Minds Shine Bright

Calling for entries

Minds Shine Bright acknowledges the people of the Kulin nations, the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we live and work and where this website was made. We pay respects to their long history and culture, and their Elders, past, present and emerging.

What is Minds Shine Bright?

Minds Shine Bright is an arts business based in Melbourne Australia committed to supporting the arts and writers. We run two fiction writing competitions each year. Minds Shine Bright Confidence, a longitudinal look at confidence in fiction and a competition with a changing theme which in 2022 was Storm.

We also publish beautiful books. Confidence, Minds Shine Bright Anthology 2022 was launched at the Wheeler Centre on 28 October in Melbourne. We are working hard to get into more bookshops and libraries and we are preparing all of the Storm entries for blind judging.

You can purchase the Confidence anthology at the Minds Shine Bright online bookshop or at discerning bookstores that support independent publishers.

Calling for Entries Confidence 2023

Minds Shine Bright Confidence 2023 is now open for entries and will close at midnight on 28 February 2023.

Minds Shine Bright Confidence writing competition runs from late October to February each year. Its aim is captures and share how fiction writers explore the theme of confidence over time. Four categories including short stories, poetry, flash fiction and scripts are included. The competition is completely blind judged, entries are assessed against ten criteria and there are many entries so the judging process takes several months. Winners are contacted in late July or early August and the awards night and launch occur later in the year.

As we move towards 2023 and as writers explore and discover different elements and layers of the confidence theme we look forward to seeing how our series of Confidence anthologies evolve.

Prizes

This year we have increased our prize pool to support our aim of paying writers fairly for their work. All prizes are shown in Australian dollars. International entries are welcome.

$1600 – The overall winner, plus publication in Confidence Minds Shine Bright Anthology 2023

$800 – for each of the four category winners plus publication in Confidence Minds Shine Bright Anthology 2023 (The overall winner is excluded from all other prizes) Categories include short stories, short scripts, flash fiction and poetry)

$175 – for each commended entry plus publication in Confidence Minds Shine Bright Anthology 2023

15 certificates of recognition and gifts will be sent to writers whose creativity shone in some way.

Terms and Conditions

Each entry must be original, unpublished fiction or poetry written by the submitting author and included the theme of confidence in some way.

Word limits

up to 1000 words – flash fiction

1000 -5000 words – short story

up to 5000 words – short script

up to 260 lines – poetry

Please read the full list of terms and conditions on the Terms and Conditions Page before entering.

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Terms and Conditions *

• I have read and agreed to the terms and conditions listed below

Each submission must be original, unpublished fiction written by the submitting author.

Each submission must be written in English
Each submission should include the theme of confidence in some way.

Each submission must be entered into one of four categories including: poetry, micro/flash fiction, short stories or script writing.

Each entry should be entered as a document file or a PDF in 11 or 12 size standard font. Scripts using industry standard script writing layout are also acceptable.

The entrant's name must not be included on the entry as all entries are blind judged. Names are entered onto the entry form at the time of submission.

There should be no brand references, no references to celebrities and no references to a person or people that are defamatory or could be perceived to be defamatory.

There should be no material submitted that is offensive or objectionable. Any entries deemed to be offensive, discriminatory, too graphic or do not meet community standards will be ineligible for prizes or publication.

The closing date is Monday 28th February 2022.

All prizes are awarded on literary merit. The competition is blind judged. (Prize amounts are shown in Australian dollars)

A first prize of $1600 (Australian dollars)will be awarded to the most outstanding piece of fiction or poetry overall. Four category winners will each be awarded $800. Commended entries will each be awarded $175. Winning and commended entries will be published in Confidence Minds Shine Bright Anthology 2023. Fifteen further entries will be awarded gifts and certificates of recognition.

Word Limits
Micro-flash fiction - up to 1000 words.
Short stories minimum 1000 to maximum 5000 words.
Poetry - up to 240 lines.
Short Scripts - up to 5000 words

Entries that do not meet word limits will be ineligible for prizes or publication.

There is no limit to the number of submissions entered but each submission costs AU$5 and each new submission must be entered on a separate entry form.

All cash prizes are shown in Australian dollars.

There is no age limit however if you are under 18 years of age parental consent is required.

Copyright remains with the author and the author grants permission for their work to be published in the Confidence Minds Shine Bright Anthology 2023, on the MindsShineBright.com website and on social media and in other media and communications for future promotions of the competition.

Australian Copyright Law applies.

The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
Minds Shine Bright is not liable for late, lost, incomplete, invalid, incorrectly submitted entries, or illegible, corrupted or misdirected entries.

Privacy. The personal information requested in the entry form is required primarily so that Minds Shine Bright can provide you with any prizes, invite you to awards and/or other online events related to this competition.

By entering the competition, entrants and or their parents/ legal guardians accept these terms and conditions of entry.

Category *

• poetry
• micro/flash fiction
• short story
• script writing

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Price: $ 5.00

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Add a short biographical paragraph about you and your writing (up to four sentences). For winning and commended entries this information may be included in the anthology.

Age Range *

• up to 12 years old
• 13 to 17
• 18 to 29
• 30 to 59
• 60 to 79
• 80 years and above

We welcome writers of all ages.

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Parental or guardian approval is required if the entrant is less than 18 years of age.

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• I consent to having this website store my submitted information so they can respond to my submission or inquiry.

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Revolving Themes Competition

Our revolving theme writing competitions are designed to highlight the work of a smaller set of writers, poets, screenwriters and playwrights.

The Minds Shine Bright writing competition Storm has now closed and sorting for blind judging is currently underway. Thank you for your entries. Winners will be announced in February 2023 and the Storm Anthology will be launched in March or April 2023.

A new theme based competition Light and Shadow will open in June 2023.

Visit our blog for writing posts and competition updates

View Blog

Confidence

Minds Shine Bright Anthology 2022

Confidence Minds Shine Anthology 2022 features the winners and commended writers of the first Minds Shine Bright fiction writing competition Confidence 2022. After a couple of topsy turvy years forty-six writers from eight countries explore the theme of confidence through stories, script and poems.

Each piece stands alone yet together they weave a narrative: starting with the elements, following the life cycle and ending with redemption and hope. Confidence will make you laugh and make you cry.

Confidence is now available and readers can buy a print copy or an EPUB e-book online in the Minds Shine Bright bookshop.

Buying a copy of CONFIDENCE will help Minds Shine Bright to support and pay new and established writers and poets and helps us to build up our prize pool. You can start collecting the series or give CONFIDENCE as an inspirational gift.

Bookstores and libraries can order copies directly through Ingram. (ISBN 987-0-06455231-0-2) or email writing@mindsshinebright.com.

Now available