Village Gamer

Writers of short fiction are encouraged to enter the Alice Munro Writers and Readers Festival’s 2012 Short Story Competition. The competition, originally hosted by the Wingham Horticultural Society, is being revitalized by Huron Arts & Heritage Network this fall with a new name and new dates. Designed to provide a forum for writers to develop their craft and connect with like-minded literati, committee members are dedicated to enthusiastically supporting the efforts and talent of unpublished and emerging writers of short fiction.

Renewal is the 2012 theme.

• Writers can gain inspiration for their stories from Canadians sharing hope or expressing ideas for reform, revitalization or revival.
• All contestants must have Canadian connections to be eligible for the 2012 Alice Munro Writers & Readers Short Story Competition.
• Entries must be typed using standard fonts such as Times Roman, Helvetica or Arial, size 11 or 12, double spaced on plain white paper.
• The entrant’s name must appear on the upper right corner of each page.
• Entries must not exceed 5000 words.
• Stories must be written in English.
• Copyright remains property of the author.

Monetary prizes will be awarded for first-, second- and third-place winners in each of an adult and a teen (age 13-19 as of August 1) category. Winners will be invited to read from their entries at a Gala Event during the 2012 Festival Weekend, September 28-30, 2012. Winners will be announced at the Gala event.

Contest entries must be postmarked on or before August 1, 2012. Entries must be submitted in hard-copy to Box 90, Wingham, Ontario with a digital copy forwarded to kstewart@ezlink.ca. Adult entries must be accompanied by a $20 entry fee per story. Registration is free for the teen category. No more than three entries will be accepted by any one writer in any one year. Complete contest rules and entry forms are available on the Alice Munro Festival website.