Imagination Creation Writing Competition

1. This competition is run by Wyndham City Council (‘Council’) in the state of Victoria, Australia only.

2. By entering this competition, you agree to accept these terms and conditions of entry.  If your entry does not comply with these terms and conditions, it will not be valid and will not be accepted.

3. To be eligible to enter this competition, you must be aged between 5 and 18 and you must live in Victoria.  Council staff, Councillors, judges (Nova Weetman and Margaret Campbell) and their immediate family members are not eligible to enter.

4. If you are aged under 18, you must have your parent or legal guardian’s consent to enter the competition.  You acknowledge and agree that Council may contact the parent or legal guardian listed in your entry form at any time to confirm that consent has been provided.

5. To enter the competition, you must submit an original story or poem and properly completed entry form via the Submittable website between 12:01am on 15 April 2024 and 11:59pm on 14 July 2024.  Entries received outside of this period will not be accepted.

6. You acknowledge and agree that:

(a) you must create a Submittable account in order to submit your entry, which you must retain for the duration of the competition;

(b) creating a Submittable account requires you to provide personal information to a third-party provider and agree to their terms of use, and that Council accepts no liability in respect of Submittable’s collection, use or disclosure of your personal information; and

(c) you may request that your Submittable account be deleted at any time, however if such a request is made prior to 15 November2024, your entry will also be deleted and as such, be invalid.

7. You may submit multiple entries, provided that each complies with these terms and conditions.

8. Your entry must:

(a) be your own original work which has not been created using generative AI software such as ChatGPT;

(b) not contain any objectionable, profane, insulting, inflammatory or defamatory material;

(c) not infringe a third party’s intellectual property;

(d) not include your name or any details or information which may identify you;

(e) be submitted in English;

(f) be unpublished at the time of entry; and

(g) not exceed the maximum word limit below:

9. Judging will commence on 16 July 2024.  Entries will be shortlisted by Council staff. Shortlisted entrants will be notified by email and their entries will then be judged by external judge Nova Weetman who will determine the winners in each age group category and the Wyndham Local Award.  External judge Margaret Campbell will judge the shortlisted entries to determine the winner of the Margaret Campbell Award.

10. To be eligible for the Wyndham Local Award, you must live in Wyndham.

11. A total of 14 competition winners will be chosen who will each receive a Dymocks Bookshop gift voucher in the amount as listed below.  The total prize pool is valued at $1280.  Refer to Dymocks Bookshop’s website for their terms and conditions for the redemption of gift vouchers.

12. Winners will be contacted by email by 8 October 2024 and will be announced at the 2024 Imagination Creation Writing Competition Awards Night, to be held at Hoppers Crossing (Plaza) Library on 15 November 2024 from 7:30pm.  You acknowledge and agree that this event may be held online if it cannot be held in person.

13. Winners’ names and the title of their winning entry will subsequently be published on Council’s website and the Libraries in Wyndham Facebook page by 18 November 2024.  If you are a winner, you consent to the publication of your name and title of your entry in connection with this announcement.

14. If a winner cannot be contacted by 25 October 2024, Council may opt to conduct further judging to determine a new winner.

15. If a prize has not been collected by 6 December 2024, the winner will be deemed to have surrendered the prize and Council may opt to conduct further judging to award the unclaimed prize.

16. You acknowledge that you retain copyright in your entry.

17. You grant Council a perpetual and royalty-free licence to publish, cause to be published or otherwise use your entry in any format whatsoever:

(a) on Council’s website;

(b) as part of an anthology to be published about the 2024 Imagination Creation Writing Competition, which will be made available electronically on Council’s website and in hard copy in at least five branches of Wyndham City Libraries;

(c) in recordings to be played at the 2024 Imagination Creation Writing Competition Awards Night,

for the purpose of promoting the competition.

18. You acknowledge and agree that your name, as provided in your entry form, may be published in connection with the publication and/or use of your entry.

19. You indemnify and hold harmless Council, its Councillors and employees against all claims arising in connection with a breach or potential breach of these terms and conditions.

20. Prizes are not transferable, exchangeable, or redeemable for cash.

21. Council may, acting in its absolute discretion, require winners to provide evidence of their identity, age and/or that they live in Victoria.

22. Council accepts no responsibility for late, lost, incomplete, corrupt, or invalid entries.

23. If for any reason, this competition cannot be run as planned, Council reserves the right to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the competition and/or amend these terms and conditions.

24. Council’s decisions are final, and no correspondence will be entered into.

Do you love getting creative with words? Come along to the Imagination Creation Young Writers' Group during school term. Share inspiration and creativity with other young writers in a relaxed, social environment and get writing tips from published author Margaret Campbell. Ages 5+

Download and have a look through some of the past Imagination Creation winners stories and poems.