Short Story Competition

This competition is now closed; entries can be found here.

Epsom, Sutton and Cheam Time & Leisure has teamed up with Sutton Writers’ Circle and Waterstones bookshop, Sutton to launch its first Short Story Competition.

Stories on any topic will be welcomed from readers, with a strict deadline for entries of Friday 6 April, 2012. There will be two age categories: Adults aged over 21 years, and Young Adults, aged 16 to 20 years. Final details of prizes will be revealed over the coming weeks, but the winners in both categories will be published in Epsom, Sutton and Cheam Time & Leisure magazine – and online. In addition the winners will be presented with a certificate and a hamper of books from Waterstones at a special presentation at Waterstones’ Sutton store on Thursday 3 May – and a year’s free membership, from Sutton Writers.

The competition follows Time & Leisure’s profile of the Sutton Writers’ Circle in the March issue of the magazine and gives talented writers from the Epsom, Sutton, Cheam and Banstead areas a timely opportunity to develop their work. Waterstones is also featuring books written by published local writers in a display in its Sutton store, from the end of February.

Conditions attached to entry:

• Entry is free. Stories on any topic are invited, with a strict limit of 500 words. Entries over this will be penalised. A short title is also required.
• Only one story may be submitted per entrant
• Closing date for entries: Friday 6 April (5.30pm).
• Entrants should email their stories, as Word files, to: online@timeandleisure.co.uk, with the subject line ‘Short Story Competition’. Each story should be accompanied by the author’s name, age, address and either phone number or email address. Each entry will be given a random number to identify the author, whose name will be removed from the file before being passed to the judges - who will be drawn from Waterstones and Sutton Writers.
• The judges’ decision is final. Shortlisted entrants will be invited to the presentation on Thursday 3 May.