In 1911, Marie Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and a hundred years on we celebrate the contribution of chemistry to the well-being of mankind. You are invited to write about chemistry and our world. The length of your piece should be between 1,000 and 2,500 words. There are two categories, fiction and non-fiction. For the purposes of the competition, the fiction category covers science fiction as well as the realistic short story. The non-fiction category covers a wide range of genre from personal essays to profiles to travel writing, but entries must have substantial scientific content. Entries will be judged on their literary merits and the extent to which they engage a non-scientific audience and are accessible to the general public.
Prize
A prize of $2,500 will be awarded to the winner of each category. Arrangements will be made for both winners to attend a presentation function in Wellington in November 2011, all expenses paid.
How to enter
Send TWO copies of your manuscript and an application form to:
Manhire Prize for Creative Science Writing
Royal Society of New Zealand
PO Box 598
Wellington 6140
Judge
Jo Randerson is a Wellington-based writer, theatre maker and cross media artist. She is the author of two short story collections (The Spit Children, The Keys to Hell), and many plays which have toured both New Zealand and internationally (The Lead Wait, Good Night – The End). Her work has won her the Freemasons’ New Generation Award (through the Arts Foundation), the Robert Burns Fellowship, Bruce Mason Playwrighting Award and a Winston Churchill Fellowship to travel to Russia, as well as being twice short-listed for the IIML Prize in Modern Letters. Jo also collaborated with Paul Callaghan for the ‘Are Angels Okay?’ project which paired writers and physicists. For further information, please see www.joranderson.com and www.barbarian.co.nz.
Terms and Conditions
- The Royal Society of New Zealand will accept entries from the opening date of Friday 9 June 8.00am, to the closing date of Friday 9 September 5.00pm. Entries will not be accepted prior to the opening date or after the closing date.
- Entries must be the original work of the author alone.
- Entries must have a word count between 1000 and 2500 inclusive. Entrants must indicate their word count on the front of the manuscript.
- Entries must not have been published or broadcast, or submitted for publication or broadcast, as at the presentation date of the Royal Society of New Zealand Manhire Prize for Creative Science Writing (November 2011)
- Entries must not be or have been entered into any other competition until after the presentation date the Royal Society of New Zealand Manhire Prize for Creative Science Writing. (November 2011)Entries must relate to the 2011 theme “Chemical World’ as detailed in on the Royal Society of New Zealand website and in the New Zealand Listener.
- Entrants must be New Zealanders by birth, naturalisation or by residence in New Zealand for three years continuously immediately prior to the Opening Date.
- Entrants must be living in New Zealand from the opening date to the end of November.
- No staff member of the Royal Society of New Zealand, the International Institute of Modern Letters, or the New Zealand Listener may enter.
- Only one entry per entrant is allowed in each of the fiction and non-fiction categories.
- Entrants MUST use a pen name on their entry. Entrants’ real name must not appear on the manuscript.
- Entries must be typed, in English, in 12pt Times New Roman, double spaced, with pages numbered. Two identical copies of the manuscript must be posted, along with one completed copy of the entry form found on the Royal Society of New Zealand website and the New Zealand Listener.
- Entries must be headed as follows:
- Title of Entry
- Category Entered
- Pen Name
- Word Count
- Shortlisted entries will be required to submit electronic versions of their entires. These must be saved as a Word files (.doc or .docx) and not as a MAC format.
- Entries must not contain photographs, graphs or any illustrations. No covers are required.
- Entrants in the non-fiction category must provide a bibliography and list of other information sources.
- No responsibility is taken for entries, but receipt of entries will be acknowledged by email; or by post if a stamped addressed envelope is provided.
- The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
- Manuscripts will not be returned
- Winners will be required to provide their names, entry details, biographical information and photographs to the Royal Society of New Zealand and the New Zealand Listener for promotional purposes.
- Entrants retain copyright to their submitted works and grant APN Specialist
- Publications NZ Ltd a licence to publish their works in print and/or electronically.
Contact Information:
For inquiries: melissa.pentecost@royalsociety.org.nz
For submissions: Manhire Prize for Creative Science Writing, Royal Society of New Zealand
PO Box 598, Wellington 6140
Website: http://www.royalsociety.org.nz
