Bill Bryson supports Global Short Story Competition
We are delighted to announce that Bill Bryson, OBE, the Chancellor of Durham University and author of books including Notes from a Small Island, is supporting our competition.
The competition is designed to appeal to writers everywhere, from the arid outback of Australia to the baking deserts of Africa, the towering skyscrapers of the United States to the humid cities of Asia, the bustling capitals of Europe to the steamy villages of South America.
Each month, we will select a winning story and a highly commended work to receive a cash prize. Winning stories will be posted on our website. At the end of twelve months, each winner will be considered for an annual cash prize.
The experience of Certys Limited in running previous short story competitions (including Orange New Voices), has convinced us that there are writers waiting to be discovered. So far, this competition has attracted entries from Australia to France, Italy to South Korea, India to Singapore, the US and Canada to Romania and Finland.
Bill Bryson also believes that the desire to write spreads across the world. He says: “From as far back as I can remember, I have been blissfully enchanted by the art of storytelling. I once read that the skill of a great writer or storyteller is the ability to capture the reader and seduce them into accompanying you on your journey – a journey which so often is loaded with personal experiences, prejudices and imagination. This is a maxim that I have often thought of but at times found so difficult to fulfil.
“The demise of our traditional communities and the compromises of modern family life mean that for many the telling or re-telling of stories is a forgotten craft as the demand for multimedia experiences and the mind-numbing repackaging of tired tales continues to rise.
“It is wonderful therefore to hear that a competition has been developed to showcase new creative talent and in turn create a community of writers and story-makers across the globe. The Global Short Story Competition is founded on a love and enthusiasm for writing and short stories and it is a passion I share. I would like to express my admiration to everyone involved and wish you all luck in the competition.”
Certys director and competition administrator, the crime novelist John Dean, said: “We are delighted that Bill Bryson is supporting our competition. To have secured support from someone so passionate about writing, and about the North-East of England, where we are based, is a real coup.
"Already we are discovering exciting writers all across the world and the fact that Bill is backing us is very exciting."
John Dean Introduces
Bill Bryson to Globalshortstories.net
21
