Chesterville, ON

On March 28^th, 2020, Chesterville will host the 2^nd Annual Writing in 150 writing competition that will be held at McCloskey’s  22 Victoria St. Chesterville.

“What is really fun about this event is the public can attend for the song writing judging and then stay and listen as the writers read aloud their pieces.  This is the aspect I really like; the public can attend for free for an afternoon of artistic fun!” said Amanda Burger the organizer of the event.

The competition is called Writing in 150 because  the writers have one hundred and fifty minutes (2 ½ hours) to write based on a theme given to them that day. The Writing in 150 writing competition consists of three (3) age categories (10-14 yrs, 15-20 yrs, 21+ years) and six (6) writing genres: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Short Play, Spoken Word/Slam Poetry and Song writing.

This is the 2^nd time Chesterville will host this event, with all written pieces being done on the spot and written on a particular theme that is revealed only at the beginning of the competition. This fast-paced and creative competition will be judged by quite the line-up of experienced local and non-local judges.

Tony Glen , winner of last year’s song writing genre said, “I think we were all surprised what we could achieve in 150 minutes. Having a deadline like that really energizes the creative spirit. Everybody has something important to say; this event gave us license to express ourselves in a supportive environment”.

Cory M. Coons will be judging this year’s song writing. “Cory was named Best Rock Songwriter for “Long Road (Dead Man’s Dream)” and Best Americana Artist for “Once Too Many, Twice Not Enough” at the 2018 Radio Music Awards;  this is quite the coup for us!” Amanda said. For Poetry, Czandra of Montreal will be returning as a judge, as will Rachelle Eves for short play, Thomas Schoch and Murray Barkley for fiction and for Spoken Word the ever-popular Suzanne Millaire.

Last year’s winners were all published in a book entitled Time Has No Hold On Me, published by Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood Publishing.  “The book was a real success”, Amanda stated, “We have sold over 50 copies locally with many bought as Christmas stocking stuffers!”

The event will start at 11 am, with judging beginning at 1:30 pm; the spoken word and song entrants will perform their pieces in front of the judges and this portion of the competition is open to the public. Again this year, winners will be published in a book which will include a download of the winning spoken word/slam poetry and song genres. If you wish to be a competitor, it is only $25 to enter.  Free for the public to come and listen!