SCC Creative Writing Competition 2015 – Call for entries!

The SCC Creative Writing Competition aims to be as inclusive as possible. Recognising that aspiring creative writers and students in City of Dublin VEC come from all walks of life, are all ages and are from many nationalities, we have created three categories of competitors so that all entries may be judged on a level playing field. We ask entrants or their teachers to nominate their category but if we feel that entries would fit better into a different category, we reserve the right to change them. Every effort is made to place work of a similar standard in the same category, so that it can be judged fairly.

NEW WRITER: A New Writer is someone new to writing in English. A New Writer might be a student of Adult Literacy or a foreign student with an elementary knowledge of English.

NOVICE WRITER: A Novice Writer is one with a reasonable standard of written English but may not have much experience in creative writing. This is the category that most school leavers fall into and it is the largest section of the competition.

OPEN WRITER: The Open Writer is one with a very high standard of written English. The Open Writer may be an adult with experience of creative writing or a talented young person with creative flair. Open Writing typically has greater complexity of themes and more fluency of language than the Novice and New categories.

Categories in the Competition

Short Story:

There are three categories in the short story section: New, Novice, and Open.

– New Writers: Entrants may write on either fictional or factual themes. Stories in the New Writers section should be between 250 and 500 words.

– Novice Writer: The entrants can choose any subject matter and may adopt any genre of writing as long as they create a short work of fiction. In order to develop the story properly, it is recommended that a story in the Novice category should be between 1000- 2000 words.

– Open Category: We are asking our most experienced and accomplished writers to write their stories to the theme of ‘Missing’. This theme can be interpreted literally or metaphorically and the words ‘Missing’ need not appear in the title or anywhere in the story. Please indicate on the application form if you are entering this category. There is an upper limit of 2,500 words in this category.

Memoir: Submissions in the Memoir category should be between 1,000 and 2,000 words. The memoir may be autobiographical or focus on the way of life in the past. Younger students may like to write about an important incident in their childhood or adolescence. The memoir should have a title. Judges will be looking for writing that is interesting, thought provoking or entertaining.

Poetry: Entrants may submit up to 4 poems. There are two categories in the competition: New and Novice There is no limit on length of poems. Skill, experience and subject matter will determine into which category the poem should be entered. Poets are asked to nominate their own category. The judges will review and put the work into a more appropriate category if necessary.

DOWNLOADS

ENTRY FORM 2015

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COMPETITION GUIDELINES

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INFORMATION FOR TEACHERS

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COMPETITION POSTER

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Download the entry form above, complete if fully and return by post ONLY to:

– Short Stories and Memoirs – Kathy O’Neill, Crumlin College of Further Education, Crumlin Road, Dublin 12.

– Poems – Paula Egan, Education Centre, Mountjoy Prison, North Circular Road, Dublin 7.

All entries must be received on or before Friday 13th February 2015.

All entries should be typed, 12 point font size and 1.5 line spacing preferred

RULES

– Entries on official entry forms by the official date.
– All entries should be typed.
– Entries of previously published work not accepted.
– The entrant must be a student in a City of Dublin ETB College or Centre.
– All entrants must be 16 years of age or over and should be in Senior Cycle of secondary school, a PLC course or other course run by a CDETB College or Centre.
– This year we are extending the competition to Evening School students in Creative Writing classes in CDETB Colleges.
– All entries must be attached to an official entry form, which may be downloaded from this site. A teacher must sign the entry form.
– The entry must not have been published previously, or have been a prizewinner in a previous SCC Creative Writing Competition.