2013 Feature Writing Competition

photo by David Frankel

The 2013 THRESHOLDS International Short Story Forum

Feature Writing Competition

~

2 x 1^st Prize of £500

2 x Runners-up Prize of £100

~

Closing date: NOW CLOSED
(27 March 2013, midnight GMT)

*

THRESHOLDS is the only online forum dedicated to the reading, writing and study of the short story form. We are now inviting submissions to our 2013 Feature Writing Competition.

*

This year we are delighted to announce a total prize fund of £1,200.

£500 will be awarded to the winning essay in each category:

Author Profile

(exploring the life, work and influence of a single short story writer)

AND

We Recommend

(personal recommendations of a collection, anthology, group of short stories or a single short story)

*

A prize of £100 will also go to one runner-up in each category.
The winning and runner-up essays and shortlist will be published on the THRESHOLDS Forum during 2013.

*

*Please read the competition rules (below) and the general THRESHOLDS Submission Guidelines carefully before submitting.*

*

The judges hope to see a range of styles and approaches. They will be looking, above all, at the quality of the prose in each feature submitted, the insights offered, and the author’s ability to engage his/her readers. You can find the winning essay from the 2012 THRESHOLDS Feature Writing Competition here: H.P. Lovecraft by Geoff Holder

~

Competition Rules:

• All entries must be submitted by email as a PDF or Word document (.doc, .docx or .rtf only) attachment and sent to thresholds@chi.ac.uk, with the subject line ‘Feature Competition’.

• Entries must be received by midnight GMT on 27 March 2013.

• There is no entry fee.

• Maximum word count is 2,000, with a minimum of 750. Writers may submit a maximum of 3 essays.

• Please note: the Competition is open for feature essay entries only. Short stories will not be accepted.

• Work should be double spaced and in a minimum of 11 point font. All pages should be numbered.

• The stories or collections under discussion may be either contemporary or classic, and can be in print or out of print.

• Entries must be accompanied by a separate title page containing the following information: name and email address of the writer; title of entry(ies); category of each entry — Author Profile or We Recommend.

• Entries will be judged anonymously.  Your name, address or email address should NOT appear on the manuscript.

• Entries cannot be altered once they have been submitted.

• Entries must be original and unpublished. Work that has appeared on the internet (apart from in a personal blog) is considered published and therefore is not eligible. Simultaneous submissions are not accepted (i.e. features submitted to multiple journals/magazines simultaneously).

• The entrant warrants to THRESHOLDS’s editors that the essay is original to him/her, that he/she has the full power to agree to the Competition rules of entry, and that he/she is the sole author of the feature essay.

• The entrant warrants to THRESHOLDS’s editors that his/her essay is in no way whatever a violation of any existing copyright and that it contains nothing libelous.

• The judges’ decisions are final and no discussion will be entered into once work has been submitted. The judges reserve the right not to make the award if the quality of entries does not merit it.

• The Competition is open to writers of any nationality writing in English, 16 years old and over at the time of the closing date.

• University of Chichester staff may not apply.

• The names of the winners, runners-up and shortlisted writers will be published on The Forum.

• The shortlist will be announced in April, and the winning writer will be notified by the end of April.

• Copyright of the submitted essay remains with the author, but THRESHOLDS has the unrestricted right to publish any winning or shortlisted feature essays on its website and in any related material for PR purposes.

• THRESHOLDS reserves the right to edit the winning, runner-up and shortlisted articles prior to publication.

• By entering the competition, you are deemed to have agreed to the above rules.