Competitions

We ran a number of competitions before and at Au Contraire 2013. The theme for the convention was "regeneration". Where practical, it was preferable for competition entries to relate to the theme in some way, but it could be interpreted very broadly. All entries for all competitions should have been science fiction or fantasy based.

You did need to be a member of the convention to enter most of our competitions. Supporting memberships were available for those who couldn't attend in person.

Cosplay Competition - Closed

The big cosplay event was the Masquerade on Saturday night. The deadline for entry was 7 July 2013.

Art Show - Closed

We held a show of science fiction and fantasy art at the convention. Both 2D and 3D works were welcome, in any media. If desired, works could be offered for sale. The deadline for entry was 7 July 2013.

Filking Competition - Closed

The filking competition was basically a songwriting competition for lyrics based on science fiction, fantasy, or fandom. The usual method is to write new lyrics to an existing song, but original music was also welcome. First prize was $100 in book vouchers, with another $50 in runnerup prizes. The deadline for entry was 7 July 2013. Check out the Filk Zone forum if you have questions about the competition or filking in general and to meet other filkers.

Short Story Competition - Closed

Entries for our short story competition closed at the end of January, but we received a fantastic bunch of entries. Many of the best were included in the anthology Regeneration: New Zealand Speculative Fiction II from Random Static, which was launched at the con. The first Random Static anthology, A Foreign Country, won the Sir Julius Vogel award for Best Collected Work, and consisted largely of Au Contraire 2010 competition entries.

In addition to paid publication in the anthology, there was also a Grand Prize of $500 in book vouchers for the best story as judged by our Guest of Honour Jennifer Fallon, and an additional pool of $300 in vouchers for runnerup prizes. The winners were announced at the convention closing ceremony.