The 19th Elmbridge Literary Competition 2024

FAME

Reputation is an idle and most false imposition, oft got without merit and lost without deserving.
– William Shakespeare

For some, it is a lifetime’s pursuit, often slipping through their grasp while others see it fall into their hands by mere chance. However achieved, through talent or luck, Fame, can be an ill-fated prize.

The 19th Elmbridge Literary Competition, run in partnership by The R C Sherriff Trust and Elmbridge Borough Council, is looking for short stories and poems on the theme of the double-edged sword that is ‘FAME’.

Alongside the prizes for each age category The 2024 Competition includes The Elmbridge Prize for the best story or poem submitted by an Elmbridge resident.

The Competition will once again run in partnership with publishers Sampson Low, who will publish the winning entries as a Chapbook. (Small and affordable forms of literature, Chapbooks historically were sold on the streets, and covered a range of subjects from fairy tales and ghost stories to news of politics, crime or disaster.)

The closing date for entries is Friday 23 February 2024.

We are keen to encourage quality submissions, 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.