Edinburgh Festival Competition, 2020
A Personal Statement from the Friday Flash Fiction Editor, Gordon Lawrie.
This has been such a strange year.
I think each of us wishes it had simply never happened, that we could wake up tomorrow morning to discover that it had been merely a been a horrible dream. But it's true all right, and we've been challenged as individuals, as families, as groups and communities, and as businesses. Our leaders have been challenged, too; some appear to have risen better to that challenge than others.
Amongst the many casualties have been arts festivals. Those who know me well will be aware that I live in Scotland's capital Edinburgh, and each August, the city hosts a huge, sprawling festival called the Edinburgh International Festival. There are many other "festivals" that run alongside the Official event – a Jazz Festival, a Film Festival, a Comedy Festival, an enormous Edinburgh Fringe – and of course the Edinburgh International Book Festival. The Book Festival is my favourite part of the Edinburgh Festival. Much of it is accessible: visitors can simply wander around the site itself, and prices for ticketed events are far less prohibitive than in other festivals. They're all gone this year. There will be no 'buzz' in Edinburgh this August, because 'buzz' is the very environment in which coronavirus thrives, apparently.
However, the Edinburgh International Book Festival is running a free virtual festival (click on the logo below to find out more), and to match it, Friday Flash Fiction is running an Edinburgh Festival Competition at roughly the same time.
This has been such a strange year.
I think each of us wishes it had simply never happened, that we could wake up tomorrow morning to discover that it had been merely a been a horrible dream. But it's true all right, and we've been challenged as individuals, as families, as groups and communities, and as businesses. Our leaders have been challenged, too; some appear to have risen better to that challenge than others.
Amongst the many casualties have been arts festivals. Those who know me well will be aware that I live in Scotland's capital Edinburgh, and each August, the city hosts a huge, sprawling festival called the Edinburgh International Festival. There are many other "festivals" that run alongside the Official event – a Jazz Festival, a Film Festival, a Comedy Festival, an enormous Edinburgh Fringe – and of course the Edinburgh International Book Festival. The Book Festival is my favourite part of the Edinburgh Festival. Much of it is accessible: visitors can simply wander around the site itself, and prices for ticketed events are far less prohibitive than in other festivals. They're all gone this year. There will be no 'buzz' in Edinburgh this August, because 'buzz' is the very environment in which coronavirus thrives, apparently.
However, the Edinburgh International Book Festival is running a free virtual festival (click on the logo below to find out more), and to match it, Friday Flash Fiction is running an Edinburgh Festival Competition at roughly the same time.
THE FORMAT
We’ll be using the same model of competition as we used for the Spring one. Six individuals have been asked to be judges, and each will choose one story from the selection submitted during the period of the competition. That becomes the short list, and the voters (our active circulation list) then get to choose the one they like best, which will win the prize of $50 in the winner's own currency.
We’ll be using the same model of competition as we used for the Spring one. Six individuals have been asked to be judges, and each will choose one story from the selection submitted during the period of the competition. That becomes the short list, and the voters (our active circulation list) then get to choose the one they like best, which will win the prize of $50 in the winner's own currency.
TIMING
We’ll be running the competition slightly ahead of the dates of the Edinburgh International Book Festival in the hope that we can announce the winner as the it ends. We anticipate entries being accepted from 00:01 on Friday 7th August until 23:59 on Sunday 23rd August.
We’ll be running the competition slightly ahead of the dates of the Edinburgh International Book Festival in the hope that we can announce the winner as the it ends. We anticipate entries being accepted from 00:01 on Friday 7th August until 23:59 on Sunday 23rd August.
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The Rules
*It will be necessary to pay the winner directly into their bank account, or using PayPal.
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A prize of $50.00 USD will be awarded to the story judged to be the best. Everyone else on the shortlist will be judged to be "Highly Commended". There is no entry fee, and you can enter several times over.
Entries are now open until 11.59pm on Sunday 15th December, 2019 GMT. Note to entrants: submitting an entry doesn't guarantee acceptance for publication – stories must continue to meet our basic standards. For details, see the "SUBMISSIONS GUIDANCE" on our Submissions page. Please bear in mind that, particularly during the competition itself, we can't enter into discussions on the merit or otherwise of submissions.
It would also be unfair if one of the judges edited your story to make it acceptable. The Edinburgh International Book FestivalTo find out more about the Edinburgh International Book Festival, click on the logo below:
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