Laurence Olivier Audience Award shortlist

The Olivier Awards - Britain's equivalent of the Tony Awards - shortlist has been announced.
From a long list of 20, five shows have been chosen by the public to be nominated for the 2010 Laurence Olivier Audience Award.

The 5 Finalists are:

• Wicked
• The Phantom Of The Opera
• We Will Rock You
• War Horse
• Billy Elliot The Musical

The second round of voting for the brand new Laurence Olivier Audience Award is now open. And even if you voted in round one you can vote again now.

Anyone is eligible to vote by visiting the Audience Award voting page. You have until 17:00 on Wednesday 17 March 2010 to have your say on which show should win the award.

Vote for your favourite show and you could win four top-price tickets to the winning show!

The winning show will be announced at the star-studded Laurence Olivier Awards ceremony on 21 March 2010.

Competition from BBC Radio 4: So You Want To Be A Scientist?

This is a cool competition for budding scientists! Material World, Radio 4's weekly science show, is searching for the BBC's Amateur Scientist of the Year. If your idea is selected, you'll be doing the experiment in your spare time, from the kitchen table or the garden shed. Plus you'll have help from the country's top researchers. Application form - tell about an idea you want to put to the scientific test. This is open to anyone who isn't a professional scientist. So You Want To Be A Scientist? - Terms & Conditions Closing date: The online entry form will be available from 20 December 2009 to 28 February 2010 and entries must be received by 11.59pm on 28 February 2010. The BBC may extend the closing date if it wishes. Late entries will not be accepted.

The Great British Summer Haiku Competition - on Twitter!

This is a cool way to use Twitter: Yoko Ono to judge tweet poetry Twitter users are being given the chance to have short, summer poems broadcast on display boards at London's King's Cross station - and judged by the likes of Yoko Ono. Budding Wordsworths can text in their three-line, 17 syllable ditties - known as haikus - from today and one will be shown every 20 minutes to the station's 110,000 daily passengers. (link via metro.co.uk) The Great British Summer Haiku Competition! To enter, just “tweet” your Haiku using your existing Twitter account with the phrase @kingsplace at the begining and it will be picked up by the Kings Place Twitter account. The competition will run between Monday 18 May and Friday 22 May, with the entered Haikus being submitted to Yoko Ono and leading UK poet Jackie Kay MBE for judging.

Competition: create a new flavour for Ben & Jerry's

Here's a fun competition: Do the World A Flavour Our Flavour Gurus are calling on YOU to help them concoct the latest and greatest Fairtrade certified flavour. The Prize: One winner from every participating country will travel to the Dominican Republic to witness the benefits of Fairtrade on a cocoa farm, alongside Ben, Jerry and our flavour gurus. The grand prize winner will see their idea transformed into Ben & Jerry's 2010 worldwide flavour. And whichever ingredients you choose, we'll make sure the ice cream we make is Fairtrade Certified. (link via benjerry.co. uk via pocket-lint.com - website of the day)

Great Theatre Giveaway from TimeOut London & OffWestEnd

Time Out's Great Theatre Giveaway TimeOut London have teamed up with OffWestEnd.com: to bring you the Great Theatre Giveaway, a day of free theatre at some of London’s best independent venues taking place on March 25. We’ve got over 1000 tickets to give away for some of London’s best and most unusual dramas and comedies. Simply apply for a pair tickets for your chosen performance and we’ll let you know by March 20 if you’re a lucky winner.

Write an essay about the natural world for a chance to win a cool prize!

The BBC Wildlife Nature Writer of the Year Award

If you enjoy writing, here is an opportunity to enter a nature writing competition with a very cool prize! The prize is the publication of your story in the Summer 2009 issue of BBC Wildlife (on sale 9 July) and a place on one of three Earthwatch expeditions (flights included), each providing the chance to carry out genuine conservation work. Competitions are open to all residents of the UK, including the Channel Islands, except BBC employees and anyone connected with the competitions. The closing date for entries is 30 April 2009. Download your entry form: NATURE WRITER OF THE YEAR 2009 Good Luck!

