The 2021 To Hull And Back Competition

The 2021 To Hull And Back Competition

The 7th To Hull And Back humorous short story contest is OPEN

submissions close on 31st July 2021

August 2020 saw the launch of the 2021 To Hull And Back Short Story Competition, a biennial short story contest with a humorous twist that celebrates the most imaginative and amazing short stories from writers all over the world.

Some highly prestigious writing contests offer huge cash prizes – the BBC award £15,000 and the Sunday Times give a whopping £30,000 to their winner. What can you win by entering this competition that contends with these short story prize giving heavyweights? THE most amazing, innovative and sought after writing prize on the planet. Forget the Pulitzer. THIS is the badger*.

Admittedly, I may have slipped into sales-pitch-chaos-mayhem-overdrive-mode whilst writing the opening paragraphs, but I firmly believe that I can live up to expectation. See if you agree.
To Hull And Back Runs Biennially

Due to the ever-increasing amount of time needed to run this fabulous competition, in February 2019 I made the decision to run future To Hull And Back competitions biennially (every other year). This is to make the workload manageable and ensure that every story entered into the competition is given the attention it deserves.

The 7th To Hull And Back competition is open to submissions until 31st July 2021. The dates for future competitions will be as follows:
To Hull And Back 2023 (opens 1st August 2022, closes 31st July 2023)
To Hull And Back 2025 (opens 1st August 2024, closes 31st July 2025)
To Hull And Back 2027 (opens 1st August 2026, closes 31st July 2027)
Prizes

If you’re selected as a winner:
You Will Win Cash

1st Prize: £1,200

2nd Prize: £600

3rd Prize: £300

3 x Highly Commended: £150

14 x Shortlisted: £50

That's a total prize pot of £3,250

But it doesn’t end there, my fine writing friends, oh no, not by a LONG shot.
You Will Be Published

All winners and short listed entries will be published in the To Hull And Back Short Story Anthology. This will be available as a professionally published, printed book and as a Kindle download. The book will have an ISBN number.

If you’re published in the book, a writer’s profile will appear alongside your story and on my website. This will consist of a delightful picture of you, a short bio telling readers all about how amazing you are and details of your website, if you have one.

In addition to this, an author interview with the winner will be published alongside their story.

And there’s more…
You Will Win the Most Awesomely Awesome in its Awesomeness Writing Prize in the Known Macrocosm

This is the bit that will send tingles down your spine. Joy will ravage your very being and you will feel compelled to dance naked for no reason, no matter where you might be. I guarantee it**.

The winner will be taken to Hell Hull and back.

Allow me to explain.

The winner’s face will appear on the front cover of the To Hull And Back Anthology. They will be depicted riding a flaming motorcycle and holding a quill of wrath. The covers from previous competitions can be seen below. Each year, the cover will be unique and created by a different artist.