Minds Shine Bright run an international creative writing competition every year and publish the winning and commended writers in a curated anthology. Their  new competition is called Places.

The Places competition welcomes local and international writers to submit stories and poems about all places that set your imagination free, that inspire and challenge you and that have stories to tell.  Whether your special place is your home, a favourite holiday spot, somewhere you have discovered on your travels, somewhere from the past or somewhere from the deepest reaches of the imagination, the organizer wants to hear your stories.

Prizes

• All winning and commended entries will be published in the Minds Shine Bright Places anthology or the Young Writers Places anthology. Each writer will receive a print copy and an e-book copy of the anthology they are published in.
• First Prize $1500
• Poetry Prize  $500
• Short Story Prize  $500
• Flash Fiction Prize $500
• English as a Second Language Prize $500
• Commended writers $100 (up to 3000 words) $150-200 (up to 5000 words) ( (25 to 30 prizes awarded) These writers will form the Places shortlist.
• Young writers $50 ( Writers aged 15 and under will be considered for all major prizes in the first round of judging and then considered for publication in the Young Writers Places anthology in the second or third round of judging.)
• All writers will be eligible for one major prize only however some writers may receive commendations and publication for more than one piece.

We are keen to encourage quality, so suggest writers to check their stories before submitting using Prowritingaid. They have free and paid versions and are the best writing software we know to help improve grammar, readability and check for repetition, ‘sticky’ sentences and suggest alternatives.