The Welkin Writing Prize
@WelkinPrize
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Free-to-enter writing prize | narrative prose up to 400 words | deadline 28th February 2023 | run by @MkenWrites
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Pinned Tweet
The WINNER of the Welkin Mini 2024. "After too many wines at the student club, your friend shows you a photograph of her infant daughter" by
@GillOshaughness
. Congratulations, Gillian! Such a layered story that seamlessly jumps through time and space.
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Hello. I'm new and (possibly) shiny and (hopefully) a positive new addition to the literary universe
#WelkinPrize
. Find out more at:
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"The oldest known specimen, a scarlet koi named Hanako, dipped her fins in three centuries and probably more than a dozen ponds"
Congratulations to
@lindymbiller
🤩🤩🤩
First place in the
#WelkinPrize
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Here we are then. One longlist! Congratulations everyone whose entry is on the list. Commiserations to everyone else. We had to make some TOUGH decisions.
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Okay, the day is here!!!! The
#WelkinPrize
is now officially open for entries:
Open to all forms of narrative prose, be that flash fiction, short-short, vignette, haibun, hermit crab, prose poem etc.
9 (nine!) additional prizes to those listed below!
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A small update before tomorrow's shortlist announcement:
(1) Wow, the longlist stories are amazing 🙌
(2) Reaching a shortlist was HARD 🫣
(3) Picking a top three was even HARDER 🫠
(4) I therefore cheated and created a FOURTH-place prize 🤩
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Congratulations to the twenty writers on the shortlist for the
#WelkinPrize
2023:
The winning stories will be announced between the 13th and 28th April 🤩🤩🤩
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To fill the gap of not having a BIG Welkin Prize this year, I've decided to run a MINI Welkin Prize for MINI stories
FREE TO ENTER
100 words, any theme
Deadline = 2nd January
Prizes are vouchers for my editorial services and writing courses
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Our first shortlisted story is "Dead Whales are Washing Up on Beaches Everywhere" by
@DawnFMiller1
. Congratulations, Dawn! Such an evocative and emotionally-charged micro.
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Entries are now official closed. Thank you so much to everyone who sent something in. We received an incredible 1232 (!!!!) entries from 55 different countries. Reading is underway and we're hopefully going to have a longlist for you on the 31st March... (1/2)
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Congratulations to
@Ali_McGrane_UK
, winner of the prize for "writer with a disability or chronic health condition":
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"Twelve weeks after the accident Alan drags you to the top of St. Louis’ Gateway Arch and thrums the heartbeat signal in the hollow of your chest. Tuh-tum, tuh-tump."
Congratulations to
@sarahillswrites
🤩🤩🤩
Second place in the
#WelkinPrize
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An announcement!
I've unfortunately decided that the Welkin Prize won't be running in 2024. As much as I would love to organise the competition as an annual event, my health is conspiring against me and I am having to be realistic about what I can take on.
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I've been getting so many lovely emails from writers who've been sent a not-quite-acceptance. So this is me, waving back and saying I really meant what I said in my email - it was an honour to read your work. I've read all 490 entries now...
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A few things I'm noticing as I read through entries which might be useful to those currently scribbling away...
(1) Titles. They're "extra" word count. A clever title can do so much. Can it establish time / place? Can it establish tone / form? Can it add an extra layer? (1/6)
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🚨This is not a drill people! 🚨 Entries for the
#WelkinPrize
open tomorrow, Thursday 1st December. FREE ENTRY. Narrative prose, up to 400 words. A whole lot of fun, prizes to be won... All details here:
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Today's shortlisted story is "My Grandmother Paati Says She Will Show These Vellaikaarans How To Do Colonisation Properly, Isn’t It?" by
@pleomorphic2
. Congratulations, Sumitra! What a title, what a brilliant tone of voice!
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Today's shortlisted story is "Digestion" by
@amygcb
. Congratulations, Amy! An intriguing piece that slips sideways into the surreal in order to hold a mirror up to the world.
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Today's shortlisted story is "Taking flight" by
@NivenAudrey
. Congratulations, Audrey! A story that literally made me cry every time I read it. Beautiful and poignant.
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The longlist for the Welkin Mini is now live:
If you're on the longlist, please celebrate LOUDLY but please don't reveal the title of your piece.
