Boroondara Writers seeks to encourage more people to engage with writing. We offer this publication as an opportunity to see your writing in print. The Boroondara Memories publication is a celebration of personal memories and stories of life in Boroondara. It is not a competition. We will make every effort to include your submission if it meets the requirements set out below.

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Entry requirements

• Entry is open to all ages. 

• There is no fee to enter.

• Writers will not be paid for their submission.

• There is a limit of three stories per writer.

• The submission must include a reference to an aspect of historical or contemporary Boroondara life. See below for more information.

• It can be memoir, historical or contemporary non-fiction, or narrative non-fiction. No fiction or poetry accepted.

• The word count is up to 800 words. This limit will be strictly enforced.

• An accompanying photograph can be submitted but the word must be reduced to 500 words. 

• The closing date is 31 August 2025. No late submissions accepted.

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Do I need to live in Boroondara to submit?

No, it is not a requirement that writers live in the Boroondara area. However, the submission must refer to an aspect of historical or contemporary Boroondara life.

 

For example, if you grew up in Sydney and you want to submit a story about visiting your grandma in Camberwell when you were a kid, that's fine. If you grew up in Camberwell and you want to write about visiting your grandma in Sydney as a kid, that is not a sufficient connection.

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The Boroondara Connection

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Your submission to Boroondara Memories must contain at least one reference to a historical or contemporary place that was or is still situated in the jurisdiction covered by the City of Boroondara, such as:

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• The suburbs of Ashburton, Balwyn, Balwyn North, Camberwell, Canterbury, Glen Iris, Hawthorn, Hawthorn East, Kew, Kew East, Surrey Hills

• A park, garden, oval, tree, natural feature, playground or waterway

• A school, church or religious institution, hall, library, railway/bus/tram station/route, theatre, shop, factory, business or other local institution

• A residential house, apartment or other dwelling

• Streets, roads, laneways, bus routes, tram lines, railway lines, bicycle or walking trail

• A sports or social club, community group or class, youth or senior centre, community centre, or other meeting place.

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SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

All submissions to Boroondara Memories must:

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1. Be the final version of your story. Please proof-read and check for typos, grammar, repeated words before submitting.

2. Be typed and submitted on the submission form (Word or PDF).

3. Not be generated by AI programs like ChatGPT or Co-Pilot (this will be checked).

4. Contain a writer name or pseudonym and contact email address.

5. Include a writer biography of up to three sentences.

6. You may use some fictional elements (e.g. imagined dialogue, conflating of events) for narrative purposes but the submission must be predominantly non-fiction.

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PHOTOGRAPHS/ARTWORK

If you wish to include a photograph or artwork with your submission, you will need to:

• reduce the word count of your submission to closer to 500 words

• understand the photograph or artwork will be reproduced in black and white

• ensure you have copyright permission to use the photograph/artwork. Read more about Copyright. The safest bet is to use a photograph/artwork you created yourself as you automatically hold the copyright.

• Provide a high quality image or scan of at least 500kb in size of the photograph/artwork with your submission.

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TIPS FOR WRITING

800 words is not very long. You do not have sufficient words to give broad contextual information, but you still need to write a story with a beginning, middle and end.

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Pick one story, event, person, or incident and include as much detail about it as you can. Describe colours, sounds, smells and feelings in addition to what happened.

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Potential topics:

• how you came to live in your house/apartment

  • what do you like about it? How does it make you feel?

• A place you love to visit, or walk/ride you love to do

  • What makes it so special?

  • How does it make you feel?

  • how does it change during the seasons?

• where and how you used to play as a child

  • you could describe a specific place you played, an incident that occurred, trouble you got yourself into, or a great friend you had

• visits to family or friends in the area

  • where they lived and what the dwelling was like, how you felt about visiting

• living in your suburb

  • describe the community you’ve built for yourself

  • the natural/built environment that surrounds you

  • friends you’ve made

  • what you like to do for fun

• raising children/pets in the area

• good or bad incidents that happened at your school

  • a teacher who inspired/terrified you; the time you won the game you always used to play; a friend you had there and what you used to get up to; an award you won and how that happened, an event you enjoyed participating in

• a memorable occasion at your sports/social club

  • the time the team came from behind to win the match, the importance of the club to your life

• a notable person/family, their relationship to the area or how you knew them

• a shop, business or local institution you enjoy visiting

• a story about a notable institution, club or group you have a personal connection to

• travelling through the area on foot, bicycle, car, tram, train, bus

• A “Life in the ‘Burbs” style piece

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DO NOT WRITE

• A broad autobiography with unconnected memories about growing up and living in the area

• A generalised family history of multiple generations

• A general history of a club, shop, school or other institution

• A judgement on how now it’s not like it was back in your day

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FURTHER SUPPORT

The Boroondara Writers Group meets on the last Saturday of the month at 1 pm, Hawthorn Library, Meeting Room 1. You are very welcome to come along and gain feedback on your writing.

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I'm interested, send me a reminder closer to the submission date

 

QUESTIONS?

EMAIL: Boroondara.writers.inc@gmail.com

 

Good luck and happy writing!

 

Sarah Craze

Coordinator, Boroondara Writers Group