Friday 10 April 2009

Call for submissions for themed issue of The Future Fire magazine

The Future Fire magazine is looking for submissions for a Feminist Science Fiction themed issue to be published towards the end of this year or beginning of the next. They are looking for "science fiction (or speculative) stories that address issues of gender, sexual identity and sexuality; stories that take the "radical idea that women are human beings" and do something about it; stories that can engage, empower, educate, and inspire men and women alike. And of course stories that challenge our expectations, that avoid cliché, that are beautiful and useful, that are social, political, and speculative cyberfiction."

Indicate in your cover letter that the story is a submission for the Feminist Science Fiction special issue. Stories submitted to the general pile may be considered for the feminist-themed issue, and stories submitted to the theme may be considered for the intervening issues. All submissions should be sent as attachments to fiction(at)futurefire(dot)net. Use the email subject line: TFF submission: Surname, 'Title'.

Payment $20 per story. Stories over 10,000 words are unlikely to be purchased. "Please use a common, easy-to-read font such as Times New Roman, Arial, or Courier, and use no other formatting than italics." Full guidelines are here.

Wednesday 8 April 2009

BBC National Short Story Award 2009

The BBC National Short Story Award competition is now in its fourth year. It's not genre, but neither does it exclude genre stories. The competition is only open to writers who "previously have had works of prose fiction, drama or poetry published by a UK publisher (excluding self-publishing) or established printed magazine in the UK or broadcast by a UK national radio station".

Word limit is 8,000 words. Deadline is 5 p.m., 15 June 2009.

First prize is £15,000. Runner-up gets £3,000, and three other shortlisted stories wil lreceive £500 each.


See here or here for more details, entry form and terms and conditions (note: both are Word documents).