Deadline for stories now extended to June 30th 2023
Horningsea Short Story Competition 2023
You are invited to enter the third Horningsea Short Story Competition. There are separate classes for young people and adults. This competition is open to all writers, but please check the rules. Entrants are welcome to submit more than one story (tell your friends!), but a fee is payable for each entry.
Theme for adult and teenager entries : Close
Theme for children’s entries: A Close Thing
Adults’ competition: 1st prize £50, 2nd prize £25
Over 16s should submit a short story of a maximum length of 2000 words.
Competition for writers aged under 12 on June 30th 2023. 1st prize £15 book token
Young people aged 12 years and under should submit a story of a maximum length of 500 words.
Competition for writers aged 12-16 years on June 30th 2023. 1st prize £20 book token
Young people aged 12-16 years should submit a story of a maximum length of 1000 words.
Entry fee: £1 for young people; £5 for adults per entry.
Deadline: June 30th 2023 for all age groups.
Rules and conditions.
All entries must be the original work of the entrant. Stories must not have won a competition before and must not have been published.
All stories must be within the word limit for the age group.
All stories must have been delivered by email or by hand before the deadline of midnight on May 31st 2023.
All stories must be written in English. The theme can be interpreted in any way. Each story must have a title that is different from the theme.
Stories will be judged anonymously by an independent panel. Entrants must not put their name or any other identifying details on their story. Instead, they should include a separate electronic file or sheet of paper to accompany their story on which they put their name, address and a contact telephone number/email address as well as the title of their story. Pages should be numbered and each page should include the title of the story as a header.
Emailed entries should be sent to: fran@fransmithwriting.co.uk. If you wish to pay the entry fee electronically, you should ask for details when you send your entry.
Entries being delivered by hand can be left at St John’s Barn, St John’s Lane, Horningsea, or Northfields Farm Bungalow, Clayhithe Road, Horningsea, and should include the entry fee.
The judges’ decisions will be final. Brief comments will be given on the winning children’s entries only.
Winners in each category will be announced at the Horningsea Village Show in July and will be invited to read extracts at the Book Event planned for September.
If writers wish to be included, a paperback anthology of stories will be published. Previous anthologies of winning stories are available on Amazon. https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Horningsea+writers&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss
This event is usually supported by Horningsea Residents’ Association. If any profit is made, it will be donated to St Peter’s Church, Horningsea to cover the costs of hosting the prize giving celebration.
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