Evesham Festival of Words : Short Story Competition (Juniors)

The 2020 Short Story Competition is now open.  Evesham Festival of Words Short Story Competition is an annual writing competition open to all published and unpublished, UK and non-UK based writers.



Categories:

Junior (under 16 years of age at the closing date). (In the Junior category, entries from
those aged 8-11 at the closing date will be judged separately from those aged over 12.)
Word count: A maximum of 500 words (juniors aged 8 -11) and 1,000 words (juniors aged
12-15), excluding the title.
Entry fee: free for juniors.
The work submitted must not have been previously published. There is no particular theme, and
entries may be any genre or subject.

Closing date for submission is midnight on Friday 20th March 2020. Entries received after
the closing date will not be considered. Early entries much appreciated!
Online entries only will be accepted. Bulk submissions may be made from schools.

Judge: Ann Evans (12-15 category); Elizabeth Spencer (8-11 category).

Results: Shortlisted entrants will be notified by Friday 17th April at the latest. The winner, 2nd
and 3rd in each age category will be announced at the Festival Weekend opening night, on the
evening of Friday 26th June, 7pm, Northwick Hotel, Evesham. All shortlisted entrants will be
invited to the event.

Prizes: Book tokens for £30, £20 and £10 will be given for 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each of the junior
age groups, as well as an engraved trophy for each winner. Shortlisted juniors will all receive a
certificate.
Titles of shortlisted entries (up to 10 per age category), will be posted on the Festival website
once all entrants have been notified. Names of the winners will be posted on the website after
the prize-giving ceremony on 26th June. The winning short stories will, with the author’s
permission, also be added to the website.


Rules
The following rules apply for the 2020 Evesham Festival of Words Short Story Competition.
Please read carefully before entering.
Entries:
 The Short Story Competition is open to all published and unpublished writers, whether they are based in the UK or outside the UK. All entries should be in English.
 There is no specific theme for the 2020 Competition and entries may be any genre or subject.
 Entries must be entirely the work of the entrant and must never have been previously published, in print or online (including self-published, magazines, journals, websites, blogs, social network sites), or broadcast or won a prize in another writing competition. Any entry found to have been plagiarised will be disqualified.
 Simultaneous submissions are welcome – but please let us know as soon as possible if a story is to be published elsewhere or wins a prize in another writing competition.
 Authors may enter as many stories as they like.
 Entries must be received by the closing date of midnight on Friday 20th March 2020. Entries received after this date/time will not be considered.
 Entries will be judged anonymously so please follow the more detailed instructions below in order to keep your personal details separate from your story during judging.
 Stories should be free of spelling and grammatical errors.
 Entry to the Competition implies an acceptance of the Evesham Festival of Words Short Story Competition Rules. Entries that fail to comply with the Rules may be disqualified.

How to submit your entry:
 All entries must be submitted electronically. Paper entries will not be accepted. Note that entries that do not comply with the Rules may be disqualified.
 Stories should be typed in either Times New Roman or Arial 12pt, with double line spacing.
 Include the title of your story as a header on each page submitted.
 Include the word count at the end of your story.
 Entries should be submitted as doc, doc.x, rtf or pdf format by email to: info@eveshamfestivalofwords.org. Please include your name, address, contact telephone number, and date of birth, as well as name of school in the email. (Any problems with Festival email, please resend to sueablett1@btinternet.com).
 Please use the title of your story as the file name (.doc, .docx, rtf or pdf files only).
 An acknowledgement email will be sent by the Competition coordinator on receipt of your entry.
 Entries will not be returned. Please keep a copy. No corrections or alterations can be made after receipt of an entry.

Organiser's Website