NEO•GRIOT

Free to enter, The Observer/ Jonathan Cape/ Comica Graphic Short Story Prize, top prize: £1,000 (UK/ Ireland)

Deadline: 14 October 2011

ARE YOU AN ASPIRING NOVELIST? DO YOU HAVE AN ORIGINAL STORY TO TELL? Jonathan Cape and Comica have got together with The Observer to offer you the chance to see your work in print and win £1,000. Take this opportunity to get your work read by industry experts.

The judges are:

• David Nicholls (best selling author of One Day)
• Bryan Talbot (graphic novelist)
• Rachel Cooke (The Observer)
• Dan Franklin (Publisher, Jonathan Cape)
• Paul Gravett (Director, Comica Festival)
• Suzanne Dean (Random House Creative Director)

The first prize is £1,000 and the publication of your 4 page story in The Observer Review.
The runner-up will receive £250 and your work will appear on www.guardian.co.uk. and the Vintage website.

Deadline for entries: 14th October 2011

Terms and conditions

Entrants - This competition is open to anyone aged 16 and over who is a resident of the UK or the Republic of Ireland, except for employees of Jonathan Cape (promoter), The Observer, Comica, their families and any other company connected with the competition. The promoter will only accept 1 (one) entry per entrant subject to point 6 below.

Dates - Graphic stories entries will be accepted until Friday 14th October 2011 (closing date). The winning entrant and runner up will be notified by telephone in the week beginning Monday 24th October 2011. The name of the winning entrant and runner-up will be announced and printed in The Observer on Sunday 6th November.

Prizes - The following prizes:

(a) £1,000 (one thousand pounds Sterling) to the winning entrant; and
(b) £250 (two hundred and fifty pounds Sterling) to the runner-up, prizes will be awarded at the Comica Festival at the ICA in London on Sunday 8th November.

Copyright / Ownership - Entrants will own and retain any copyright in their entries. Where an entry is produced as the result of the collaboration of a writer and an artist (i.e. joint authors) the promoter will accept the joint authors of the entry as joint entrants.

Entry Specifications - Entrants are advised to retain a copy of entries. Entries can be with or without words, in black and white or colour, and fiction or non-fiction. Each entry must be:

(a) in English;
(b) an original work of which the entrant is the author (or joint
author in respect of point 5 above) which has not been previously
professionally or commercially published and is not in breach of any third party right;
(c) complete in itself (i.e. not a fragment of a larger work); there is no maximum or minimum number of panels;
(d) designed to run across 4 single pages of The Observer magazine, i.e. not necessarily across double page spreads [NB. 1 Observer Magazine
page is 206mm wide x 272mm high] and displaying at Comica (i.e. so the design should be able to be scaled up or down to fit the outlet);
(e) submitted as flat work (i.e. not as a booklet]. Artwork must not be rolled in a tube. It can be submitted on paper no bigger than A3.
(f) No work can be returned. Copies of original works will be accepted.

Unacceptable Entries - Entries which are illegible, submitted by email or on a disk, or received after the closing date will not be accepted. The promoter will not be responsible for delayed, undelivered or lost entries.

Events - Events may occur which render the awarding of the prizes impossible due to reasons beyond the control of the promoter and the promoter may, at its absolute discretion, vary, amend, suspend or withdraw the prizes with or without notice.

Judges - The competition will be judged by 6 judges who will look for emerging talent and seek to identify writers/artists of excellent and original graphic short stories. The judges’ decisions will be final and no correspondence will be entered into in relation to their decisions or the competition.

Winning Entrant - The winning entrant [and runner-up] grant[s] The Observer, the promoter and Comica all necessary and relevant permissions in relation to the publication of the winning entr[y/ies] in The Observer, on www.guardian.co.uk and www.capegraphicnovels.co.uk, and at the Comica festival at the ICA. The winning entrant [and runner-up] also agree[s] to the promoter’s use of his/her name[s] and photograph[s] in relation to publicity material. The Observer, the promoter and Comica each reserve the right to edit the winning [and runner-up] entr[y/ies] in respect of the above publication.

Contact Information:

For inquiries: CapeCompetition@randomhouse.co.uk

For submissions: The Observer/Jonathan Cape/Comica Graphic Short Story Prize, 2nd Floor, Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SA

Website: http://www.vintage-books.co.uk