In May 2011, the University of the South Pacific will be launching its publishing arm that will be known as the USP Press. The goal of the Press is to publish high quality research and writing on issues related to the Pacific Islands, or the islands commonly known as Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. Toward this end, the University wishes to announce an international competition seeking manuscripts in the following categories:
USP Press Literature Prize ($3000) will be awarded to the overall winner from the following categories.
The winner in each category will receive $1,000.00
- Fiction ($1,000)
- Poetry ($1,000)
- Drama or Screenplay ($1,000)
USP Press Non Fiction Prize ($3,000) will be awarded to the overall winner from the following categories. The winner in each category will receive $1,000.00.
- History, Auto/Biography ($1,000)
- Sciences ($1,000)
- Social Sciences/Humanities ($1000)
- Best Children’s Book ($2,000)
The competition is open to all nationalities and closes on 15 February, 2011.
The prize money will be in American dollars
Each submission must clearly indicate the category in which it is to be considered.
All submissions must be in hardcopy. Online submissions will not be accepted.
All submissions should be addressed to:
The Chair, Board of the USP Press,
Professor Vilsoni Hereniko,
Oceania Centre for Arts, Culture and Pacific Studies,
The University of the South Pacific
Private Mail Bag,
Laucala Campus, Suva, Fiji.
For enquiries, write to
hereniko_v(at)usp.ac.fj
Hello,
My name is Jane Crosbie. I am a student of literature and an artist from New Zealand. I would like to submit an entry into your competition. A fictional short story. I have also self-published a fictional autobiography. Will your competition accept either of these entries. Thank you.
kindest regards
Jane Crosbie
Dear Jane
It is best to write to the email address in the post. Best of luck!
Hi admin…
I seem to have problems with email in the post. Is there another email I can send inquiries to?
I am a Bougainvillean. Though, I saw this competition so late and cannot partake in it, I just have to say that the USP Press launching is a step forward in South Pacific literature. For me, whom works promotes Bougainvilleanism, I look forward to working with USP Press.
Leonard Fong Roka
Leonard,
You are welcome to join Suwiki and let us know more about the scene in Bougainville.
Thank you,
How do I join in and be part of Suwiki? Beside, what does this organization do in regard to literature? Please do provide me with necessary information to join in.
Leonard F. Roka
Bougainville and Literature: How I see it
Bougainville, since the 1960s campaigned against being ruled by Papua New Guinea. In 1988, I was a student then doing my second last year in primary school, when that long struggle turned into a armed crisis that took almost a decade to stop and cost of 20 000 lives.
Now that we had gained a fragile political solution in place–the autonomy. It is still problematic, because of the systemic and systematic corruption, Bougainvilleans ourselves only look for miracles to change our island for the better and that we still have a sturborness to fight against.
Literature is one way to solve this issues. Bougainville needs a thousand authors to educate the people there. By means of books we can tell them this is wrong and that is right.
But as a Bougainvillean writer, I am still striving to get my works published to educate my people.
Leonard
You can join by entering your name in the top right of the page. And thanks for sharing your thoughts on the situation in Bougainville. There may be resources in our network to assist you. There may be an opportunity to publish some of your writing here, though that is not likely to reach your home audience. At least it can inform others of what’s happening. Something may come of that.