SWC Annual Open Short Story Competition 2019

SOUTHPORT Annual Open Short Story Competition

Chief Judge: Dr Anna Maddison.

First prize: £150 Second prize: £80 Third prize: £30

Closing date: 31st October 2019

Online entries available HERE

Dr. Anna Maddison is an art historian who lectures on both the History of Art and English Literature, specialising in the Pre-Raphaelites and the Victorian era.

Anna received a BA (Hons) in English Language and Literature from Leeds University and an MA (with distinction) from Liverpool University in Victorian Literature. Her PhD thesis on Pre-Raphaelite poet-painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti presented new analyses of his poetry, painting and design work within the context of Victorian spiritualism and Swedenborgianism.

In addition to university lecturing, Anna has taught across a number of Merseyside art galleries, including the Walker, Tate Liverpool, and the Atkinson, Southport (where she co-curated an exhibition in 2009). She is currently researching a book on Liverpool shipping magnate and art patron Frederick Leyland.

In addition to academic writing, Anna also writes poetry and she was, for a number of years, a book seller and new books buyer at Broadhursts Bookshop in Southport.

Full Rules:
Your entry should be an unpublished, original story on any theme of up to 2000 words (previous publication includes via internet or independent press).
Do not put your name or any other identifying information on your story but do give it a suitable title. Titles should be both appropriate and interesting.
There is no set theme or style for the competition, other than the above.
You do not need an entry form. Send us a separate cover sheet with each entry’s title, word count, your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address.
For internet entries, put above details in body of email but also please include PayPal ref. number OR put the story(ies) names in the comments box when paying. Also please use basic formatting in any of .doc, .docx, rich text or .odf file types when attaching your entry file to the email. Any sidebars, headers, footers or unusual layouts may result in your electronic entry being rejected.
No individual correspondence will be entered into regarding receipt of works/payments. Please do not send any confirmational material or use Recorded Delivery.
Once your entry has been submitted, any entrant contacting the judges for any reason deemed an attempt to circumvent the judging process is liable to be disqualified.
Please include an SAE if you wish to receive a print of the results/judges report (if available) when the competition is finished. For email entries, please note clearly in the body of the mail that you would like to receive the results.
Winners will be informed in Dec 2019/ Jan 2020, results will be published on this site thereafter. There may be a delay publishing results and/or winning stories depending on circumstances and permissions.
Entries in English please (minor dialect allowable).
Winning stories may be published on this site for 12 months with permission of original author.

Optional – Paper saving single-spaced entries encouraged.
The fee is £3.00 for each story, or £10 for 4. You can pay by cheque or postal order made out to Southport Writers’ Circle. (E-entries have a processing fee.)

Send postal entries to:

Short Story Competition

5 Carrwood Park

Southport PR8 5FA

Online entries available HERE