Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Join Now: New Media Writing Prize (NMWP) 2015



The Competition

With four prize categories (Main prize, Student prize, Dot Award and the People’s Choice Award) available for 2015, the competition is looking, in the Main Prize and Student Prize, for good storytelling (fiction or non-fiction) written specifically for delivery and reading/viewing on a PC or Mac, the web, or a hand-held device such as an iPad or mobile phone. It could be a short story, novel, poem, documentary or transmedia work using words, images, film or animation with audience interaction. Interactivity is a key element of new-media storytelling.

We are looking for creativity, so try to be imaginative to create an engaging story i.e. combining any number of media elements, such as words on a screen combined with images and video clips. New media writing can be created using a variety of tools i.e. a word processor, DV camera, social networking tools (i.e. Twitter), mobile phone/s, a scanner, Augmented Reality software – anything goes!

In The Dot Award: The prize will be awarded for a project idea which, in the judges’ opinion, shows promise and practicability – and could be completed by the end of 2016. For the Dot Award we are looking for projects which aren’t necessarily technically complex but do create original and exciting literary work inspired by the affordances of the web, blogs, apps, social media etc. Chris Meade and if:book UK will liaise with the winner to support the project, which will be showcased at the 2016 New Media Writing Prize award ceremony (TBA but probably January 2017).

The competition is not looking for a text-only story/poem which you can upload to a web page or place on a disc. We are not looking for screens of words uploaded to your blog, and we are not looking for a slideshow of photos uploaded to Flickr or a video uploaded to YouTube.
Get the idea? The essence of new-media writing in this instance is great storytelling which uses anything and everything that digital media can offer, along with user/audience interactivity. It’s got to be something that couldn’t work in ‘old’ media.

Judging Criteria

The judges will be looking for the following:
  1. Innovative use of new (digital) media/transmedia to create an engaging, satisfying narrative, or poem, or as-yet-specified form. Fiction or non-fiction.
  2. Ease of accessibility for the reader/viewer.
  3. Effective use of interactive elements.
  4. A great example of how new media can do things traditional media can’t.
  5. The potential to reach out to a wide audience (i.e. not just specialist interest groups).
For the Competition Rules, please click here.

Application Eligibility

Anyone can apply! Whether you’re a student, a professional, an artist, a writer, a developer, a designer or an enthusiast, the competition is open to all. It’s also an international competition, open to all outside the UK. For the Competitions Rules click here.

Submission and Deadline

Each entry for the MAIN prize should be submitted by email to entries2015@newmediawritingprize.co.uk

Each emailed entry should contain an active URL for the judges to access your work. However, if your entry is for viewing on a mobile phone, wearable, or other electronic device, please provide clear instructions on how to view your piece.

Main Prize and Dot award Friday 27th November 2015 by 12 noon GMT; Student Prize Friday 11th December 2015 12 noon GMT. Shortlisted entrants will be invited to the Awards Ceremony, Wednesday January 20th 2016 at Bournemouth University. Winners will be announced at the ceremony. Click here for more details.

Prizes

Main Prize: £1000 donated by if:book UK.
Student Prize: 3 months paid internship at Unicorn Training, Bournemouth, UK, working with Unicorn’s writing and design team.
The Dot Award: £500 to get a new project started. Donated by if:book UK. Click here for more info
People’s Choice Prize: a cheque for £500. Donated by SeaSalt Learning. The winner chosen by the voting public.

Competition Rules (Terms and Conditions)

It is important that you read and understand the Competition Rules. Your entry will be disqualified if you do not comply with these Rules.


No comments: