Attention Writers! A chance to bring out your bloodthirsty!

Here's an opportunity you mustn't miss - but you'd better start that story right now!

Entries close for the 2019 Scarlet Stiletto Short Story Award on 31st August.

Never heard of it?
Run by Melbourne-based not-for-profit volunteers Sisters in Crime, the competition has been held annually since 1993 and has been won by a crowd of great writers, many of whom have gone on to build great reputations and have novels published . This year's major prize money is $1060 but its not the money you enter it for - its the glory.

What do you need to do?
First you need to be a woman (sorry guys).
Then you need to write up to 5,000 rivetting and possibly bloodthirsty words of crime fiction in a story with a strong female protagonist.
You can get all the details at the Sisters in Crime website.

For a bit of inspiration you might like to look at this story about the 2018 awards ceremony. There is hope for all of us. 2018's Scarlet Stiletto was won by Philomena Horsley, a medical anthropologist who specialises in autopsies.

You'll notice too that there are more prizes to be had than just the Stiletto. The one that appeals to me the most is the Writers Victoria Crime and Punishment Award  that comes in the form of a three month residency at the Old Melbourne Gaol. How inspiring would that be!

Go on - you can do it. We both know you've been plotting that crime forever!

Life is like a barstool....

Burnout is alive and well in the medical profession - in fact we may have invented it!

I wrote a blog post about the importance of having more than just medicine in your life recently and I thought it might be a good thing to share with my Creative Doctors colleagues.

Here's the link to the barstool stool post. It comes from a blog called Being Well, an open access blog aimed mostly at a mental health professional audience. It is linked to other password-protected things but you are welcome to read the blog without having to sign in.

Please find below a few shots of some Creative Doctors (and some of their friends) contributing to their own wellbeing at Performers Night at Camelot in past years. More information about the 2019 Performers Night on 15th August  can be found 2 posts back. If you'd like a spot on the bill this year or you'd just like to be in the audience, contact us at creativedoctorsaustralia@gmail.com. We'd love to see you there! 

Invitation to Participate in a Photographic Competition

Michael Lockwood, Creative Director of Out From the Mist, has invited Creative Doctors'  members to participate in this unique photographic competition featuring photographic representations of mental health.

The Bridge - Saturday 8th June 10.45am
Jan Orman

Entries are open to anyone with lived experience of mental illness or those close to them - including health professionals. Photographs will be judged using four criteria - lived experience, relationships, recovery and change.

The competition is being conducted on behalf of the Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia (MIFA).

For more information please use this link to go to the competition website