The Teens Of Tomorrow Short Story Contest 2020 is now CLOSED
WINNERS ANNOUNCED:
The Top Ten:
First Prize: The Brief Death Of Aparna by Shreyas Muthusankar
Second Prize: Maasai Lights by Mary Ball Howkins
Third Prize: Eye Of The Beholder by Alec James
Commended and Published Finalists:
School Strike For Baby Hope by David Thorpe
Crimson Constellations by Abby Mayers and Melody Lumb
Swamp Reeds by Mary Ball Howkins
The Zebra Genus by A. Rose
Pax Park by Margaret Forze
What We Do Know How To Do by Anneliese Schultz
Being Lavender Blue by Hannah Ray
Please check back here for publication updates and news of our forthcoming campaign, where you can get your hands on advance copies of the work!
The Top Ten:
First Prize: The Brief Death Of Aparna by Shreyas Muthusankar
Second Prize: Maasai Lights by Mary Ball Howkins
Third Prize: Eye Of The Beholder by Alec James
Commended and Published Finalists:
School Strike For Baby Hope by David Thorpe
Crimson Constellations by Abby Mayers and Melody Lumb
Swamp Reeds by Mary Ball Howkins
The Zebra Genus by A. Rose
Pax Park by Margaret Forze
What We Do Know How To Do by Anneliese Schultz
Being Lavender Blue by Hannah Ray
Please check back here for publication updates and news of our forthcoming campaign, where you can get your hands on advance copies of the work!
YA Fiction's March into the Future
Prompt: Future-Focused Diverse Teen Fiction
Prize: £200, £100, £50 (First, second and third prize respectively)
Publication: A dedicated anthology will include the top ten tales, available winter 2020/21.
Wordcount: 2000 - 5000
Internationally open to entrants aged fourteen and above.
We stand at the dawn of a new and uncertain decade. Here at Odd Voice Out press we are calling for short stories that reflect the socio-political issues that young people are dealing with now and will continue to tackle in the coming years. Entries submitted to our Teens of Tomorrow contest can be any genre - fantastical or realistic - and they may be set in the future, the present or even the past, provided that they centre on forward-looking teenage characters grappling with the world around them, the times ahead of them and the roles they personally aspire to play. Send us your utopias, dystopias, protest stories, political thrillers, social satires, climate fiction and prophetic steampunk.
Turn the hashtags trending today into a powerful YA story of tomorrow!
Any enquiries to [email protected]
The Full Details
Your short stories with ‘odd voices’ must be written for a YA audience (that’s around 12 to 19 years old), but other than that they may be set in any genre or time period. This means that relevant content which is sexual, violent or contains extreme language will be accepted, provided it is somewhat moderated for a teen audience, rather than for adults (think about movies rated 15, compared to 18).
Our contest is open to writers aged fourteen and over from all nationalities and backgrounds (you should be at least fourteen years old by the closing date for entries). Entries must be no more 5,000 words long and be a minimum of 2000 words. Your entry should not have been previously published, self-published or accepted for publication in print or online, or have won or been highly placed (e.g. shortlisted or semi-finalist) in another competition at any other time. Longlisted stories are acceptable, provided they have not been in print or online in full.
After our new closing date of Friday 30th October, we will select ten finalists to feature in an anthology collection that will be made available in ebook and print editions, to be released alongside our usual book range. The winning entry will also receive a £200 cash prize, whilst second and third place will receive £100 and £50 respectively. All ten finalists will also be invited to participate in social media promotions, live events, interviews and broadcasts as per the promotion schedule for the anthology.
To cover prize fees and reading time, there is a small entry fee of £4 per story, payable via PayPal at the time of entering. Authors may enter up to five different stories, but must pay the entry fee for each one as a separate entry and transaction.
Co-authored stories are accepted, up to a maximum of two authors per story, and in the event of winning, authors would share the prize money evenly.
