I rarely enter
competitions but I’ve won a few decent prizes and been short-listed on
occasion.
Success
in World Wide Writers competition included publication in a very nice
glossy magazine, voted one of the top 20 in the world by influential American
magazine Writers’ Digest. World Wide Writers paid out substantial
prize money but is now sadly defunct, having been merged (without trace as far
as I can see) into its sister magazine, Writers Forum.
Competitions
run by small press magazines (see my links page for a selection) are worth
entering because they help to keep the magazines in print; the prize money is
incidental.
The Bridport Prize offers £5,000 and
considerable kudos. Another well regarded competition is the Fish Prize - €10,000 (
In July
2000, my story For a Yellow Jersey, already a first prizewinner, won
World Wide Writers £3,000 award for Best Short Story of the year. Allan Prior, author of
20 novels, 250 television scripts and 70 radio plays was the judge. His
comments on For a Yellow Jersey were: A tour of the Tour de France! I
felt I was in the saddle all through this long short story, so gripping – on a
high technical and emotional level – was this vivid and informative piece of
writing… Fit for the New Yorker at least.
Some of my other
prizewinners are:
Resja
Downsized
Scorpio, Scorpio...
Man of the
House
Bless me
Father
Love-All
Malenkaya
The Angel of
Kresnik