Short Story Contest 2016

Entry rules

a. Entries must be made by the writer.

b. Entries will only be accepted via the online entry form.

c. The deadline for receipt of entries is 1 November 2015 (12 noon GMT).

d. Only one entry per writer may be submitted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

e. The story must be the entrant’s own work.

f. The story must be original and should not have been published anywhere in full or in part before 1 May 2016. Published work is taken to mean published in any printed, publicly accessible form, e.g. anthology, magazine, newspaper. It is also taken to mean published online, with the exception of personal blogs and personal websites.

g. Entries previously submitted to the Commonwealth Short Story Prize are not eligible.

h. All entries must be in English. Translations of short stories written in languages other than English are eligible if submitted by the writer (not the translator) and provided the translator is a citizen of a Commonwealth country.

i. Entries must be 2,000 words minimum, 5,000 words maximum.

j. Entries should be uploaded in a PDF document. Please save your document as a PDF and use the title of the story as the file name. Please note the story must not be saved as ‘Commonwealth Story’, ‘Short Story’ or any other generic title. If it is not possible to save the entry as a PDF document, it may be uploaded as a Microsoft Word document, with the file name in the same format as above. The first page should include the name of the story and the number of words.

k. The author’s details should be included on the entry form. They must not be given anywhere on the uploaded document. All entries are judged anonymously.

l. Where applicable, the translator’s details should be included on the entry form.

m. All entries should be submitted in Arial 12 point font and double line spacing. All pages should be numbered and include a header with the title of the story.

n. There are no restrictions on setting, genre or theme.

o. The story should be adult fiction and must not have been written for children alone.

p. Entrants agree as a condition of entry that the prize organisers may publicise the fact that a story has been entered or shortlisted for the Prize.

q. Worldwide copyright of each story remains with the writer. Commonwealth Writers will have the unrestricted right to publish the winning stories (the overall winning story and the four regional winning stories) in an anthology and for promotional purposes.

r. The overall and regional winners will be expected to take part in publicity activities including social media where possible.

s. The overall and regional winners will be expected to undertake a mutually acceptable programme of regional outreach activities to develop and promote Commonwealth Writers.