NCCA Writers' Prize 2011

reposting for the productive ones out there!

The NCCA Writers’ Prize is a biennial award given to five (5) writers, one for each of the following categories: Poetry (Waray language), Novel ( Cebuano language), Essay (Bicolano language), Short Story (Panay language) and Drama (Filipino language). The award, in the amount of TWO HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND PESOS gross, will assist the winner during the writing stage of the project. The award is good for one year, after which a manuscript of the writing project will be submitted to the NCCA for possible publication or staging. The Novel manuscript shall be submitted to the Man Asia Literary Prize as official entry of the Philippines, after it has been translated into the English language and published by the NCCA.

The NCCA, in line with its mission to “encourage the continuing development of a pluralistic culture by the people themselves,” will be creating the opportunity to have a direct hand in the development of Filipino literature. With the cash award, the NCCA Writers Prize winners will be freed from the demands of their work and shall be able to focus on the writing of the complete manuscript for one year.

Eligibility

The award is open to all Filipino writers, of legal age, except to the officers and members of the NCCA Secretariat and the incumbent Executive Council Members of the NCCA Committee on Literary Arts.

Mechanics

For the 2011 NCCA Writers Prize competition, the following shall be the requirements in the submission of entries:

1. Applicants must submit an accomplished application form, which is available at the NCCA Planning, Policy Formulation, and Programming Division (P/PFPD) (download application form), together with the applicant’s curriculum vitae; with a 3 – 5 page concept paper discussing the rationale and significance of the project, and the initial output of the project which shall be submitted in four (4) printed copies. For 2011, the categories and the expected initial output for each category are:

Category Initial Output

1. Novel – Cebuano language First 50 pages

2. Poetry – Waray language 10 poems; 1 poem per page

3. Short Story – Panay language First three chapters with a total minimum of 50 pages

4. Drama – Filipino language 1-act for a full length drama and two (2) 1-act plays

5. Essay – Bicolano language First 3 essays of no less than 50 pages


All the sample works shall be in typewritten form. Spacing shall be double space, Font shall be Arial 11. Manuscript and concept paper shall not bear the name of the applicant in any of the pages. All manuscripts received with identifying marks shall be disqualified.

2. Applicants are allowed to apply only in one (1) category.

3. Applications will be evaluated by an Ad Hoc Screening Committee, the lists of the members of the Screening Committee for each category shall be provided by the Committee on Literary Arts. There will be three members of the Ad-Hoc Screening Committee per category.

4. The Award will be released in four tranches, with the first tranche to be given during the Awards Ceremony at the beginning of the writing period and the succeeding tranches upon submission of the following percentage of the writing project:

2nd tranche - 50% of the writing project

3rd tranche - 75% of the writing project

4th tranche - 100% of the writing project

5. The NCCA shall give the awardees one year to finish their manuscripts. The NCCA will allow a maximum extension of six (6) months only with written justification from the awardee.

6. Completed manuscript by the winners, which means that it is 100% completed, must be submitted in two forms: Two (2) printed copies and two (2) electronic copies in MSWord format in a diskette. The completed project output shall be as follows:

Category Project Output

1. Novel – Cebuano language Minimum of 50,000 words

2. Poetry – Waray language 30 poems

3. Short Story – Panay language Minimum of 15 chapters

4.. Drama – Filipino language 2 or more acts for a full-length drama and five (5) 1-act plays

5. Essay – Bicolano language 12 essays or no less than 200 pages

7. The award is non-transferable. All privileges shall be enjoyed by the winner himself/herself based on the successful evaluation of the work in progress. A member from the Ad-Hoc Screening Committee of each category shall be assigned as Reader to evaluate the succeeding materials to be submitted by the winner. Upon submission of the positive evaluation of the Reader for the second and third tranches, the corresponding amounts shall be released immediately to the winner. However, for the fourth tranche, the same will be released only upon completion of evaluation of the completed manuscript by the Reader. Revisions, however, may be recommended by the Reader. Only upon final approval of the completed manuscript shall the final tranche be released to the winner.

8. Deadline of submission of application together with the curriculum vitae of applicant and other requirements has been extended from June 30, 2011 to Aug. 31, 2011. All applications shall be addressed to:

2011 NCCA WRITERS’ PRIZE Secretariat
Planning, Policy Formulation and Programming Div. (P/PFPD) - Institutional Programs
National Commission for Culture and the Arts
NCCA Building, 633 General Luna St.
Intramuros, Manila

Attention: Frances S. Alincastre

Planning Officer III

9. Entries that were not selected shall not be returned anymore.

10. Works may deal with any topic, but those dealing with environmental issues and climate change are also welcome.

COPYRIGHT AND OWNERSHIP RIGHT

1. The winner hereby grants the NCCA the first option to publish the completed manuscript. The NCCA will have the right to produce or authorize to be produced, for staging, telecasting, broadcasting, or cinema or other forms of exhibition from time to time any output of the winning manuscripts. The NCCA will also be allowed to include the completed manuscripts in the NCCA Website. The first option to publish of the NCCA expires one year after completion of the writing project.

2. It is understood that the entry submitted has not been submitted to any other award body or has not received any prize and is not a completed manuscript but a work in progress. Any violation of the guidelines shall mean withdrawal of the prize and any amount paid to the winner shall be returned to the NCCA. The award then will be transferred to the person who garnered the second highest votes during the Screening of the materials.


For inquiries,please contact Ms. Frances S. Alincastre at tel. No. 527-21-92, loc. 503 or 527-2214 (DL), and e-mail address: haraya_naaw@ncca.gov.ph..