Sydney Gardens Tree Weekender 2021
We are excited to announce a new writing competition on the theme of ‘trees in parks and public gardens’ to cheer up those long dark winter evenings.
What you have to do to take part
We challenge you to write a poem or story in fewer than 250 words. A poem or a story about trees in parks and public gardens — can you express in words your feelings, love or respect for those trees, or tell us something about how they came to be in those parks and public gardens, or how they are cared for and managed, or describe the places from where they came, their histories through their lives.
We know how special trees are and how important it is to have trees in parks and public gardens close to where we live. All we ask is for you to tell us about the trees that are nearby to you and what value they bring to your neighbourhood now.
Who is running this competition and why
We are the producers of the award-winning Urban Tree Festival. We are excited to be working with B&NES Council’s National Lottery Heritage Funded Sydney Gardens Project.
Together we are shouting out for trees with a Tree Weekender at the start of National Tree Week on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th of November. We are keen to get as many people involved as we can, so even if you have never been to Bath let alone Sydney Gardens, we would love to have you write a poem or story about a park or public garden near you. If you know Bath and Sydney Gardens, we want to hear from you as well!
We are recruiting volunteer judges who will select poems and stories from those submitted. These will be published on the web in time for the Sydney Gardens Tree Weekender and audio recorded by students at Bath Spa University, who will also digitally geo-locate them in Sydney Gardens and the surrounding streets. At a finale of the Sydney Gardens Tree Weekender we will host an on-line showcase for shortlisted authors to read their work that celebrates trees in parks and public gardens.
What you need to do
- Write a poem or story in 250 words or under
- On the theme of ‘trees in parks and public gardens’
- Include your home postcode and the name of your local park or public garden
- Submit your written piece in an email to [email protected]
- Free to enter but limited to 2 submissions per person
- Competition deadlines: Monday 1 November 2021 or when we receive 125 submissions
Full details of how to submit and rules of the competition are available here from Wednesday 29 September 2021.