Short Story Competitions
The Agony and the Anxiety: Waiting for Short Story Competition Results
A life of entering short story competitions
At our school, we had an annual writing competition called The Carl Robson Peters Redmond Writing Contest. An absurdly long and bloated name created by our English master, Mr. Hyde, who looked like a decrepit version of T. S Eliot.
To enter it, pupils had to write a 1000-word story on any subject provided there was no swearing, sexual references, sexual activity, or slandering of the school. Or political bias towards the Labour Party or Left-wing causes in general. This was at the height of Thatcherism and Reaganism.
Furthermore, all entries had to be in “literary form”, whatever that meant. Had to be of a high standard and must not be about a pupil’s summer holiday! However, there was never any mention of racism, sexism, or homophobia in these guidelines — so you can see what sort of school I went to.
But anyhow, I didn’t realise any of this at the time, and the CRPR Writing Contest was an eagerly anticipated competition, with the coveted first prize trophy awarded to the winner on the last day of term at the Annual Prize Giving Ceremony. Plus, there was a £50 book token, which at the time, seemed like a fortune.
