Founded by the word-renowned BBC Aeronautics Correspondent Reg Turnill and his wife, Margaret, to celebrate the life and works of HG Wells and encourage creative writing, especially among the young, the prestigious HG Wells Short Story Competition offers generous Senior and Junior prizes and free publication of all shortlisted entries in a quality, professionally published paperback anthology.

The competition is open to anyone. This year’s theme is “Switch”.

Your story can be set anywhere, feature any characters, and be written in any style. The length is 1,500 to 5,000 words. Entries must be in English.

The story may not be published elsewhere.

There are no entry fees for those aged 21 years and under.

The competition for those 21 and under has a prize of £1,000 for the winning entry.

The competition for the over 21s has a prize of £500.

All shortlisted entries will also be published in a quality, professionally published paperback anthology.