Sunday Star-Times Short Story Competition 2010

Entries are now open for the annual Sunday Star Times Short Story Competition 2010. The writing competition carries a first prize of $5000 in cash. Generous cash prizes together with book prizes from Random House are up for grabs too in both the open and secondary school divisions. Plus the writing competition also offers a special prize of $200 in books for the best short story from an unpublished writer.

The prestigious Sunday Star Times Short Story contest which seeks to encourage aspiring New Zealand writers has been operating since 1984. Past winners of the short story competition have included many notable New Zealand writers such as Norman Bilbrough, Judith White, Barbara Anderson, Linda Olsson and Sarah Quigley.

The Sunday Star Times Short Story Competition 2010 will be judged by noted New Zealand writers Charlotte Grimshaw and Joy Cowley. There is also a Peoples' Choice Award where excerpts from the ten finalists' stories will be published online and the winner decided entirely by public vote. $750 cash plus $250 worth of books from Random House and the story published in Sunday Star-Times will be awarded to the winner of the People's Choice.

The winners of the Sunday Star Times Short Story Competition 2010 will be announced in the Sunday Star-Times and on the Sunday Star-Times website (www.shortstory.co.nz) on October 31, 2010. The winning three stories will be published in the Sunday Star-Times.

Read last year's winning short story in the open section The Concentrators by Sue Francis.

Prizes

OPEN DIVISION
1st prize: $5000 cash, story published in the Sunday Star-Times and $500 worth of books from Random House
2nd prize: $2000 cash, story published in the Sunday Star-Times and $300 worth of books from Random House
3rd prize: $1000 cash, story published in the Sunday Star-Times and $200 worth of books from Random House

SECONDARY SCHOOL DIVISION
1st prize: $1000 cash, story published in the Sunday Star-Times, work experience day at Random House (day imediately after awards ceremony) PLUS $500 worth of Random House books and a $500 Whitcoulls gift card for the finalist’s school.
2nd prize: $500 cash, story published in the Sunday Star-Times PLUS $300 worth of Random House books and a $300 Whitcoulls gift card for the finalist’s school
3rd prize: $250 cash, story published in the Sunday Star-Times PLUS $200 worth of Random House books and a $200 Whitcoulls gift card for the finalist’s school.

BEST UNPUBLISHED WRITER
Time with fiction publisher Harriet Allan and $200 worth of books from Random House.

PEOPLES’ CHOICE AWARD
$750 cash, story published in Sunday Star-Times and $250 worth of books from Random House.


Submission Guidelines

1. Entry is open to New Zealand permanent residents only
2. Stories must be the original work of the entrant and must not have been published or broadcast or entered into any other competition until after November 1, 2010
3. The maximum length of entries is 3000 words
4. All entries must be accompanied by a manuscript, typed in English, double-spaced and on one side of A4 paper only
5. All personal information is to be printed on a separate cover page, with only page numbers and story title on all other pages
6. The Secondary School Division is open only to secondary school students. Entrants must be enrolled and attending a secondary school in New Zealand up to August 29, 2010

Closing Date: Friday August 27 2010 at 5pm

Download Sunday Star-Times Short Story Competition 2010 Official Entry Form

Send the completed entry form and your manuscript to:
Sunday Star-Times Short Story Competition, PO Box 1074, Auckland 1140.

Full Submission Guidelines