Short Story Competition 2012

The Birmingham Book Festival is proud to present this year’s Short Story Competition, sponsored by Toye, Kenning & Spencer (www.toye.com)

The deadline for entering has now passed. Good luck to all those who entered stories based on the theme of ‘clocks’! Winners will be notified by the 16th March 2012.

Our jury, along with guest judge Judith Allnatt (A Mile Of River, The Poet’s Wife) will decide which stories are the best and the winners will be announced in the spring. The winner receives £100 and a writing workshop of choice (full programme will follow later); £50 is awarded to the second prize winner; and two runners up will receive free tickets to a Birmingham Book Festival performance of choice. But that’s not all: each prize winner will read their short story during a special celebratory event!

Judith Allnatt is an acclaimed short story writer and novelist. Her latest novel, The Poet’s Wife, was shortlisted for the East Midlands Book Award. It tells the story of the poet John Clare and his wife Patty Turner: a story of poems and passion, genius and madness.

Judith’s first novel, A Mile of River, was selected as Simon Mayo’s Book of the Month on Radio 5 Live and was shortlisted for the Portico Prize for Literature. Short stories have featured in the Bridport Prize Anthology, the Commonwealth Short Story Awards, and on BBC Radio 4.

Judith lectures on creative writing for various universities and freelance, and is currently working on her third novel. 

You can find out more about Judith on her website, www.judithallnatt.co.uk