ASEAN Young Writers Award: Final Calls for Entries

Short Stories in English or National Language to Vie for the New Literary Prize of the Region

BANGKOK, June 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) joins hands with The S.E.A. Write Award Organising Committee and the Mahidol University's Faculty of Liberal Arts in hosting the new literary prize of the region, the "ASEAN Young Writers Award". Young writers who are nationals of ASEAN countries, aged 15-24 years old, are invited to submit their short stories in English or in National Language, from now until June 30, 2014.

The ASEAN Young Writers Award is the region’s literary prize which provides a platform for the creation of a new generation of writers

Mr Amorn Kitchawengkul, Deputy Bangkok Governor, disclosed: "'The ASEAN Young Writers Award' was initiated last year as a lasting tribute to the celebrations of Bangkok as the UNESCO's 13^th World Book Capital as well as the 35^th Anniversary of The S.E.A. Write Award. The competition also marks an effort to incubate the new generation of writers and form a new literary network to welcome the official integration of the ASEAN Economic Community or AEC."

This year's competition is in the category of short story -- in English, or in a national language of a respective ASEAN member country. Two qualified winners will be selected from each of the ten ASEAN countries to join the Award Trip and the ASEAN youth event in Bangkok in August. They will be awarded a royal plaque of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn (now in the protocol of requesting royal consent) and a cash reward of 1,000 US dollars. In addition, they all will be given a rare opportunity to meet with Thai S.E.A. Write Awardees, while the winning works will be compiled and published for distribution around the region.

"For Thailand, 30 finalists will be entitled to an inspiring workshop with Thai S.E.A. Write Awardees and distinguished writers before two winners -- one each for Thai language and English -- will be chosen as representatives of Thai young writers to go on a study trip to the ASEAN Secretariat Office in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta," revealed Dr Aphilak Kasampolkoon, Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Mahidol University, on behalf of the organising committee. "In other ASEAN countries, the selection of winners will be conducted in line with The S.E.A. Write Award," he added.

Representing the judging committee is Assoc Prof Surapeepan Chatraporn, Deputy Dean for International Affairs, Faculty of Arts, and President of the Bachelor of Arts in Language and Culture International Programme from Chulalongkorn University. She elaborated on the rules and regulations that: "The contest is open to imagination of the applicants, hence no set topic of the entry. The rule is that an applicant must submit a fiction-type short story of no more than 3,000 words in English language and in his or her national language. This competition is organised for the first time, and I would like to invite all young writers in Thailand and the ASEAN to be a part of this exciting award. We hope our new literary award would continue to grow healthily just like its predecessor, the much sought-after S.E.A. Write Award."

Young writers of 15 to 24 years of age who bear the nationality of ASEAN member countries can be a part of the history by submitting an application form along with their writing work from now until the end of this month.