Julian Leidy* writes Of the nearly 1,000 people who voted in our WWC22 poll, 219 were also kind enough to offer their feedback on this year's competition. The comments were overwhelmingly positive, and we are very happy that the competition and its theme of regeneration were so well received. We have decided to share some of the suggestions we received regarding future writing competition themes, as well as some of the general comments about the competition itself.
We would love to hear more of your thoughts on the competition, and would welcome suggestions for possible themes for next year's writing competition via this form.
There were a few suggestions about future themes or other topics of interest.
One respondent suggested: 'how about diversity, inclusion, and equity in the wine trade?' That is certainly an important topic and could make for a very interesting WWC23 theme. Readers interested in this subject might also enjoy reading our recent articles on the 2022 Golden Vines Diversity Awards. All of our articles on inclusion and diversity can be found here.
Another comment called for 'more on how to reduce our carbon footprint with regards to the wine industry'. The response to this competition's focus on regenerative agriculture has clearly demonstrated that this is a popular and important topic. Interested readers can see all of our articles on sustainability here, and our coverage of climate change here. Could this be the perfect follow-up to this year's theme, or would it be too similar?
A respondent commented that 'no-till farming is very interesting to me. I'd love to see this topic expanded for more public discussion.' Readers who share this interest can see some of our articles that have discussed the topic here. Do you think we should publish more on the subject?
There were also some general suggestions about the competition itself. One comment recommended that we choose 'some broader topics allowing more diversity in candidates submitting entries'. A respondent asked that we 'shortlist a little more or organise by category'. Is our shortlist too long (or too short)?
We look forward to hearing your views and seeing what other suggestions or future themes you might propose. Contact us here to let us know what you think.
Here are our previous competitions' themes:
- 2021 – old vines
- 2020 – sustainability
- 2019 – wine travel
- 2018 – how I fell for wine
- 2016/2017 – the first of our competitions, the theme was simply wine writing
*Intern at JR.com summer/autumn 2022.
The image is from Diana Hawkins' Readers' Prize-winning article and features Tai-Ran Niew at Niew Vineyard (credit: Tai-Ran Niew).