If you're not there, commiserations, but as I've said before - wow! The standard has been HIGH all around!
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Please give a HUGE round of applause for our amazing reading team who are already three quarters of the way through the first round of reading. That's over 1800 reads since last Wednesday 😵 and over 120 hours put in so far (with a lot more to come). They are superstars!
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Our longlist will be published in TEN days!!! Who is excited? Who is anxiously biting their fingernails? Who is counting their chickens? And who is sending enchantments in the general direction of Welkin HQ?
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It has been wonderful to see the community engagement with this competition. So many supportive comments on social media. So much joy. The stories have so far racked up 10,000 views between them!!! And hopefully they'll keep getting read for many years to come!
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Announcing the winning story today!!! How exciting! But also slighlty sad that this wonderful adventure is coming to an end. Thank you to everyone who has got involved in some way or another - entrants, cheerleaders, readers, sponsors, technical advisers... (1/4)
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Today's shortlisted story is "Ballgame" by
@LCramer29
. Congratulations, Lori! A wonderful one-sentence micro that does so much to build atmosphere and emotion.
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Very exciting!!! 🤩 It's now just TEN days until entries open for the
#WelkinPrize
- so who's planning on sending in an entry? 400 words. No theme. All forms of narrative prose. FREE TO ENTER. You've got until the end of Feb to write something dazzling...
My entry is written
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I'm working on it
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Thoughts might be had
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My brain is pumpkin soup
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Today's shortlisted story is "The Time Pirate Who Waits Ashore" by
@jenwithwords
. Congratulations, Jenny! A wonderful thematic cohesion at the heart of this piece.
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Congratulations to
@Tro_0per
, winner of the prize for "writer whose first language isn't English":
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"I am sewing a quilt and when I say I am sewing, it is the way I do everything: it is the needle pricks and the splashes of blood. It is the lost scissors and the misplaced pins."
Congratulations to
@susantlandry
🤩🤩🤩
Third place in the
#WelkinPrize
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Second place in the Welkin Mini 2024. "Clean Floors" by
@DawnSteffler
. Congratulations, Dawn! There is so much in the negative space here, so much raw emotional power in those things left unsaid.
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The Welkin Writing Prize is pleased to announce our nominations for Best Small Fictions:
@lindymbiller
@AppleWriter
@sarahillswrites
@wordweave
@susantlandry
Congratulations all!
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That's a wrap!
Entries are now... [drum roll]... CLOSED!
Thanks to everyone who entered.
The total number, in the end, was 490.
Wowzer!
I'm excited to TRY and whittle that down to a longlist and shortlist over the next few days.
STAY. TUNED!
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Today's shortlisted story is "The Ocean of Kindness" by
@SarahOa64492096
. Congratulations, Sarah! Such a poignant piece that ends on a wonderful swell of hope.
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A quick note to say that (wahoo!) our longlist will be published this Friday at 12pm BST.
The original intention was to email all entrants. However, due to the huge number of entries and the limitations of our email system, this won't now be possible... (1/2)
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Today, the first of the HIGHLY COMMENDED stories. Huge congratulations to
@MarioAliberto3
. His piece "The 27th Letter of the Alphabet" drew me in through its deceptive simplicity and the beauty of its language:
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Announcing the winners of the PEOPLE'S PRIZE!
Congratulations to
@bdiggswrites
and
@pleomorphic2
whose stories both got the exact same number of votes. Links to their stories in the thread below.
Also, congratulations to lucky dip raffle winner
@BEdwards76782
!
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The Welkin Writing Prize is pleased to announce our nominations for the Pushcart Prize:
Brianna Barnes
@Tro_0per
@WordsWhich
@lindymbiller
@JournoLizF
@sarahillswrites
Congratulations all!
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That's 300 entries now. Keep them coming! Will we reach 400 by the deadline on Tuesday? Who is still scribbling?
#WelkinPrize
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Today's shortlisted story is "It's Negro Day at the Fair" by
@bdiggswrites
. Congratulations, Barbara! A breathless paragraph infused with voice and message.
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We received our 700th entry overnight. Thank you so much to everyone who has sent in their words. If you're still working on your entry, you've got eight days left to scribble, polish and send. Deadline on the 28th:
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Today's shortlisted story is "I Am the Candy-Striped Stilettos You Stuck in the Back of Your Closet" by Varsha Venkatesh. Congratulations, Varsha! An extended metaphor that contains so much truth.
