I want to talk to you all about something. Here at Trespass, we are embarking on a partnership with an organization we feel very strongly about. You may have already noticed signs of this lovely union dotted about the site, but I wanted to take the time to introduce you properly, so you can really get to know each other.
But first, a little background …
You may (or may not) know that Trespass Magazine is home to a lot of creative writers. My own first love is creative writing and having finished my Masters in Creative Writing, I have structured my life and work around the time and energy needed to write novels, screenplays and short stories. Lin Tan, your lovely editor, writes poetry and short stories, our resident travel photographer and regular contributor, Antonia Hayes is hard at work polishing her first novel after undertaking a fellowship with Faber and Faber in London. Contributor Marc Vincenz is a published poet and our Speaking to Geeks columnist, Foz Meadows, has just published her first Young Adult Fiction novel. Film writer Jess Paine has taken six months off work to focus on novel and screenplay projects, our former Music Editor Kudrat Singh is undertaking her post-grad in creative writing at uni and our other founder, Sarah Ayoub is working on her first book. And that’s not to mention Therese Raft, Amelia Schmidt, Sam Webster, Lyrian Fleming and Lisa Dempster, writers who have, at some point, written for us and who all fly the creative writing flag.
Before I started Trespass, I was the Managing Editor of Create at Vibewire, a section that encouraged poets and writers, Australia wide, to submit their work and have it published on a respected national media/arts website. As both an editor constantly in touch with the very passionate population that is poets and aspiring novelists, and a writer constantly on the look out for ways to hone my craft and put it out in the world, I saw how important it is that our creative talents are given opportunities to have their work read and critiqued and published. In a profession that can be incredibly lonely and in which it’s just, quite often, you backing yourself, when you get the chance to have your work read and appreciated, it’s that little bit of affirmation, the little kick that keeps you going.
All of this is why, when Play Now Act Now first approached us about being the official media partner for their Microfiction section, there wasn’t a moment’s hesitation. The festival is not only about providing young writers with a valuable opportunity of exposure, but it encourages them to write. As obvious as it sounds, sometimes having an actual reason to write, a deadline to work towards, is the most effective motivation of all. And, a touch of trivia for you, I was the proud recipient of the Play Now Act Now creative writing prize in 2008 and let me tell you, entering competitions and getting your name ‘about the traps’ (to quote a former lecturer of mine) is absolutely vital to futhering your career as a writer.
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About Play Now Act Now
(Taken from the official website)
Play Now Act Now is on the lookout for the hottest young and emerging talent aged 16 to 25 in NSW. This is your opportunity to submit creative works to our live, online competition in three categories, Short Film, Digital Design and Microfiction, which engage with an important issue affecting the lives of young people. Winners stand a chance to take home a share of $15,000 CASH and PRIZES.
One of the biggest issues in NSW and Australia involves young people, drugs and alcohol and government attempts to regulate and control the sale, service and consumption of these substances. Inherent in this issue are the changing views and opinions on the culture of drugs and alcohol in young people’s lives and the broader Australian cultural landscape.
Play Now Act Now is about using the creative mediums to have a constructive and open discussion about the place of drugs and alcohol in our lives. We’re not for, against or coming from any point of view, rather Play Now Act Now is about creating a forum in which different opinions, stories and experiences can be heard and expressed.
Inside everyone is an artist with something unique to say: Play Now Act Now is here to help you explore those burning questions and share your thoughts with the world.
We’re proudly supported by Metro Screen and NSW Health.
How Do I Enter?
(taken from the official website)
Our competition takes place ONLINE and LIVE. Play Now Act Now accepts works in three categories: Short Film, Digital Design and Microfiction with the main creative stipulation being that all works feature our signature item – some reference to drugs and alcohol.
Every month there will be a unique theme to help guide your approach and you can enter one creative piece in each category, every month of competition from April through September. Every month two winners from each category – one by POPULAR VOTE and one by OFFICIAL SELECTION – will win $100 cash and a place in our grand final to take place in October.
Microfiction
(taken from the official website)
Creative writing is one of the most democratic artistic mediums – and in acknowledging this Play Now Act Now is embracing the changes to the way it is consumed in the online environment. Microfiction participants are being challenged to engage with our signature item in no more that 250 WORDS. You can still work in any genre, transporting readers to a new world and pushing the boundaries of form as you tell your story. We are also asking Microfictioneers to go that little bit further in the visual representation of your work by using WORDLE to create a tag cloud of your story. These won’t be part of the judging process, however it will help your entry ‘pop’ off the screen and entice the public to read your entry.
For more information on this section please refer to Play Now Act Now’s Microfiction Entry Guidelines.
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We’re incredibly proud to be an official media partner of Play Now Act Now and, in the months to come, will be publishing winning entries, keeping you all in the deadline loop and doing what we can to help the festival reach as many young writers as possible. We’ll also be talking to the aforementioned Trespass contributors who are all working on a creative project, to hear about how it’s done and what’s involved.
If writing is really what you want to do, then you simply have to go and do it. There’s no time like the present.
