FIRST NATIONS STORYTELLERS INVITED TO SHARE THEIR YARNS IN 'WORLD'S RICHEST' SHORT STORY COMPETITION
Emma Garlett is the ambassador for the First Nations Storytelling Prize in the Best Australian Yarn competition. Credit: Supplied.
First Nations writers have been given the opportunity to share their stories and win up to $50,000 in this year’s Best Australian Yarn competition.
This year, a First Nations Storytelling Prize worth $3000 has been introduced for the first time.
Entrants will also be eligible for the overall prize of $50,000.
The Best Australian Yarn competition is presented by The West Australian newspaper and education company Navitas.
Nyungar-Nyiyaparli-Yamatji woman, social advocate and West Australian columnist Emma Garlett is the ambassador for the First Nations Storytelling Prize and will help to judge the category.
She said the competition was a good opportunity for First Nations people to share their perspective with the broader community.
“A lot of the time, our voices are filtered through a non-Indigenous lens,” Ms Garlett said.
"Our stories are told by other people and written about us, but not by us.
“This is a real opportunity to tell a story in your own words.”
The First Nations Storytelling Prize is supported by Magabala Books, and Magabala Publisher Rachel Bin Salleh is part of the overall judging panel.
The total prize pool for the Best Australian Yarn competition is $75,000, and organisers have called it “the world's richest short story competition for published and unpublished writers”.
Entries should be between 1000 and 2500 words and will be accepted until August 1.