Accolades
The West Coast Writers’ Circle holds periodic writing contests and other writing incentives for its members.
We would like to honour those who have been winners.
We would like to honour those who have been winners.
2023 Annual Contests
Contest 1: Non-Fiction (Mar-May 2023) Topic: Historical Article
1st: Janice Gardiner-Atkinson - The Empress and The Captain
2nd: Dawn Rae - The Blackfriars Incident
3rd: Stefan Schutte - The Sign That Stood the Test of Time
Contest 2: Poetry (Jun-Jul 2023) Topic: 3 Picture prompts: Castle, Various boats, and Swirling colours
1st: Dawn Rae - Grandpa Was a Pirate
2nd: Glynis Goyns - Spoken Into Being?
3rd: Stefan Schutte - Middleclass Meltdown
4th: Maryke de Witt - The Writer in Me
Contest 3: Fiction (launched August 2023) Topic: Out of This World
1st: Maryke de Witt - The Forest Secret
2nd: Roy Cheek - Home At Last
3rd: Samantha Wallace - Grace's World
2023 Most External submissions to contests, publications, etc.:
1st - Janice Gardiner-Atkinson with 16 submissions
2nd - Glynis Goyns with 12 submissions
3rd - Jasper de Villiers with 9 submissions
2023 Most Internal submissions to WoW and the website:
1st - Maryke de Witt and Marianna Pieterse with 31 points each
3rd - Glynis Goyns with 27 points
Most Consistent Contributor - Roy Cheek who submitted something every single month
2022 Annual Contests
Fiction Contest: Topic: Over The Moon
1st: Janice Gardiner-Atkinson - The Golf Widow
2nd: Dawn Rae - Destiny's Plan
3rd: Stefan Schutte - Chelmno '42
Honourable Mention: Luke Duffield - Into The Stars
2022 Most External submissions to contests, publications, etc. (one winner per membership category):
0-2y Marianna Pieterse with 6 submissions
3-4y Barry Ger with 5 submissions
5+y Dawn Rae with 13 submissions
2022 Most Internal submissions to WoW and the website (1st and 2nd per membership category):
0-2y 1st - Maryke de Witt with16 points, 2nd - Marianna Pieterse with 11 points
3-4y 1st - Roy Cheek with 23 points, 2nd - Barry Ger with 14 points
5+y 1st - Samantha Wallace with 22 points, 2nd - Dawn Rae with 21 points
2021 Annual Contests
Contest 1: Poetry (March 2021)
1st: Janice Gardiner-Atkinson - In The Cloud
2nd: Barry Ger - Ted's "Out-of-the-Box" Experience
Contest 2: Fiction (May-Jul 2021)
1st: Marilyn Harris - King Arthur & Blitz
2nd: Dawn Rae - The Red Porsche
3rd: Janice Gardiner-Atkinson - Escape Velocity
Contest 3: Non-Fiction (Aug-Oct 2021)
1st: Samantha Wallace - Boarding School
2nd: Janice Gardiner Atkinson - Stream of Hours, River of Days
2021 Most Internal and Website Submissions
1st: Samantha Wallace (31 submissions)
2nd: Barry Ger (24 submissions)
2021 Most External Submissions
1st: Janice Gardiner Atkinson (18 submissions)
2nd: Stefan Schutte (12 submissions)
2020 Annual Contests
Due to Covid-19 no writing contests were held in 2020 but congratulations to the winners of our other contests:
Christmas Caption Contest, announced in Jan 2021, who were:
Picture A (dog wrapped in Christmas lights) (3 votes each)
Barry Ger: Hey, just because I bark, doesn’t mean I’m a tree.
Roy Cheek: Now I know what it feels like to be "HOT WIRED"!
Picture B (dog wearing Rudolph nose and antlers)
Jean Flynn with 6 votes: Really? I got rescued for this!
Picture C (boy with tiny gift and girl with large parcel)
Dawn Rae with 4 votes: There'd better be a million bucks in this little box...
Most Internal and Website Submissions
1st: Samantha Wallace (12 submissions)
2nd: Barry Ger (9 submissions)
Most External Submissions
1st: Dawn Rae (17 submissions)
2nd: Barry Ger (8 submissions)
Contest 1: Non-Fiction (Mar-May 2023) Topic: Historical Article
1st: Janice Gardiner-Atkinson - The Empress and The Captain
2nd: Dawn Rae - The Blackfriars Incident
3rd: Stefan Schutte - The Sign That Stood the Test of Time
Contest 2: Poetry (Jun-Jul 2023) Topic: 3 Picture prompts: Castle, Various boats, and Swirling colours
1st: Dawn Rae - Grandpa Was a Pirate
2nd: Glynis Goyns - Spoken Into Being?
