UK Short Story Competition Open Now!

Calling all British Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) writers- this competition needs your talent!

This year heralds the third annual BAME short story competition run by The Guardian Newspaper and 4th Estate team. The prize celebrates the talents of British ethnic minority writers who are in need of representation and promotion.

The winner will receive a chance to win £1,000, an exclusive one‑day publishing workshop and a taste of online publication.

Last year’s winner, Lisa Smith, had her story Auld Lang Syne published on the Guardian news website. The story follows a man in his 70s, Rufus Samuels, during an evening in jail after an altercation with his much younger girlfriend. It is a absorbing story of masculinity and ageing.

“Writing is exposing, so to have people from the literary world praise my work and reward it was a tremendous boost to my confidence.”

Sian Cain, Guardian books site editor and competition judge said of the short story:

“(It’s) a perfect example of what the short story can do when the form is at its best: containing as much of an emotional blow as that of a 800-page novel, regardless of its brevity.”

The prize is open to all Black, Asian, minority ethnic writers aged 18 or over who live in the UK or Ireland.

Judges include award-winning writer Reni Eddo-Lodge, journalist Sarah Shaffi, Mostly Lit podcast co-host Alex Reads, agent Elise Dillsworth and 4th Estate commissioning editor Anna Kelly.

Manuscripts of up to 6,000 words should be submitted to 4thestate.co.uk/prize.

Deadline for entries is the 1st of June 2018.

Entrants will have to wait until September for the winner announcement.