ARTSLINK ARTS WRITING REWARD

Every month, a R1,000 Reward will be given to the best original article on any topic related to the arts sent in to the Artslink.co.za website. This includes features, columns, interviews, analysis and investigative articles, but reviews will not be considered at this stage.

“The Reward is made in honour of veteran arts journalist William Pretorius, a prolific writer and movie critic who contributed many FreeWheeling columns, articles and reviews on books, film and theatre to Artslink.co.za over the years,” explains TJ de Klerk, who founded and still runs Artslink. “William passed away suddenly in 2007 and is sorely missed.”

Artslink.co.za has always encouraged original writing on the ArtSpoken platform, which is open to anyone who has something to say, from students to professional journalists, from arts administrators to members of the public.

“The aim of the Reward is to provide an incentive to arts writers to share more of their knowledge and views,” says Editor Jennifer de Klerk. “There are many issues in our industry that are not being explored, stories that are not being told. The mainstream print media has very little space for the arts and there are very few arts journalists left. We consider there is a definite need to encourage young, upcoming as well as established writers, to promote outstanding arts journalism and to share views and opinions about the industry.

“Artslink.co.za is not funded or sponsored,” de Klerk continues, “so we are not in a position to commission articles, but we can plant a seed and offer what we can with the hope that the Reward will sustain and build arts journalism in South Africa. We can carry articles of any length, with up to six pictures. Articles sent to Artslink.co.za are also picked up by Google News, allowing an aspirant writer to start building a profile. And, as any writer can tell you, the way to learn to write, is to write and keep on writing.”

The first Reward will be made at the end of March 2011. Initially the programme will run for six months. To submit an article to ArtSpoken, simply go to www.artslink.co.za, click ArtSpoken & Reviews on the navigation bar and follow the instructions.