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  New England Writers' Centre

Entries have now closed. Winners will be announced in November.

Thunderbolt Prize for Crime Writing 2019

Stuff you need to know...

Entries are now open for the 2019 New England Thunderbolt Prize for Crime Writing.
In this, the seventh year of the Prize, there are six awards on offer for crime writers. All genres of crime writing are eligible, from hard-boiled to comic, paranormal to rural, historical to contemporary, noir to cosy. Entries welcome from anywhere in Australia, from published or unpublished writers.

The Prizes

The New England Thunderbolt Prize for Crime Fiction
First Prize
: $500, for a story of up to 2,500 words.
Sponsored by the Faculty of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences and Education, University of New England.

The New England Thunderbolt Prize for Crime Non-Fiction
First Prize: $500 for an article of up to 2,500 words.
Sponsored by Boobooks, Armidale

The New England Thunderbolt Prize for Crime Poetry
First Prize: $500 for a poem of up to 60 lines.
Sponsored by Reader's Companion Bookshop, Armidale.

The New England Award
Prize: $250 for the best entry in any category by a writer resident in New England.
Sponsored by Golden Orb Creative.

The Emerging Authors Award
Prize: $250, for the best entry in any category from new, unpublished writers only (over 18). 
Sponsored by Friends of Tamworth Libraries.

The Youth Award
Prize:
$150, for writers under 18
Sponsored by the New England Writers' Centre

Our wonderful sponsors!

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Boobooks
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Opens: 13 June
Closes:  7 October at 11:59pm
Results: Mid-November
Fee: $10 for adults, $5 for Youth
No limit on number of entries per entrant but a fee must be paid for each individual entry.
Entries: may be sent by post to New England Writers’ Centre, PO Box 1219, Armidale 2350 or by email to nethunderboltprize@gmail.com.
Downloadable entry forms with full guidelines and details HERE.
Payments may be made through Trybooking or by EFT, cheque, money order or cash.
Click HERE to pay your entry fee
Other payment options:
EFT: Deposit directly into our account
New England Writers’ Centre,
BSB: 932000
Account No: 618658.
Please make sure you include your name and NET prize as reference when you make an online deposit.
You may also pay by cheque, money order or cash. Please make cheques/money orders payable to the New England Writers’ Centre and send to NEWC at PO Box 1219 , Armidale NSW 23350.

The fine print...

Terms and conditions of entry:
1. Entry is open to all Australian residents.
2.All entries submitted must be unpublished commercially, whether in print or online, must not be on offer to any outlet or have won a prize or be currently entered in any other competition, and must be wholly the original work of the entrant. It is however permitted for work to have been published non-commercially on a blog or website.
3. *An unpublished writer means not having had any of your work previously published in traditional form in a commercially produced book or anthology, or more than twice in commercial magazines, whether in print form or online. You may have had work self-published or in free online journals.
4. A completed entry form and entry fee must be submitted with each entry.
5. As judging will be carried out anonymously, the author’s name or other identifiers should not appear anywhere on the work itself. The title on the work must be identical to the title on the entry form.
6. Postal Entries: Two copies of entries to be provided. Entries to be printed, double-spaced, on one side of the paper only, on plain white copy paper. Pages must be numbered and the title must appear on every page.
7. Manuscripts will not be returned, so please do not send your only copies.
8. Receipt of entries will be acknowledged by email after the closing date for the competition. This will serve as an official receipt of the entry fee. No other receipt will be issued. Entry fees are non-refundable.
9. Entry instructions including word and line limits and details of prizes form part of these terms and conditions.
10. Winning entries may be published on the website of the Armidale Express, which will have first publication rights. Winning entries will also be published on the NEWC website. All copyright remains with authors.
11. Four judges will be appointed. The decisions of the judges will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
12. Winners will be notified mid November 2019, and results announced on the NEWC website at the end of November.
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We gratefully acknowledge the support of Create NSW and our other generous sponsors
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which the New England Writers' Centre is situated and pay our respects to Aboriginal Elders past, present and emerging.
  • Home
  • 2022 Summer Micro Grants
    • 2022 Summer micro grants_Kerry Moran
    • 2022 Summer micro grants_Mary McMillan
  • Unearth Your Voice
  • Illustrating Nature with Sami Bayly
  • Quick Crime with JP Pomare
  • Unleash Your Inner Illustrator
  • Rachael McDiarmid workshop
  • The Illustrated Story
  • Thunderbolt Prize for Crime Writing
  • Illustration Prize for children's picture book illustration
  • Varuna-NEWC Fellowship
  • About
    • Our Board
    • Our Sponsors
  • Membership
  • Contact Us
  • 2021 Archive
    • 2021 Illustration Prize Winners
    • Varuna Fellowship 2021
    • Thunderbolt Prize 2021 >
      • Thunderbolt Prize 2021 winning submissions
      • Thunderbolt Prize 2021 Judges Reports
    • 2021 Summer Micro Grants >
      • 2021 Summer micro grants_Trish >
        • Beetle Hunt Stories
      • 2021 Summer micro grants_James
      • 2021 Summer Micro Grants_Fiona
  • 2020 Archive
    • Thunderbolt Prize 2020 >
      • Thunderbolt Prize 2020 Judges Reports
      • Thunderbolt Prize 2020_Winning submissions
    • Illustration Prize 2020 Winners
    • Varuna Fellowship 2020
    • 2020 Historical Novel Prize >
      • About the judges
  • Blog
  • Resources
    • Inside Story Book
    • By The Book video series
    • Stories Connect