Short story competition: How would you craft the future unwritten? Tell us and you could win £250!
Short story competition: How would you craft the future unwritten? Tell us and you could win £250!
The English Department at Bishop Grosseteste University is launching a new short story competition for all year GCSE and A-level students who are passionate about writing creatively. This year’s theme is ‘The Future Unwritten’.
We invite you to craft a short story that speculates about the future in some way. It might imagine new realities and new identities, or it might adapt or transform the circumstances of our current world. Will your short story be an example of dystopian fiction? Or will it instead express a utopian future? Will you draw on science fiction, fantasy, or horror? Will your short story respond to the pandemic, or offer a means of escaping from that reality?
The judging panel will be made up of lecturers from Bishop Grosseteste University’s Department of English, recognized by The Sunday Times and The Guardian as among the top thirty in the UK. With specialisms stretching from the Middle Ages to contemporary literature, these literary experts will be looking for submissions that demonstrate originality, imagination and relevance to the theme.
Submissions must be original and previously unpublished short stories. Your entry can have a maximum word count of 2,000 words, with no minimum. It must address the theme, ‘The Future Unwritten’, but can be of any style and address any subject.
The winner will be awarded £250 in cash, and a publication in the 2021 issue of the English Department’s creative writing anthology, The Leonid.
For the runner-up and the entry in third place too there is a chance to receive a prize and to be included in the in the 2021 issue of the English Department’s creative writing anthology, The Leonid. All the prizes will be announced on Bishop Grosseteste University’s main website.
We encourage teachers to pass this opportunity on to as many of their students as wish to take part.
Good Luck and enjoy writing ‘The Future Unwritten’!
Simply fill out the form on this page and we will be in touch with guidance on how to submit your short story for a chance to win!
Why study English at BGU?
- English at BGU has been ranked 1st in the UK for course satisfaction (Guardian University Guide 2021)
- English at BGU has a 100% overall course satisfaction rating (National Student Survey 2020)
- English at BGU has been ranked 3rd in the UK for teaching quality (Sunday Times Good University Guide 2021)
- English at BGU has been ranked 1st in the UK for graduate prospects (Sunday Times Good University Guide 2021)
English Literature at BGU
What You Will Study in English Literature
Studying English at BGU gives you access to the intense power of human creativity, with opportunities to debate critical questions that continue to shape the investigation of literature. You will encounter authors such as Shakespeare, Wilde and Pinter, Blake, Tennyson and Dylan, Wollstonecraft, Woolf and Winterson, Dickens, Morrison, and Blackman, and explore the richness and diversity of literary expression. All of this whilst you develop your understanding of key genres, styles, periods and contexts, supported by a passionate team of research-active lecturers.
At BGU you will study an exciting range of writers, texts and topics. You will be able to study works in their historical and genre contexts, explore literary concepts and themes (identity, memory, gender and adolescence), make intertextual and creative connections (myth, adaptation, film, creative writing) and develop your critical independence and career prospects with extended research and work-based projects (English@Work, research project). Throughout your studies you can follow your own interests through optional modules, and choose your own focal points and textual examples for assessment tasks.
You will acquire key academic and transferable skills such as critical thinking and evaluation, analysis, research and high-level communication skills through diverse methods of assessment, which blend established critical and communication skills with up-to-date digital literacies and platforms. You will develop expressive and creative skills fit for the 21st century; combining written essays and oral presentations with e-portfolios, multimodal video, posters, hypertext, digital publication, and independent research projects. You will benefit from an innovative and flexible approach to teaching and learning that promotes student participation and engagement. With the close academic support you will receive here at BGU, you will have the opportunities and guidance to fulfil your full potential.
As an English student at BGU, your engagement with literature won’t stop at the seminar door. The English team are all research-active lecturers who are passionate about the study of literature and its positive impact on the individual and wider society. We actively support a range of organised events and visits to enable a wider participation with literary culture, including visiting speakers, a research seminar series, subsidised film and theatre trips, workshops and celebrations, poetry readings and literary awards.
(Please note that depending on your choice of English course, you may have a choice of optional modules in your second and third years.)
Click here for more information about our English courses.