The Writers' Village award #seanocarolan #writing #contests #competitions

Win a £1000 ($1600) prize for your short story

Cash prizes totaling £2000 ($3200) can be won in the Writers' Village International Short Fiction Award winter 2014 for prose fiction in any genre up to 3000 words.

The first prize is £1000 ($1600), with a second prize of £500 ($800)and third prize of £250 ($400). Five runner up prizes of £50 ($80) will be awarded to short-listed contestants.

Ten further Highly Commended entrants will gain a free entry in the next round.

Everyone wins because every contestant, win or lose, gains feedback on how their stories were graded - plus tips for improvement!

All winning entries are showcased here at the Writers' Village site, which attracts more than 15,000 unique visitors per month.

Winners will be entitled to accredit themselves: ‘Winner [or Short Listed, etc], the Writers' Village International Short Fiction Award winter 2014', when approaching agents and publishers. (Wins in top story contests like ours are taken very seriously by the publishing world.)

The Writers' Village award - now in its sixth year - is one of the world's few major story competitions that specifically welcomes new writers from anywhere in the English-speaking world. And the only one that gives personal feedback to every contestant, win or lose, without extra charge.

Prizes will go to those writers whose short stories show the greatest originality, mastery of the craft skills of creative writing, and power to move the reader.

The new winter 2014 contest follows the continuing success of the previous 12 Writers' Village short story competitions, entered by writers from all over the world.

The principal judge is:

Dr John Yeoman, MA Oxon, MA (Res), MPhil, PhD Creative Writing. John is a university tutor in creative writing and has been a successful commercial writer and publisher for 42 years. He established Writers' Village in 2009.

The new contest deadline is midnight GMT Wednesday 31st December 2014. Early entry is advised.

Find further details of the short story contest here.
To read all the winning stories since 2009, click here.
To keep up with contest updates - and join our free writing success 'mini course' - click here