Artslink to reward art writers

This includes features, columns, interviews, analysis and investigative articles but not reviews at this stage.

The award is in honour of veteran arts journalist William Pretorius, a writer and movie critic who contributed FreeWheeling columns, articles and reviews on books, film and theatre to the site over the years.

"The aim is to provide an incentive to arts writers to share more of their knowledge and views," says editor Jennifer de Klerk. "There are many issues in our industry that are not being explored, stories that are not being told. The mainstream print media has very little space for the arts and there are very few arts journalists left.

"The site is not funded or sponsored, so we are not in a position to commission articles, but we can plant a seed and offer what we can, with the hope that the reward will sustain and build arts journalism in South Africa.

"We consider there is a definite need to encourage young, upcoming as well as established writers, to promote outstanding arts journalism and to share views and opinions about the industry. We can carry articles of any length, with up to six pictures. Articles sent to the site are also picked up by Google News, allowing an aspirant writer to start building a profile and, as any writer can tell you, the way to learn to write, is to write and keep on writing."

To submit an article, go to www.artslink.co.za, click ArtSpoken & Reviews on the navigation bar and follow the instructions.