Sidney prize has been a place where students and faculty from 1596 have made a huge impact on all aspects of British culture, religion, politics, business, legal and scientific achievements. It has produced soldiers, political cartoonists, alchemists, spies, murderers, ghosts and arsonists as well as media personalities, film and opera directors, a Premiership football club chairman, best-selling authors, the 1928 Grand National winner and, of course, Sherlock Holmes.
The sidney prize is a competition for short stories of up to 3000 words and is open to writers nationally and internationally at any stage of their writing career. The theme of this year’s prize is ‘travel’ and it seeks imaginative, creative and literary interpretations of the idea of travel.
Founded in memory of Neilma Gantner, this prize is for original pieces of short fiction written in English up to 3000 words. It is open to writers across the world, at any stage of their writing career and is judged anonymously.
Writers must submit a copy of their entry by email, as an attachment to this form, no later than 10am on Monday 25th February 2019. The deadline for submissions is extended to 11:59pm on Sunday 28th February, so you have time to enter the competition if you are out and about.
This prize is open to anyone who has never published any fiction before, and is a great way for writers to get their work noticed. It is open to all genres, but imaginative, creative and literary interpretations are particularly encouraged.
If you’re an international writer, we’d also like to hear from you about the experiences and voices that are unique to your region or country, which you can include in the story. This is a good opportunity to explore the connections between your writing and the wider world, as well as to show how you’re thinking about contemporary issues in an international context.
We’re always looking for stories that reflect an understanding of the diversity of people and cultures in our society. If you’re writing about a particular group or identity, it would be helpful if you could tell us where that identity comes from and why it matters to you.
It’s also helpful to tell us how you see yourself as part of that group or identity – is it Aboriginal, Asian or European? It will help the judges to understand your perspective, and will allow them to make sure that the final version of your story is a true reflection of you.
In addition, we’d like to know if your story reflects any of the following themes or concerns: poverty; environmental sustainability; social justice; equality; gender; race; age; disability; sexuality; religion; war and peace; or feminism. The judges will also want to see whether the piece is a narrative or more character-driven, and whether it deals with a contemporary or historical issue.
The winners of the sidney prize are announced at a ceremony in London. The prize money consists of £1000 for the winner and £500 for each of the two runners-up.