Mslexia Women’s Short Story Competition 2015 #seanocarolan.com #writing #contests #Women

The Mslexia Women’s Short Story Competition is a women’s short story competition for stories of up to 2,200 words in length on any subject.

1st prize is £2,000, plus two optional extras: a week’s writing retreat at Tŷ Newydd Writers’ Centre* (see below), and a day with a Virago editor* (see below)

2nd prize £500

3rd prize £250

Three other finalists each receive £100

Closing date: 16 March 2015

All winning stories will be published in Mslexia magazine

This year’s judge is Alison MacLeod who is a novelist, short story writer and essayist. Her novel Unexploded (Hamish Hamilton/Penguin Books), was long-listed for the 2013 Man-Booker Prize and selected as one of The Observer’s ‘Books of the Year’. She is also the author of the short story collection Fifteen Modern Tales of Attraction (Penguin, 2007). In 2008 she was awarded the Society of Authors’ Prize for Short Fiction, in 2011 she was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award, and in 2012 she was long-listed for The International Sunday Times EFG Short Story Awards. Alison is also Professor of Contemporary Fiction at the University of Chichester

*The Tŷ Newydd retreat is accommodation only; dates should be agreed between Tŷ Newydd and the competition winner. The date of the Virago mentoring session should be agreed between Virago and the competition winner. The winner is responsible for any other expenses involved with attending the Tŷ Newydd retreat and the day with a Virago editor, i.e. travel, food, etc. The prizes must be taken by 31 May 2016.

2014’s six winning stories, and the judge’s essay, are published in issue 62 of Mslexia, which is available now.

You can read the full COMPETITION RULES by clicking here.

Entry fee is £10 per story. Multiple entries are allowed.

Enter the competition by clicking here.

RULES
Please submit your work typed, double-spaced on A4 paper, single-sided, with pages numbered, and title as a header on each page.
Your entry will be judged anonymously, so do not put your name on the pages of your story. Use a separate cover page with your name, address, telephone number and email address, plus the title of the story you are submitting and a word count.
No alterations may be made to a story once submitted.
Your story will not be returned, so please keep a copy. If you want confirmation that we have received your postal entry, please enclose an SAE, labelled ‘Acknowledgement’.
Sorry, but we do not send copies of the results to entrants. If you would like to know the fate of your submission, make sure you include an email address with your contact details.
The winners will be contacted by phone/ email in May 2015 and the winning stories published in the Jun/Jul/Aug 2015 issue of Mslexia. (No competitor will win more than one prize)
Copyright of any story remains with the author, but Mslexia has the unrestricted right to publish the winning stories in its magazine, on its website, and in any related material for PR purposes.

ELIGIBILITY
Stories should be in English (or English dialect) and should not have been published or accepted for publication elsewhere.
Stories that have won or are under consideration in other short story competitions are not eligible.
Stories should not be a translation of another author’s work.
You do not have to subscribe to Mslexia to be eligible, but you do have to be a woman. We will accept stories from women of any nationality from any country.
Employees of Mslexia are not eligible.

HOW TO ENTER
Send your story by post or enter online at www.mslexia.co.uk/shortstory.
If entering by post, mark your envelope ‘Women’s Short Story Competition’ and send it postmarked no later than 16 March 2015 to Freepost Plus RTKZ-LGXC-EBAH, Mslexia Publications Ltd, PO Box 656, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 1BR. We regret FREEPOST is not available for entries from overseas. You can pay by cheque (payable to Mslexia Publications Ltd) or by debit or credit card (phone with your details). You can also pay online via our website, but in this case you must include with your entry a note of the date on which you paid, and the email address you used, so that we can trace your payment.
If entering online, be sure to follow the instructions on the website carefully. Stories and cover sheets should be sent as a single attachment.
The entry fee of £10 allows you to enter one story. You may enter as many stories as you like, provided each entry is accompanied by the £10 entry fee.
Entry fees must be in pounds sterling. If you want to use a different currency, please pay online via PayPal, which will convert your fee automatically into pounds sterling.