SA WRITERS' COLLEGE NEWS

Issue 28   May 2010 Issue

• College News: SAWC SHORT STORY COMPETITION RESULTS
• Student Showcase
• Spotlight on Alex Smith
• Web Bytes for Writers
• New Articles:
  • Memoir writing: Four tips to help you write for and sell to your audience
  • 10 ways to earn even more money from writing
  • How to earn more money from writing
  • Writing for the Web is a matter of survival

EDITORIAL

I have yet to meet a writer who finds writing easy.

Most writing is like marathon training: hard slog. There's pain, sweat, maybe even tears. Being a writer is uncomfortable, pushes you and leaves you sore for days if your work gets rejected. If you're hoping for an easy run to the finish line, then you're not on the right track.

"Writing a book is a long, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon one can neither resist nor understand." George Orwell

"Writing is the hardest work in the world." Harlan Ellison

"If writing seems hard, it's because it is hard. It's one of the hardest things people do." William Zinsser

"Each day is like an enormous rock that I'm trying to push up this hill." Joyce Carol Oates on writing.

If even the well known writers find it hard, why does anyone bother becoming a writer? For the same reason that athletes run marathons. They love it. They feel compelled to. They press on despite the agony. And so can you.

So if you are caught mid-way through your course right now and you feel like giving up because it's too damn hard, remember this: there's only one thing that will get you to a completed manuscript. It's not talent. It's not genius. It's not education.

Be the one to get to the finish line! Keep writing!

Nichola Meyer: Principal

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Koos Turenhout: Administrator

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http://www.sawriterscollege.co.za/

The Write Your Memoir Course opened for applications this month. This course is for anyone who dreams of writing a memoir, but doesn't know how to get started. The course offers expert, one-on-one training, line by line, by memoirist Lisa Lazarus, and provides a foundation in the craft of memoir. Learn how to set up a writing schedule, plan your memoir and start the process of putting your life story into words.

Finally, we have opened two specialist courses for the corporate market. These are The Business Writing Toolkit and Write Better Newsletter Articles at Work.

We are now official vendors for Vodacom, Nedbank and Metropolitan Life, and other companies we work with include FNB, Standard Bank, Absa, Old Mutual, NowMedia, Bankserve and Stellenbosch University. We will be expanding our business courses to include letter writing, report writing and proposal writing to further develop writing skills in the workplace.

Congratulations to our fabulous winners:

• First prize is awarded to Arthur Bacchus for ‘Line of Sight'
• Second prize is awarded to William Oosthuizen for ‘Board and Lodging'
• Third prize is awarded to Ann Kern for ‘The Colours of Choice'

Read the judges' ratings and comments here.

The winner and author of ‘Line of Sight', Arthur Bacchus received a beautiful Dell laptop as his prize. See Arthur on left receiving his prize from the manager at Incredible Connection.



Arthur wrote to us about his background.

After aimlessly performing clerical duties as a civil servant, first at the Department of Education and then the Department of Health, I abruptly resigned after seventeen years and spent the next three writing and directing short films as part of an Advanced Diploma course in Film and Television

Allow me a moment of indulgence to offer sincere thanks and appreciation to a childhood mentor, Mrs. Veronica Williams, my high school teacher, who instilled in me the love of reading and writing which would ultimately set me on this path. She also convinced me to read authors other than Stephen King! Without her support and encouragement, the already stormy Eighties would certainly have been a drearier place.

Getting married, having two daughters, moving around, somehow meant that for a long time I stopped weaving stories for pleasure. I only started again after getting involved almost by accident with some online writing communities and learned there is always time for something if you really want to do it. I love playing with words, love finding new, more effective ways of combining them, even if my punctuation still leaves a lot to be desired.

One day, of course, I'd love to write a novel. Or two. Just waiting for the right idea to creep up on me.

SAWC Courses:

JOURNALISM:

How to Write a Great Magazine Article

Maak Geld met Vryskutjoernalistiek!

