Director Robyn Baker congratulates Don Long on his winning story The Birds.

My Best Lesson is a writing competition which we ran in conjunction with The Dominion Post newspaper in 2009 as part of our 75th anniversary celebrations. We were keen to get people to think about learning—how we learn and how we learn not just in school but in many different situations and through different activities, and at all stages of life. We hoped that hearing people’s stories about “best lessons” might give people a wider sense of what learning can be and how it can happen in all sorts of situations.

The criteria were simple: pithy accounts (no more than 500 words), good writing, true stories and preferably some wit and wisdom.

The competition ran throughout November 2009. Chris Else from the New Zealand Society of Authors, an organisation which also turned 75 in 2009, helped with the judging of about 300 entries. The overall winner was Don Long, who received a prize of $1000. Runner-up was Fiona Sussman, who received $500.

The junior prize (18 years and under) of $500 was shared by Rosie Bolderston and Lewanna Pentecost.

We have yet to decide if the competition will run again.

Winning entries from 2009 are attached: