WRITING AWARD

UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE WRITING AWARD


1)http://perseus. herts.ac. uk/uhinfo/ extrel/uharts/ awards.cfm


NO ENTRY FEE


Entrants are invited to submit a short story of up to3,500 words on the theme of 'vision'. 1st prize£1,000, 2nd prize £500, 3rd prize £300, 4th prize£200. The winner will also be able to apply for the UHWriting Award three-year scholarship to the Universityof Hertfordshire, study commencing in 2007.The top twenty stories will be published in an anthology by the University of Hertfordshire Press. Deadline-January 15, 2007.

2) CommonTies would pay $200 for personal stories orstories about people that are compelling. There is noneed to use real names. Sample stories are in their website: http://www.commonties.com/about.php

3) OV Books Announces Its Third Title!

OV Books, the book imprint of Other Voices magazine (and publisher of the acclaimed short story collection SIMPLIFY by Tod Goldberg), will consider short fiction submissions for its third book, a cross-cultural anthology titled A STRANGER AMONG US. The book will be distributed by University of Illinois Press and will be released in late 2007. A STRANGER AMONG US will focus on stories of cross-cultural collisions/bonds, encompassing a wide variety of ethnicities, races and nationalities.

Any work that tells the story of what happens when a member of one culture finds him/herself in relationship with members of an "other" culture is eligible. (Jhumpa Lahiri's "The Third and Final Continent" would be an excellent example of this theme.)
Other, hypothetical examples of plots might include:

• 
  A Brit living in Thailand

• A Native-American college student at an Ivy League university

• An African-American family moves to an all-Caucasian suburb

• A gay man on a dominantly heterosexual sports team

• * A wedding brings together a Latino family and a Jewish family

• A Muslim academic goes to the American South for a conference

• A Nigerian woman and African-American man meet on Match.com

The sky is the limit! Writers of all ethnicities and races are eligible. Writers do not need to be of the same "group" as the characters they are writing about; the only critereon is excellence of the fiction submitted. Writers should avoid "editorializing" or political preaching in their stories, and focus on the dynamics of character and plot, letting the cultural issues rise organically from the material.OV Books will read submissions from June 1 to December 31, 2006.
No entry fee. Enclose SASE for response only. One story per writer, unless invited to submit more work. No emailed submissions, please. 8,000 word limit. Previously published pieces are eligible.
Mail to:OV BooksDepartment of English (MC 162)601 S. Morgan StreetChicago, IL 60607.

Inquiries should be directed to othervoices@listserv.uic.edu