How to Write and Sell your Travel Articles in South Africa

How to Write Travel Articles for Leading International Publications

How to Cover Breaking News Stories

The Insider Know-How to Work as a Broadcast Journalist

CREATIVE WRITING:

Master the Basic Writing Skills Required for All Forms of Creative Writing

Master the Art of the Short Story: All the Writing Training You Need to Write and Sell Your Stories

Write and Sell Your Stage Play, Radio Play or Movie Script

How to Write a Children's Book

How to Write a Novel

Write Your Memoir

Introduction to Poetry Course

Creative Writing for High School Students

Die basiese kreatiewe skryfkursus

Skryf ‘n roman

Skryf ‘n kinderboek

OTHER SPECIALIST WRITING FIELDS:

How to Write a Great Press Release

Give Your Writing a Makeover with a Personal Writing Coach

How to Write Advertising Copy

Writing for the Web

English Second Language. Brush up your Grammar Skills in this rigorous training course

The Business Writing Toolkit

Write Better Newsletter Articles at Work

LATEST SAWC STUDENT NEWS

We would like to congratulate Ashley Symes. Last year Ashley won the SAWC Short Story Competition and elected to complete the ‘Write a Novel' Course as her prize. She has just completed the course, boasting a manuscript of 117 000 words, described as being "eminently publishable" by her tutor, Charlotte Ra ndall.

Congratulations to these students:

• Marks Phasha's article was published in Pretoria News on 11 March.
• Greg Tosi landed a job at a community radio station writing commercials after completing Mandy Speechly's Copywriting Course.
• Choice Mpanza's article was accepted for the June issue of Foschini magazine.
• Karen Taylor-Vermaak's article, "Carbs", has been published in the Fitness Magazine May/June edition
• Jennifer Davies' article, "Bookivore's Crash Diet", was published in the Femina February 2010 edition
• Shannon Hunt completed the Advanced Course in Magazine Journalism. She had one article published in Café magazine, and one in NZ House & Garden Magazine.

Fabulous job, everyone! Keep up the good work.

Congratulations to Aletta Roberts, an entrant in last year's SAWC Short Story Competition. Her story, ‘Elaine's Garden' was accepted for publication in You Magazine.

Congratulations to these students who recently completed their courses:

• Hazel Carlstein passed the ‘Write a Novel' Course with distinction
• Solly Joosub passed the Short Story Writing Course with distinction
• Belinda Blomfield passed the Magazine Journalism course with distinction
• Clara Stein passed the ‘Write a Children's Book' Course with distinction
• Renette van der Merwe passed the Magazine Journalism Course with distinction
• Gillian Palliser passed the Short Story Writing Course with distinction
• Everson Luhanga passed the Basic Grammar Course with distinction
• Ansie de Kock passed the Vryskutjoernalistieke Kursus with distinction
• Karen Fletcher passed the Writing Coach Course with distinction
• Alexandra Elson passed the Basics of Creative Writing Course with distinction
• Sana Patel passed the Short Story Course with distinction
• Carin Pienaar passed the Vryskutjoernalistieke Kursus with distinction
• Ashley Symes passed the ‘Write a Novel' Course with distinction
• Beaulah Pragg passed the Basics of Creative Writing Course with distinction
• Celeste Wood passed the International Travel Writing Course with merit
• Pat Boulton passed the Basics of Creative Writing Course with merit
• Deryn Plutsick passed the ‘Write a Novel' Course with merit
• Albie Fourie passed the Vryskutjoernalistieke Kursus with merit
• Maria Flint passed the Magazine Journalism Course with Merit
• Michelle Marais passed the ‘Write a Novel' Course with merit
• Rob Quintas passed the ‘Write a Great Press Release' Course with merit
• Laura Lindique passed the Business Writing Toolkit with merit
• Jacki Key passed the Travel Writing Course
• Almie Esterhuysen passed the Basiese Kreatiewe Skryfkursus
• Greg Totsi passed the Copywriting Course
• Marks Phasha passed the Hard News Journalism Course
• Alana Jattiem passed the Copywriting Course
• Caroline Goodwin passed the Magazine Journalism Course
• Andrea Scott-Norton passed the Copywriting Course
• Tidimalo Sekoateng passed the Copywriting Course
• Pumani Ayer passed the ‘Write a Novel' Course
• Michelle Dreyer passed the Basics of Creative Writing Course
• Prudence Mahlangu passed the Basics of Creative Writing Course
• Vivek Kholi passed the Writing for the Web Course

LATEST STUDENT FEEDBACK

"I found the course structure and materials very user-friendly and clear. My lecturer/tutor was outstanding - had to wade through very long text installments and did so willingly, with energy and insight and without complaint! I think you have a great product and a great attitude." Ashley Symes, Write a Novel Course, May 2010

