February 2012
Our Story – One Country Read Competition

The aim of this competition was to create a collection of books which, if read together; will articulate the remote, regional, suburban and metropolitan Australian experience.
This would be achieved by identifying a set of eight books, which together describe what it’s like to live in, be from, visit or in some other way connect with the eight different states and territories.  
Between November 2011 - January 2012, 16,200 readers voted online through the ABC Arts Gateway and at their local libraries.

Our Story NT Winner is Ros Moriarty for Listening to Country.
For information on the winning books from other states and territories visit www.love2read.org.au

Are we there yet?
National Year of Reading Touring Exhibition Competition

To coincide with the exhibition National Year of Reading Touring exhibition, “Are we there yet?” featuring original artwork from the much loved children’s picture book by Alison Lester, a competition is now open to all Northern Territory children.  

It’s a chance to share in $40,000 worth of prizes, including books, games and more.

To enter, children simply send in a short story or a letter or a drawing of their home town or a special place they visited in Australia (get your parents or a teacher to help) and they could win a fabulous prize.
Age categories are:

• Pre-school (for under five-year-olds)
• Early primary school (five to eight years)
• Later primary school (eight to 12 years)

Visit  www.love2read.org.au/awty.cfm  to find out more about the competition and how to enter. The competition runs until the 27th March 2012.   

Prizes for the NT will be announced on 25th April on the National Year of Reading website:  www.love2read.org.au

Read This! Creative Reading Prize

Young people will be asked to nominate the one book they think their peers must read in 2012 and then to provide a convincing argument in a creative response to the story.
This will be a book review, but it could be in the form of words, pictures, film, song, or something even more avant garde.
Read This! website: www.readthis2012.com.au

January 2012
Are we there yet?

Northern Territory Library, Parliament House
Exhibition: 1 - 22 February

To begin the National Year of Reading 2012 celebrations, an exhibition of original artwork from Alison Lester’s award winning picture book Are we there yet? will travel to every State and Territory during 2012.

Are we there yet? is a warm, heartfelt story based on an actual journey undertaken by author and illustrator, Alison Lester. The story is based on the reflections of her children on their adventurous and sometimes funny expedition around Australia.

November 2011
One Country Read

National Year of Reading 2012 couldn’t think of just one book that describes what it means to be Australian. So the search began, not for one book, but for eight, that together paint a picture of the Australian people and the land that we live in. This is your chance to vote for the book that may represent the Territory as part of the National Year of Reading’s collection.

Which is Your Favourite?
An independent panel of readers has decided on the shortlist for each state and territory, choosing from a selection put forward by publishers and libraries.

Northern Territory shortlisted books are:
•    Far Country Alan Powell
•    Listening to Country Ros Moriarty
•    The Red Highway Nicolas Rothwell
•    The Shadow’s Edge Alan Powell
•    The Sound of the Sky Daena Murray
•    Territory Judy Nunn

If you haven’t already read them, borrow the books from your library, buy them from your local bookstore or download the e-books and settle down to enjoy a good read.

How to Vote
Voting is now open and closes on 6 January 2012. You  can vote online via the ABC website www.abc.net.au or drop in to your local library or book shop to fill in a voting slip.

The eight winning books will be announced at the launch of the National Year of Reading on 14 February 2012 at the National Library of Australia in Canberra.

October 2011
Soft launch for the National Year of Reading

A soft launch for the National Year of Reading was held in Melbourne on 1 September 2011 where the winners were announced of the short story competition "It's never too late … to learn to read."

Territorian Sophie Constable was one of the winning authors for her story Letters.

There were 21 overall winners from all across Australia, who shared a prize pool of $45 000, and six highly commended entrants.
Some of the stories are sad, some are funny, and all are inspirational and available on the National Year of Reading website.

The countdown to the official launch of The National Year of Reading 2012 on 14 February 2012 has started, so stay tuned.

The National Year of Reading will be a topic of discussion on the ABC’s First Tuesday Book Club on 1 November and 6 December.

July 2011
The National Year of Reading 2012 Starts Here

The National Year of Reading 2012 is running a writing competition as part of Adult Learners’ Week (ALW) 2011.

"It's never too late … to learn to read" is a short story competition, which for some, will be the chance to tell their own stories; for others, it will be the opportunity to imagine the experiences of an adult learning to read.

The aim is for the creation of exciting, inspiring and challenging stories to support and encourage adult learning, and to highlight the fact that “It’s never too late … to learn to read”.

This is a fantastic opportunity for Territorians to be part of aNational initiative that not only previews the National Year of Reading 2012, but also has the potential to improve the skills of the 46% of Australians who struggle with literacy .

$45,000 in prizes

Unpublished writers will have the opportunity to win a $1,000 cash prize for their work, and published writers, $3,000. The judges will be looking for stories that excite, inspire and challenge audiences. Twenty-one stories (12 from published authors, 9 from unpublished) will be chosen as winners, and these will be announced during ALW 2011.

The National Year of Reading 2012, in partnership with the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and Writing Australia, supported by the NT Writers Centre, Queensland Writers Centre and writingWA, has been given a grant by the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR), to run this writing competition as part of Adult Learners’ Week 2011.

For more information and to Download the entry form see the National Year of Reading website @  www.love2read.org.au