Short Story Competition

UPDATE: Submissions are now closed! Thank you to all participants.

Calling all writers!

Do you want to share your creative writing with UBC’s English community? Now is your chance! The ESA is hosting a short story competition where all UBC students can submit their creative work to be posted on the blog. The ESA’s members will then vote on their favourite submission to select a winner and two runner-ups. Prizes will be rewarded to all top three participants, with first-place featuring an opportunity to have their work included in the English department’s alumni newsletter. The prizes will be revealed in mid-January.

This is an excellent opportunity to get your name out there. Your work will be shared with a dedicated community of English students on a website with an extensive history of pushing forward daring scholarly articles.

Prompts

Although you do not need to limit yourself to these ideas, we have created a few prompts to help inspire participants. They follow:

• temperature changes
• isolation
• small towns
• gatherings

Instructions, submission details, and dates

1. Submit your short narrative (prose, poetry, or any other form of creative writing in either the fiction or non-fiction realm) to blog@ubcenglish.com by 11:59 PM on February 3, 2022. Submissions should be as a word (.docx or .doc) document. Photos can be included but are optional. Please attach seperately as a PNG or JPEG file.
2. On Feburary 4, the voting period will open to all ESA members, a link to a poll will be emailed out to members. Again- please remember that only members can vote. To become a member, please read here: https://www.ubcenglish.com/memberships/
3. Voting closes February 11.
4. On February 14, the winners will be contacted. A public announcement will be made shortly after once everything has been confirmed.

Rules

1. Your story cannot exceed 1500 words.
2. Your submission must oblige to UBC’s Policies and Guidelines (https://academic.ubc.ca/academic-community/ubc-policies-guidelines).
3. By applying, you consent to having your work and name published to the website. Please note that you can request for your post to use a pen name, however, you must state your actual name in your email.
4. The ESA’s executive team holds the right to refuse publication of any work.

Please feel free to email blog@ubcenglish.com with any questions, or message our Instagram @UBC_ESA!

We look forward to sharing your work with the world.

Prizes

First place- $50 UBC Bookstore gift card

Second place- $25 UBC Bookstore gift card

Third place- your choice of a UBC English mug or metal water bottle

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FAQ

Is there a minimum word count?

Nope! There is only a maximum word count.

Can non-English majors participate?

Yes! Even though the primary audience is UBC’s English community, we understand that those interested in literature extend outside this circle.

How many entries am I allowed?

Each participant may only be allowed one entry- so make it count!

Will late entries be allowed?

Unfortunately, no. All posts must be submitted by the due date to allow equal time on the website for the duration of the voting period. We also need to select winners by a specific date for the possibility to be featured in the alumni newsletter.

Will only winners be contacted?

Only those who place in the top three will be contacted by blog@ubcenglish.com.

I’m a participant and see something wrong with my post! What should I do?

Please contact Atticus at blog@ubcenglish.com (same email you sent your submission) to have it fixed.