The 2018 Benedict Kiely Short Story Competition

2018 brings the second annual Benedict Kiely Short Story Competition and we’re open for submissions.

The competition is open to both published and aspiring writers alike, so long as they are over the age of sixteen, and gives you the opportunity to have your work become part of, and be associated with, a festival that has hosted some of Ireland’s greatest literary figures.

Submissions should be aimed at adults. There is no set theme, but the word count should be in the region of 2,000 words.

Entries cost £5 which goes towards funding the competition prize money. Any further money raised from entry fees will go entirely towards funding the Omagh Literary Festival, organised by the Omagh Arts Committee, a small, voluntary organisation.

E-MAIL SUBMISSION AND PAYPAL ENTRY FEE:

• Send your submission to kiely.submissions@gmail.com 
• Submissions costs £5 which is payable via PayPal using the same e-mail: kiely.submissions@gmail.com NOTE: Select “send to friend” when sending to avoid incurring fees.
• A maximum of two entries is allowed. The second entry comes at a reduced fee of £3. I.e an entry of two short stories should come with a combined payment of £8.
• Entries without a related PayPal transfer cannot be accepted. You should receive a confirmation e-mail from PayPal upon making the transaction and we will confirm the entry of your Short Story via a separate e-mail as soon as possible after receiving it.

Closing date for entries is 1st September 2018. 1st, 2nd and 3rd place entries will be selected by competition judge, Sinéad Gleeson, with all three receiving two weekend passes to the Benedict Kiely Festival in Omagh on the 12-14th October (attendance not mandatory for entry) as well as being published in a festival Chapbook. The 1st place winner will also receive £300.

All entries must be original and must not have been published before 2017. We do accept simultaneous submissions, and submissions which have been selected for publication in 2018 will still be eligible for consideration. Finalists will be notified at the email address stated in their entry, and competition updates will also be posted on our twitter and Facebook pages.

Your entry can appear in the body of the email or as a Word/PDF attachment and as long as it’s clear and easy to read, we have no other formatting requirements.