The Commonwealth Short Story Competition is an annual scheme to promote new creative writing for radio, funded and administered by the Commonwealth Foundation and the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association.
Established in 1996, the competition aims to increase understanding and appreciation of Commonwealth cultures and promote rising literary talents. The competition calls for entries that are original, unpublished, in English, no more than 600 words in length and on any subject.
The winner receives a prize of £2000 and there are four regional prizes of £500.
In 2011 there will also be two special prizes of £500 each; one for the best short story for children and the other for the best short story about this year’s Commonwealth theme, ‘Women as Agents of Change’.
The 2011 Commonwealth Short Story Competition is open for entry via this website from 15 January to 1 March 2011.
Deadline: 1 March 2011
Entering the Commonwealth Short Story Competition is a four-step process.
1) Read the eligibility and entry rules
All Commonwealth citizens aged 19 or over are invited to enter the 2011 Commonwealth Short Story Competition. See below.
2) Write your short story
Click here if you would like to learn more about writing a short story for radio.
3) Complete the online entry form
Entries will only be accepted via the online entry form. If you have problems entering your story online, click here to get in touch with us.
4) Receive a confirmation email
When you have completed the entry form, you will receive an email confirming that your entry has been received and providing a reference number. This number should be quoted in any correspondence with the Commonwealth Foundation.
Eligibility and entry guidelines
About the scheme
The Commonwealth Short Story Competition is an annual scheme to promote new creative writing for radio, funded and administered by the Commonwealth Foundation and the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association. Entries will be judged in the five Commonwealth regions by authors, broadcasters, academics and former Commonwealth Short Story prize-winners. We will award an overall prize of £2,000 and four regional prizes of £500. Additionally, there will be two special prizes of £500 each; one for the best short story for children and the other for the best story about this year’s Commonwealth theme, ‘Women as Agents of Change’. A further 19 highly commended entries will receive a payment of £100. All winning and highly commended entries will be included on the 2011 winners’ CD.
Timetable
The deadline for receipt of entries is 1 March 2011. Judging will take place between March and May 2011. All winning entrants will be notified by 31 May 2011. The results of the Competition will be announced in September 2011. The 2011 Commonwealth Short Stories CD will be published in September 2011.
Eligibility
• Entrants must be citizens of a Commonwealth country.
For a list of Commonwealth countries, visit: http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com/Aboutus/TheCommonwealth/Commonwealthcountries
• Entrants must be aged 19 years or over.
Terms and conditions of entry
• Only one story will be accepted per entrant. Should an entrant submit more than one story, the competition administrators will only accept the first entry.
•Stories should be entered in one of the three categories: General Entry, Short Story for Children or a story on the 2011 Commonwealth theme, ’Women as Agents of Change’. All stories will be considered for the overall and regional prizes.
• The story must be the entrant’s own work.
• The story must be original and should not have been previously published anywhere in full or in part.
• All entries must be in English.
• Entries should be 600 words or less.
• Entries will only be accepted via the online entry form.
• The deadline for receipt of entries is 1 March 2011.
• The competition administrators reserve the right to disqualify any competition entry which does not meet the conditions. No correspondence will be entered into in this regard.
• Entries will not be returned.
• The names of the winners will be published in the magazines and websites of the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association and the Commonwealth Foundation.
• Winners will retain the copyright but assign broadcasting rights (including audio on demand and sale on audio media), publication rights and rights to use the stories for press and promotional purposes, including via the internet, for ten years to the programme partners (Commonwealth Broadcasting Association and its members, and the Commonwealth Foundation). These rights are non-exclusive.
• Winning and highly commended entries will be included on the 2011 winners’ CD (published in September 2011) and may be mentioned in any associated publicity materials or press releases.
Submit here.
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