In association with BBC Radio Scotland's Book Café

Wigtown Book Festival 10th anniversary short story competition “On the Edge”

To celebrate its 10th birthday, the Stena Line Wigtown Book Festival is launching a “short short” story competition in conjunction with BBC Radio Scotland’s Book Café. Each “short short” story must be 100 words or less, though they can be as short as desired. These “short short” stories can be playful or serious but the important thing is that they should have a real narrative.

The theme of the competition, “On the Edge”, recognises Wigtown’s geographical location: on the edge of Scotland, in sight of the Lake District on a good day and jutting out into the Irish Sea.

But it’s also intended to mark the way that the creative life of Scotland’s rural places – areas that not so long ago might have been regarded as peripheral to the nation’s mainstream arts scene – now invigorates and enriches the whole national culture. From Orkney to Wigtown, the people “on the edge” have as much to give as those in the Central Belt. Entrants are free to interpret the title however they like, but might like to bear the above in mind.

Why short short stories?
Because although life is pleasurably slower in Wigtown we recognise that most people outside th area don't have as much time as us!

What might entrants read for inspiration?
The “short short” story, sometimes called “flash fiction” or “mini-fiction” has a long history. Some of the more recent books showcasing the form include Dan Rhodes’ Anthropology, Dave Eggers’ Short Short Stories, and “New Sudden Fiction: Short-Short Stories from America and Beyond” which has stories by Yann Martel, Sam Shepard, and Tobias Wolff among many others.

1st Prize - Win a free pair of tickets to every event at the 2009 festival

Every entrant will also receive a free pair of tickets to an event of their choice at this year's festival *

(*see conditions below)

The practical stuff

• Entries must be made by email only to shorts@wigtownbookfestival.com. Entries must include name, address and telephone number. Wigtown Festival Company will endeavour to acknowledge all entries but cannot be held responsible for any that go astray.
  
  
• Entries must be in by Monday 15 September, 12 noon. The winner will be announced on the BBC Book Café programme, which will broadcast from the Wigtown Festival on Monday 29 September.
  
  
• The winner will receive a pass that gives free entry to all festival events (subject to availability) in 2009. There will also be one runner-up prize offering a free pair of tickets to all events on one of the two festival weekends in 2009.  The winning story may be broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland’s The Book Café if of appropriate quality.
  
  
• A selection of the best stories will be put on the Wigtown Festival website (www.wigtownbookfestival.com). Copyright will remain with the author but entry allows the Festival reasonable use of all material submitted.
  
  
• We are also offering a free pair of tickets to an event at 2008’s festival (subject to availability) to every person who enters. Only one pair of tickets per individual, not transferable. Please mark on your entry which event you would like to attend and whether you require one or two tickets.
  
  
• Judging will be done by the festival’s programmer, in conjunction with Stuart Kelly, literary editor of Scotland on Sunday, and the poet Tom Pow.
  
  
• The judges’ decisions – including regarding eligibility for free tickets – are final and no correspondence will be entered into. For any queries please email.
  

Wigtown Book Festival - Scotland’s National Book Town Festival
25th September - 4th October 2009