The London Short Story Prize 2019 is open for entries. The Prize was launched in 2013 to platform talented short story writers in London. To date we have published six anthologies, celebrated six winners, have run two London Short Story Festivals and profiled over 50 talented short story writers. Now in its seventh year, our annual prize seeks to discover, publish and profile the best stories and writers coming out of the capital this year.
The winner of the London Short Story Prize 2019 will receive £1000 and their short story will be published in Open Pen London. Two highly commended writers will each receive £250. The full longlist will see their short stories published in the London Short Story Prize 2019 Anthology.
2019 judges
This year’s judges are writers Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, Eley Williams and literary agent, Charlotte Seymour from Andrew Nurnberg Associates.
You can find out more about them and what they’re looking for here: https://www.spreadtheword.org.uk/the-london-short-story-prize-2019-judges/
Timeline
The Prize opens for entries at midday on Friday 14 June and will close at 5pm on Monday 7 October. The longlist will be announced the week commencing 11 November and the winners announced on Tuesday 3 December. The top twelve entries will be published in an anthology which will be launched in April 2020.
Eligibility
The London Short Story Prize is for writers aged 18+ and living in London. Entries must be unpublished and under 5000 words. Please make sure that you read the London Short Story Prize 2019 Rules before entering your story into the Prize.
Entering the Prize
Entry into the Prize is £10 per entry and multiple entries are permitted. Writers can submit via our Submittable page or via postal entry. All postal entries must have a postal entry form attached with their entries and cheques must be addressed to Spread the Word. The deadline is 5pm on Monday 7 October and any entries received after this will not be entered into the Prize.
You can enter via Submittable here: https://spreadtheword.submittable.com/submit/142177/london-short-story-prize-2019
The address to send postal entries to is: Aliya Gulamani c/o London Short Story Prize 2019, Spread the Word, The Albany, Douglas Way, SE8 4AG. Postal forms are available to download here.
Access and inclusivity
This year we’re offering free entry to up to 50 writers with low-income who are not earning the London living wage, are in receipt of benefits and/or disability allowance, have no income or are on zero hours contracts. There is no deadline to apply for a free entry but as these will be offered on a first come, first served basis, we recommend applying earlier. Writers offered a free entry will have the same deadline as the general entries to submit their story into the competition (5pm, Monday 7 October). For more information on how to apply for this, please visit: https://www.spreadtheword.org.uk/50-free-entries-for-low-income-writers-for-the-london-short-story-prize-2019/
We’re also offering writers with a disability the opportunity to submit their story into the Prize through a different format. Please e-mail [email protected], describing how you’d like to submit your story and we will set up the appropriate channels for you. Please note that all stories selected for publication in The London Short Story Prize 2019 Anthology will be translated into written English.
If you have any further questions, please check out our the London Short Story Prize 2019 FAQs here.
We’re looking forward to receiving your stories!
Published 14 June 2019