Wayne Harvey wins Nambucca Valley Writers Group coveted crown Nambucca Valley Nambucca Valley - popup ad Nambucca Valley News by News Of The Area - Modern Media - July 9, 2023 Receiving officer Elizabeth Newman, winner Wayne Harvey and NVWG president Roby Aiken. WAYNE Harvey has won this year’s Nambucca Valley Writers’ Group’s annual writing competition with the coming-of-age story Belmont South Bomb Squad. Wayne had been with the group for less than 12 months when he entered and said he was pretty chuffed with the result. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au His entries in the NVWG’s most recent anthology 33 in 22 were all for poetry. Nambucca Valley Writer’s Group is 34 years old this year and its annual competition cycles between fiction, non fiction, poetry and performance writing. This year the competition was for non fiction. Competition judge, News Of The Area’s own Doug Connor, said of Harvey’s work, “this bizarre coming-of-age story really magically captured the absurdity of teenage existence. “I loved reading this – again it had the power to make me feel nostalgic for a time in history I never experienced. “The relationships in the story were well developed with context, and the reader was transported to their odd little world in Belmont South with them,” said Doug. Second was Rachael Burns’ Waterloo to Nambucca. “This piece was beautifully written and researched,” said Doug. “It was really brought to life with some fascinating contextual and historical titbits like shillelaghs. “The narrative was strongly supported by stats and the evidence was well sourced,” he said. Roby Aiken’s Di and I, which won third place, also won high praise. “I loved this concept and how the piece explored and connected two parallel universes, so similar in some ways while worlds apart,” said Doug. “The moment where the two storylines eventually combined was beautifully done, capturing a really magic moment,” he said. Receiving officer for this year’s competition, Elizabeth Newman, ensured all entries were submitted to the judge anonymously. The yearly competitions follow this principle providing complete fairness and equal opportunity for writers. Judge Doug considers the entire competition writers’ gold and said he was privileged to take part this year. NVWG meets on the fourth Saturday of each month.