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Congratulations to Glyn Matthews, winner of the prize for "new writer":
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Today's shortlisted story is "How Far Away Is The Storm?" by
@sharontelfer
. Congratulations, Sharon! A beautifully atmospheric piece that does so much with language and form.
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Tomorrow we'll be publishing the first of our winning stories which is very EXCITING!
Our schedule of winners looks like this:
🌟13th - humorous prose
🌟14th - working class writer
🌟16th - writer with a disability or chronic health condition
🌟17th - historical fiction
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Announcing our brilliant reading team:
@ChloeTellsTales
@fionaemckayryan
@GillOshaughness
@errormessage
@MynaChang
@LivNorman77
@summerwriter
@k_devan_writes
@RebeccaFwrites
@Ahmed2Mehreen
@amygcb
@MeKawalker883
@katie_rose_o
@Marcus_Moore_
& Serena Cha - 🔭🌟🌟
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Third place in the Welkin Mini 2024. "The Nest" by
@cake_girl__
Congratulations, Karen! This is such a beautiful story, beautifully told with so much emotion swirling away underneath.
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The shortlist for the Mini Welkin is now live:
Congratulations to all twenty writers on the list and commiserations to anyone who just missed out.
Emails will be going out shortly.
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Wow! Can't believe we're at this milestone already but we've reached 200 entries! Keep them coming - you've still got 50 days left until the deadline:
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Today we're sharing a wonderful piece of flash by our reader
@GillOshaughness
which is a great example of how much can be achieved in a tiny space - character depth, emotional resonance, startling imagery, the essence of a life distilled into 360 words:
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Just read about forty entries. I've seen other editors / comp organisers say things like "80% of submissions are bad", but there is nothing even remotely "bad" being sent my way, just various shades of different. Today, I've had sci-fi, humour, fairytale, sad, happy...
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The Welkin Writing Prize is pleased to announce our nominations for the Best of the Net anthology:
@lindymbiller
@sarahillswrites
Congratulations both! Links to their prize-winning stories below.
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Today's shortlisted story is "In a sprawling, frost-dusted monastery on a Himalayan mountainside, you contemplate a past life" by
@Eleanor_Luke24
. Congratulations, Eleanor! A piece that juxtaposes two existences in such a resonant way.
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Today, the second of the HIGHLY COMMENDED stories. Huge congratulations to
@tom1walsh
. His piece "Please friend, let's not start a cult today" made me laugh, but it also made me think:
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Astoundingly, we've just reached 500 entries!!! Thank you to everyone who has sent us a story.
Three weeks to go until the deadline for anyone who is still considering it:
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Just received the 100th entry already! Crikey o'riley and all of that. I've read all 100 at least twice. So much originality and skill in these pieces. So many brilliant writers out there writing brilliant writerly things.
#WelkinPrize
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"The hippobbit curls in a nest of paper towels, beside the Aga and behind a tea caddy from Wales."
Congratulations to
@JournoLizF
🤩🤩🤩
Fourth place in the
#WelkinPrize
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As a reminder for anyone who needs it, the
#WelkinPrize
is open for entries until the 28th February. Narrative prose up to 400 words. FREE TO ENTER with a total prize pot over £750. Lots of extra prizes in addition to 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
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Who's excited for the longlist announcement on Monday?
Teaser 1... 🧐 Five of the longlisted titles reference an animal
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Tomorrow is shortlist day!!! It should be appearing at around 11 o'clock. Hopefully that's something to be excited about!
If you're on the longlist, you *should* get an email letting you know whether your story has made it or not!
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I don't want to alarm anyone, but there are just FIVE days left to enter the
#WelkinPrize
.
⭐️Free-to-enter
⭐️400 words narrative prose
⭐️1st place = £250 +
@writers_hq
membership
⭐️ELEVEN other prizes
All details and how to enter:
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Today's shortlisted story is "Stellate" by
@thesparklyshell
. Congratulations, Michelle! A story with such an innovative form - brace yourselves for the ending!
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Who wants an exciting announcment?
There are THREE more stories to announce before we get to our winners.
But as you've seen, all of the shortlisted stories deserve to be on that winner's podium.
