If you’re an unpublished writer who likes to think outside the box, the University of Sheffield’s new Experimental Writing Prize might be just the competition for you. It’s a great opportunity to get your work out there and get recognition, along with book vouchers and two hours of mentoring from Lecturer in Creative Writing, Clare Fisher. This could be an excellent steppingstone for your literary career. This year is the inaugural run of the contest, and will be judged by the University of Sheffield English department.
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The competition has a few requirements for entry. Entrants must be 16 years old or older, be a UK resident, and be yet to publish a book-length work. Staff and students from the University of Sheffield are not eligible to enter. In other words, the contest is run by the university but aimed for those who are not a part of the university.
Entries must be no longer than 1500 words, and contestants are limited to one entry per person. This entry must not be published or in consideration elsewhere. It can be submitted as a Word, docx or pdf attachment and emailed to [email protected] It should be accompanied with a bio of 50 words in the third person, as well as your name, age, contact details, and the title of the piece. It must be submitted by April 28th at 5pm.
A representative of the contest stated: “The prize is being run in conjunction with Route57, the University of Sheffield’s creative writing journal and is open to unpublished writers outside of the University.
“The creative writing team in our School of English, and our MA creative writing course in particular, focus on and champion writing that takes risks, breaks moulds, and purposefully blurs the boundaries between poetry and fiction – indeed, these are labels which academics in our creative writing team are keen to lose. As such, they wanted to offer a platform where aspiring writers whose work might fall through the cracks of most short story or poetry prizes, might be championed and rewarded. They’re really excited to read the submissions.”
Not sure what to write for the experimental writing prize? Aim to break boundaries and explore something new in your writing. The contest accepts quotations, illustrations, and other visual material, so you can include these if you like. So go ahead and get writing.
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