Applications are open for the Mslexia Fiction Short Story Competition 2019. Women’s Short Story Competition is back for its eleventh year. Not only will the winning writer get £3,000. Further, they will also have the prestige of being published in Mslexia, a credit shared with writers like Costa winner Angela Readman and novelist Peggy Riley. In addition, there is the opportunity to spend a week working on their writing at the stunning Moniack Mhor retreat, and mentoring with an editor at Virago – an experience that money can’t buy and one that could really help you take your writing to the next level.

The competition is open to women of any nationality from any country and welcomes stories of between 300 and 3,000 words in length (not including the title).

Benefit

• 1st Prize: £3,000.
• Entry fee: £10 per story.

Eligibility

• Entries should be in English (or English dialect) and should not have been published or accepted for publication elsewhere.
• Entries that have won or are under consideration in other fiction competitions are not eligible.
• Self-published manuscripts are eligible.
• Entries should not be a translation of another author’s work.
• You do not have to subscribe to Mslexia to be eligible, but you do have to be a woman.
• We will accept entries from women of any nationality from any country.

Application Process

Please submit your work typed, double-spaced on A4 pages, single sided, with pages numbered.
Your entry will be judged anonymously, so do not put your name on the text pages of your entry.
Add a separate cover page with your contact details, plus the title(s) of the work you are submitting and the word count(s).

Further, no alterations to your entry after the submission.
Please note that the above formatting/cover page instructions are for ease of administration and we prefer you to follow them. However, if you forget anything or put details (titles, author name, word- or line-counts) in the wrong place, your entry will not be disqualified. We will only disqualify entries if they are over the word or line limit.
If you require confirmation of receipt of a postal entry, please enclose an SAE labeled ‘Acknowledgement’