Ronan Bennett, judge of the 2009 Fish Short Story CompetitionFish Publishing runs the short story competition each year, the winners of which are published in the annual Fish Anthology.
Roddy Doyle, Colum McCann and Dermot Healy, previously judges of the Fish Short Story Prize, are now honorary patrons. This year, Ronan Bennett has generously agreed to lend his time and wisdom to select ten stories to be published in the 2010 Fish Anthology.


The Fish Short Story Prize welcomes stories on any theme written in English, with a maximum of 5,000 words. The Anthology will be launched during the West Cork Literary Festival, July 2010.
Fish have been running the short story contest since 1995. Publication in the anthology has been a stepping stone for many into successful writing careers. For a sample of these authors click Alumni.
To view our catalogue of anthologies containing the winning stories from previous short story competitions click Fish Books.


Summary - The Rules - Entry Fees - Online Entry - Postal Entries (see below)


Competition Summary

Opens ........................... 15th August 2009
Closing date:             30th November 2009
Results announced:     17 March 2010
Anthology published:  July 2010

Judge: Ronan Bennett

 

Prizes

The winner and nine runners up will be published in the 2010 Fish Anthology.

First Prize - €3,000 - (of which €1,000 is for travel expenses to the launch of the Anthology.)

Second Prize - a week at the Anam Cara Writers' & Artists' Retreat in West Cork's Beara Peninsula, with €300 traveling expenses.

Third Prize - €300

All those who are published in the Anthology will receive five complementary copies of the Fish Anthology.

 

 

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The Rules

  • No entry form is needed. Entry is mostly on-line, or by post if required.

  • You can enter as many times as you wish. One story per entry.

  • The competition is open to writers of any nationality writing in English.

  • There is no restriction on theme or style.

  • Maximum 5,000 words.

  • The winning stories must be available for the anthology and, therefore, must not have been published previously.

  • Copyright returns to the author one year after publication.

  • Notification of receipt of entry will normally 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.

  • The short story competition is open to writers of any nationality writing in English.

  • Overall winners of the Fish Short Story Prize may enter again, but will not be eligible for the first prize

  • A writer who has had two stories in Fish Anthologies from the Short Story Prize, may not enter for three years. They may enter other Fish Prizes in that time. (This is designed to give opportunities to emerging writers)

  • Entry is taken to be acceptance of these rules

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Entry Fees

The cost of an On-line entry is fixed in Euro and the translation into your local currency will be done automatically by your credit card company according to the current exchange rate..

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Online Entries

Online entries will only be accepted if entered through our website. Please do not send stories as email attachments. 

PLEASE DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME ON THE STORY. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT ALL SHORT-LISTING AND JUDGING IS DONE ANONYMOUSLY. YOUR STORY IS AUTOMATICALLY LINKED TO YOUR AUTHOR NAME IN THE SYSTEM.

IF YOU HAVE ANY DIFFICULTIES SUBMITTING OR PAYING FOR YOUR STORY CLICK ON SUBMISSION SUPPORT AND SEND US AN E-MAIL DESCRIBING THE PROBLEM YOU ARE HAVING. WE WILL HELP YOU TO MAKE SURE YOUR STORY GETS ENTERED CORRECTLY.

  Online Entry
€

Per Entry

20.00

Critique (Optional)

45.00
   

 

ENTER NOW

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Postal Entries

Post to Fish Short Story Prize, Durrus, Bantry, Co. Cork, Ireland.

Print on one side of the page neatly in reasonable sized type. The Fish Prize is judged anonymously, so please do not put your name or any contact details on any of the story pages. Include all contact details on a separate sheet. Receipt of entry will be by email. Stories will not be returned.

Cost €25 or equivalent in the currency of your country. Do not sent postal orders (outside Ireland), or cheques made out in Euros if you are outside the Euro zone.

Cost of postal critique €50, or entry and critique €70.

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