2017 Short Story Competition Now Open

Do you love to tell a good story? Are you imaginative? Do you have the urge to put pen to paper?

The Prescot Festival Short Story Competition is back, and this year, the theme is Clocking Off. The writer of the winning short story is set to gain a cheque for £100.

To help and inspire budding authors, we’ve created a word cloud. Entrants are expected to write up to 1,000 words of original fiction, and it is their choice how to interpret the theme. Read the full rules below:

1. To enter, you must live in one of the following six boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Halton, Wirral or Liverpool. You must not have had a piece of fictional writing professionally published, ie, in return for payment. There are no age restrictions. Only one entry per person is allowed.

2. The story you submit must be inspired in some way by the following theme: CLOCKING OFF. It is your choice how to interpret the theme. The story must be your own original work of fiction (no biography, poetry or nonfiction), unpublished, in English, and with no more than 1,000 words. There is no minimum word count.

3. Print or type your story on A4 paper in size 12 font. Include a page number and the title of the story in the header or footer of each page, but do not include your name or any identifying details on any of the pages. Include a separate title page containing the following information: Full name, address, telephone number, email address, title of story.

4. The closing date for the competition is Friday 26 May 2017. All entries must be received by then. Send your entry to: Prescot Festival Short Story Competition, 12 Earle Avenue, Roby, L36 4JP.

5. A panel of judges will read the stories, whose writers remain anonymous, and decide a winner. The judges’ decision is final. They may award runner-up prizes at their discretion.

6. The winner will receive a prize of £100, to be awarded in person at the Prescot Festival Finale at Prescot Parish Church, at 7.30pm on Sunday 25 June 2017, or shortly afterwards by post if they cannot attend. The winner will be notified before the event, and their name posted to the festival website on Monday 26 June 2017.

7. You retain full copyright of your story, but by submitting it, you give the Prescot Festival permission to republish it online or in print, naming you as author.