Perfectly Formed Short Story Competition
Perfectly Formed is our first short story competition, in association with Pan Macmillan and the Arvon Foundation
Want to have your work read by thousands of book lovers and get professional guidance for your writing career? Then enter Perfectly Formed, our first short story competition, in association with Pan Macmillan and the Arvon Foundation.
The competition
Books Quarterly is proud to announce the launch of the inaugural Waterstone’s Books Quarterly short story competition, Perfectly Formed: the search for the best unpublished writer in the country who can create a story that is small but... perfectly formed.
We’re looking for the best short story of 2,000 words or less. All our readers are eligible, as long as you’re over 18 and haven’t had fiction professionally published before. Your short story can be about any subject and in any fiction genre, be it drama, comedy, crime, historical or modern – just make it punchy, original and imaginative.
The prize will be judged by: Waterstone’s booksellers; the Books Quarterly and Waterstones.com teams; Arvon Centre Director Claire Berliner; Editorial Director Will Atkins of Pan Macmillan and its top Macmillan New Writing discoveries, James McCreet, Ann Weisgarber and Brian McGilloway:
Get handy tips from writer James McCreet
Get handy tips from writer Ann Weisgarber
Get handy tips from writer Brian McGilloway
How to enter
To submit your entry to Perfectly Formed, click below and attach the document of your original story of 2,000 words or less (please read the terms and conditions for details of format, entry requirements and deadlines). Remember to include your name, address and telephone number with your entry.
Please make sure you read the competition's terms and conditions (please note these terms and conditions are subject to revision) before submitting your entry.
This competition closes on 1 July 2010.
The prize
Photo: Phil Grey
The winner will see their work published in the October issue of Books Quarterly to our readership of more than a quarter of a million, and online at www.macmillannewwriting.com, www.arvonfoundation.org, Wbqonline.com and Waterstones.com. But that’s just the start. The winner will be invited to attend an exclusive publisher’s lunch with Will Atkins, Editorial Director at Pan Macmillan, and author James McCreet to gain feedback and ideas on where to take their writing career in the future. And just to top things off, they will receive £200-worth of quality reading from Pan Macmillan of their choice.
To develop their skills, the winner will also receive a place on a week-long Arvon Foundation creative writing course of their choice.
The prize includes all tuition, food and accommodation (like that at Totleigh Barton pictured above.) During the week, the winner will have plenty of opportunity to spend time working on their own writing, as well as taking part in workshops, readings, and a one-to-one session with a course tutor. This year’s tutors and guest writers include Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, top screenwriters Jez Butterworth and Patrick Marber, and award-winning novelists Lionel Shriver and Sadie Jones. This is a fantastic opportunity for any aspiring writer.
The three best runners-up will receive concise written feedback on their entries, which will be published online, as well as winning £50-worth of Pan Macmillan books. So get writing on something small yet perfectly formed – and good luck!
The Arvon Foundation has been running inspirational creative writing courses for more than 40 years. The week-long residential courses, which cover a variety of themes and genres, take place at four historic writing houses across the UK, each one situated in stunning countryside. Courses are led by published writers who live and work alongside participants throughout the week. To find out more about Arvon visit www.arvonfoundation.org or call 020 7324 2554.
Launched in 2006, Macmillan New Writing is a unique publishing initiative that aims to publish the best debut fiction, and welcomes submissions from unpublished novelists in all genres – they have considered more than 12,000 novels. Some works have been shortlisted for major international prizes, foreign rights sold, and graduated to Macmillan’s mainstream imprints. To find out more, go to www.macmillannewwriting.com
Terms and conditions (please note these terms and conditions are subject to revision)
via wbqonline.com