Prestigious Competition

Have you ever read a short story by V.S. Pritchett? ‘The Evils of Spain’ is the title of one and ‘Cocky Olly’ is another, I guess there are a whole lot more.

And do you read The London Magazine? The only reason I ask is that the 2006 V.S Pritchett Memorial Prize for a short story will be judged by The London Magazine’s editor (and others) and the winning story will receive £1000 and publication in said magazine. Closing date is 14th February 2006

The seventh annual prize, ‘founded to commemorate the centenary of an author who is widely regarded as the finest English short-story writer of the 20th century’, is hoped to tempt other writers to honour V.S. Pritchett by being as different as they choose. You can do it in 2000 to 5000 words but entry costs £5. Entry forms are from info@rslit.org or The Royal Society of Literature, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA. “It’s a great opportunity to write very freely – an unusual proposition for many competitions,” says Sally Ratcliffe who sent me a handful of forms too.