SA Writers College Short Story Competition 2025 : sawriterscollege.co.za
Organization : The Writers’ College
Competition Name : 2025 SA Writers College Short Story Competition
Applicable For : Open to any writer residing in South Africa
Announcement : 2025 Annual Short Story Award
Theme : “No One is Better Than You”
Deadline : 30 April 2025
Website : https://www.sawriterscollege.co.za/
Contents [hide]
- 1 SA Writers College Short Story Competition
- 2 Eligibility
- 3 Competition Period
- 4 How To Enter
- 5 Competition Rules
- 6 Entry Format
- 7 Guidelines
- 8 Prizes
SA Writers College Short Story Competition
The annual SA Writers College Short Story Competition is held to acknowledge excellence in creative writing in the Short Story form.
Related / Similar Competition : SA Writers College Short Story Competition 2020
Eligibility
** The competition is open to any writer residing in South Africa who is unpublished, or has been published fewer than four times.
** The top 20 entrants may be asked to provide a photo of their ID or passport.
Competition Period
Deadline: 30 April 2025
Longlist Published: Friday 25 May 2025
Winners Announced: Friday 15 June 2025
How To Enter
** Entrants must submit a story of maximum word count 2000 words.
** Any entries exceeding the word count by 50 words will not be considered
** Writers can interpret and represent the theme in any way they choose.
** Stories that appear to be entirely unrelated to the theme will not be considered.
** Writers must produce their own title.
** Only one story per entrant is allowed.
** We only accept entries written in English.
Send Your Submission To : Nichola AT sawriterscollege.co.za
Competition Rules
** We aim to support beginner writers.
** We only accept stories from writers who have never been published, or who have been published fewer than four times in any genre.
** This includes fiction and non-fiction, in any publication
** Prizewinners will be notified via email as well as on our web site; please ensure you supply a valid email address with your entry.
** Prize money will be paid via electronic transfer.
** Stories must not have been previously published.
** Entrants must own full copyright to the story submitted.
** Writers retain copyright, but give permission for their work to be displayed on our website.
** The judges’ decision is final; no disputes will be entered into.
** All submissions and enquiries can be sent to Nichola Meyer Nichola AT sawriterscollege.co.za
** If your entry has not been acknowledged within three working days, please contact us as your email may have got lost in transit.
** SA Writers College reserves the right to extend the competition deadline, or cancel the competition should the entries not be of publishable quality or up to the required standard.
Entry Format
** Only e-mail submissions are acceptable, with stories attached as Word Documents.
** Mark your entry clearly with the email subject line – SAWC Annual Short Story Competition.
** In your email, please include the following declaration ‘I declare that I am a beginner writer, and a resident of South Africa.’
** Each story must have a unique title.
** Do not use the theme as your title.
** Your email must state the name of your story, as well as your story title. E.g. ‘Once Upon a Time’ – by Tumi Solomon
** Do not include your name on any page of your story. All entries will be judged blind.
** Use a font such as Arial or Times New Roman, size 12 or more.
** Use 1.5 or double spacing between lines.
** We prefer a clear line between paragraphs rather than indenting.
** Make sure your story has been edited and polished according to tips and guidelines provided on our college site under “Writing Resources”, or on our webzine.
Guidelines
Guidelines to Make Your Entry Amazing
** Entering a writing competition is an excellent way to improve and refine your writing.
** To give your story the best chance of making it into the finals, there are some obvious and not so obvious things you should be doing.
** We have put together three articles you should read before submitting your entry, as well as additional resources that can help you develop your writing.
Prizes
First Prize: R10 000.00 and publication in an anthology of winning stories
Second Prize: R 5 000.00 and publication in an anthology of winning stories
Third Prize: R 2 500.00
** The top three winners will receive editorial comments on their submitted works.