Minds Shine Bright

Storm anthology available now

Minds Shine Bright acknowledges the Yalukit-Willam clan of the Boon Warring people of the Kulin nations, theTraditional Custodians of the land where 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.

Confidence 2023 writing competition update

For writers who entered CONFIDENCE 2023 writing competition judging will be finalised within two to three weeks. All entrants will be contacted sometime in December by email advising whether they have been selected for the Long List. All Longlisted entrants will receive a second email in January advising whether they have been selected for the Short List. Winners and commended writers will be announced at an online event in February 2024 and our second CONFIDENCE anthology will be launched in March 2024.

Keep up to date by checking our latest news and events

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; Minds Shine Bright Confidence, a longitudinal look at the theme confidence in fiction and poetry, and Seasons a competition with a changing external theme. Light and Shadow is currently open and you can enter below.

We also publish anthologies. Confidence, Minds Shine Bright Anthology 2022 was our first publication.. After couple of topsy turvy years forty-six writers from eight countries explore the confidence theme in stories, script and poems. It was launched at the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne.

Storm Minds Shine Bright Seasons 1 2023 is being launched progressively across Australia starting with a tour to Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane. We love placing our books into bookshops and libraries and building our following of anthology readers, writers and poets.

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You can purchase Minds Shine Bright anthologies at the Minds Shine Bright bookshop or at bookstores that support independent publishers and stock Ingram books.

If you prefer to borrow you can request that your local library order a copy in. The ISBN for CONFIDENCE Minds Shine Bright Anthology 2022 is 978-0-6455231-0-2 and for STORM Minds Shine Bright Seasons 1 2023 is 978-0-6455231-2-6.

Seasons writing competition

The Storm Anthology, featuring the winning and commended entries from the first Seasons writing competition is being launched across Australia and internationally. The theme for Seasons 2023/24 is light and shadow. You can enter below.

The Seasons writing competition has themes that relate to the external world, and imagined worlds. This competition has smaller prizes, smaller word limits and focuses on a smaller set of writers.

Our next Seasons Writing Competition Light and Shadow is now open and closes on 31 March 2024.

Prizes

All prizes are awarded on literary merit. Cash prizes will be paid in Australian dollar value. A first prize of $500 will be awarded to the most outstanding piece of fiction or poetry overall. Second prize will receive $400, third prize will receive $300, fourth prize will receive $200.  Commended entries will be awarded $100 each.

Winning and commended entries will form the competition Shortlist and shortlisted entries will be published in the second Minds Shine Bright Seasons series anthology Light and Shadow. Each winning and commended entry author  will receive a print copy and e-book of the Light and Shadow anthology.

Longlisted entries will each receive Minds Shine Bright e-certificates of merit. Ten further entries will be awarded certificates of recognition and a small gift featuring the embroidered Minds Shine Bright logo.

Terms and Conditions

Each entry must be original, unpublished fiction or poetry written by the submitting author and included the theme of Light and Shadow in some way. No brand references are allowed. The word limit for each entry is 2500 words.

Please read the full list of terms and conditions on the Seasons Terms and Conditions page.

Light and Shadow enter here

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Terms and Conditions *

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

Light and Shadow terms and conditions

Each entry must be original, unpublished fiction written by the submitting author.
Each entry must be written in English.
Each entry should include the theme of light and shadow in some way.

The name of the author must not be on the entry submitted so please check carefully to ensure it is removed. The author’s name will be captured by the form. All Minds Shine Bright competitions are blind judged so it’s important to that no names are included on the entry/s submitted.

There should be no brand references, no references to celebrities and, no references to material or people subject to copyright or music, musicians, or songs subject to copyright. There should be no references to people that are defamatory or could be perceived to be defamatory.
There should be no material submitted that is offensive or objectionable.
Entries that contain any of the above references or are considered to be offensive and/or objectional will be in breach of the competition rules and will be disqualified.

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

The closing date is Sunday 31st March 2024 at midnight

All prizes are awarded on literary merit. Cash prizes will be paid in Australian dollar value. A first prize of $500 will be awarded to the most outstanding piece of fiction or poetry overall. Second prize will receive $400, third prize will receive $300, fourth prize will receive $200. Commended entries will be awarded $100 each. Winning and commended entries will form the competition Shortlist and shortlisted entries will be published in the second Minds Shine Bright Seasons series anthology Light and Shadow. Each winning and commended entry author will receive a print copy and e-book of the Light and Shadow anthology. Longlisted entries will each receive Minds Shine Bright e-certificates of merit. Ten further entries will be awarded certificates of recognition and a small gift featuring the embroidered Minds Shine Bright logo.

Word Limits
2500 for every category

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

There is no limit to the number of entries but each entry costs AU$5 and each new entry must be entered on a separate entry form. Only one piece of fiction can be submitted in an entry.

All cash prizes will be paid in Australian dollar value.

There is no age limit however if you are under 18 years of age parental consent is required as well as parent’s email and contact details.

Copyright remains with the author and the author grants permission for their work to be published in the Minds Shine Bright publication Light and Shadow Minds Shine Bright Seasons 2, 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.

Any entries which are deemed to be offensive, discriminatory, too graphic or do not meet community standards will be ineligible for prizes or publication.


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 or competition updates, invite you to Awards and/or other online events related to this competition and communicate with you about your entry. Communications may include editing suggestions, publication proofs, contracts or other matters relating to your entry.

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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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.

Age

• 11 and under
• 12 to 15
• 16 to 17
• 18 to 29
• 30 to 39
• 40 to 49
• 50 to 59
• 60 to 69
• 70 to 79
• 80 to 89
• 90 and over

Providing your age is optional.

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Provide a 1-4 sentence bio about yourself and your writing.

Your interpretation of light and shadow

Provide 1-2 sentences on what the theme light and shadow means to you and how you included it in your entry. (This field is optional)

Submit

Confidence writing competition

We are currently in the middle of judging Confidence 2023. We will progressively provide updates and we expect to start contacting entrants with results in late September.

Minds Shine Bright Confidence writing competition aims to captures and share how fiction writers explore the theme of confidence over time. Four categories including short stories, poetry, flash fiction and short scripts are included. The competition is blind judged, entries are assessed against ten criteria and there are many entries so the judging process takes several months.Once judging is complete there is an online Awards Night and once the anthology is curated, edited and designed and published there is a celebratory launch.

As writers discover and explore different elements and layers of the confidence theme we look forward to seeing how the series of Confidence anthologies evolves and what we can learn from it about our times, trends in contemporary writing and ourselves.

Confidence 2024/25 is planned to open in August 2024 and to close in March 2025.

Prizes

In 2023 we increased our prize pool for the Confidence Writing Competition to support our aim of paying writers fairly for their work. All prizes are shown in Australian dollars. International entries are welcomed.

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

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