Building a multi-genre literary competition that welcomes every form

Multi-genre competitions offer something genuinely rare in the literary world: a single event where a poet, a novelist, a playwright, and a children's author stand on equal footing. By opening doors across forms, organisers acknowledge that great writing happens in many shapes, and that readers, judges, and communities are richer when every category receives care. The model has deep roots in the Welsh eisteddfod tradition, where the chair, the crown, and dozens of bardic competitions have long sat alongside music and recitation under a single organising committee with shared values.

In Australia, the appetite for cross-form recognition is unmistakable. The Sydney Writers' Festival draws tens of thousands each May, while Adelaide Writers' Week remains one of the country's literary treasures, and the Queensland Writers Centre in Brisbane runs workshops across genres from crime to speculative fiction. Prizes like the Miles Franklin Award and the Stella Prize celebrate prose at the highest calibre, but there is plenty of room for competitions that embrace poetry, scriptwriting, and creative nonfiction under the same banner.

For societies such as Cymdeithas Eisteddfodau Cymru, which already understands how to coordinate dozens of categories under one umbrella, the multi-genre literary competition is a natural extension of existing skills. The challenge is not enthusiasm but structure. The following sections walk through the practical decisions that turn a promising idea into a fair, memorable, well-run event.

Mapping the genres and categories you want to host

Before drafting any rules, list the genres the competition will welcome. Common choices include poetry, short fiction, creative nonfiction, novel excerpts, stage plays, screenwriting samples, and children's writing. Some organisers include spoken word, translated work, or genre-specific categories such as crime, science fiction, or nature writing. The aim is not to include everything but to choose categories that reflect both local literary strengths and the interests of target writers. In a community with strong folk singing and bardic traditions, poetry and recitation categories will feel natural, while a coastal town might lean into maritime-themed creative nonfiction.

Once the list is drafted, define each category clearly. Specify word counts, line limits, or page counts. Distinguish between original work and adaptations. Decide whether novelists should submit a full manuscript, a chapter, or a synopsis with sample pages, since each option changes who will enter. Clarity at this stage prevents dozens of disqualifications later. It also helps judges, who can prepare for a known range rather than guess at every entry.

Writing the rules with clarity and fairness

Rules are the backbone of any competition, and multi-genre events require particular care because each genre brings its own conventions. Start with eligibility: age groups, residency, prior publication history, and professional versus emerging status. Many Australian competitions follow the model used by the Queensland Literary Awards and distinguish between published and unpublished authors, or between residents of a specific state and the whole country. Decide whether the competition is open internationally or limited to one region, and state this plainly.

Then address logistics. Specify the submission format, whether digital files, print copies, or both. Outline entry fees, discounts for students and concession holders, and any waivers for writers experiencing financial hardship. Require original, unpublished work where appropriate, and spell out what happens to rights after the competition: whether winning entries may be published in an anthology, performed at a ceremony, or featured online. Include a clear complaints process and a conflict of interest policy that covers judges, organisers, and sponsors.

Recruiting and briefing the judging panel

Judges make the competition credible, so choose them carefully. For a multi-genre event, no single person can fairly assess every form, so build a panel that reflects the categories. A poet with publications from respected outlets such as Australian Poetry or Red Room Poetry might judge the poetry prize, while a novelist who has won the Miles Franklin Award or been longlisted for the Stella Prize brings weight to the fiction category. Children's writing judges should have experience with young readers and publishers of that age group. Where budgets allow, pay them professionally; judges treated as colleagues rather than volunteers tend to commit more deeply.

Once appointed, brief the panel thoroughly. Share the rules, the scoring rubric, and a code of conduct. Ask judges to declare any connections to entrants and to recuse themselves from relevant discussions. Agree on a consensus process: will the panel deliberate together, score independently and compare, or use a tiered shortlist approach? Document everything, and protect judges from external pressure by keeping their identities confidential until shortlists are announced.

Setting the timeline that works for writers

A competition's timeline can make or break its entry numbers. Australians live with a calendar shaped by long summer holidays, the Christmas-January break, Easter, and Anzac Day. Plan around these, and avoid deadlines that clash with major literary festivals in Sydney, Melbourne, or Brisbane, since writers are often already committing to those events. A common rhythm is to open entries in February, close them at the end of April, judge through May and June, announce shortlists in October, and hold the ceremony in November or early December, allowing time for anthology production if planned.

Build in buffer for unexpected delays, such as judges falling ill or needing extra time with a difficult shortlist. Communicate every deadline in writing, send reminders, and be generous with grace periods if a technical glitch affects the submission portal. A timeline that respects writers' time signals that the organisers respect the writers themselves.

Designing judging criteria that work across genres

Fair judging across genres requires a rubric that distinguishes what excellence looks like in each form, while still allowing comparison at the overall level. Universal criteria might include originality, command of language, emotional or intellectual impact, and structural integrity. Genre-specific criteria can add elements such as rhythm and sound for poetry, narrative arc for fiction, accuracy and reflection for creative nonfiction, or dialogue and staging for drama.

Provide a simple scoring scale, such as one to ten, with brief descriptors for each band. Ask judges to score each entry independently before discussing, which prevents dominant voices from swaying quieter panellists. Where the panel splits, give the chair the casting vote, and record the reasoning so the process remains transparent. Transparency does not mean publishing every comment, but it does mean winners and shortlisted writers can receive meaningful feedback if requested, a practice that has become standard in many Australian literary awards.

Promoting the competition effectively

Even the best-organised competition fails without entrants, so promotion needs the same care as the rulebook. Build a simple website or landing page with the rules, categories, past winners, and an easy submission link. Use social media to share judge announcements, writing tips, and countdown reminders. Partner with independent sellers such as Readings in Melbourne or national chains like Dymocks, with libraries in Perth and Hobart, and with writing centres across the country, from the NSW Writers' Centre to the Northern Territory Writers' Centre.

Reach out to local press, including community newspapers in regional areas and literary reviewers on platforms such as The Conversation. Encourage entrants to share the competition with their writing groups, whether those are campus collectives, online communities like the Australian Writers' Marketplace, or local folk singing circles that blend music and verse. Targeted outreach to emerging and underrepresented writers will broaden the pool and strengthen the eventual shortlist.

Hosting the awards ceremony and beyond

The ceremony is the moment when the competition's hard work becomes visible. Choose a venue that suits the tone, whether a historic hall echoing the eisteddfod tradition, a community theatre, or a digital platform for those joining from interstate or overseas. Invite shortlisted writers to read their work, and allow time for audience questions. Record the readings so they can be shared later as podcasts or videos, extending the competition's reach well beyond the event itself.

Think about legacy as well as celebration. Plan an anthology, a digital showcase, or a series of workshops featuring winning writers. Provide opportunities for winners to mentor the next round of entrants, creating a pipeline of future competitors. Most importantly, gather feedback from judges, entrants, and audience members so the next iteration improves on this one.

If your committee is ready to take the next step, Cymdeithas Eisteddfodau Cymru offers guidance on event planning, marketing, and community engagement for organisers looking to launch or refine a literary competition. Reach out through the society's website to access templates, sample rules, and direct advice from committees who have run multi-category events for generations. The next great Welsh-Australian literary gathering could begin with a single email.