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You are here: Home > Listings > Competitions & Submissions > The Orwell Society Dystopian Fiction Prize 2016/17
The Orwell Society Dystopian Fiction Prize 2016/17
Deadline: Fri 17 Feb 2017
To celebrate George Orwell’s dystopian masterpiece, Nineteen Eighty-Four, the Orwell Society is organising a competition for students (both BA and MA) at British universities

To celebrate George Orwell’s dystopian masterpiece, Nineteen Eighty-Four, the Orwell Society is organising a competition for students (both BA and MA) at British universities. Dystopian narratives of 3,000 words should be sent to Professor Richard Lance Keeble, chair of the Orwell Society, via dystopianfictioncompetition@orwellsociety.com, by 17 February 2017. A fee of £5 will be charged for each entry.

The judging panel comprises Richard Blair, the son of George Orwell and Patron of the Orwell Society, Dr Julie Wheelwright, programme director of the Creative Writing (narrative non-fiction/creative writing and publishing) MA at City University London, Dr Luke Seaber, tutor in Modern European Culture at University College London, and Professor Keeble. The prize of £500 will be announced on 17 March and comes with a trophy which is a bust of Orwell (to be returned at the end of the award year). They will be handed over by Richard Blair at the Society’s AGM later in the year. 

The judges will be looking for the narrative which best follows in the tradition set by Orwell in Nineteen Eighty-Four and which Orwell is most likely to have admired. The winning entry will be published in the Society’s Journal and (along with the two runners-up) on the Society’s website, www.orwellsociety.com

Tim Bancroft, of Birmingham City University, was the winner in 2015 while Holly Domney, on City University London’s MA in Creative Writing and Publishing, won this year. She commented: ‘Winning the prize is a stellar thing to have on your CV and such a fantastic talking point in an interview.’ And she gave this advice to this year’s entrants: ‘I took a simple idea and wasn't afraid to take it to the extreme and make it dark. Always have an agenda when you write, mine was to promote equality between the sexes, what's yours?’

Entries can be submitted by paying £5 by one of the following means, referencing your name and the prize: 

  • Via Paypal: The PayPal account is paypal@orwellsociety.com
  • Sterling bank transfer: Make a sterling payment to the Society’s bank account (account name: ‘The Orwell Society’; sort code 601035; account number 13166417).
  • UK sterling cheque: Please send your cheque, payable to The Orwell Society, to The Orwell Society, Marie Cottage, Bickenhill Lane, Catherine-de-Barnes, Solihull B92 0DE.

All submissions should be in a Word file (not PDF) and begin with a cover page providing title of story, name of author, name of university, name of programme studying on, and full contact details (address, telephone etc). The story should be presented in 12 pt Times Roman double spaced – with each page numbered and it should end with a word count. 

 

 

Additional Information:
Location:
National
Region(s):
UK

Contact Information:
Organisation:
The Orwell Society
Contact Name:
Professor Richard Lance Keeble
Contact Email:
dystopianfictioncompetition@orwellsociety.com
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