The Commonwealth Short Story Competition is a prestigious, annual competition open to anyone who is a citizen of a Commonwealth country, whether an amateur or professional writer. There is no restriction on theme, but the stories must be new, original, and of no longer than 600 words (around four and a half minutes when read aloud).
Five regional winners are chosen, for Africa, Asia, Caribbean and Canada, Europe and the Pacific, of which one is then selected as the overall winner.
Each year 26 winning and highly commended stories from the different regions of the Commonwealth are recorded on to CDs and broadcast on radio stations across the Commonwealth.
The overall winner of the competition receives £2,000, regional winners £500 and each highly commended author £100.
Rights: “Winners will retain the copyright but assign the broadcasting rights (including audio on demand) to the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association to pass on to its members. Winners will also assign publication rights to the CBA and the Commonwealth Foundation, and the rights for the story to be sold on any audio medium by the CBA. Both these rights are non-exclusive. The winners will also assign rights to the CBA to use the story for press and promotion and for using on the website.”
Please note there is no entry form or fee for this competition.
DEADLINE: send by snail mail to the Commonwealth Foundation by 11 May 2009
Short Story Competition’ should be clearly written on the envelope, and on the subject line on emails.
More information is available from the Commonwealth Foundation’s website
**Seawoman’s 2 cents – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR ALL
Commonwealth Short Story Competition
Commonwealth Broadcasting Association
17 Fleet Street
London EC4Y 1AA
UK
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7583 5550
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7583 5549
Email: story@cba.org.uk
Website: www.cba.org.uk
I won a prize one year and contacted another of the winners in India, 10 years later we’re still in contact and still discussing stories and writing.
I recommend entering, it’s great discipline to write a story in 600 words.
Sharon
Trust Me, I’m a Storyteller
Comment by roundtablewriting — November 25, 2008 @ 4:05 am |
Dear Sharon:
Heartiest congratulations on your win with the CBA competition and thanks for visiting Seawoman’s Caribbean Writing Opps.
I appreciate your endorsement and hope you’ll find other wonderful opportunities here at the site. We also have a long tradition of Commonwealth winners from the Caribbean like:
Mark McWatt (Barbados) – best first book (2006)
Michael Reckford (Jamaica) – CBA short story winner (2003)
“Tom” Austin Clarke (Barbados) – best book (2003)
Dana Gilkes (Barbados) – CBA short story winner (1997)
…and the list goes on!
**See http://commonwealthfoundation.com uploads!
We, in Barbados also started a fledgling tradition years ago of flash fiction writing (250 words!) launched at our WritersFest-organized by the literary arts desk of our National Cultural Foundation.
As far as storytelling in the Caribbean, our oral tradition remains strong. There are many cultural influences-though the African one remains dominant. Tales traditionally told via our storytelling, books, poetry and calypso songs are leaping out in less traditional ways with dynamism of technology.
However, we still have a challenge to have MORE of our rich stories out in the world.
Storytellers (like me!!) would be happy to hear from you so we can share tips and resources.
Comment by seawoman — November 25, 2008 @ 10:37 am |
Kindly note the updates, folks.
Comment by seawoman — December 3, 2008 @ 4:26 pm |
how do i submit my competitionmstory please.
Comment by richard andoj — February 25, 2009 @ 6:39 pm |
Dear Richard:
My apologies for the delay. I’ve had some computer and personal challenges and was not able to update recently.
Thanks so much and please return!
Peace!
Seawoman
Comment by seawoman — April 28, 2009 @ 9:03 pm |
Dear Richard:
All the details for the 2009 Commonwealth Short Story Competition are on the Commonwealth site below:
http://www.cba.org.uk/awards_and_competitions/Short_Story/2009_ShortStoryComp.php
Blessings,
Seawoman
Comment by seawoman — April 28, 2009 @ 9:16 pm |
Just passing by.Btw, your website have great content!
_________________________________
Making Money $150 An Hour
Comment by Mike — March 1, 2009 @ 4:32 pm |
Writing is a profession that gives bliss to the writer. Writing is an art that I can do for free. Short stories gives us the platform to increase our writing capabilities. So why not start writing and enter for the competition, and who knows?
Comment by Yemi Soneye — March 3, 2009 @ 11:13 am |
Thanks so much for your comments, Yemi.
Yes, I agree writing just does something for your soul. We writers may write for several reasons at different seasons of their lives. Many (like me) decide that there is extra joy for deriving income from your writing- hence SEAWOMAN’S CARIBBEAN WRITING OPPS.
Peace,
Seawoman
Comment by seawoman — April 28, 2009 @ 9:07 pm |
I cannot wait to try my passion and skill… who knows!
Comment by Silvester — May 3, 2009 @ 8:40 pm |