Deadline for Entries for Little Bird Writing Contest

November 1, 2020

Writing Prompt Revealed for the 10th Anniversary of the Little Bird Writing Contest

Sarah Selecky Writing School is pleased to announce the 10th annual Little Bird Writing Contest. The judge for this year’s contest is Sheena Kamal, bestselling author of The Lost Ones, All Falls Down, No Going Back, and Fight Like a Girl.

The winner will receive $1,000 and two runners-up will receive $250. The winning submissions will be published in the 10th anniversary edition of the annual short fiction anthology Little Bird Stories.

This international contest seeks to highlight innovative, emerging short fiction writers. Every year, a celebrated author reviews all the submissions and chooses the winners. This year, all entries must be inspired by the contest prompt written by the school’s founder, author Sarah Selecky.

The contest prompt this year is:

Start a story with an unusual use of the number ten (10).
Name one character Zee.
Use the words “mustard” and “costume.”
End the story with a bright flash.

The Little Bird Contest will accept short fiction submissions of up to 2,500 words

from October 1st and November 1st at 9pm EDT, 2020.

Sarah Selecky says: 

“The art of words is a powerful way to create change. There is no better time for writers to start creating new visions of joy, transformation, and belonging. I’m talking about fiction. I’m talking about stories! This is actually a writer’s vocation: we make culture. This year, we’re looking for visionary writers to enter our short story contest. Writers who work with curiosity, presence, and imagination. Writers audacious enough to go beyond anything that is already known or named. Writers who use their craft with skill and courage.”

About our judge:

Sheena Kamal’s bestselling debut The Lost Ones won her a Kobo Emerging Writer Prize, a Strand Critics Award, and Macavity Award for Best First Novel. The sequel It All Falls Down has been called “a stunning, emotionally resonant thriller” in its Kirkus-starred review. Her new adult thriller No Going Back and her first YA novel Fight Like A Girl were released in 2020.

About Sarah Selecky Writing School:

Sarah Selecky Writing School is an online creative writing school that approaches writing as an art, and also as a contemplative practice. It is home to the Story Course, an internationally celebrated online writing program created in 2011. In 2013, Selecky also opened the Story Intensive, a creative writing course and mentorship program that runs every fall, and includes guest lectures with such authors as Ann Patchett, Eden Robinson, and George Saunders.

Founder Sarah Selecky has taught creative writing since 2001. Her breakout debut collection, This Cake Is for the Party, was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book, and was longlisted for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. Her novel Radiant Shimmering Light was published to international acclaim in 2018. It has been optioned for TV by Muse Entertainment, with plans to create a premium one-hour series.

To learn more and to enter the contest, visit: www.littlebirdcontest.com

Contact: Laura Gendall: laura@sarahselecky.com

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