The Manchester Fiction Prize 2009
First prize: £10,000
Deadline for entries: 7th August 2009
Entry fee: £15
The Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University is launching The Manchester Fiction Prize – a new literary competition celebrating excellence in creative writing.
The Manchester Fiction Prize is open internationally and will award a cash prize of £10,000* to the writer of the best short story submitted. The competition is open to entrants aged 16 or over; there is no upper age limit.
A bursary for study at MMU will also be awarded to an entrant aged 18-25 as part of the Jeffrey Wainwright Manchester Young Writer of the Year Award*. Eligible entrants are asked to indicate on the entry form if they would like to be considered for the Manchester Young Writer of the Year Award in addition to the main prize.
All entrants are asked to submit a complete short story of up to 5,000 words in length. The story can be on any subject, and written in any style, but must be new work, not published or submitted for consideration elsewhere. The competition will be judged by distinguished novelists and short story writers Sarah Hall, M. John Harrison and Nicholas Royle.
The Manchester Fiction Prize celebrates the substantial cultural and literary achievements of Manchester, building on the work of MMU’s Writing School and enhancing the city's reputation as one of Europe's most adventurous and creative spaces. The prizes will be awarded at a gala ceremony, held as part of the 2009 Manchester Literature Festival.
To enter the competition, click "online entry" in the column on the left of your screen. If you would like a printed entry pack for postal submission, or if you have any queries, please contact:
James Draper
Project Manager: Writing School
Department of English
Manchester Metropolitan University
Telephone: +44 (0) 161 247 1787
Downloadable forms etc on their website HERE
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7 comments:
Wait - £10,000??? Wow. Very nice. And judged anonymously, I assume. That's probably the largest prize for an anonymously judged short story comp. Well done Manchester, my alma mater. (Although I was in the physics department, not the English dept!)
I know. very nice indeed. And brilliat affirmation of the value that is openly being placed on excellent short stories again... lets hope it continues to grow, T!
Good luck to all who enter.
So, Tania, are other big comps, such as the BBC National Story one, not judged annonymously, as far as you know?
The BBC National Short Story award asks for your publishing history, and the rules don't have that bit about not putting your name anywhere on your entry, so I assume it's not anonymous. Anyone else know any better?
I have assumed that it is not anonymous.
However, Bridport is, Fish is, the lovely new Manchester comp is.
But it is strange, I think. if I have two stories in front of me, one emblazoned with the name Raymond carver, and another by Mrs Phoebe Higgins, I will be predisposed, despite myself, to read the first with expectation of something good. And the second, not so.
So the second is disadvantaged before I even start reading.
Having said that, Clare Wigfall was not well known last year, and despite being up against the wonderful Jane Gardam, her story won!
Of course, that's the problem with non-anonymous judging (must be a better way to say that!). Clare's win was fantastic, but she is published by Faber so she has that going for her. Julian Gough's win was also fabulous, he wasn't a big name either. But I do feel that anonymous judging should always be the way, how can it hurt? This way, it's not just about the writing, is it? And shouldn't it be? I feel we've had this discussion before!
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