2020 is coming to an end, and I think we’re all looking forward to 2021 and hopefully being allowed to leave the house whenever we want.
Despite the challenges, 2020 has given Omega Writers the opportunity to try new things:
- We introduced our revamped two-yearly schedule for the CALEB Awards, considering published books in conference years and unpublished books in non-conference years.
- We introduced a new category to the CALEB Awards, Unpublished Nonfiction.
- We had our first online CALEB Awards ceremony via Zoom, having broadcast the ceremony online through Facebook Live for the last two years.
- We celebrated our three winners, Susan Barnes, Mindy Graham, and Jean Saxby.
Click here to read the formal announcement.
- We had our first online Annual General Meeting, which elected Penny Reeve as our new President.
Click here to read last month’s post from Penny.
- We had regular Omega meetings via Zoom, where members could discuss their writing and get feedback from other members.
We hope to keep these online sessions going in 2021. While Zoom doesn’t give the same opportunity for connection that a face-to-face meeting gives, it does give members who couldn’t make an in-person meeting because of time or place the opportunity to meet with other writers.
Of course, conference is our main opportunity to meet face to face. Our 2020 conference was postponed to 2021, and will now take place from 8 to 10 October 2021, at the Peppers Kingscliff Resort, near the Queensland/New South Wales border.
Click here to find out more about the 2021 Omega Writers Conference.
Click here to join the conference Facebook group.
One of the highlights of conference is always the CALEB Awards night.
The 2021 CALEB Award will cover books published during 2019 and 2020 in the following categories:
- Picture Books
- Early Reader and Middle Grade*
- Young Adult Fiction
- Adult Fiction
- Biography and Memoir
- Other Nonfiction*
Note that the categories marked *will also allow entries from books published in 2018, to ensure every book has the opportunity to enter once.
We will open the CALEB Awards for entry in late March 2021 – watch this space for more information.
Finally, we can’t run a contest without judges, so please prayerfully consider whether you could contribute to the Australasian Christian writing scene by judging first-round entries in May/June 2021, or finalists in July/August 2021.