"Karen Lotter is an excellent teacher. I appreciate her ability to explain complicated issues in a simple way, easy to understand. This is only possible if the teacher knows her stuff so well that the explanations are effective and simple - even I understood everything!I think you are a great school." Vivek Kohli, Writing for the Web Course, May 2010

"The course was very well presented, easy to follow and very helpful. I feel that I have learnt a substantial amount, and that my writing has improved drastically. Henrietta has been a pleasure to deal with. She was enormously helpful in each of the modules, and I feel that I have a much broader understanding of what it means to be a writer now than I ever did. She is inspiring and manages to critique in a manner which does not offend." Michelle Marais,Write a Novel Course, April 2010

"All I can say about the course evaluation is, keep it up guys. SA needs more writers...I regard you as the only means to challenge the system by establishing as many well-trained journalists as possible." Marks Phasha, Hard News Journalism, March 2010

"Thank you for the copywriting course. It was an excellent course. Getting work so quickly in the industry has been outstanding. I found Mandy to be an excellent lecturer. I especially valued her feedback and comments on my assignments" Greg Tosi, Copywriting Course, March 2010

"I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical, because I thought a college might not be able to give me the same amount of information that a university could, but I was proven wrong with each module. I gained knowledge of more than just the basics and I feel confident to write now.  Karin is truly a wonderful lecturer and I can safely say that she becomes more than just that, she becomes a friend too. She tries to help whenever she can and she gave me very useful tips and tricks." Renette van der Merwe, Magazine Journalism Course, March 2010

"I thought the course was extremely well run and I learnt a great deal from it. It suited me perfectly in terms of doing it part-time and Karin was an enthusiastic and inspirational tutor." Belinda Blomfield, Magazine Journalism, March 2010

"The course content is excellent as it provides very useful writing exercises but encourages you to write your novel at the same time. I like the fact that the emphasis is not on personal introspective analysis. Diane provided invaluable advice and support. I can honestly say that without the course and Diane's incredible support and input, my manuscript would not have been written. I have enjoyed the experience and I feel that my writing has improved substantially." Hazel Carlstein, Write a Novel Course, March 2010

"Yvonne was fantastic! I really valued her feedback and she was extremely encouraging. She really added to my enjoyment of the course. I really enjoyed the course and thought the material was very good." Celeste Wood, International Travel Writing Course, March 2010

"I cannot say enough in praise of the Write a Novel course, and of my tutor Charlotte Randall. When I started the course my confidence in my writing was low - Charlotte put such a lot into my assessments, told me exactly what I was doing wrong, how I could improve - her criticism was always fair and she seemed like a kindred spirit - really understanding what I was trying to do with my characters and with my overall novel. Her feedback was always detailed and prompt, she answered all my questions thoroughly and gave so much extra help and advice. I could not have asked for a better mentor and I will really miss her now that the course is over. Thank you Charlotte." Kathleen Jackson, Write a Novel Course, February 2010

"I have really enjoyed the course. It was a personal journey for me. My tutor was excellent, her feedback extremely objective and well-balanced.  I will certainly recommend your college to other aspiring writers as well. I have already started the novel course." Petro van Rooyen, Scriptwriting, January 2010

"I think the real value of the course is in the feedback you get. The fact that Helen put in a "nice" or "I like that" after a paragraph really inspired me to try and get more of the same. Thanks, Helen! This was my first venture into doing a course on-line as well as a first in creative writing. For me the whole experience was extremely positive. I cannot think of any negative experience I had. For me the course was truly an eye opener, I learnt a lot and can't wait to dig into the Travel Writing Course." Johan Schultz, Basics of Creative Writing Course, January 2010

"It's been an enriching experience and I am definitely a better writer than I was at the start of the course. It's been a pleasure and privilege to have Ginny as my lecturer. She taught me a great deal, and those lessons will continue to be of great value. Thanks." Cornelia Booysen, Short Story Writing Course, January 2010

STUDENT SHOWCASE

For each newsletter we choose some short excerpts from the best student writing assignments received. For this newsletter edition we will also showcase some of the short stories received in the SAWC Short Story Competition.

