Call for Papers: Drawing Matter Writing Prize
The Drawing Matter Trust is delighted to announce the Drawing Matter Writing Prize. The competition invites a coming generation of writers to consider what drawings reveal about the process of design, and the buildings or objects they represent.
Entries to the competition may approach drawing as shorthand for describing any process of design. In this context the word ‘drawing’ is as much a verb as a noun, implying that a purpose exists – perhaps a building or an object – for which it is being made. Certainly, the ‘drawing’ itself may be something other than paper and pencil, a plan or section; it may encompass a sequence or series (such as a sketchbook), and a broad range of techniques, such as collage, photography, models, paintings and, of course, digital media.
Designers or artists are welcome to submit an essay on a drawing of their own. If you are writing about your own work, we are interested in hearing about a specific approach to drawing that you have incorporated into your own practice.
The competition is open to anyone between the ages of 18–40, with or without a background in architecture or design. The competition welcomes a broad range of approaches towards writing, and voices from art history, the sciences and humanities, alongside practitioners – architects, designers, photographers, artists, students and writers.
Entrants to the Writing Prize should submit two texts:
- (1) A long-form text (1,000–1,500 words)
- (2) A short-form text (no more than 350 words)
Each text must address a different architectural or design drawing, or sequence of drawings; one of these texts must be on a work from the collection of Drawing Matter. For the long-form text, entrants may choose to include up to 3 additional illustrations.
Two prizes of £1000 each will be awarded, for the best single long- and short-form texts.
In addition, a minimum of five runners-up will each receive £300 – this may be for an entry in either category.
The winners, and other writers with outstanding entries, will be invited to publish their texts on the Drawing Matter website. Drawing Matter also plans to incorporate many of the winning texts as an early volume in a series of printed publications, based on material published on drawingmatter.org.
Please see the competition rules on the Drawing Matter website.
Deadline for entries: 17.00 (GMT) 19 June 2020.