SO (exciting announcement!) I'm ALSO going to award a "People's Prize"!!!!! (1/2)
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Want some amazing reading for your Sunday? Catch up on all the
#WelkinPrize
winners here:
Includes gems from
@lindymbiller
@sarahillswrites
@susantlandry
@JournoLizF
@wordweave
@Tro_0per
@AppleWriter
@WordsWhich
@Ali_McGrane_UK
@YeatmanPhil
@NmahassanM
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Wahoo! That's 400 entries now. I 've read a LOT of micros. And they've all been so good! I feel like there's something in the water. But also, how am I supposed to choose between all your brilliance? Still time to enter if you haven't already got an apple in the fruit bowl.
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Today's shortlisted story is "Story Hour" by
@LauraLNagle
. Congratulations, Laura! A piece that implies so much about the character at its heart.
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A small update for a Sunday morning.
1, the deadline for entries is in TWO days!!!
2, note the time of that deadline: it's 3:00pm GMT.
3, I'm aiming to publish a longlist of 50 on 8th Jan.
4, the shortlist of 20 should follow on 11th Jan.
(1/3)
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I MAY have got a little carried away 🧐 (and / or, I thought it was Friday already)...
... but ENTRIES ARE NOW OPEN.
100 words.
Free to enter.
Deadline = 2nd Jan.
Rolling judging (enter a new piece if your 1st gets declined).
£100 in prizes.
To fill the gap of not having a BIG Welkin Prize this year, I've decided to run a MINI Welkin Prize for MINI stories
FREE TO ENTER
100 words, any theme
Deadline = 2nd January
Prizes are vouchers for my editorial services and writing courses
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Congratulations to Brianna Barnes, winner of the prize for "LGBTQ+ writer":
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Eeeee!!!!! It's longlist day! In just over three hours, we'll be revealing the 50 stories that made the longlist. To be honest, we could have stretched that longlist to 100 or more - the quality of entries has been stellar. Thanks once again to everyone who entered. Good luck!!!
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That's 200 entries!!! And the standard just keeps getting higher. Making decisions on these pieces is seriously tough. If you've had an NQA from me over the last few days, know that I am letting go of some absolute crackers!
#WelkinPrize
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Today's shortlisted story is "The Spoils of Love" by
@67MGriffin
. Congratulations, Margo! A piece that oozes with emotional resonance.
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Wow - the People's Prize vote has resulted in a dead heat! Amazing! All to be revealed tomorrow along with the raffle winner; then, sadly, that will be it until later in the year when we'll...
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Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read this. It really means a lot. ❤️
A thing I've found about my chronic illness is that I want people to know about it but I also don't want people to know about it. I certainly don't want pity & I don't want to be othered. But I've decided to be brave & share an essay on my website: (1/10)
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Today's shortlisted story is "Clay Pit Remains" by
@LouisePrinjha
. Congratulations, Louise! A story that manages to be both epic and intimate in just 100 words.
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Exciting times today as we'll be revealing our fourth place winner with third, second and first to follow over the next three days.
Today's tweet might be a little later than usual for those of you who are keeping your eyes firmly peeled!
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Who's planning to scribble a drabble over the weekend? Who's planning to send one in to the
#WelkinPrize
? I'm hungry for more of your wonderful stories.
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And the prize would have been nothing wihtout our brilliant sponsors:
@writers_hq
@fffict
@shortpoemz
@electra_rhodes
@kathyhoyle1
@biddablesheep
@GillOshaughness
@JohannaWordpool
@MAChristophorou
@RuthABrandt
@DianeGotAuthor
+ others - thank you all so much! (4/4)
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Today's story recommendation is the wonderful "My Brother, the Skyscraper" by
@jmgatford
in
@MolotovLitZine
- a fantastic example of the extended metaphor recommended by our reader
@katie_rose_o
:
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Today feels like a good day to scribble something for the Welkin Mini. You've got just six days left now!!! 100 words. Any theme. FREE ENTRY. The deadline is NEXT TUESDAY at (don't be caught out by this!) 3pm GMT.
