Due to the fantastic number of entries received, reading the short stories has taken longer than expected.  Winners will be announced at the end of July.

Bournemouth Borough Council Libraries and Arts Division is launching a new national short story competition, as part of the National Year of Reading.  Launched in December 2008 to coincide with the National Year of Reading’s December theme, Writing the Future, the competition aims to:

• encourage and showcase the best work of new, emerging and established writers
• publish an anthology of selected stories
• contribute to the national campaign to raise the profile of the short story among writers, readers and the publishing industry

The judge for the inaugural competition will be Bournemouth-based award winning writer, Nell Leyshon.  

An additional prize will be awarded for the highest placed writer resident in Bournemouth.

For the attention of Bournemouth Borough Council employees: Employees of Bournemouth Borough Council are not eligible to apply. However, we realise there are a number of talented and creative people working for the Council.  A special category has therefore been created: Best of Council Staff. This will be a nominal award with no prize.

All writers who are selected for any of the awards/prizes will have their work included in an anthology to be published later in 2009.

Closing date March 31 2009

Maximum number of words - 3000

Prizes

1st £100
2nd £75
3rd £50
Plus 5 supplementary prizes of £25 each
Plus The Bournemouth Award for the highest placed writer resident in Bournemouth is £50

How to enter

Entry fee is £5 per story (you can send as many entries as you like).  

By Post:

   1. Read Competition Rules, Terms and Conditions (2 page document)

   2. Print and complete an Entry Form and send it with a cheque for the whole amount (£5 per story) to: Short Story Competition, Arts Development, Bournemouth Library, 22 The Triangle, Bournemouth BH2 5RQ. Please make cheques payable to Bournemouth Borough Council.

Online:

   1. Read Competition Rules, Terms and Conditions (2 page document)

   2. Complete the online Payment for the total amount (£5 per story).

   3. At the end of a successful online payment, you will be asked to submit your story(ies), with title(s) and word count(s), by email.

About Nell Leyshon