The Sunshine Coast Literary Association has announced the winners of the 2011 WARM Writers’ Competition at an awards dinner on Thursday, 23 June.
The dinner, held at the Fourth Floor Restaurant, included a three-course meal for guests followed by a short awards presentation ceremony, which saw 15 entrants receive awards.
President of the SCLA, Bryan Ward said the judges were amazed at the calibre of entries in this year’s competition.
“The dinner was a great opportunity to celebrate the depth of talent of writers throughout our region, it was a fantastic night,” Bryan said.
The competition was open to aspiring writers in the Sunshine Coast and Gympie areas, with six entry categories including Junior Short Story, Junior Poem, Young Adult Short Story, Young Adult Poem, Open Short Story and Open Poem.
The Sunshine Coast Literary Association (SCLA) is a not-for-profit association dedicated to nurturing, showcasing and celebrating literary talent throughout the Sunshine Coast region, with the annual Writers Competition awards being a key part of that charter.
Winners of the Open Short Story category were: Meg McNaught (first place), Maggie Pinder (second place), Judy Cutts (highly commended) and Keira Fennell (encouragement award).
Winners of the Open Poem category were: Kerry Mulgrew (first place), John Gardner (second place) and Nana Ollerenshaw (highly commended).
Winners of the Young Adult Short Story category were: Jack Burnham (first place), Tahlia Baumann (second place) and Julian Gordillo (highly commended).
High school student, Jack Burnham won a hat trick for his entries in the Young Adult Poem category.
Winners of the Junior Short Story category were: Mia Jones (first place), Ky Brutnell (second place) and Eleanor Stuart (highly commended).
Winners of the Junior Poem category were: Saskia Mathers (first place), Talulah Cunningham (second place) and Mia Jones (highly commended).
The event was proudly sponsored by the University of the Sunshine Coast and Bendigo Bank Buderim and Marcoola. Winners of each category took home $200, $50 for second place and $25 Sunshine Plaza vouchers for highly commended.
“On behalf of the SCLA I would like to congratulate all the talented winners of the 2011 WARM Writers’ Competition and thank all those who entered,” Bryan said.
“We encourage writers to continue developing their talents and hope to see their entries in next years competition,” Bryan said.
Photo: SCLA President, Bryan Ward (in the back) with competition winners (left to right) Judy Cutts, Eleanor Stuart, Julian Gordillo, Jack Burnham, Meg McNaught and Kerry Mulgrew.
