SBS is inviting aspiring writers from diverse backgrounds to share their stories and have their voices heard with the launch of the SBS Emerging Writers' Competition.
Open for entries from 15 August - 15 September 2020, the SBS Emerging Writers' Competition is searching for the next generation of bold new voices that reflect the diversity of contemporary Australia, providing them with a platform to share their unique experiences and perspectives.
An initiative from SBS Voices, SBS's online platform which champions the voices of diverse and often underrepresented Australians, the competition has been created to support the discovery and development of emerging talent and contribute to greater diversity in Australian storytelling.
Writers aged 18 and over are invited to submit a memoir piece of 1,000-2,000 words on the topic of Growing up in diverse Australia'. The winning submission will be awarded a $5,000 prize to further their storytelling future, as well as having their story published on SBS Voices.
Entries will be judged by acclaimed author Melissa Lucashenko, winner of the 2019 Miles Franklin award for her novel Too Much Lip, and Benjamin Law, creator and co-writer of the award-winning SBS TV program The Family Law and editor of Growing Up Queer in Australia.
SBS Emerging Writers' Competition judge, Benjamin Law, said: The SBS Emerging Writers' Competition is so necessary and important. Given the rich diversity of Australia's multicultural communities, we don't nearly have enough of that diversity in publishing. And we're definitely not hearing enough from young people. Thankfully we have a lot more young and diverse writers coming up through the ranks, but I want to hear more.
Fellow judge, Melissa Lucashenko, said: Australia is so much more than we have been led to believe. This is a country of Blak, brown and yellow voices, both heard and unheard. It is the country of those who know they don't feature in the mainstream imagination. The country of those excluded, and downtrodden and for too long left out of the picture. As a First Nations writer and the child of refugees, I feel a strong compulsion to say to emerging writers: you matter. Your story matters. I'm listening. Together we can make change happen.
Marshall Heald, Director of TV and Online Content at SBS, added: SBS is committed to sharing stories that explore diverse cultures and experiences, and reflect what it means to be Australian today. We're excited about the opportunity to discover and support new talent through the SBS Emerging Writers' Competition and elevate the next generation of diverse voices through this important initiative.
There will also be a $3,000 prize awarded for second place, and two honourable mentions will each receive $1,000, to support the emerging writers to further develop their skills and knowledge. Winning entries will be announced in November 2020, with all winning entries having their stories published on the SBS Voices website.
Writers from diverse backgrounds, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, are encouraged to enter submissions to share their unique experiences.
Entries open 15 August 2020 and must be submitted online at sbs.com.au/writers.
SBS Voices is a platform for and champion of emerging writers from diverse backgrounds in Australia, particularly women. In the past two years, the website is proud to have published more than 100 new writers, many of them coming through its emerging Asian-Australian writers project, and its Muslim women writers' series, as well as its partnership with Sweatshop writers collective in Parramatta, Sydney.
ENDS
For a PDF version of the media release click here.
About the SBS Emerging Writers' Competition
Competition dates:
Entries are open from 15 August - 15 September 2020.
How to enter:
Writers (Australians aged 18+, yet to be published authors of a book) will be asked to submit a first-person memoir piece on the topic of Growing up in diverse Australia'. Go to www.sbs.com.au/writers for more information, and for the competition Terms & Conditions.
Prizes:
The winner will be awarded $5,000 to support the development of their storytelling. A $3,000 prize will be awarded for second place, and $1,000 each for two honourable mentions. Winners and runners up will be published on the SBS Voices website.
About the SBS Emerging Writers' Competition judges:
Melissa Lucashenko is an acclaimed Goorie author of Bundjalung and European heritage. Her novel, Mullumbimby, won the 2013 Queensland Literary Awards for Best Fiction and her sixth novel, Too Much Lip, won the 2019 Miles Franklin award. Melissa is also a Walkley Award winner for her non-fiction work, and a founding member of human rights organisation Sisters Inside.
Benjamin Law is the author of The Family Law, Gaysia: Adventures in the Queer East and editor of Growing Up Queer in Australia. Benjamin created and co-wrote the award-winning SBS TV series The Family Law, based on his memoir, and his debut play Torch the Place.
About SBS Voices
SBS Voices is an online platform which provides a voice for, and champions, emerging writers from diverse backgrounds in Australia, particularly women. It aims to foster a sense of belonging for all Australians, by celebrating the unique stories of Australia's emerging writers.
SBS Voices has a mission of raising the voices of marginalised Australians with a focus on first person, memoir-style content and video. In the past two years, SBS Voices is proud to have published more than 100 new writers, sharing their unique stories and perspectives with all Australians. Many of those writers had never been published before.
SBS Voices has a successful partnership with Sweatshop, a diverse writers' collective in Parramatta, Sydney, now i
Asia, Australia & Oceanic Stories
18/04/2024
Alone Australia goes from strength to strength
18 April, 2024
Media releases
The program again delivers for SBS with significant uplifts in digital BVOD vi...
18/04/2024
18 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and Dynamic Television announce new Scripted Initiative
Savage River
Screen Australia and Los Angeles-based telev...
16/04/2024
ABS Agility Beyond Space announces Appointment of Mark Rigolle as its Chief Ex...
11/04/2024
Alone Australia Ep 2 reaches over 1m Australians
11 April, 2024
Media releases
The program continues to consistently grow week-on-week in linear audience w...
11/04/2024
11 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and Meta launch fourth year of First...
10/04/2024
10 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces over $2.3 million for nine documentaries
Guardians of the River
Screen Australia has announced nine doc...
09/04/2024
Groundbreaking NITV documentary series Our Law expands across Australia from Thu...
