Winton 150 Word Micro Story Competition – Outback Writers Festival

Winton 150 Words

Special competition for 2025: Write exactly 150 words to help celebrate Winton’s 150 years of European Settlement

Write exactly 150 words to help celebrate Winton’s 150 years of European Settlement.

Free entry to 150 year project for primary and secondary. $5 to RFDS for adults

$100 first prize and certificate in each section sponsored by Outback Books

Please read the details for your Category, and the Conditions of Entry before submitting your entry.

There are three categories for entry:

Entrants must be residents of Australia, enrolled in a Primary or Secondary school, or aged over 16.
This is a competition of skill. Luck plays no part in the selection of the winners.
The story must celebrate Winton’s 150 years of European Settlement.
The story is to be fictional, and not be under consideration for publication nor entered into another writing prize. Stories that have been published or won a writing prize will not be accepted.
The story must be an original composition written by an individual author (no collaborations or AI assistance).
Grammarly Authorship, QuillBot, GPTZero, or other programs depending on availability, will be used to confirm the work is not AI generated. Any AI generated or assisted submissions will be disqualified.
The story is to be submitted using the online entry form by 5:00pm on 25 April 2025.
Any stories that exceed the word count, are less than the word count, or do not match the other conditions of entry will be disqualified.
Regarding word count: the website entry form will show the word count as identified by its text editor. Please be aware that there are discrepancies between word processors / word counting algorithms, so allow yourself time to copy/paste your entry to confirm you are within the word count. Micro fiction is a difficult format, especially when you are required to write an exact number of words rather than an upper limit. Be diligent in your word selection.

Judging is by a panel selected by the Festival Organisers.
Entries are judged blind to remove any possible bias. This process sees all identifying information about the author removed from the entry, so the judge can focus on the story itself. To ensure your entry is not disqualified, do not include your name or other personal details with the text of your story.
The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into about the judgements or process.

By entering the Outback Writers Festival Winton 150 Word Micro Story Competition, the author gives permission to the Festival organisers to publish their work.
The author will always retain copyright of their work.
The Festival organisers will retain copyright of the format of publishing, whether online or in a print format, but not regarding the individual author’s stories.
Royalties will not be paid to should the stories be included in a purchasable format.
A selection of entries may be published on the Outback Writers Festival website.
The Festival Organisers request authors refrain from publishing their stories online for 12 months from date of publishing on the Outback Writers Festival website to assist in the promotion of the Competition and Festival.
All prizes will be provided in cash or as a bank transfer in Australian dollars

The author gives permission to use any title or phrase from their entry in the creation or promotion of the Competition or Festival.
Winning authors may be requested to participate in media-related events associated with the Competition or Festival.
By supplying contact details, Entrants in the Open category agree to receiving correspondence from the Festival Organisers and their sponsors (all with opt-out options).