Writing competition for kids in the UK: Write a thriller

Write a thriller is a writing competition for children (who live in the UK) aged five to 16. Last month Patrick Ness's incredible book The Knife of Never Letting Go won the Guardian Children's Fiction prize. Patrick Ness will choose one winner and two ­runners-up from a longlist of 20 chosen by Perri Lewis, the Comic editor, and Natalie Doughty, a teacher. The winner will receive a £50 book ­token, a signed copy of the award-winning The Knife of Never Letting Go and a set of 10 children's ­fiction books published by Walker, Patrick Ness's ­publisher. Two runners-up will each ­receive a £25 book token and a signed copy of The Knife of Never Letting Go. All three winning entries will be published on guardian.co.uk. To enter the competition, you must: write a story in no more than 600 words that ... ... Starts with the line: A bell rang and I opened my eyes. I thought, 'Oh, no, not him, anyone but him.' … and finishes with the line: Then she let go of my hand, and I fell and kept falling. The closing date is 11.59pm on November 7 2008. Patrick Ness

Summer travel writing competition (via the Guardian)

If you are an aspiring writer and would like a chance to win a trip to one of five different locations, this is the competition for you; Summer holiday travel writing competition Tell us about your summer holiday and you could win a trip to New Zealand, a German riverboat holiday, flights to New York, a family tipi break in Cornwall or a trip to Damascus The deadline for entries is 11.59pm on Friday August 22 2008. Good luck!

National Insect Week 2008

I just found out that it's National Insect Week 2008 (23rd to 29th June). As a keen gardener, I also enjoy observing insects - especially bees and butterflies. The National Insect Week site provides a handy page profiling twelve of Britain’s fascinating insects and I was particularly interested to read about the Black Garden Ant – (Lasius niger) and learn this fascinating fact:

This species and a related Lasius species are essential for the conservation of the declining populations of the attractive Silver-Studded Blue Butterfly (Plebejus argus) on heathland because they protect the butterfly’s caterpillars from predators in return for feeding on secretions specially produced by the caterpillars.

There are more interesting insect facts on the site and if you wonder how to attract more insects to your garden, the site provides some tips about How To Make Your Garden Insect Friendly. If you take part in their fun competition and vote for an insect in four categories – Good, Bad, Beautiful and Ugly, you will be eligible for a chance to win a book or a DVD.

A chance to win two tickets to world premiere of Mamma Mia! The Movie in London

To celebrate the hotly anticipated summer release of Mamma Mia! The Movie in cinema’s July 10, Times Online and Universal Pictures are giving one lucky reader and a friend the chance rub shoulders with the stars and to see the film at the world premiere in London (link via timesonline.co.uk) Yes! This is my kind of competition - I love movies, and I'm a big fan of Meryl Streep - and ABBA's music (whoops, I just gave you the answer to the question for entering the contest!). The other stars aren't bad either; Julie Walters, Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan! That is quite some prize on offer - the chance to see the stars and see the world premiere of the movie. The winner will receive a pair of tickets to the premiere of Mamma Mia! The Movie in London on Monday 30 June 2008. Closing date for entries is midnight on June 23, 2008 I hope I win but if I don't, I hope it's one of my readers who will win the tickets! Update: I forgot to mention that you need to be a member of Times Online to access the competition but it's free to register and only takes a moment. Also, you must be aged 18 or over and a resident of the UK.

Hay on Wye Short Story Contest

If you like to write, you may be interested in a new writing competition, the Hay on Wye Short Story Contest. Closing date for receipt of entries is 19th July. The theme for 2008 is: "Deception". Authors may enter as many stories as they like. There is an entry fee of £6.00 for each story submitted. The Hay Short Story Contest is a charity event and all proceeds will go to Hay and District Comunity Support. The prizes are as follows: 1st prize £400, 2nd £200, 3rd £100. The famous HayFestival (22 May - 1 June 2008) is an annual literary event at Hay-on-Wye, Wales. If like me, you aren't able to go, there is consolation via virtual visits: the Guardian offers a Hay podcast and Mariella Frostrup presents a special programme from the Hay Festival on BBC Radio 4 Open Book.