Bournemouth University Higher Education Corporation (BU), through its Faculty of Media and Communication, is accepting entries for the 2022 New Media Writing Prize (NMWP) aimed at showcasing exciting and inventive stories and poetry that integrate a variety of digital formats, platforms, and media.
Now in its 13th year, the NMWP has attracted entries from the very best and most innovative writers in the field, from all around the world. The international event encourages and promotes the best in new media writing and is leading the way toward the future of the ‘written’ word and interactive storytelling.
Those shortlisted for the NMWP and the winners will have the honour of having their work archived with the British Library.
The Prize categories include:
- The Chris Meade Memorial UK New Media Writing Prize: £1000 donated by if:book UK/Chris Meade, where the winner may also be a student, i.e., satisfies point d. of clause 7.
- The Student Award: (To be decided)
- The Opening Up Award: £500
- The Digital Journalism Award: £500 and a year’s FIPP membership
For entries to be eligible, they must reflect good storytelling (fiction or non-fiction), written specifically for delivery and reading/viewing on a PC or Mac, the web, or a hand-held device such as an iPad or mobile phone. It could be a short story, novel, poem, narrative game, documentary, or transmedia work using words, images, film or animation with audience interaction. Interactivity is a key element of new media storytelling.
Entrants are encouraged to be imaginative and to create engaging stories that combine any number of media elements, such as words on a screen combined with images and video clips. New media writing can be created using a variety of tools i.e. a word processor, DV camera, social networking tools (i.e. Twitter), mobile phone/s, a scanner, Augmented Reality software etc.
Entries must be accessible for the reader/viewer, contain interactive elements, a great example of the uniqueness of new to traditional media as well as the potential to reach out to a wide audience (i.e. not just specialist interest groups).
Entrants must avoid the following:
- A text-only story/poem which would be simply uploaded to a web page or placed on a disc.
- Non-interactive Word documents of PDFs.
- Screens of words uploaded to a blog, and a slideshow of photos uploaded to Flickr or a video uploaded to YouTube.
- Sending entries that can only work in ‘old’ media, it’s got to be anything and everything that digital media can offer, along with user/audience interactivity.
Entries are open to everyone whether student, professional, artist, writer, developer, designer or enthusiast. It is an international competition and open to all outside the UK.
All entries in all categories must be in English.
The deadline for entries submission is November 25, 2022, 12 noon UK time, except for the Writing Magazine Student Award, which will be due by December 20, 2022, 12 noon UK time.
Late entries will be disqualified.
Before applying, please download and read the Competition Rules and to enter the competition, Complete the Form.
The New Media Writing Prize is put together by Bournemouth University in association with Birmingham University.