MAGAZINE JOURNALISM

Gabrielle Sulcas - Module One exercise

You stare at the page for what feels like hours but the words refuse to focus. You realise that you're not ready to work yet and make your way to the tea room, where you bump into your fiery colleague, Samantha. ‘You'll never believe what I heard!' she blurts out. ‘You know Zandi, from Finance? The one who thinks she's so great? Well...'

So, what happens next? Do you politely explain that you're in a hurry and sidestep Samantha? Or do you pull up a chair, huddle close and gobble up the delectable information she's dishing out?

You certainly wouldn't be the only person to admit to option two. However, a new study from the University of Southway shows that gossiping in the workplace can hurt your career. In a survey at the headquarters of a large marketing company, participants who admitted they gossip regularly in the office were half as likely to be promoted as those who seldom gossip.

Gabrielle Sulcas - Module Two exercise for Cosmopolitan

It's one thing to greet your friends with a friendly ‘Hallo' at the dinner table; it's quite another to order a Hallo for starters. But at Sehnsucht, the new kid on the Berlin restaurant block, the Hallo (or lobster bisque) is often followed by the Freedom (goat's cheese salad) and a heavenly Soul (the restaurant's trademark cappuccino dessert) to round off your meal.

Notice the non-foodie names of the dishes? That's just one of the quirks you can expect at Sehnusucht, Berlin's restaurant for anorexics.

‘Anorexics are often shunned by society and made to feel as if they're second-class citizens. Here at Sehnusucht, we want to create a haven where people who suffer from eating disorders feel welcome and safe,' says Martha Berken, the restaurant's owner. ‘Just because they have troubled relationships with food doesn't mean people should be excluded from socialising and employment. That's why we've hired a bulimic waitress and an anorexic chef.'

The restaurant has proved a major success, with Berliners voting it the best new eatery of 2009 in an online poll. But doesn't opening a restaurant for anorexics encourage anorexia? ‘Not at all,' says Berken. ‘At Sehnusucht we create a space where people are comfortable to talk about their problems. A number of customers and staff have so benefited from their experiences in the restaurant that they've been inspired to seek help for their disorders.'

Ariella Caira - Module Two exercise for Cosmopolitan

Blind Date

I'd been pampering myself all afternoon. Scrubbing, buffing, brutalising my stubborn locks with the hot iron until they swung in glossy curls around my shoulders. I'd finally slipped into my favourite LBD, fastened the buckles on my prized Jimmy Choos and, taking one final very, satisfied glance in the mirror, knew I was dressed to kill.

Had I known, however, that approximately 20 minutes later I'd be sitting opposite my date in utter darkness, unable to locate my fork or wine glass, let alone look seductively into his eyes, I probably would have spent a little less time on my mascara. And no, this wasn't a case of a power failure or the chef setting the mains alight. This is apparently how it always is at unsicht-Barin Berlin. The waiters, all of them blind, guide guests into the perpetually dark dining room, where a sensual experience like no other unfolds. 

In such absence of light (even cellphones and lighters are banned) your senses of taste, touch, smell and hearing are automatically heightened so flavours and sounds come alive in an exhilarating new way.  Locating your cutlery and crockery is helped by the use of a clock analogy - your glass at 1 o'clock, your side plate at 9 - and a waiter stays with you throughout your dining experience to answer any questions you might have. 

Dining in the dark may be hazardous in the case of spillages, but it provides a great excuse for accidentally touching your date's hand or rubbing your foot against his leg. ‘Oh dear, I was so sure that was the table leg!' .

HARD NEWS JOURNALISM

By Marks Phasha, Module Ten

WHEN Alpheus Monareng lost his job as a miner in 1994, he did not know of the impact he would have on the lives of others in Mamelodi east's informal settlements.

Monaeng hired two additional labourers. Later, he gave a further four men jobs and also enlisted his son's assistance. Now employing five men, he started looking for a second team to erect shacks to existing structures.

Excerpts from our top three stories

‘Line of Sight' by Arthur Bacchus

Isn't it funny how, when you're looking through a telescopic sight, the tiny circular world on the other end seems so intimate, yet the subjects in it are unaware of your existence?

‘The Colours of Choice' by Ann Kern

SPOTLIGHT ON ... Author Alex Smith                                  Below: Alex in Zambia

Alex Smith is the author of three novels, Algeria's Way, Drinking from the Dragon's Well (longlisted for the Sunday Times Alan Paton Award in 2008) and Four Drunk Beauties, all published by Random House Umuzi.

