The Foundation is pleased to announce the establishment of the AOF Essay Prize.

The AOF Essay Prize has been set up to encourage local orchid growers to participate in letting others know of their initiatives and practices in the cultivation and conservation of orchids.

It is an annual writing competition, established with a generous endowment by the Slade Family who have been actively involved with the AOF since its inception.

There will be three prizes –

The Foundation invites all Australian orchid growers to consider the topic for 2012 and submit an entry.  We would not only like to reward you, but we would like to hear about your ideas and experiences and benefit from them.

ESSAY TOPIC FOR 2012:

Orchid Conservation At Home

Let us know about your approaches and philosophies in meeting some of the more recent problems that can influence your culture of orchids.  You may like to write about how you and /or members of your orchid society have coped with water restrictions, or the expensive cost of electricity and gas,  or the limited space you have for your orchids now you have down-sized.  These are just a few ideas to help you get started.

The deadline for receipt of all entries is June 30th 2012

Send your entry to:
AOF Essay Prize P.O. Box 322, Essendon North Vic. 3041
or electronically to aof@australianorchidfoundation.org.au

Entry Rules:

• This competition is open to Australian residents only.
• The essay will be an original article, not previously published
• The essay must be no more than 3,000 words, short essays are most welcome
• The essay is to be in English, typewritten and doubled-spaced
• Entries may  include art work or images
• The authors of the essays will remain undisclosed to the judges, whose decision will be final. If in the opinion of the judges, no worthy essays are received, there will be no award that year.
• Non-winning entries will be returned to the sender. These entries may be submitted to the editors of Australian orchid periodicals for publication, with permission from the author.
• The winning essay will be announced at the AGM of the Foundation in October 2012
• The winning entry will be published on the AOF website and in Australian orchid periodicals