Congratulations to Art Prize and Short Story Winners
Congratulations to Glenholme primary school who WON the ART section of the Young NZ Writers Primary School Story and Art Competition - a free school visit by professional artist, writer, and photographer, Janet Keen.
Janet is well-known to the Rotorua community as an experienced teacher of young artists and an inspirational workshop presenter and speaker. For more information about Janet, her website is here: http://janetkeen.blogspot.com/
Janet is well-known to the Rotorua community as an experienced teacher of young artists and an inspirational workshop presenter and speaker. For more information about Janet, her website is here: http://janetkeen.blogspot.com/
Results of the primary school short story, judged by A.J. Ponder, are:
1. Dark Shadows by Hunter Lewis Lynmore School Year 6
2. Mystery at the Mud Pools by Cameron Moore Lynmore School Year 5
3. Mystery at the Museum by Layla Thompson of Rotorua Primary School
A.J. Ponder has a head full of monsters, and recklessly spills them out onto the written page. Beware dragons, dreadbeasts, taniwha, and small children — all are equally dangerous, and capable of treading on your heart — or tearing it, still beating, from your chest.
1. Dark Shadows by Hunter Lewis Lynmore School Year 6
2. Mystery at the Mud Pools by Cameron Moore Lynmore School Year 5
3. Mystery at the Museum by Layla Thompson of Rotorua Primary School
A.J. Ponder has a head full of monsters, and recklessly spills them out onto the written page. Beware dragons, dreadbeasts, taniwha, and small children — all are equally dangerous, and capable of treading on your heart — or tearing it, still beating, from your chest.
Congratulations to Beyond Strange Winners
|
WINNERS
1st Place Sam Thomson (Greytown Primary) - The Chipolata story 2nd Place Lauren Pryor (Berkley Normal) - Scrape, Scrape 3rd Place Matthew Hall (Bohally Intermediate) - The Mystery of the Mabel Monster Highly Commended Arlo Bruce (Mt. Somers Springburn) - Recording Thirty-Five 
|
Beyond Strange judge's report
by Kyle Mewburn I've always been a huge fan of strange stories with a twist. Growing up, I collected all the Analog and Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Digest magazines and devoured every anthology of weird tales in the library. When I first started writing seriously, I submitted stories to every magazine that accepted stories from nobodies - and I still have a large box full of rejection cards in my closet to prove it. Whenever I'm asked to name my literary heroes, there's no room on my list for Booker Prize winners, because all the places are taken by masters of the weird, eerie, strange and spooky short story with a twist, like Theodore Sturgeon and Fredric Brown. So it was such a pleasure to read these eerie tales written with such panache by budding young writers. It was such a difficult task to choose a winner. Like every judge, I have my own personal criteria when deciding what makes one story stand out from another. Ultimately, for me, it's the originality of the idea and, equally importantly, the clarity of the writer's voice. Lauren Pryor's Scrape, scrape stood out for all the right reasons. It was the most atmospheric and spine-chilling of all the entries in the best tradition of the genre. It kept me hooked from the title to the last, lingering line that will likely give me nightmares for a while. The story is dripping with tension and skilfully transports the reader to an alien land. The writing is fluent with some lovely, colourful language - "...headed off into the rioting bush, the call of a blue-grey bird haunting in my ears." An imaginative tale creatively told and very well written. Sam Thomson's The Chipolata story was an eerie tale told with confidence and attention to detail - "dusty dirt-covered jandals and bright green stubbies", for example, makes a character come to vivid life. The voice never faltered and the writing was very atmospheric, sucking the reader into the story. And, rather importantly for such stories, the ending sticks in your mind. "It might even be moving in and out. It might be that fresh." Mathew Hall's The mystery of the Mabel Monster had me hooked from the first line - "There was something different about the wind in Picton that day." Like all good stories, the opening line is so important to hook the reader. This story certainly achieved that! The writer then skilfully kept me on the line with writing drenched with dramatic urgency - "Then, we saw it. The tide was coming in. It was rapidly rising." A special mention also to Arlo Bruce's Recording Thirty-Five for its clever use of recordings and its overall creative structure. Thanks to all the writers for sharing their stories. |
Congratulations to Something Strange Winners
|
Prose - judged by Laura Vanaredonk Baugh
1st Place - The Tui by Phoebe Robertson (Katikati College) 2nd Place - Bike by Jacob Hagan (Whakatane High School) 3rd Place - Never Trust a Stranger by Nicole Blake (Katikati College) Highly Commended The Hidden Dragons by Denika Mead (Home-schooled) Waahine Toa by Victoria Arrowsmith (Cullinane College) Rubbish Behavior by Hilary Smith (Hutt Valley High School) LAURA VANAREDONK BAUGH writes speculative fiction in both short and long formats for both traditional and indie publishing, as well as non-fiction. She is a professional speaker and instructor. Her most recent novel THE SONGWEAVER'S VOW was a semi-finalist for SPFBO's Best of 2017 and won the Realm Award for Fantasy. Visit her website for more details: http://lauravanarendonkbaugh.com/ 
Poetry - judged by William Dresden
1st Place - Hot Mud by Riley Lamb (Whakatane High School) 2nd Place - Breathing by Fatima Khan (Newlands College) 3rd Place - Corrupting Dreamworld by Vivien Silver-Hessey (Papanui High School) William Dresden is an award-winning author and screenwriter. He spent several years as a script doctor and pursued the dream of writing Hollywood blockbusters. His distinctive writing style is known for its memorable dialogue and unique characters as well as an attention to detail, evident in methodical plot development that both honours and defies genre conventions. Now he mostly writes fiction and enjoys spending time with his family and friends. William currently lives in New Zealand with his wife and two children. William’s work covers a broad range of media. It includes the Sir Julius Vogel award Novel ‘Light In My Dark’ co-written with author Jean Gilbert, ‘Dead Reckoning’ a novella, and the comic book series ‘Aurora’. His films have screened at numerous festivals around the world including the Cannes Film Festival. |
2018 Young NZ Writers' Laureate Award
|
|
|
|
|
|
