Campbelltown writers' competition

The annual Campbelltown writers' competition invites writers from across South Australia to submit their original stories inspired by an annual theme.

Entries can be fiction or non-fiction, must not exceed 2,500 words, and must have a link to the Campbelltown area, a Campbelltown resident or references to the City of Campbelltown. All genres and styles are welcome.

This competition is facilitated by Campbelltown City Council and judged by Writers' SA.

Community

The theme for 2025 is Community. From finding strength in your local community through sports, volunteering, shared experiences or more to building or joining an online community that shares your interests or hobbies, this theme speaks to the heart of Campbelltown, which is our community!

Terms and Conditions

By entering the Campbelltown Writer's Competition, you agree to the following terms and conditions:

1. The writing competition is open to all forms of writing including short stories, factual articles, memoirs and poetry.
2. You do not have to live in the Campbelltown area, but must be a South Australian resident.
3. Your story must relate to the theme of Community.
4. For the Open Writer category, your story must have a reference to the Campbelltown area. For the Junior and Youth Writer categories, a reference to Campbelltown is preferable, but not essential.
5. Entrants must be unpublished (people with academic publications and self-publications online are still eligible to enter).
6. The entry must be the authors original work and submitted in English.
7. Any person under 18 must have parental or legal guardian approval to enter.
8. One entry per person only.
9. The entry must not exceed 2,500 words.
10. Entries must be submitted as a word document through the online portal – hardcopies will not be accepted.
11. The author’s name should not appear on the entry itself.
12. Once an entry is submitted, the entry is final. The entry may not be withdrawn or alterations made.
13. The judges’ decision is final. Judges’ reserve the right to not award prizes.
14. Prizes will consist of Coles Group & Myer Gift Cards to the value of:  Junior Writer: 1x S100 and 2x $50  Youth Writer: 1x $150 and 2x $75  Open Writer: 1x $200 and 2x $100
15. By entering your work, entrants grant Campbelltown City Council and Writers SA a non-exclusive, personal, perpetual, royalty free licence to publish (including electronically), broadcast, edit and adapt the awarded entry.
16. Copyright is retained by the author.
17. AI Policy: All entries for the Campbelltown writers' competition must be the author’s own original work that the author must hold the copyright and/or IP rights for. We do not accept entries created using generative AI and if a suitable AI detector flags suspicious content, your entry will be disqualified at the discretion of the judging panel. Similarly, if a piece of work contains clear copyright infringements (example, using song lyrics, unattributed work of another writer that exceeds fair use, or trademarked content), it may also be disqualified.