Running a fiction writing competition has really exceeded my expectations. My life has been vastly enriched by embracing the arts and publishing books. There are tremendous levels of talent out there, so many stories, scripts and poems yet to be discovered. I’m looking forward to opening Minds Shine Bright writing competition CONFIDENCE 2023 on the last day of the month.
I so enjoy reading each contribution of the forty-six writers and poets represented in CONFIDENCE Minds Shine Bright Anthology 2022, which is now available in print from some major and independent bookstores. (ISBN 978-0-6455231-0-2). I love it when people tell me excitedly that Microbial by Claire Dalkin was so good or that they shed a tear over Jaydan Salzke’s Rite of Passage or that Red Bikini by Françoise Thornton-Smith, the overall winner, will stay with them for a long time.
It’s inspiring and moving to read poetry, stories and scripts exploring the theme of confidence written by people at different stages of their lives. Some of the writers are very young and just starting out, others have a rich life experience and some have achieved highly in the arts. It’s a delightful mix of innocence and experience, established and new voices.
Discovering writers from eight different countries, opens the imagination to new places and ideas and makes connections between some of the universal elements being explored.
I love blind judging and curating poetry, scripts, short stories and flash fiction. These forms work well together. Having a song — New Zealand poet Sadie Yetton’s Party Song — as part of the Confidence anthology is exciting too and there is some fervent carol singing in Canadian writer Evelyn Menary’s Victory Memorial.
This Friday 28th October talented writers will be gathering from all over Victoria at the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne to celebrate the CONFIDENCE Minds Shine Bright Anthology 2022 Launch. After a couple of topsy turvy years of fires, COVID-19 and floods it’s time to come together and celebrate with stories, poems and conversation exploring confidence.