The Green Pen Competition is now closed. Another emerging writer's competion is likely to be announced late 2009 with entries closing early 2010.

Results and Judges Comments

Editorial and Contents Page of the Bumper Green Harvest edition of Art Monthly Australia featuring Green Pens winner.

The Cooroora Institute encourages more critical writing and essays on green art as well as more green art itself.

Maurice O'Riordan, the editor of Art Monthly Australia, in association with the Cooroora Institute, ran an emerging writers' competition asking 'How green is your pen?' Winners were published in Art Monthly, received $2000, and got tickets to all Floating Land events (held at Boreen Point near Noosa, Qld at the end of June 2009). There were also publishing and mentoring opportunities for other outstanding entries. All work selected for publication has been offered an opportunity to write on the Noosa Biosphere Floating Land 10-day event with accommodation and free attendance, mentored by Tamsin Kerr, writer and director of the Cooroora Institute. Further article(s) will be published on-line, and may also be selected and paid for in a later book and/or magazine.

The 2009 deadline was 27 Feb 2009. The open category 1000 - 1500 words, the secondary school category 500-1000. Get those green pens (the green computer doesn’t quite have the same ring to it) working...

See

http://www.artmonthly.org.au/images/frontnotes/greenPen.jpg

Full details/ guidelines below.

Hope to see an entry or two, particularly from this region, as I think some of the most exciting green art activity is happening away from the more populous places (and we need to add this to the Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra triangle!)

Please spread the word (again) and happy writing!

HOW GREEN IS YOUR PEN?

The inaugural Art Monthly Australia Emerging Arts Writer's Award & Mentorship

In its 21 years of production, Art Monthly Australia (AMA) has published the

work of thousands of writers, mostly Australian, mostly established – if not in

writing, then in some art professional capacity. Among these thousands, there

have also been emerging writers, those who for numerous reasons have not

been privy to the world of publishing, or at least getting published, but who

definitely have something to say and a talent for expressing it in words.

An important part of AMA’s charter is to facilitate the development of

Australian art critical writing. In this regard we are proud to present our

inaugural Emerging Arts Writer’s Award/Mentorships. This initiative is open to

Australian residents.

Structure of the Award:

The structure of the Award is simple. There is a set theme for entries: Visual

Arts and Environmental Sustainability. And we are calling for entries in one

of the two following categories:

Open: This category is for writers post school-age, i.e., you can be anyone

from a university student to a retiree. ‘Emerging’ in our books doesn’t come

with an age bracket but there is a requirement that you have a minimal

publishing record. By ‘minimal’, we mean no more than 5 published pieces to

your name. Please feel free to contact AMA’s editor, Maurice O’Riordan

(contact details below), for clarification if necessary.

The article should be between 1000 and 1500 words (footnotes not included

in word count). The style and form of the article is entirely open. It could be a

review, perhaps, of a show you saw which focused on the environment /

sustainability as a theme. It could be an article profiling a particular artist

whose work deals with issues of environmental sustainability, or a broader

discussion about the theme without relating it to specific artists or work.

There is no requirement to focus on contemporary Australian art. Artists and

art from all periods (including your own if you are a writer-practitioner) are

considered valid subjects for the purposes of the Award’s thematic article.

You may also accompany your article with relevant images, particularly if the

article relates to work that may not be well known.

Prize: A single prize of $2000 plus publication in Art Monthly Australia

Senior Secondary School Student (Years 11/12 or Senior College): This

category is for students in their final (two) years of secondary school

education. The article should be between 500 and 1000 words (footnotes not

included in word count). The other parameters for the article are as for the

Open category.

Prize: A single prize of $500 plus publication in Art Monthly Australia, plus

$500 worth of art supplies for the winning student’s school.

Structure of Mentorship:

The Mentorships are on offer for entries only in the Open category. Ideally,

mentorships will be allocated on a state/territory basis, with an outstanding

writer-entrant from each being assigned to a mentor for a period of time, with

a view to having their work published in Art Monthly Australia. More details

regarding mentorship will be made available to likely candidates in due

course. The number of mentorships on offer will be dependent on the calibre

of entries and availability of funding.

NB: If you do not wish to be considered for a mentorship, please indicate this

with your entry.

Entry guidelines:

There is no official application form. Multiple entries are allowed. Entrants are

simply required to submit their entries in the following format:

• A cover page with your name, contact details and the title of article

submitted (or titles if you are submitting more than one article)

• The article to be formatted as a Word document, size 12 Font, 1.5 line

spacing, with pagination. The title of the article should appear at the

front (or as a header/footer), but please do not include your name on

any of the article’s pages. Accompanying images are not to be inserted

into the text but included as separate image files (low to medium

resolution) or printed images.

• Articles can either be emailed to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (with

Emerging Writer’s Award in the subject line) or posted to:

Art Monthly Australia

Emerging Writer’s Award,

LPO Box 8321 ANU,

Acton ACT 0200

Deadline: close of business February 27, 2009

Judging:

An as-yet-named judge or panel of judges will be appointed to choose the

winner of each category and also the mentorship awardees. Entries will be

judged according to their originality and cohesion of thought in relation to the

given theme, and for the clarity and accuracy of their written expression. The

decision of the judge(s) will be final. Winners will be notified by phone or mail,

with results published in Art Monthly Australia.

Enquiries:

Please direct enquiries to Art Monthly Australia’s editor, Maurice O’Riordan:

t: 02 6125 3988, f: 02 6125 9794, e: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Acknowledgements:

Art Monthly Australia gratefully acknowledges the Australia Council for the

Arts and Arts ACT for their support of this initiative.