Being page 10 of the December 1995 Newsletter. Top half of the page has a small amount of white space which is filled with a small line drawing of a grotesque fish about to take the bait off a dangling hook.
Short Story Competition
As part of the commitment that the Festival of the Imagination 1996 has towards the encouragement of creativity and talent in Australian fiction writing, there will be a short story competition for works of speculative fiction held in the months leading up to the conference.
The competition will be held open for any piece of Australian unpublished fiction of five thousand words or less, and will have two categories: the open category, and the category for entrants aged 16 and under at the time of submission. Stories for the competition must be based on the Shaun Tan artwork featured here.
The prizes will be $130 first prize and $70 second prize for the open category, and $70 first prize and $30 second prize for the sixteen and under category. These prizes will be presented by one of the guests of the conference. In addition, winners will also receive memberships to the convention, to allow the prizes to be awarded in person.
To be eligible for entry, manuscripts must be typed and double spaced, and submitted to the Festival of the Imagination by no later than then thirtieth of March, 1996.
Art Competition
Additionally, the Festival of the Imagination 1996 will be holding a [sic] art competition open to all members of the Festival and the general genre community. The competition will be arranged into four categories – Professional, Non-Professional or Fan, Photography and Dimensional. All entries must be procured by the entrant and be of a Genre nature. There are no limits on the size or material used, but all entries must be available to be displayed. The Festival will take all due care but no responsibility for entries. All entries must be available and presented to the Festival by April 4th 1996 for judging and displaying.
The Art Competition will be judged by noted Australian genre artist Nick Stathopoulos and displayed at the Festival of Imagination 1996 Art Show for the duration of the Festival. At this stage the prizes will be $100 for best in show and $25 for best in each category. It is hoped that we will increase this prize pool in the near future. Art can be included in the show without being in the competition if requested. Please contact the Festival at the addresses on page 2 for further information or enquiries.