Category Archives: Short fiction

Longlist announced for the 2017 OWT short fiction prize 2

by • OWT short fiction competition, Short fiction • Tags:

We have a longlist! It’s a slightly longer long list than initially intended because we ran out of time and couldn’t resolve all our arguments – narrowing 300 entries down to 40 was tough enough, and narrowing 40 down to 30 would have taken at least another week.

First, let me say a massive thank you to everyone who entered: it’s been a delight reading such an amazing variety of writing, and it’s been really hard to select just 40 pieces to go forward to the next stage of judging. Many of our choices came down to subjective factors: there are stories we couldn’t fit onto the longlist that I’m sure will find success in other markets.

However, for all the stories we’re sorry to lose at this stage, we’re thrilled with the quality of work we have left. The list features experienced, many-times published and prize-winning authors, but also includes many exciting new voices. We have stories from almost every continent in the world. The next round of judging won’t get any easier, but we’ll be announcing a shortlist of 12 on April 12th.

Congratulations to the following authors who have been longlisted for the 2017 Online Writing Tips Short Fiction Prize:

  1. Lucas Aresin
  2. Sudha Balagopal
  3. Carol Bruer
  4. Jeff Burd
  5. Laura Cardona
  6. Peter Chawaga
  7. Jules Ross Davidson
  8. William Dickey
  9. Darrel Duckworth
  10. Jacqueline Elliott
  11. Joe Giordano
  12. Stephanie Gorniak
  13. Anita Goveas
  14. Sleiman El Hajj
  15. Rinat Harel
  16. Nada Holland
  17. Yana Kertes
  18. Hannah Kubiak
  19. Alaric Lejano
  20. Margaret Lesh
  21. Nathan Alling Long
  22. Paige Lowe
  23. Rebecca Lukowski
  24. Mathabo Masilela
  25. Jill Campbell Mason
  26. Liam Mason
  27. Douglas W. Milliken
  28. Mike Pearcy
  29. Melanie Rees
  30. David Sexton
  31. James Smith
  32. Krystal Song
  33. Eric Taylor
  34. Ian Thompson
  35. Norman Turrell
  36. Mark Webber
  37. Hannah Whiteoak
  38. D.K. Whittaker
  39. Lynette Willoughby
  40. Linda Xia

OWT short fiction competition – update Reply

by • featured market, Getting published, OWT short fiction competition, Short fiction • Tags: , , ,

The 2017 OWT short fiction competition is now closed for entries. We have received exactly 300 entries – exactly! (The round number seems to us in some way significant.) That’s more than double the number of entries we received last year. We are thrilled – and a little overwhelmed – by the volume and range of submissions we’ve received.

The judging now begins. Alas, we have only three prizes to award, so we apologise that there is no way we can give all entries the recognition that they deserve. Please know how grateful we are to everyone who shared their work, and please remember that with so many strong pieces our choices will inevitably be subjective.

Given the volume of entries, we plan to make our selections in two stages. In the first instance our aim is to narrow the field to a longlist, which we plan to announce on Wednesday 29th March. We will announce authors by their name (or pen name), but, so as not to hinder non-winning entrants’ chances of publishing their stories elsewhere, we will not publish story titles at this stage. Please be patient as we try to choose between so many excellent pieces of writing. Thank you and good luck!

 

 

The 2017 OWT Short Fiction Prize – deadline March 15th! Reply

by • featured market, Getting published, OWT short fiction competition, Short fiction, Uncategorized • Tags: , , ,

Beware the Ides of March! Today is World Book Day, which means you have just under a fortnight to get your entries in for this year’s Online Writing Tips Short Fiction Prize. Remember:

– It’s free to enter
– There are three cash prizes
– We accept stories of 1000-4000 words on any theme

You can find the full submission details here. Good luck – you’ve got to be in it to win it!

story-prize-poster 2017

James Purdy’s “Cutting Edge” and Hemingway’s iceberg (tip 74) 2

by • Selecting your material, Short fiction, Subject and theme • Tags: , , , , , , ,

D.D. Johnston discusses James Purdy’s short story “Cutting Edge” as an example of how a seemingly insignificant conflict can make for high drama when it stands for something bigger. In “Cutting Edge” the question of a young man’s beard becomes the symbolic terrain on which an inter-generational battle is fought. The story is about moral values and the future of America, but all of this is left unsaid, lurking below the water – after all, when people argue they rarely refer explicitly to what they’re really arguing about. In this sense, Purdy’s short story can be said to demonstrate Ernest Hemingway’s “Iceberg principle.” You can read the full story here.

read video transcript

Online Writing Tips Short Fiction Prize 2017 4

by • featured market, OWT short fiction competition, Short fiction • Tags: , , , ,

We hope you’ve all had a great summer and are ready to do some serious writing. After an unprecedentedly profitable first two quarters of 2016, the OWT team were able to spend our vacation touring Greek islands on the Online Writing Tips yacht. The good news is that you too can live like this, by winning the richest literary prize currently offered anywhere on this website.

Yes, the Online Writing Tips Short Fiction Prize is back for 2017, and the deadline has just been announced as midnight on March 15th (GMT). It’s free to enter and international entrants are welcome. There’s no theme, but to get an idea of what we’re looking for, check out the runner up and winning story from 2016. In 2017, first prize will be a sumptuous £100, with £50 for second place, and £25 for third. All the submission information is available here – good luck!

story-prize-poster 2017