We are thinking of running a writing competition this year and would be interested in views. We provisionally thought that the competition should:

• be called ‘The Michael Round Prize’,
• be free to enter,
• offer a first prize of £100 and a second prize of £50,
• open for entries in June and close in September,
• be open to anyone (ie not just members),
• accept prose pieces between 1,000 and 3,000 words,
• require pieces to be on the theme ‘Far and Wide’,
• be judged by a panel responsible for producing a shortlist with final placings decided by a ‘celebrity’ judge (if we can get one),
• require entries to be submitted by email, and
• allow only one entry per person.

All of these points are very much open for discussion – let us know your thoughts in a comment, email, or at our next meeting.

Update: we discussed these suggestions at the January meeting. Members were broadly in agreement but thought the suggested theme sounded old-fashioned, and that a small entry fee was worth considering. The idea of a competition anthology was popular and members thought we might need to establish a competition sub-committee.

This will be discussed again at the February meeting – if you have ideas for a theme in the meantime, please email them to ecorduff@hotmail.com