Competition

Congratulations to the following winners of the ERL Children's Storywriting Competition:

Winner 6-8 years $75 book voucher - Amie - Pokey Puppy
Winner 9-12 years $100 book voucher - Tiana - Tommy and his Magical Powers

Andy Griffiths presented the winners with their prizes at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party at Mooroolbark Library.

Cheers, webgurl

The Eastern Regional Library Show - 30th July 2008

Library staff members Lesley Conway and Pia Butcher run a radio show each Wednesday 12:05pm-12:45pm on Eastern FM 98.1 called The Eastern Regional Library Show. Tune in next Wednesday for a great show.

On Wednesday's show

What are judges of Story Writing Competitions looking for? If you are contemplating entering some of your writing for the Eastern Regional Libraries National Story Writing Competition, you would find it helpful to read the Prefaces that each of the previous years' judges have written. There is a different judge each year, so they all have individual takes on what they are looking for, but interestingly they also have many comments in common, such as economy of language, finding a new way to say something which has been written about many times before, and going for simplicity rather than complexity. You can find the compilations of winning and commended short stories on shelf in all our branch libraries.

Re-visiting a theme of our program 3 weeks ago, I have some more fascinating titles about Scotland. Highland Wilderness by Colin Prior is a thick book full of magnificent photos of the severe and beautiful landscape of northern Scotland. Most are amazing panoramas of mountains, lochs and sea coast, but there are also some lovely intimate shots of waterfalls, rivers and small valleys. An in depth introduction discusses the competing demands of environmental protection and agricultural use that has been a challenge for centuries.

In contrast to the isolation and wildness of the Highlands, we have a book which describes Scotland in the 1700's as "Europe's most literate society, producing an idea of modernity that has shaped much of civilisation as we know it". The Scottish Enlightenment : the Scots invention of the modern world by Arthur Herman, who is very clear that he is not a Scot or descended from Scots, is not a chauvanistic exercise. He is writing about the legacy of remarkable people like David Hume, James Watt and Robert Adam, and makes a compelling case for the significance of Scots in the development and growth of British influence over two centuries.

Going back a little further in Scottish history, The sickly Stuarts : the medical downfall of a dynasty by Frederick Holmes goes into the many health problems of different generations of the royal Stuarts which led to Queen Anne (even after 17 pregnancies, with no heir living to adulthood) being the last of her line in 1714. The author argues that this was a major factor in the growth in importance of the British Parliament, and he makes a very interesting read out of the complex politics of the times.

Music today was from Loreena McKennitt's CD An ancient muse


Cheers, Maryanne

Storywriting competition update

At present we're still waiting to find out the winners of the Storywriting competition. Once we do this the winners will be phoned and then an announcement will be placed on the blog.

The presentation evening is organised for Thursday 15th November at Belgrave Library.

Cheers, Maryanne

National Storywriting Competition closing

Well by now I hope you've penned your fantastic entry into the National Storywriting Competition. Don't miss out though because entries close Friday 14th September. Entries can be dropped off at any of our branches or mobiles or posted to Eastern Regional Libraries at 7B Eastgate Court, Wantirna South, 3152. If posted it needs to be postmarked on or before the 14th September.

View/Print Entry Form

Good luck!

Cheers, Maryanne

National Storywriting Competition

It's that time of the year and the National Storywriting Competition is now open.

Entry is for Australian residents. Short stories should be original, previously unpublished work and stories should not exceed 3,000 words.

View the competition entry form

The judge for this year is James Phelan. James Phelan writes both fiction and non fiction and has written for a variety of publications, including The Age and Griffith Review. He is a MA Writing graduate and a current PhD student at Swinburne, where he tutors.

Prizes:
Adult 1st Prize $1500
Local Award $500 For residents in Knox, Maroondah and Yarra Ranges
Teenage 1st Prize $350 13-18 years sponsored by DLS Australia
Junior 1st Prize $250 9-12 years sponsored by The Little Bookroom

Thanks to all of the competition sponsors.
Entries close Friday 14th September.

Cheers, Maryanne

Storywriting competition

Just advising everyone that we should have the entry forms for the storywriting competition in the branches next week. I'll also be announcing this year's judge and prizes.

In the meantime, you could start work on your stories. Let's try and beat last year's number of entries.

Cheers, Maryanne

p.s. I've just passed 500 posts, in two years. Wow!

Storywriting Prize Giving Evening

Well the Storywriting competition has been run and won so now it's time to hand out some prizes.

Prize Giving Evening
Thursday 23rd November at 7pm
Belgrave Library, Reynolds Lane, Belgrave (Melway Map 75 F10)

Prizes presented by Cr Joanne Taylor (Maroondah City Council)
Excerpts from winning stories will be read by John Benton
Music by Rick Alexander and Adelaide Soccio
Coffee and Cake to follow

RSVP:
Tuesday 21 November
Lorraine Seeger 9298 8455

Cheers, Maryanne

National Storywriting Competition Winners

Judging has finished for this year's National Storywriting Competition. We received 668 entries; thanks to everyone who participated. Congratulations to the following writers:

OPEN AWARDS

1st - The Shipping views by Jennifer Mills, NT

2nd - Haircut Kate and the swinging anubis by Tine Brok, VIC

3rd - Paddy O’Shea’s wife by Vic Hann, VIC

Commended
Up-people by Travis de Valle, VIC


LOCAL AWARDS

1st - The Toly wars by Penny Sargeant, VIC

2nd - Death is a big part of life by Judith Sackville-O’Donnell, VIC

3rd - A Simple end by Jillian Stephenson, VIC

Commended
The Shed by Julie Bell, VIC
Window Woman by Ingrid Whitehorn, VIC


JUNIOR AWARDS

1st - Synthia’s story by Jessica Batton, VIC

2nd - Dennis the dragon by Jessie Tudor, VIC

3rd - A Princess’s story by Stephanie See, VIC

Commended
Harwell Hall by Melissa Rigby, VIC
Can we believe? by Krystal Tunnicliffe, VIC


TEENAGE AWARDS

1st - Hero by Nancy Chen, VIC

2nd - Through the glass by Shauna Poon, VIC

3rd - The Agent by Ashlea Bentley, VIC

Commended
The Mist by Emily Wright, VIC

Cheers, Maryanne

Update on the National Storywriting Competition

There are lots of eager writers wondering about the results for the Storywriting Competition. I can say that the judging has finished and the winners are being contacted by phone. Hopefully this won't take too long and we can announce the winners on the blog early next week.

Cheers, Maryanne