The
best Fish Publishing and the CRIME WRITERS' ASSOCIATION present
WELCOME
TO THIS YEAR'S
FISH-KNIFE AWARD
the crime-based short story competition run by
Fish Publishing, in conjunction with the
Crime Writers' Association.
Our intention is to publish the very best in modern
short-form fiction - with a focus on crime.
5,000 words on any kind of crime,
- from piracy to petty larceny-
- from murder to misdemeanour -
- from GBH to GTA -
Anything goes, so long as it is well written,
well conceived and, well... CRIMINAL!
To enter click here:
The
Fish-Knife Award
Summary - The Rules - Entry Fees - On-Line Entries - Postal Entries
Competition Summary
Title: The Fish-Knife Award
Opens: 1 May 2007
Closing date: 30 September 2007
Results: 30 November 2007
Judges -Philip Gooden, Richard Lee, Keith Souter
The winner of the Fish-Knife Award, will receive a first prize of €1,500 plus publication in the Fish Anthology 2008 . The winner will also receive an engraved silver fish-knife and ten copies of the Anthology.
Five runners up will also be selected to appear in the Anthology and will each receive an award of €100 plus five complementary copies of the Anthology.
All winning authors will be invited to read their work at the launch of the Fish Anthology 2008.
The Rules
• No entry form is needed. Entry is on-line only.
• The Prize is open to writers of any nationality writing in English.
• There is no restriction on theme or style, except that it must contain an essentially criminal element.
• Stories should be 4-5,000 words. Any entries significantly longer than this will be disqualified.
• Stories must be available for the Anthology and, therefore, must not have been published previously.
• Copyright remains with the author.
• Notification of receipt of entry will be by email.
• The judges' verdict is final.
• No correspondence will be entered into once work has been submitted.
• Stories cannot be altered or changed after they have been entered.
Entry Fees
The cost of entry is fixed in Euro. Any translation into your local currency will be done automatically by your credit card company according to the current exchange rate.
Payment is by credit card only.
€ |
|
| Per Entry | €20.00 |
| Critique (Optional) | €45.00 |
On-Line Entries
ALL ENTRIES MUST BE SUBMITTED ON-LINE THROUGH OUR WEB SITE. PLEASE DO NOT SEND ENTRIES AS E-MAIL ATTACHMENTS.
PLEASE ENSURE THE TITLE OF THE STORY DOES NOT APPEAR ON THE FIRST PAGE, THE TITLE IS AUTOMATICALLY APPENDED BY THE SYSTEM.
PLEASE DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME ON THE STORY. YOUR STORY IS AUTOMATICALLY LINKED TO YOUR NAME.
Postal Entries
This is an on-line only competition. Postal entries will not be accepted. However if you have any difficulty with our on-line submission system or with our on-line payment system we will be glad to work with you to sort things out. Simply E- mail us at techsupport@fishpublishing.com
Judges
Philip Gooden read English at university and taught for many years before becoming a full-time writer in 2001. He writes the Nick Revill series of historical mysteries set in Elizabethan and Jacobean London. His latest title is An Honourable Murderer . Philip also produces reference books on language, most recently Faux Pas and the forthcoming Name Dropping. Philip is the current Chairman of the Crime Writers' Association.
Richard Lee set up the Historical Novel Society in 1997, to promote every aspect of historical Fiction. The society publishes the quarterly Historical Novels Review magazine which aims to review every new work of historical fiction released in the USA and the UK.. The society also publishes the twice yearly magazine Solander . featuring interviews with current authors. Richard lives with his French wife and their family near Exeter in the UK.
Keith Souter was born in St Andrews, Scotland and educated at Dundee University. He is a part time general practitioner, newspaper columnist, medical author and novelist (under two pen-names). He has lived and worked in Wakefield for twenty-seven years, within arrow-shot of Sandal Castle, hence his interest in matters historical. He won the Fish Historical One Page Prize in 2006 and his most recent novel The Pardoner's Crime is published by Hale in January 2008.
Winners of The Fish-Knife Award 2006
For the first time Fish announced JOINT WINNERS of one of our writing awards. The judges were unable to decide between two great stories so the joint winners of the inaugural FISH-KNIFE AWARD were:
EWAN GAULT and ORLAITH O'SULLIVAN
Orlaith O'Sullivan - Gilt
Madeira, Portuga l
This
year Orlaith sold up and moved from Devon to Madeira to give herself
time and space to write fiction. Before that, she completed a Ph.D.
at TCD, lectured in English literature, and curated a private book collection
in Michigan. She has worked on Wall Street and for Devon County Council.
She is the author of academic articles, and editor of several British
Library publications. ´Gilt´will be her first piece of fiction
published. She was born in Dublin to Cork parents.
In addition to short stories, she is working on a trilogy of novels
and a screenplay. The abundance of local wine is not helping matters.
Ewan Gault - Honeysuckle and Cat's Piss
Tokyo, Japan
Ewan was
born in Kuwait in 1981, grew up in lots of different places but mainly
Scotland and graduated from Glasgow University`s creative writing
masters course with a distinction this summer. The story, Honeysuckle
and Cats Piss is one of the chapters of his recently completed novel
The Fine Young Blades, which he is hoping to find a publisher for.
Other chapters have been published as runner up prize in last years
Scotsman/Orange short story competition and in an anthology of
Scottish writing called Outside of a Dog.
The Runners-up are:
Linda Evans - Normal service will be resumed shortly
Buckinghamshire, England
Polly Nelson - Air Cowboys
New Jersey, USA
Martin Bott - Luz
Zurich, Switxerland
Marc Phillips* - Caye Caulker Tides
Texas, USA
( *Winner - The Fish Short Story Prize 2005)
Short Stories to read online
Read online some of the winning entries from previous Fish Anthologies. These are examples of the calibre that win the Fish Short Story Prize. Short Stories to read online
Writing Short Stories
Our new Writing feature provides some suggestions on the art of story writing. The page is designed to provide writers with on-going, constructive information about how other authors achieved success with writing short fiction. For more information visit our Writing Short Stories page.
Online Book Shop
You can buy Fish Publishing's Anthologies of short stories on-line in our online book shop – The Fish Shop.
Online Entry
Our Fish-On-Line online entry system provides a convenient way to enter our contests on the web. Register as an online Fish author and you can enter current and forthcoming Writing Contests. Writers may also enter any of our competitions by post. See our Writing Contests page for full details
Writing Contests - Assistance
Fish Publishing offers an Editorial Consultancy and Critique Service. designed to provide writers thinking of entering writing competitions with constructive feedback on their work, whether it is a complete novel or just the beginnings. The Service is available to writers prior to entering the Fish writing competitions.