ACT Writers are excited to open submissions for the 2021 ACT Writing & Publishing Awards, and for their suite of family awards.

The ACT Writing and Publishing awards are designed to recognise, reward and promote ACT region authors whose works have been self-published, or published by a small publisher. The 2021 awards are open to books published in the prior year; 2020, in the categories of poetry, fiction, nonfiction and children’s books.

“These annual awards are a key part of our role in celebrating and amplifying the achievements of our region’s incredibly talented authors,” ACT Writers CEO, Meg Wilson, explains.

ACT Writers also administers a range of family-funded awards: The Anne Edgeworth Emerging Writer’s Fellowship*; the June Shenfield Poetry Award and the Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award.

“We’re grateful to have these long-standing collaborations administering awards in memoriam of some wonderfully innovative and passionate Canberra writers,” Ms Wilson says.

“These awards are full of heart and fuelled by the desire to give back. They offer practical recognition, as well as financially investing in writers that may be at the earlier stage of their path, working towards expanding their portfolio or striving for publication.”

A shortlist for the ACT Writing and Publishing Awards will be released later in the year. Winners will be announced at the ACT Writers end-of-year awards evening, public health conditions permitting.

Applications for the ACT Writing and Publishing Awards close on COB Friday 27 August. Entries for the June Shenfield Poetry Awards close on Sunday 12 September. Entries for the Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award close on Monday 13 September.

*Applications for the Anne Edgeworth Emerging Writer’s Fellowship open 30 August 2021.