[ENTRIES NOW CLOSED]

Entries for the 2026 Lionel Bowen Young Creatives Award are now open! Submissions will close at midnight on Monday 31 August 2026, 11.59pm. (extented to) Wednesday 30 September 2026, 11.59pm.

Theme 2026: 24 HOURS

To enter the Creative Writing category, please ensure your submission meets the following requirements:

• Your submission is a short story, prose piece, or poem (including hybrid forms).
• Short stories and prose pieces: between 600 and 1,000 words.
• Poems: up to 1,000 words.
• Accepted formats: Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx) and Adobe Portable Document Format (.pdf).
• The document is typed in Arial, 11pt, single-spaced, in black font, and all pages are numbered.
• Your name does not appear anywhere on the document.
• Submissions must respond to this year’s theme, “24 HOURS.” A brief Artist's Statement detailing how your work relates to the theme must be submitted with the entry. There will be an entry form field to be completed (limited to 500 characters).
• If AI tools have been used in creating your work, this must be disclosed in your submission. Entrants are required to complete a Creative Process Statement outlining any tools used and how they contributed to the creation process. There will be an entry form field to be completed (limited to 500 characters). Please read the Guidelines for the Use of Generative AI Tools before submitting.
• Submissions containing explicit, gratuitous content, or extreme profanity will not be considered.
• Submit only one (1) piece of creative work. Additional entries will not be accepted.
• Winning entries, along with statements and descriptions, will be exhibited from December to the end of January, and all selected works must be made available for the duration of the exhibition.

The judges recommend you ask someone to read through your work, and check your grammar and spelling as you may be marked down for errors.

*By entering, participants agree to our Terms & Conditions.

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