Well, we are under way with February’s competition and it is the UK making the early running. All our entries so far are from writers based in Great Britain, and already we have seen some terrific writing.

Our judge, Fiona Cooper, is working her way through the entries for January’s competition and says that she is impressed with the standard for that as well. We hope to make an announcement on winners in a few days.

It is perhaps a good time to say something about competitions, because they really are important in the scheme of things.

Short story competitions came about for many reasons but driving most of them - including ours - was the realisation that unless something was done to save the short story, it would disappear.

The problem was that many publishers had turned their back on short stories and the only people really encouraging them in any great number over recent times have been a few enlightened publishers, magazines and competitions. Thanks to that rearguard action, there are signs that more and more publishers are now returning to the genre.

But the battle is not won yet and we are certainly grateful for all the support were are receiving from people who share our vision. For instance, one of the latest is the excellent firstwriter site. Well worth visiting it at www.firstwriter.com

As mentioned in previous blogs, Certys underwrites all the costs of this competition and we are dependent on support from as many people as possible.

If you know of any organisations who wish to sponsor a site like ours, or advertise on it, then by all means do get in touch with me at john.dean@certys.co.uk

Keep writing!

John Dean

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