She has had many short stories published in anthologies and journals, and her short story 'Buffalo Panting at the Moon' was shortlisted for the 2007 SA PEN Literary Awards. Alex was also shortlisted for the 2009 PEN/Studzinski Literary Award, won a silver award in the Sanlam Youth Literature Competition in March 2010 and was recently nominated for the prestigious Caine Prize for African Writing.

Q. How did you become a writer?

Mm, that's a strange idea, 'becoming a writer', like the beginning of a story. Wherever you pick for the story to begin is arbitrary because a story has so many possible beginnings. Iain M Banks begins The Algebraist, a space opera of a novel, with a paragraph to that effect.

One possible beginning in this case: in high school I wrote a shoddy adventure novel, inspired by Ian Fleming and set in Mauritius. Thankfully that manuscript has vanished, unpublished. More obvious a beginning, I suppose, was when I quit my good day job, sold my house and everything else I had, walked the Camino de Santiago, and then rented a labourer's cottage on a rose farm in Stellenbosch, where I took up writing full time. That's where I wrote the first draft of my first published novel.

Q: What has been your greatest writing achievement?

Probably not giving up. Achievements are overrated virtues.

Q. How do you decide what to write about? Where do you get ideas?

Everything is inspiring; it can be overwhelming. Not all ideas are keepers, though. Usually I leave an idea alone and if it returns over and over again then I do something about it.

Q. How easy is it to make a living as a writer?

It's not easy, but very near to impossible to make a living as a creative writer in South Africa. I believe if you can get into scriptwriting that is lucrative. Journalism is something else altogether.

Q. What general advice would you give aspirant writers/journalists just starting out?

Journalists are in a different world - there are real jobs for journalists. I'd say to a person thinking of making creative writing their career, what my aunt once said to me: don't do it unless you can't live without it. Anne Landsman, winner of the Sunday Times Fiction Award in 2009, said at the Cape Town book fair last year that she feels writing is a vocation.

Q: What do you consider to be the most important writing tip you ever received?

Go back and rewrite it. Go back and rewrite the rewrite.

Read the rest...

WEB BYTES FOR WRITERS

Under the volcano

As the dust settles - literally - on the 2010 London International Book Fair, agents and publishers are weighing up the damage in terms of cancelled meetings and lost opportunities as flight restrictions prevented many foreign visitors from reaching Earls Court. Normally the major publishing event of the year, at which deals are done, international rights are negotiated and titles are pitched by agents, it was eerily quiet when I attended this week.

It's hard not to feel sympathy for the South African delegation, the subject of this year's Market Focus. They and the fair's organisers had been planning this for the past 12 months, and in the event many participants were unable to attend. The main speaker, the businesswoman and anti-apartheid activist Mamphela Ramphele, was marooned in South Africa, while the High Commissioner, Zola Skweyiya, stood in for the absent Minister of Culture. Fortunately André Brink, Tuesday's Author of the Day, was already in Europe when the volcano erupted, and drew a large crowd at the Pen Literary Café.

Read more

How a company produces 272 930 books a year

When Bowker's 2009 book industry stats were released, many in the industry were stunned to see an unfamiliar company name, BiblioBazaar, leading a surging new segment of ‘non-traditional' publishing stats with a whopping 272 930 titles produced in 2009 - almost as many titles as the entire ‘traditional' publishing business cranked out last year. Could it be? Could one little-known company really produce so much volume?

While e-books, iPads and Kindles have dominated the headlines, BiblioLife, parent company of BiblioBazaar, is one of a handful of smart, new, technology-enabled companies driving an exciting trend in the publishing world. Working closely with libraries, archives and aggregators, the company puts out-of-copyright books back into good old-fashioned print, one copy at a time, using print-on-demand technology.

Read more

Visual artists to sue Google over vast library project

The American Society of Media Photographers and other groups representing visual artists plan to file a class-action lawsuit against Google, asserting that the company's efforts to digitise millions of books from libraries amounts to large-scale infringement of their copyrights. The lawsuit, in some respects, mirrors the complaints filed in 2005 by the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers when they first opposed Google's library project on copyright grounds.

Those groups have since agreed to a sweeping $125 million settlement that, if approved, would allow Google to make available and sell digital copies of millions of out-of-print books. The settlement would also give authors and publishers new ways to make money from digital copies of their work.