3rd: Stefan Schutte - Middleclass Meltdown
4th: Maryke de Witt - The Writer in Me
Contest 3: Fiction (launched August 2023) Topic: Out of This World
1st: Maryke de Witt - The Forest Secret
2nd: Roy Cheek - Home At Last
3rd: Samantha Wallace - Grace's World
2023 Most External submissions to contests, publications, etc.:
1st - Janice Gardiner-Atkinson with 16 submissions
2nd - Glynis Goyns with 12 submissions
3rd - Jasper de Villiers with 9 submissions
2023 Most Internal submissions to WoW and the website:
1st - Maryke de Witt and Marianna Pieterse with 31 points each
3rd - Glynis Goyns with 27 points
Most Consistent Contributor - Roy Cheek who submitted something every single month
2022 Annual Contests
Fiction Contest: Topic: Over The Moon
1st: Janice Gardiner-Atkinson - The Golf Widow
2nd: Dawn Rae - Destiny's Plan
3rd: Stefan Schutte - Chelmno '42
Honourable Mention: Luke Duffield - Into The Stars
2022 Most External submissions to contests, publications, etc. (one winner per membership category):
0-2y Marianna Pieterse with 6 submissions
3-4y Barry Ger with 5 submissions
5+y Dawn Rae with 13 submissions
2022 Most Internal submissions to WoW and the website (1st and 2nd per membership category):
0-2y 1st - Maryke de Witt with16 points, 2nd - Marianna Pieterse with 11 points
3-4y 1st - Roy Cheek with 23 points, 2nd - Barry Ger with 14 points
5+y 1st - Samantha Wallace with 22 points, 2nd - Dawn Rae with 21 points
2021 Annual Contests
Contest 1: Poetry (March 2021)
1st: Janice Gardiner-Atkinson - In The Cloud
2nd: Barry Ger - Ted's "Out-of-the-Box" Experience
Contest 2: Fiction (May-Jul 2021)
1st: Marilyn Harris - King Arthur & Blitz
2nd: Dawn Rae - The Red Porsche
3rd: Janice Gardiner-Atkinson - Escape Velocity
Contest 3: Non-Fiction (Aug-Oct 2021)
1st: Samantha Wallace - Boarding School
2nd: Janice Gardiner Atkinson - Stream of Hours, River of Days
2021 Most Internal and Website Submissions
1st: Samantha Wallace (31 submissions)
2nd: Barry Ger (24 submissions)
2021 Most External Submissions
1st: Janice Gardiner Atkinson (18 submissions)
2nd: Stefan Schutte (12 submissions)
2020 Annual Contests
Due to Covid-19 no writing contests were held in 2020 but congratulations to the winners of our other contests:
Christmas Caption Contest, announced in Jan 2021, who were:
Picture A (dog wrapped in Christmas lights) (3 votes each)
Barry Ger: Hey, just because I bark, doesn’t mean I’m a tree.
Roy Cheek: Now I know what it feels like to be "HOT WIRED"!
Picture B (dog wearing Rudolph nose and antlers)
Jean Flynn with 6 votes: Really? I got rescued for this!
Picture C (boy with tiny gift and girl with large parcel)
Dawn Rae with 4 votes: There'd better be a million bucks in this little box...
