Joy Francis thanks R&B singer-songwriter Estelle for speaking out about the lack of black British musicians being promoted.
Madhvi Ramani praises Random, the latest play from debbie tucker green that taps into a growing crisis – random violence.
Naz Koser director of Ulfah Arts, Birmingham explains the stories behind the creation of a female Muslim superhero.
Writer and performance poet Nick Makoha explains why his creative drive led to him give up a career in biochemistry.
Loraine Martins of the Olympic Delivery Authority shares her experience of having dinner with living legend Angela Davis.
October 2007
‘Get Started’ Feature and Short Story writing competition for new and emerging BAME* writers
Welcome to Words of Colour’s first feature and short story writing competition for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME*) writers who are new, emerging and unpublished, to commemorate Black History Month.
Recent research by the Diversity in Publishing Network, Spread the Word, the Arts Council and the National Union of Journalists have all highlighted the lack of cultural diversity within the media and publishing industries, and how few BAME writers get their work published. The concern is that Britain’s cultural diversity is not fully reflected in its publications, which is why this competition aims to attract and showcase a range of diverse voices.
CATEGORIES
Feature Writing
Entrants must write a 1,000-1,500 word maximum feature article on any arts and entertainment topic (i.e. movies, music, dance, art, architecture, television, books, theatre, etc.). Entries can be trend stories, profiles, interviews or feature stories. Please identify a magazine or newspaper that you would like to write the feature for, and write it with the chosen publication’s target audience in mind.
Short Story Writing
Entrants can submit a story between 2000-2,500 word maximum in any genre - humorous, romantic, thriller, horror etc. - and on any theme. It can be written with either adults or children in mind.
Deadline
Friday 16th November 2007.
Winners will be notified by Friday 14th December 2007.
Prizes
1st prize £25 book voucher, a framed Words of Colour certificate signed by all the judges, a profile and extract of your work published in Calabash magazine, publication on Words of Colour online and a free workshop on ‘how to get published’ with industry professionals.
Runner up prize framed Words of Colour certificate signed by all the judges, publication on Words of Colour online and a free workshop on ‘how to get published’ with industry professionals.
Judging panel
Andrea Enisuoh is project coordinator (Centerprise Literature) and managing editor (Calabash magazine). She is also an arts columnist and book reviewer for New Nation. Andrea used to edit the web magazine artvibes.org. Her articles and essays have been published in publications such as PRIDE magazine and the Evening Standard. She has been a pundit and book reviewer for programmes like BBC Radio 4’s Front Row and Five Live’s Simon Mayo show.
Courttia Newland has been a published novelist for over a decade, yet he is only in his early-thirties. Acclaimed for his debut novel The Scholar and his recent collection of short stories Music for the Off-Key , the west London-born former rapper, playwright and documentary filmmaker has just completed his latest book Minx. His popular novel Society Within is currently in development as a TV series with the BBC.
Sailesh Ramakrishnan is a novelist and journalist. His first novel Asian Triangle, a teenage thriller, was shortlisted for a book prize in Scotland. He also writes comedy and has had his work performed on BBC radio. As a journalist he has worked on the Independent and has written for many newspapers and magazines. He is currently editor of a new Asian glossy lifestyle title, GG2Life and has completed his second book, a comic adventure story for romantically challenged adults.
Susan Yearwood is a literary agent based in London. She has worked in publishing (Virago, MQP and Penguin Books) as well as studied creative and critical writing (MPhil) and lectured at community and higher education levels. She has won a national prize for short story writing and has been published in various publications over the past 16 years.
Rules & Conditions
- Your Name must not appear on the actual stories. Each entry must have a cover-sheet attached, marked ‘WoC’, giving the title of the article/story, word count, author’s name, address, and/or telephone number/email address. Please say where you heard about this competition.
- The competition is open to UK-based applicants from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds over 18.
- Entries must be in English.
- No entry form is needed and there is no entry fee.
- Emailed entries only to info@wordsofcolour.co.uk. We will accommodate postal entries under exceptional circumstances.
- Only one entry per applicant.
- Notification of receipt of entry will be by email.
- Entries must be entirely the work of the entrant and must never have been published, self-published, published on any website or broadcast, and must not have been simultaneously entered for other competitions.
- Closing date for entries is Friday 16th November 2007 at midnight GMT. Winners will be notified by Friday 14th December 2007.
- The list of prize winners will be displayed on the Words of Colour website after the prize giving ceremony in January 2007.
- First prize is a £25 book voucher, a framed Words of Colour certificate signed by all the judges, a profile and extract of your work published in Calabash magazine, publication on Words of Colour online and a free workshop on ‘how to get published’ with industry professionals.
- Runner up prize is a framed Words of Colour certificate signed by all the judges, publication on Words of Colour online and a free workshop on ‘how to get published’ with industry professionals.
- No competitor may win more than one prize in each category.
- The competition is judged anonymously. The judges’ decision is final and no individual correspondence can be entered into. Judges are unable to comment on individual entries.
- Entries are not returnable.
- Copyright remains with the author although Words of Colour Productions reserves the right to publish winning entries on Words of Colour online.
- Submission of work will be taken as an acceptance of the competition’s rules and conditions.
- No correspondence will be entered into once work has been submitted. Stories cannot be altered or changed after they have been entered.
- Entries submitted posthumously will not be eligible.
- Failure to comply with the entry requirements will result in disqualification.