111 Emergency Words - Flash Fiction Competition

Project 2016-04-17 08:13:58 +1200

 111 Emergency Words

Help us raise money for prizes!

After the success of writing competitons in previous years, our group of second year Creative Writing students at Whitireia decided to create a flash-fiction competition. Running nationwide on our blog, 111 Emergency Words, it will feature stories themed around the emergency services, with a fun and unique word-count.

The Vision

This whole venture is a class requirement for Creative Enterprise, but we want to make it both interesting and engaging, as well as available to everyone in New Zealand. We understand that Whitireia doesn't just have students from Wellington so we've decided that a heavy emphasis on public engagement, as well as keeping everything modern and accessible by having the competition take place online, will create a community of readers and writers.

It builds on the success of the last three poetry competitions that have been run by this class, biennially. In previous years the competitions have been themed around food and coffee, have been run exclusively for the Wellington region, been judged by a well-known poet, and have offered prizes of sponsored products. This year we wanted to do things differently. We have a more dramatic theme, the competition is open to the whole nation, winners will be chosen by public vote, and we'd like to give cash prizes.

And the finished product won't be something you have to go out to a bookstore to buy. Anyone with access to the internet can read all of the fantastic chosen entries that will go up on the blog, at any time. But the competition itself has a deadline. 111 Emergency Words won't be anually run. This is a once in a life-time oppurtunity to be a part of our project.

The Project

Entries for submissions will open on the 1st of May and stay open until May 31st. The voting will then be open to the public, allowing you to choose the stories you like best. First in the semi-finals (one for each category) which will be open for a week each, and from which one winner and two runner-ups will be chosen for Police, Ambulance and Fire. Those nine finalists will then be pooled together for a final week of voting where you can decide the competition's overall grand prize winner.

For more information about the competition, including submission guidelines and dates, check out our blog: 111 Emergency Words.

The Goal

All that aside, now it's down to business. Our goal is to raise $550 and all of the donations received will go straight into the 'prize bucket'. There it will sit, getting nice and juicy, until the winners are chosen. Whatever amount of money you guys have helped us raise will then be given as cash prizes to all of the amazing chosen writers. So that means the more money donated, the bigger the prizes. But it won't stop there. Spot prizes will be given to stories we think deserve a little somethin' somethin', as well as to all of you guys who are making this whole thing possible.

- Arielle, for the whole 111 Emergency Words Team

The Team

Ayalla Buchanan

Ayalla Buchanan lives in Wellington and has an undergraduate degree in English literature, psychology, and criminology. She has short fiction and poetry published in various places, is currently writing book 2 of a YA series, and has worked as a legislation editor for several years. Her favourite things are her animals, her books, and her best friend the chemistry teacher.

Arielle Crozier

Arielle Crozier is a sleep-deprived daydreamer masquerading as a wannabe writer. She enjoys reading, writing, cooking, drawing, and is a master of the art of procrastination. With a special fondness for sci-fi, fantasy, and western genres, she also enjoys editing and reading others’ works as much as writing her own.

Marlon Moala-Knox

Come child, what do we say about Marlon, the boy of many secrets? Toss him your scraps in the morning, peace be unto you, but don’t get too close, child. See him in the afternoon, don’t touch him, he might break, and he doesn’t forget. He’s a fanciful boy, Marlon, a mystery boy, but see him at dusk with the blackbird on his head and be on your way. Don’t hurt Marlon, child.

Loughlin Costello

Keyser Soze once convinced the world that he didn’t exist. He also wrote in third person a few times but wasn’t very good at it. Now that I think of it, I guess I did okay.

Johanna Knox

Class tutor. No sense of humour. Would be immensely cheered by your donations.

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