Writing The City Presents:
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Showcase
2022
Competition
Overview
What do you see when you think about Singapore? What stories can you unearth? We are looking for the unexpected in the mundanities about life in Singapore, speculative or otherwise.
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We invite you to submit prose fiction texts of up to 2,000 words. The best 8-10 texts will be selected by guest judges with assistance from the WTC team.
The finalists will be invited to read 5 minute excerpts at a reading event showcasing writers from the Writing the City community. The event is scheduled for June/July 2022.
Submission Deadline: 11.59p.m. Singapore Time (SGT), 28/2/2022
Learn more about Our Judges, Submission Details, Competition Guidelines, and Competition Rules below!
The Judges:
Balli Kaur
Jaswal
Balli Kaur Jaswal is the author of four novels, including Singapore Literature Prize finalist Sugarbread, and the international bestsellers Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows and The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters. Her debut novel Inheritance won the Sydney Morning Herald's Best Young Australian Novelist award. Jaswal's non-fiction has appeared in the New York Times, Cosmopolitan.com, Harper's Bazaar India and Salon.com, among other publications. Currently a lecturer at Yale-NUS College in Singapore, she is preparing for the 2023 release of her upcoming novel.
Meihan
Boey
Meihan is the author of horror-comedy The Formidable Miss Cassidy (Epigram Books Fiction Prize Co-Winner 2021) and science fiction novella The Messiah Virus. She is Vice-President of the Association of Comic Artists of Singapore, involved in projects like Supacross and The Once and Marvellous DKD.
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Her short stories have appeared in various anthologies, as well as role-playing game material for local projects. She spent 8 years as a bookseller in the comics & genre fiction section, and is a dedicated fan of anime, video games and comic books. She is still trying to go Super Saiyan.
Competition Guidelines
We don't have a set theme for the competition. We just want your story to have some sort of a Singaporean context, in whatever form it may come.
We'll be assessing your abilities in storytelling, worldbuilding, and your ability to construct relatable characters
But, do note that these are not hard and fast rules. The judges might be reviewing your work outside of the criteria below.
Storytelling: Is your story clear in its intention? How well can you weave your themes and perspective into your story's plot, world and characters?
Worldbuilding: We want to see you how you bring your story to life through the world you're creating for it. How will your readers have a good sense of the world/atmosphere they're inhabiting in your story?
Characters: We want to see how you show and tell us about your characters in your stories. Do they have convincing motivations? How do you break tropes and stereotypes? How do you paint an intricate portrait of your character, or characters, warts and all?
Competition Rules
The Writing the City Showcase is an short story/prose fiction competition for both published and unpublished writers, writing original fiction in English in Singapore.
Submissions are open to past & present Writing the City participants, and anyone who has been to at least one Writing the City event during 2018 to 2020. This is a good opportunity to develop a piece of fiction and have it considered for the event.
The award offers prizes of a small honorarium to selected winners and a public reading via zoom or at an arts venue in Singapore in June/July 2022.
Please read the Competition Rules carefully before beginning the submission process. Submission of an entry is taken as acceptance of the following Competition Rules.
1. The competition is open to both unpublished and published writers, from anywhere in the world with a connection to Singapore.
2. The cost of entry per submission is free. Only one submission per person is allowed.
3. Only submissions received by 1159 hrs on 28 Feb 2022 (Singapore time) will be considered.
4. Entries that are submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
5. Both published and unpublished authors are welcome to enter, but stories that have been previously published (online or in print form) will not be eligible.
6. The story must be the entrant’s own creation and not infringe upon the right or copyright of any person or entity. By entering the competition, participants indemnify the organisers and warrants that the story is their own and does not infringe on the rights of any other person or organisation.
7. Entries must not exceed 2,000 words.
8. The story must be written in English.
9. Translated stories are welcomed but must be clearly marked ‘Translated’.
10. There are no age restrictions. However, participants should note that the showcase event may include stories that are not suitable for children.
11. When submitting, please do not include any of your contact details or name in the story. (These details will be logged. They will be removed from the story, so that we can judge your story anonymously.)
12. Submissions should be in Microsoft Word Document, or a PDF file
13. The text in your story should be in 12pt Times New Roman & double spaced.
14. Participants will be notified by email if they are selected for the public Showcase event in June/July 2022.
15. Unsuccessful entrants will not be contacted.
16. No editorial feedback will be offered to entrants.
17. The decision of the organisers and judge is final and no correspondence will be entered into regarding the judging process.
18. Writing the City will have the non-exclusive right to publish the winning stories for a period of six months from first publication. To aid audience participation, readers will be able to access these stories freely. After six months, rights revert to the authors and authors can ask for their stories to be removed from the website at any time.
19. Only submissions which meet all terms and conditions in the Competition Rules will be considered.
20. By entering the competition, each entrant agrees to be bound by the above Competition Rules.
Submission Details
A few quick reminders before you send us your story. Good luck!
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Submission Deadline: 11.59p.m. Singapore Time (SGT), 28/2/2022
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Word Limit: 2,000 words
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No entry fee required.
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Only one submission per person.
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Submissions should be in Microsoft Word Document (.doc or .docx), or a PDF file.
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The text in your story should be in 12pt Times New Roman and double spaced.
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When submitting, please do not include any of your contact details or name in the story. (These details will be logged. They will be removed from the story, so that we can judge your story anonymously.)
We note we do not sell, trade or rent any personal information to any third parties. Private Information (eg email addresses) is used for Writing the City planning purposes only.
This event is proudly supported by the
