Under The Silver Tree’s writing competition winners will be announced at a prize-giving ceremony on Saturday, May 20 from 6pm in the courtyard of The Art Exchange where author Claire Corbett will be the guest judge on the night, tasked with deciding the best short story in a competition that’s attracted over 80 entries from Broken Hill and beyond.
Entry to the writing competition’s prize-giving ceremony is free, with drinks and nibbles supplied, along with live music performances and readings of the prize-winning stories.
The winner of the competition will receive $1000, the best local entry will receive $500 (donated by West Darling Arts), and the winning author (under the age of 26) will receive $100 (donated by Totally Addicted To Hair). A further two highly commended entries will each win $100.
Speaking to the Barrier Truth, Ms Corbett outlined what she’s looking for in the winning entries and how her past and current credentials have shaped her eye in selecting a worthy recipient.
“The main thing that I’m looking for – and it’s actually one of the hardest things to find – and this is going to sound weird, is that it’s actually a story,” she says.
“Most people don’t know what a story is. They know it when they read it, but they’re not sure how to produce what’s the difference between a story and an anecdote. The thing is, an anecdote is something that happens to someone. A story is about decisions. A story is about the decision that the character makes, and that’s kind of what makes it fiction.
“There’s a great line in the musical West Side Story where there’s a song that says ‘tell me something I don’t know’, so I’m always kind of looking for that. And I don’t mean by that it can be anything, it can be an insight into how somebody feels at a particular moment, just something that feels fresh.”
Earlier in the day, Ms Corbett will also be running a short story writing workshop, to be held at the Community Centre (200 Beryl St). It is here she hopes to teach people the art form of creative writing and short stories, inspiring others to write by showing the process of what can be achieved and how.
“I absolutely love teaching and I particularly love teaching short stories. My aim with this one-day workshop is – I can cut years off a writer’s journey because I know how stories get read for publication – so I can talk to writers,” she said.
Limited places for the workshop on Saturday, May 20 are available. Contact Under The Silver Tree on 8000 1942 or via email at [email protected] for more info.
