The closing date for the British Czech & Slovak Association’s 2022 writing competition has been extended. It is now midnight on Sunday July 31. So that gives you and your writerly friends and relatives another month to come up with 2,000 words that will interest, amuse, irritate, educate or otherwise entertain the eminent judges. £400 lies the other side of those eminent judges – plus publication in the British Czech & Slovak Review. The runner-up gets £150 (plus publication).
This year’s suggested (but not compulsory) theme is Freedom – in any aspect. The interpretation is yours. Personal freedom, freedom in relationships, the freedom of nations, democratic freedoms, or just the ending of lockdown? You choose.
The 2021 competition brought in some impressive creative writing, including such gems as:
An entertaining account of a Scot’s postgraduate year in Czechoslovakia in 1972, which included a wedding missed because he was drinking slivovice to celebrate the release from prison of the father of a hitchhiker he had picked up en route.
A topical entry on the Me-Too theme that took us to a trial of a celebrity accused of sexual assault, with the simultaneous thoughts of the judge and the two victims.
A moving account of a young Englishwoman’s visit to Slovakia for her Slovak father’s funeral. (This won a runner-up prize.)
You can feature here! Fiction or fact – either is welcome. What is essential is that all entries must deal with either (1) the links between Britain and the lands now comprising the Slovak and Czech Republics, at any time in history, or (2) describing society in the Republics since 1989. Topics can include, for example, history, politics, sport, the sciences, economics, the arts or literature.
Entry is free. Submissions are invited from individuals of any age, nationality or educational background. Entrants do not need to be members of the BCSA.
Entries should be submitted by post to the BCSA Prize Administrator, 24 Ferndale, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN2 3NS, England, or by e-mail to prize@bcsa.co.uk. The closing date is now midnight on July 31 2022.
The submission guidelines can be seen on the BCSA website at https://www.bcsa.co.uk/2022-bcsa-writing-competition/ , or on application to the BCSA Prize Administrator at the addresses given above.
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