| 6 months of emotions and creative efforts, of great hopes mixed with fear and doubt: is it to end up as a flop and failure? At the very beginning we have received a handful of entries sent in by those who wanted to get the “First of the Finish Line” prize. Then a long silence followed. The entries would arrive at a snail pace. The big traffic started only a few days before the deadline. And the last day could was like a hurricane, bringing stuff from all over the world. And finally the competition gate got shut down at AEST midnight July 31st. So finally, we are left with a great harvest as well as gratitude and satisfaction. According to provisional calculations there have been 358 entries in total.
The music category has brought 44 pieces incl. 29 songs in Polish, 8 in English as well as 7 instrumental compositions.
In the graphic category we have 142 entries, incl. 81 by adult artists, and 61 by the youth.
In the literature category we are dealing with a flood of entries. 172 entries, incl. 140 in Polish. One wonders how to utilize the stuff. An anthology? One big one, or smaller ones: one in Polish, one in English, or adult writers in one volume, and the youth in a another one. Sweet decisions ahead of us.
The urgent task now is to sort out all entries in a proper way, and prepare for dispatching them in zipped packets to be transferred by a gigabite strong system. Off to the jurors on 3 continents of this planet.
According to the Competition Rules, the final verdict of the jurors is to be announced in Sydney on October 3rd. The winners deserve to be notified much earlier. Our budget permitting, we are dreaming of inviting some winners from far away countries. Which countries? – the jurors will tell us when the time comes.
And the entries came from the following countries: Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Lebanon, Poland, Russia, Taiwan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA.
About the Prizes. Initially we have had about AUD 11,000.oo set aside for the prizes. The money came from the Polish Senate, Polish Consulate in Sydney and other sources. Soon after we have got a grant from Wspolnota Polska Association and have been able to add a few thousand dollars, because there is so many entries of great artistic value. And yet it is not enough. We wish to get some sponsors to add to the pool. Hi guys, your names will be proudly placed on posters and other promotion materials. So please contribute.
Kosciuszko Heritage Inc. ANZ Bank Account No. 489922501. BSB 012290.
Dr Ernestyna Skurjat-Kozek
Competition Coordinator
Sydney, August 2nd 2017.
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