Deadline: December 16, 2016
The New Media Writing Prize showcases exciting and inventive stories that integrate a variety of formats, platforms, and digital media. This international prize is now in its 7th year. The prize encourages and promotes the best in new media writing and is leading the way toward the future of the ‘written’ word and storytelling. In the past six years, the NMWP has attracted entries from the very best and most innovative writers in the field.
Prizes
There are four categories/prizes for 2016:
- Main Prize: £1000;
- Student Prize: 3 months paid internship at Unicorn Training, Bournemouth, UK, working with Unicorn’s writing and design team;
- The Dot Award: £500 to get a new project started;
- The Gorkana Journalism Award, donated by Gorkana. Two awards: the UK award, and the International award, both £500 for the winner.
Eligibility
Main Prize and Student Prize
- Good storytelling (fiction or non-fiction) written specifically for delivery and reading/viewing on a PC or Mac, the web, or a hand-held device such as an iPad or mobile phone. It could be a short story, novel, poem, documentary or transmedia work using words, images, film or animation with audience interaction. Interactivity is a key element of new-media storytelling;
- Creativity is vital, so try to be imaginative to create an engaging story i.e. combining any number of media elements, such as words on a screen combined with images and video clips. New media writing can be created using a variety of tools i.e. a word processor, DV camera, social networking tools (i.e. Twitter), mobile phone/s, a scanner, Augmented Reality software – anything goes!
The Dot Award
The prize will be awarded for a project idea which, in the judges’ opinion, shows promise and practicability – and could be completed by the end of 2016. For the Dot Award they are looking for projects which aren’t necessarily technically complex but do create original and exciting literary work inspired by the affordances of the web, blogs, apps, social media etc. Chris Meade and if:book UK will liaise with the winner to support the project, which will be showcased at the 2016 New Media Writing Prize award ceremony (TBA but probably January 2017).
The Gorkana Journalism Awards
The Gorkana Journalism Awards honour innovative stories based on factual material and featuring digital media. Interactive documentaries, multimedia features and serious games are all considered. Entries must incorporate new media technologies and platforms. This is the first year that these prizes are being awarded.
Judging Criteria
Main Prize and Student Prize
- Innovative use of new (digital) media/transmedia to create an engaging, satisfying narrative, or poem, or as-yet-unspecified form. Fiction or non-fiction.
- Ease of accessibility for the reader/viewer.
- Effective use of interactive elements.
- A great example of how new media can do things traditional media can’t.
- The potential to reach out to a wide audience (i.e. not just specialist interest groups).
Gorkana Journalism Awards
- Innovative use of new media to create an engaging, satisfying fact-based narrative;
- Does not need to be topical, but must be socially relevant;
- Must adhere to journalistic standards of accuracy and fairness;
- Ease of accessibility for the reader/viewer;
- Effective use of interactive elements;
- An example of how new media can do things that traditional media cannot do;
- The potential to reach out to a wide audience, i.e. not just specialist interest groups
All entries in all categories must be in English.
Application Timeline
- Main Prize, Gorkana Journalism Awards, and Dot Award end on November 30, 2016 at 12 noon GMT;
- Student Prize ends on December 16, 2016 at 12 noon GMT.
For more information, visit New Media Writing Prize 2016.
