The 13th annual Okanagan Short Fiction Contest is now accepting short stories from the Okanagan region. Award-winning author Annabel Lyon (The Golden Mean) will select the best three stories to be awarded cash prizes in Spring 2011.
The contest invites all Southern Interior writers east of Hope, west of the Alberta border, north of the U.S. border and south of William’s Lake to submit their original unpublished works of fiction.
The deadline for submissions is Monday, January 31, 2011.
“The Okanagan Short Fiction Contest is wonderful because it simultaneously promotes the development of local Okanagan writers and draws attention to the budding creative writing community in the interior,” says Kelowna spoken-word artist Erin Banks.
The contest organizers are relieved that the Central Okanagan Foundation is supporting the contest again this year, despite its funds having been greatly jeopardized by the economic recession.
Cash prizes are offered for the best adult short fiction from the Southern Interior. Stories ranging from 1,000 to 4,000 words are eligible; all entries must be original, unpublished works of fiction, submitted on 8 ½” by 11” plain white paper, double-spaced and typed. There is no limit on the number of entries, but a $15 entry fee is required with each. Cheques should be made payable to “UBC.”
Winners will receive cash prizes of $500 for first prize, $200 for second and $100 for third, and they participate in a public reading with contest judge Annabel Lyon, on March 10, 2011.
The Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at UBC in the Okanagan, Okanagan College, CBC Radio One and the Central Okanagan Foundation are proud sponsors of the Okanagan Short Fiction Contest.
Mail entries and a $15 cheque (payable to “UBC”) to:
Okanagan Short Fiction Contest
c/o Irma Ronkkonen, CRWR Support
Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies
The University of British Columbia
FINA 162, 3333 University Way
Kelowna, B.C.
V1V 1V7
For more info, contact Michael V. Smith at 250-807-9706 (michael.v.smith@ubc.ca).
Complete contest rules are online at www.okstorycontest.org.
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