Upcoming Deadlines etc...

It's been a while since I did one of these so here's my Writers Service Announcement about some upcoming deadlines of interest:

JUST ADDED**
25 January Mslexia Women’s Short Story Competition
Max length 2200 words. You have to be a woman to enter - from anywhere!  1st Prize £2,000 plus a one-week writing retreat* at Chawton House Library (accommodation only) and a day with a Virago editor** 2nd prize £500 3rd prize £250 3 other finalists will win £100 each. Postal entry - online for non-UK writers. £8 fee per story.


Feb 5th: The Verb's Chekhov short story competition:
The radio programme on BBC Radio 3 is celebrating 150 years since Chekhov's birth with a Chekhov-themed comp open to all UK resident non-professional writers (i.e. writers who derive no more than 50% of their income from writing - so, basically, only JK Rowling is  disqualified! - over the age of 16 at the closing date of the competition). The prize is having your story read out on air. Details:

"The Verb would like you to send us an original short story of 1000 words, using one of the following Chekhov titles:

1. The Lady with the Dog
2. Difficult People
3. The Lottery Ticket

Please don’t call your story Difficult Dogs, or The Lady with the Ticket! These will not be considered. You don’t have to use the same characters, or setting – you don’t even have to have read the original story - but we will be awarding points for a certain Chekhovian spirit. Please check our terms and conditions, below, before sending your entry to: theverb@bbc.co.uk"

Feb 8th: Succour mag 400 words Feb 8th:
I like this: Succor's latest call for submissions is a little different:

For Succour 11, our Spring/Summer 2010 issue, we would like to invite submissions which pertain not to a theme, as has hitherto been the case, but which adhere to a pair of conditions.
Condition 1: All submissions should be written on Saturday February 6th, 2010.
Condition 2: What you write should not be an attempt to execute an idea – for a story, for a poem, etc – that has previously occurred to you. Rather, we would prefer you to write whatever happens to come into your head at that particular time.

We will be accepting submissions to February 6th, 2010 from Saturday February 6th 2010 until Monday February 8th 2010 – thereby allowing a couple of days for typing up etc.

Maximum word count: 400

Feb 15th: Ambit's 200 word comp:
To celebrate UK mag Ambit's 200th issue, they want 200 words of prose or poetry - which actually means no shorter than 196, no longer that 204 including the title. Nice prizes for 200 words: 1st prize: £500, 2nd prize: £200, 3rd prize: £75. Open to anyone, anywhere, over 16. Postal entry only, sadly. £4 for the first entry and £3 for subsequent entries

Feb 28th: Summer Literary Seminars' Unified Contest:

One short story or novel excerpt, maximum 25 pages per entry, or up to three poems.

Contest winners in the categories of fiction and poetry will have their work published in Fence, as well as the participating literary journals in Canada, Lithuania and Kenya. Additionally, they will have the choice of attending (airfare, tuition, and housing included) any one of the SLS-2010 programs – in Montreal, Quebec Vilnius, Lithuania; or Nairobi-Lamu, Kenya. 2nd place winners will receive a full tuition waiver for the program of their choice, and third-place winners will receive a 50% tuition discount. A number of select contest participants, based on the overall strength of their work, will be offered tuition scholarships, as well, applicable to the SLS-2010 programs. $15 per entry, online and postal entry.

March 20th: Fish One-Page Comp: 300 words or less.Nice prizes:First Prize - €1,000.Nine runners-up will be published in the Anthology and will each receive €50 plus five complementary copies of the Anthology. Open to anyone, anywhere.  Online entry €12, postal entry €15. Bit steep but great prizes and great exposure.

March 31st - entries accepted from Feb 15th: Commonwealth short story Comp:
600 words or less. First prize of £2,000 Special and Regional prizes of £500. No entry fee. And this year: special prizes for the best children's story and the best story concerning Science, Technology and Society, the Commonwealth Day theme for 2010.(yes, that one got me excited...!)

Also: the two comps I am on the judging panel for are:
26 Feb  Brit writers awards:
For one-off admin fee of £10.95, you can submit an unlimited number of entries. Short stories (minimum 1,000 and maximum 5,000 words).

March 31st  The Bristol Short Story Prize: 
3000 words max - but can be much shorter. open to anyone, anywhere:

The 20 shortlisted writers will be invited to an awards ceremony hosted by Waterstone’s in the centre of Bristol when the winners will be announced and the 2009 Anthology launched. Prizes : Ist- £500 plus £150 Waterstone’s gift card, 2nd- £350 plus £100 Waterstone’s gift card, 3rd- £ 200 plus £100 Waterstone’s gift card. Shortlisted writers get £50. All 20 shortlisted stories will be published in Volume 3 of the Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology. Entry fee of £7 per stor. Stories can be on any theme or subject and are welcome in any style whether it be graphic, verse or genre-based.

For even more.. check out Sally Quillford's excellent new Writing Calendar.
May all your submisssions be sent with joy and come back to you with more joy!