Penned

Micro-fiction Writing Competition: A story, in exactly 50 words

Why ‘Penned’? We love a play on words, and ‘penned’ has a lovely double-meaning for our purposes. Penned is both ‘to have written’ (‘I penned this poem’) and to be limited, or ‘penned-in’.

Rules and conditions:

• Please read these rules and conditions carefully. They are designed to answer your questions and make the job of our volunteer admin and judges easier
• If you do not comply with these rules and conditions, your entry will not be considered and no correspondence will be entered into
• Competition opens on 13 January 2022 and closes at 11.59pm 30 April 2022
• Email your PENNED entry to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Three sections:
  • Primary school age
  • Secondary school age
  • Open age
• PENNED entries should be a story
• PENNED entries should be fifty (50) words exactly (contractions are acceptable; incorrect hyphen use is not. Refer to Macquarie Dictionary if in doubt) – not about fifty.
• Secondary school and Open section email addresses will be added to the Queenscliffe Literary Festival’s subscription list (you may unsubscribe easily later, but we’d love for you to stay)
• Entries may be used by QLF in their social media, website, and/or print media
• Your PENNED micro-fiction piece does not have to have a title
• If your piece has a title, it is not included in the 50-word limit
• Judges will not see your email; do not include anything there that they need to see, such as the piece’s title
• Open only to Australian residents

Secondary and Open sections:

• Submit your PENNED entry by attaching either a typed Word document (.docx) or typed PDF (.pdf) document to an email. Do NOT include it in the body of the email or as an attached image
• You may enter up to 5 stories in total
• One entry per document. For example, if you have three stories, please attach three separate typed PDF or Word documents to your email, OR send separate emails
• Do NOT include any identifying information on your entry, even in the document name
• In your email, include the following:
  • Name
  • Contact number (or, of a parent/guardian if under 18)
  • Postcode
  • Section that you are entering (Secondary school age or Open)

Primary section:

• Have a parent / guardian / teacher send in your PENNED entry by attaching either a typed Word document (.docx) or typed PDF (.pdf) document to an email. Do NOT include your story/ies in the body of the email or as an attached image
• You may enter up to 5 stories
• One entry per document. For example, if you have three stories, please attach three separate documents to your email OR send three emails
• Do NOT include any identifying information on your entry; judges should not see whose entry is whose
• In your email, include the following:
  • First name and first initial of last name
  • Contact number and name of a parent/guardian
  • Your postcode
  • Section that you are entering (Primary school age)
• The email address used is recorded only for PENNED Micro-fiction competition correspondence

Teachers:

• Your students can follow the instructions above for their section to submit their entry/ies, OR
• if you prefer to collate entries for your class,  please identify the individual entries (for example with a title or a number) and provide the following information about each in your email:
  • Story identifier
  • First name and first initial of last name
  • Contact number and name the teacher 
  • Postcode of the student
  • Section that you are entering (eg Primary or Secondary school age)

Prizes:

• Secondary school and Open sections: one winner from each section, as judged by our QLF judges, will receive:
  • a ticket to attend a writers’ workshop at the 2022 Queenscliffe Literary Festival (not transferable or redeemable otherwise)
  • a book pack from the 2022 Queenscliffe Literary Festival program
• Primary school section: one winner, as judged by our QLF judges, will receive a book pack provided by The Bookshop at Queenscliff 
• All sections: one winner from each section, as judged by popular vote (likes / heart symbol) on the QLF’s Facebook page, will receive a book pack