Most Internal and Website Submissions
1st: Samantha Wallace (12 submissions)
2nd: Barry Ger (9 submissions)
Most External Submissions
1st: Dawn Rae (17 submissions)
2nd: Barry Ger (8 submissions)
2019 Annual Contests
Contest 1: Serialised Fiction (Feb - May)
1st: Corinna Turner - Lot 326 Antique Travel Trunk
2nd: Stefan Schutte - Amazing Grace
3rd: Dawn Rae - Missing, Presumed Dead
Contest 2: Poetry (March - May)
1st: Janice Gardiner-Atkinson - Old Light Houses
2nd: Fern Shaw - By Dawn's Early Light
3rd: Dawn Rae - Granddad's Lighthouse
Contest 3: Non-Fiction (July - September)
1st: Anita Jay - The Name Shame
2nd: Samantha Wallace - Matric Cooking Skills
3rd: Maureen Walton - The MAX Factor
2018 Annual Contests
Contest 1: Poetry (January–February)
Winner: Janice Gardner-Atkinson
Runners-Up: Dawn Rae & Joy Davies
Contest 2: Fiction (March-June)
Winner: Janice Gardner-Atkinson
Runners-Up: Stefan Schutte & Nina Gerber
Contest 3: Non-fiction (June-September)
Winner: Nina Gerber
Runners-Up: Anita Jay & Corinna Beamish
Most Prolific Writer Award
At each meeting, members list on a record sheet details of items they have submitted for the voluntary writing assignments. At the end of 2018, prizes were awarded in the following categories:
Category 1: Members for up to 2 years
1st (tied): Janice Gardiner-Atkinson and Zonie Williams
2nd (tied): Beth Adams and Leeona Davids
Category 2: Members for 3-5 years
1st: Renata O'Reilly
2nd: Misha Hucenko
Category 3: Members for 5+ years
1st: Corinna Beamish
2nd: Anita Jay
Most External Competition Submissions Award
At each meeting, members list on the record sheet details of external competitions they have entered. At the end of 2018, prizes were awarded to:
1st: Corinna Beamish
2nd: Dawn Rae
Contest 1: Poetry (January–February)
Winner: Janice Gardner-Atkinson
Runners-Up: Dawn Rae & Joy Davies
Contest 2: Fiction (March-June)
Winner: Janice Gardner-Atkinson
Runners-Up: Stefan Schutte & Nina Gerber
Contest 3: Non-fiction (June-September)
Winner: Nina Gerber
Runners-Up: Anita Jay & Corinna Beamish
Most Prolific Writer Award
At each meeting, members list on a record sheet details of items they have submitted for the voluntary writing assignments. At the end of 2018, prizes were awarded in the following categories:
Category 1: Members for up to 2 years
1st (tied): Janice Gardiner-Atkinson and Zonie Williams
2nd (tied): Beth Adams and Leeona Davids
Category 2: Members for 3-5 years
1st: Renata O'Reilly
2nd: Misha Hucenko
Category 3: Members for 5+ years
1st: Corinna Beamish
2nd: Anita Jay
Most External Competition Submissions Award
At each meeting, members list on the record sheet details of external competitions they have entered. At the end of 2018, prizes were awarded to:
1st: Corinna Beamish
2nd: Dawn Rae
2017
Short Story Contest
Winner: Nina Gerber
Runner-Up: Megan Cullingworth
2016
1-2-3 Writing Contest
Members were asked to enter each of three successively more difficult levels, but winning a level was not dependent upon entering all levels.
Level 1: 100 words
Winner - Lawrie Leve
Runner-Up - Corinna Turner
Level 2: 800 - 1000 words
Winner: Philna Smith
Runners-up: Anita Jay & Megan Cullingworth
Level 3: 2000 - 2500 words
Winner: Alan Chowles
Runners-up: Anita Jay & Nina Gerber
2015
Challenge of 10 Items
Entrants were required to enter each of 10 different categories, being:
A limerick – 5 lines
A poem – max 30 lines
Flash fiction – exactly 100 words
Personal Writer’s Biography – max 200 words
Short fiction – between 250 and 750 words
Longer fiction – max 2,000 words
Blog piece – max 800 words
Memoir piece – between 500 and 1,000 words
Sensory piece – max 800 words
Poetry or prose writing of choice – max 100 lines or 5,000 words.
Prizes were awarded as follows:
Short Story Contest
Winner: Nina Gerber
Runner-Up: Megan Cullingworth
2016
1-2-3 Writing Contest
Members were asked to enter each of three successively more difficult levels, but winning a level was not dependent upon entering all levels.
Level 1: 100 words
Winner - Lawrie Leve
Runner-Up - Corinna Turner
Level 2: 800 - 1000 words
Winner: Philna Smith
Runners-up: Anita Jay & Megan Cullingworth
Level 3: 2000 - 2500 words
Winner: Alan Chowles
Runners-up: Anita Jay & Nina Gerber
2015
Challenge of 10 Items
Entrants were required to enter each of 10 different categories, being:
A limerick – 5 lines
A poem – max 30 lines
Flash fiction – exactly 100 words
Personal Writer’s Biography – max 200 words
Short fiction – between 250 and 750 words
Longer fiction – max 2,000 words
Blog piece – max 800 words
Memoir piece – between 500 and 1,000 words
Sensory piece – max 800 words
Poetry or prose writing of choice – max 100 lines or 5,000 words.
Prizes were awarded as follows:
- First to submit all items: Anita Jay
- Best limerick – Nina Gerber
- Best poem – Lindsey van Heerden
- Best overall poetry – Nina Gerber
- Best flash fiction - Lindsey van Heerden
- Best overall fiction – Dawn Rae
- Best overall non-fiction – Alison Smith
- Best longer fiction – Wendy Monk
- Best sensory item – Shannon Els
- Best own choice (prose) – Alison Smith
- Best own choice (poetry) – Charlotte Cohen