These Awards will be presented at the 5-6 September young writer mini-conference in Melbourne. The young writers awards falls within (WBA) Well-Being Australia's community mentoring initiatives.
A Panel of seven have agreed to read "each-week-day" the two young writers articles (4-5 minutes over a cuppa) and give each article a score out of 10. Every 10 weeks the score cards will be sent to WBA to ensure everything is above board, perceptions are important.
The Panellists
Reverend Peter Nelson - Canberra – AIS Chaplain
Debbie Suba - Launceston - former missionary
Eric and Alyson Smith - Melbourne – Ret. Corporate
David Chang - Sydney - Christian Today
Brian Carrell - Christchurch NZ - Ret. CMS
Christina Tyson - Wellington NZ - Editor War Cry NZ
Dr Mark Tronson - Tweed Heads - Well-Being Australia
The Panellists are marking on a level playing field with a pre-determinate points system:
5 for a very good article
6 for an excellent article
7 for an exceptional article
8/9 for a brilliant article
This Basil Sellers $1000 is the first such award for the PSI young writer project. It follows other Basil Sellers supported projects after Basil and I first met in 1988 at the Bi-Centennial Cricket Dinner in Sydney. Basil Sellers was the host of the table in which I was assigned as the Australian Cricket Team chaplain and our philosophies in Christian service fitted hand in glove.
Great Support
His support has included three Athlete Respite facilities for Australian Institute of Sport athletes (Moruya, Tweed Heads and Laguna Quays), along with two Art facilities (Basil Sellers Art Centre in Moruya and the Basil Sellers Tweed Art Studio), the 2004 Basil Sellers $15,000 Moruya Art Prize on the NSW south coast, and 2006 saw the launch of the Basil Sellers $100,000 Sport Art Prize at the Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne University.
Basil Sellers untiringly supports the Cricket ministry, Country Town Tours of coaches and athletes as role models, and more recently assisted with the establishment of the respite ministry at Laguna Quays. The Basil Sellers Laguna Quays Respite project was opened in 2011 and has enjoyed many visits to the cottage for rest and quiet, and many missionaries home on furlough have utilised it.
PSI Ministry
The PSI young writer program was established in 2008 and today there are 50 young writers, 29 are from Australia, 15 New Zealand and 6 are Australians and New Zealanders living overseas.
They each write one article a month in a five week program which has enjoyed significant readership through Christian Today and elsewhere as many get re-published. The key purpose of the young writer program is to provide these young writers with a "Voice" as the next generation of key note leaders in their fields of endeavour.
Basil Sellers spelt out the direction for this $1000 young writer annual award, that good English and syntax be taken into account, reliability, clarity, impact, content of purpose and thoughtful dispositions.
Christian Press / Media Award genre
The $1000 and the two $300 awards are an encouragement by Basil Sellers to the winners to further develop their writing skills and as a valid acknowledgement of their writing endeavours for their CV.
The largest professional Christian media prize was initiated in 2012 (last year), which is $10,000, a combined effort by SPARC, Christian Media Australia and the Pilgrim Foundation focusing on radio, television, digital media, film and the video genre. http://christianmedia.org.au/index.php
The Australasian Religious Press Association (ARPA) focuses on the written press, their top award is the Gutenberg, a large shield with a distinguished 30 year history. New Zealand's Julie Belding received this award in 2012. ARPA have many other specific category awards acknowledged by certificates. http://www.arpanews.org/
The 2013 young writers mini-conference the evening of Thursday 5 September and morning of Friday 6 September coincides with the annual ARPA conference (focusing on the written press) which runs from lunch 6 September through to morning worship on Sunday 8 September. 2013 will be my wife Delma's and my 6th ARPA conference.
Dr Mark Tronson is a Baptist minister (retired) who served as the Australian cricket team chaplain for 17 years (2000 ret) and established Life After Cricket in 2001. He was recognised by the Olympic Ministry Medal in 2009 presented by Carl Lewis Olympian of the Century. He has written 24 books, and enjoys writing. He is married to Delma, with four adult children and grand-children.
Mark Tronson's archive of articles can be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/mark-tronson.html