#WelkinPrize
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I wanted to do a "how it started" / "how it's going" tweet, but in typical fashion, I couldn't find the "start". Anyway, look at this! Thanks to a recent flurry of new sponsors, our top prize is now £250 +
@writers_hq
membership. And the total prize fund is almost £900 😲
Since last Monday, our prize pot has been rocket-boosted by some wondrously wonderful and wondiferous sponsors. The winner will now get a year's membership at
@writers_hq
on top of their £100 prize and 2nd / 3rd prizes have been boosted too... (1/4)
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The FINAL teaser (teaser 9)... the following words appear in at least one of the longlisted stories:
skyscrapers
golden
lunchboxes
invitation
mechanical
meandering
fiddlesome
beige
bluebell
casseroles
fractions
deliriously
🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐
The longlist will be announced TOMORROW!
Who's excited for the longlist announcement on Monday?
Teaser 1... 🧐 Five of the longlisted titles reference an animal
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Your Sunday morning teaser (teaser 7)... three of the titles are questions, two of the titles include a colon, (disappointingly) none of the titles include an interrobang or snark mark, and two of the titles are addressed to the reader
Who's excited for the longlist announcement on Monday?
Teaser 1... 🧐 Five of the longlisted titles reference an animal
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Teaser 6 (final one for today)... six of the titles include a person's name, five reference a group of people or a profession, and three reference a relationship
Who's excited for the longlist announcement on Monday?
Teaser 1... 🧐 Five of the longlisted titles reference an animal
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There is no way this would have been possible without the brilliant reading team:
@amygcb
@Summerwriter
@ChloeTellsTales
@fionaemckayryan
@DevaneEmily
@GillOshaughness
@HelenWivenhoe
@errormessage
@k_devan_writes
@MeKawalker883
@kazbarwrites
@katie_rose_o
@nightspunwriter
(2/4)
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🌟18th - carer for an adult dependent
🌟20th - writer whose first language isn't English
🌟21st - new writer
🌟23rd - speculative fiction
🌟24th - LGBTQ+ writer
🌟25th - fourth place
🌟26th - third place
🌟27th - second place
🌟28th - first place
Thirteen superstar stories!!!
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... I know this is less than ideal but please know we're doing our best to make this the most enjoyable experience for all.
The longlist will now be announced via the website:
And we'll of course shout loudly about it here and elsewhere! (2/2)
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Teaser 4...
The sea features quite prominently in the longlisted titles, but they also took me to the countryside, care home, monasteries, gardens and Paris
Who's excited for the longlist announcement on Monday?
Teaser 1... 🧐 Five of the longlisted titles reference an animal
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Looking for somewhere to send your Welkin Mini NQAs? Why not try out the NFFD micro competition? Open to entries until the 15th Feb.
Entries to our micro competition (up to 100 words, no theme), are open until 15 Feb! First prize is £150, second £100 and third prize £50 plus 7 x £20 Highly Commended. More details here:
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Apologies if I set the cat among the pigeons with a mention of the "one" story (if you're reading this thread, it won't be you - that "one" story was an attack on the competition 🙃 + not agreeing that we should avoid sexism / racism etc. 🤬) - the others are all glorious!
... and all bar one (let's not mention it!) has had so much love and attention poured into it at the level of story, character and craft. The thing we often forget is that achieving as a writer is a ladder. Achievement 1 is having an idea. Achievement 2 is planning...
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Given the number of entries (1232 😱😱😱), the competition would have been impossible without our team of superstar readers; and also a massive thank you to our sponsors who have generously boosted the prize pot so there are now 12 prizes to dish out over the next month.
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Be like Kathryn - send me something to read. 100 words. Any theme. Free entry. Prizes to be won for 1st, 2nd, and 3x HC. Everyone who enters can choose from between 6 badges. What's not to like?
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We've so far had entries from Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Canada, France, Guyana, India, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa, Spain, UAE, UK, USA - would love to see a few more countries join that list!
#WelkinPrize
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From Friday, you'll have FIVE days to vote for your THREE favourite stories.
All votes will then be counted and the top TWO stories will jointly be award the PEOPLE'S PRIZE winning a £10 voucher and a glowing feeling of happiness and pride. (2/2)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Since last Monday, our prize pot has been rocket-boosted by some wondrously wonderful and wondiferous sponsors. The winner will now get a year's membership at
@writers_hq
on top of their £100 prize and 2nd / 3rd prizes have been boosted too... (1/4)
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Reading Welkin entries today, the pieces that stand out for me do three things really well. First, they have something at the start (maybe the title, maybe the first line) that reels me in - something unexpected or odd, something that has changed... (1/3)
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