This summer, the ILFU Storytelling Competition will be organised for the third time. The Netherlands' only interdisciplinary storytelling competition is open to stories in all forms. Prose, films, poetry, photography, non-fiction, columns, comics, spoken word, music or TikToks: all stories are welcome. Because at ILFU, we believe that good stories can be told in all kinds of ways.
There are five categories to enter in: Prose, Audio, Image, Spoken Word and Poetry. The best story will win €5,000 and a €1,000 prize will also be awarded in each category.
Competition theme
The theme of the ILFU Stories Competition 2022 is 'The fiction to the facts', which is also the theme of ILFU this year. Fiction can make you temporarily be someone else, have a different perspective, broaden your view. It shows you the many realities that exist outside yours. It can reveal what was hitherto hidden from you. Fiction is as important to understanding the world as the facts we hear in the news.
Meet the jury
The jury of the ILFU Storytelling Competition 2022 consists of experts in storytelling in all its forms. This year, they are writer and spoken word queen Babs Gons, musician and theatre maker Gery Mendes, illustrator and children's book author Mylo Freeman, journalist and editor Pete Wu and director and documentary filmmaker Shamira Raphaëla.
And the winners are...
Stories can still be submitted until 4 September 2022.
Earlier, the competition was won by up-and-coming filmmaker and poet Lemuël de Graav with his short film I hate poetry. Last year, the honour went to writer and spoken word artist Mahat Arab for his recitation Part-time fathers.
This year's winners will be announced during the ILFU festival, on Saturday 1 October at TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht.
More information can be found at story contest.ilfu.com.\
MEET THE JURY
Babs Gons is the queen of spoken word. She is a writer, performer, columnist, theatre maker and host. This year, she published the acclaimed poetry collection Do it anyway. Her collection of short stories Everything you love becomes beautiful is just out.
Gery Mendes is a vocalist, musician, producer, actor, theatre maker and lyricist. He has worked with artists such as Winne and Kyteman and made theatre performances for Orkater, among others. He is currently on tour with his solo show Borboletas, based on conversations with his father.
Mylo Freeman is an illustrator and children's book author with over 60 picture books to her name. Her picture book series about Princess Arabella has been such a success that it has now also been made into a theatre play, puppet series and an app.
Pete Wu is a journalist, writer, editor and documentary filmmaker. His debut The banana generation: on the double lives of Chinese Dutch people will be adapted into a theatre production this year. For the VPRO, he made the docuseries Pete and the bananas and a collection of his fairy tales will be released next year.
Shamira Raphaëla is a director and documentary filmmaker. She won a Golden Calf for her short documentary The truth about my father. Her latest documentary Shabu was awarded best youth film at IDFA. Her first fiction series is coming this year, SiHame, from.
About ILFU - International Literature Festival Utrecht
ILFU is the largest literature festival in the Netherlands as well as a daily online platform for literature. Recurring festival elements are the Book Talks with international authors, literary film screenings, concerts, theatre performances and programmes for new talent such as the NK Poetry Slam. Every year, the Night of Poetry forms the festive conclusion of the festival.
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