09/04/2024
Techtel, the creators of inflo, today announced that a new speech to text transcription engine from openai called Whisper, is available to inflo customers who a...
04/04/2024
Manu Feildel, Miranda Otto and Pat Rafter join life-changing new season of Who D...
04/04/2024
Alone Australia season 2 continues to redefine Australian TV viewing through on-...
27/03/2024
Living Black, the longest-running Indigenous current affairs television program ...
26/03/2024
Crime is relative in SBS's new Canneseries nominated crime-family drama with...
25/03/2024
SBS gears up for Season 2 of Alone Australia with the creation of Alone Cologne...
22/03/2024
SBS Learn partners with the Islamic Museum of Australia to support classrooms in...
21/03/2024
21 03 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces over $1.6 million in support of the games industry
Which Way Up: Galaxy Games
Screen Australia has anno...
18/03/2024
18 03 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and VicScreen launch new Screen Careers initiative
LTR Denise Eriksen, Esther Coleman Hawkins, Caroline Pitcher, K...
15/03/2024
15 03 2024 - Media release The Creators 2024 Participants Announced
The Creators program recipients. L-R Thomas Duncan-Watt, Vanessa Gazy, Sarah Lambert, Lea...
14/03/2024
SBS to mark Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr with all Australians
14 March, 2024
Media releases
Content in 22 languages*, a collection of movies to stream free on d...
14/03/2024
March 14,2024
-- KDDI Corporation
KDDI Corporation resolved at a meeting of the Board of Directors held today to change (newly appointed, retire) a director ...
13/03/2024
13 03 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces dramas Critical Incident and Sunny Nights for Stan
Critical Incident: Akshay Khanna and Zoe Boe. Photo c...
07/03/2024
Explore the afterlife with SBS podcast Grave Matters'
6 March, 2024
Media releases
Most of us are woefully unprepared for one of life's few certai...
06/03/2024
Multi-award winning electronic music duo to represent Australia at this year'...
06/03/2024
Developing Lunar 3GPP Mobile Network Technologies for Moon Exploration
GITA...
04/03/2024
SBS announces new development fund to discover Australia's biggest and riski...
28/02/2024
Yumi Stynes returns for season two of SBS podcast SEEN'
26 February, 2024
Media releases
Eight new trailblazers join feminist Australian icon Yumi Sty...
28/02/2024
28 02 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces over $810,000 in development funding for 29 projects
Willy
Screen Australia has announced 23 feature fi...
27/02/2024
27 02 2024 - Media release Michael Ebeid AM appointed as new Screen Australia Chair
Michael Ebeid AM and Megan Brownlow
The Hon. Minister for the Arts, Tony...
26/02/2024
Supporting AFEELAs entertainment experience and global launch with a communicati...
21/02/2024
21 02 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and Australians in Film Announce App...
21/02/2024
Aiming to deliver new video-related solutions utilizing 5G SA this year
Son...
21/02/2024
Support the team with gifts while enjoying AR games in the stadium
KDDI COR...
21/02/2024
KDDI CORPORATION
February 21,2024
-- Tokyo, February 21, 2024 From February 2...
20/02/2024
KDDI CORPORATION
February 20,2024
-- KDDI announces that its consolidated subsidiary, SORACOM, INC. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Ken Tamagawa, herei...
15/02/2024
Alone Australia Season 2 Returns 27 March | Meet the Cast
15 February, 2024
Media releases
Smash hit series Alone Australia returns Wednesday 27 March on S...
15/02/2024
NITV's flagship footy show Over the Black Dot returns Tuesday 5 March, live ...
15/02/2024
15 02 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces over $560,000 for crew and gamemaker skills programs
Liz Keogh Palmer (Australian Production Design Guil...
13/02/2024
2024 is a landmark year for SBS's award-winning current affairs line-up, cov...
13/02/2024
22 01 2024 - Media release Six Australian projects bound for South by Southwest Festival in the US
Audrey, Birdeater, The Moogai
Six Australian screen projec...
12/02/2024
12 02 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and YouTube Australia Launch Skip Ahead 9
Uncovering Street Dance: Australia from Skip Ahead 8. Photographed by Ry...
08/02/2024
08 02 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and ABC announce Bay of Fires is back for season two
Marta Dusseldorp as Stella in Bay of Fires
ABC, Screen Austr...
07/02/2024
4 in 10 Australians battling sleep issues as nation's sleep crisis grows
7 February, 2024
Media releases
Dr Michael Mosley and the sleep scientists fro...
06/02/2024
Six screen creatives selected for the 2024 SBS Emerging Writers' Incubator i...
02/02/2024
SBS Scripted TV Lunch sessions return for another year of connecting with creati...
02/02/2024
February 2,2024
-- KDDI Corporation
KDDI announced the financial results for the third quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2024.
Summary In the third q...
31/01/2024
Filming Begins on SBS' Romantic Original Drama Four Years Later' in Ind...
30/01/2024
A stellar 2024 for SBS podcasts kicks off with The SBS Book Club' and Huma...
29/01/2024
The host with the most, Adam Liaw, is back with an all new inviting season of Th...
22/01/2024
Eddie's Lil' Homies premieres on NITV and Netflix on Friday 16 February
22 January, 2024
Media releases
Animated comedy series inspired by AFL grea...
22/01/2024
22 01 2024 - Media release Five Australian projects bound for South by Southwest Festival in the US
Audrey, Birdeater, The Moogai
Five Australian screen proj...
SBS is inviting aspiring writers from diverse backgrounds to share their stories and have their voices heard with the launch of the SBS Emerging Writers' Competition.