Read more

Tweets are the new quotes

Have you ever been quoted in a news article or blog post? If so, you know it can be a strange experience: you recognise your words, but they never sound quite right. It's the peril of transcription.

How to turn your blog's readers into paying customers

A new company called OpenSky lets the users of social sites turn them into a business by selling things to their friends, fans and followers. Bloggers or Web site creators who use OpenSky can suggest that a supplier sell goods through OpenSky, or can pick goods from OpenSky's stable of sellers. Sellers include companies that make custom cupcakes, reusable shopping bags and hand towels. They can set up shops on their sites or simply link to a product. When someone buys it, OpenSky handles the transaction, the supplier ships it and OpenSky and the Web site creator split the profit evenly.

LATEST ARTICLES

As a writer, you probably read the stories about writers who are working from home and making six-figure salaries with envy, and wonder, ‘Why can't that be me? I must not be good enough to make that kind of money.' I'm here to tell you that it's possible for anyone to build a very successful freelance writing career and earn a six-figure salary, while never leaving home.

Writing for the Web is very different from writing for print. Honest. I'm not just saying so ‘cause I want to make some bucks from my Writing for the Web course at SA Writers College. (Well, that would be good too, but this article is a bit more about the whys and hows, rather than the smoking new netbook I want to buy). Writing for the web is a matter of survival.

People read differently on the Web

The first reason you need to write in a different way for the Web is because people read differently on the Web. (And by the Web, I mean the whole World Wide Web - you know websites, blogs, Facebook - everything on the Internet.)

According to Web usability guru, Jakob Nielsen, writing for the Web is very different from writing for print:

• 79% of users scan the page instead of reading word-for-word
• Reading from computer screens is 25% slower than from paper
• Web content should have at the least 50% of the word count of its paper equivalent

So, take a guess: where do your eyes go first when you read articles on the Web? What do you notice, and what do you miss?

Read the rest ...

ENTER THESE COMPETITIONS

• Aesthetica Creative Works Competition 2010

What it is: An internationally recognised competition for identifying new artists and writers and bringing them to global attention. Previous finalists have achieved success and recognition with accolades including writing commissions from Channel 4, selection to represent Australia in the Florence Biennale, exhibitions at DACS (London), John Martin Gallery (London) and Flores Fine Art Gallery (New York), and inclusion in the International Drawing Competition exhibition (Poland) and the National Geographic International Photographic exhibition.

Rules: The Competition has three categories, Artwork, Poetry and Fiction. Winners and finalists are published in the Aesthetica Creative Works Annual. Winners of each category receive £500 prize money. Entry to the Creative Works Competition is £10. The entry fee allows the submission of 2 images, 2 poems or 2 short stories. Poems must be no more than 40 lines each.

Closing date: 31 August

For more details: http://authors.org.nz/ra.asp?m=63&p=7210&url=http://www.aestheticamagazine.com/submission_guide.htm 

• Trinity Guildhall International Playwriting Competition

What it is: A competition to stimulate creativity and artistic enterprise across an inclusive international and multicultural constituency of participants on an affordable basis; to provide opportunities and encouragement for new, aspiring (and possibly established) writers to create plays for children and young people; to generate new drama repertoire for schools, colleges and children/young people's theatre companies and organisations; and to acknowledge outstanding achievement in these areas by providing cash prizes and publishing and production opportunities for the winning entrants.

Rules: The competition is open to entrants from anywhere in the world. Writers are asked to submit a one-act play intended for young audiences. There are two categories, one for audiences of 11 and under, and the other for 12- to 16-year-olds. Writers can be of any age. Plays must be written in English. Entries must be submitted either as an email attachment or hard copy. A registration fee is payable to cover costs of administration and reading.

Closing date: 1 July

For more details: http://authors.org.nz/ra.asp?m=63&p=7210&url=http://www.trinitycollege.co.uk/site/?id=1996

• The Bridport Prize

What it is: A writing competition for short stories, poems and flash fiction, offering big-money prizes to the winners.

Rules: It's open to anyone over the age of 16 years. There is a stated maximum number of words for each entry. There is an entry fee. Entries must be in English. Prizes for both short story and poetry categories are 1st £5 000, 2nd £1 000 and 3rd £500. The prize for winning flash fiction category is £1 000.

Closing date: 30 June

For more details: http://www.bridportprize.org.uk/