Landfall Essay Competition


The Landfall Essay Competition is an annual competition open to New Zealand writers. It is judged by the current editor of the long-running literary magazine Landfall and the winning entry is published in a subsequent issue of the magazine.

History

The Landfall Essay Competition was first held in 1997 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the literary magazine Landfall. It was begun by Chris Price, who was editor at the time, and was sponsored by Otago University Press. The competition has been awarded annually since 2009 and is judged each year by the current editor. 
The aim of the competition is "to encourage New Zealand writers to think aloud about New Zealand culture" and "to revive and sustain the tradition of vivid, contentious and creative essay writing".

Eligibility and conditions

The competition is open to New Zealand citizens or permanent residents.
Essays should not exceed 4000 words.
The winner is announced and published in each November issue of Landfall.
The winner receives $3000 and a year’s subscription to Landfall.
Essays can be on any topic but must not have been previously published.

List of winners by year