Tuesday, June 5, 2012

The 3rd NUJS Short Fiction Competition

SUBMISSION DEADLINE EXTENDED TO 15th July, 2012

The NUJS Short Fiction Competition is here again! From Erle Stanley Gardner, to whom we owe the suave and debonair Perry Mason, to John Grisham, whose Mitch McDeere was immortalized in The Firm, several lawyers live lives closely entwined with fiction. There's nary a lawyer who isn't a prolific reader, and too many law students live multiple lives, several of which are spent in the company of fictional friends. Here's your chance to indulge the writer in you!


In order to participate, please send us your entry (within 3000 words, by 0000hrs, 15th July 2012) on any 1(one) of the following 4 (four) themes:


Supervillains: 
Write a short story about a supervillain and the supervillainy involved. You may even send us a sketch of the costume-design! (The latter may not necessarily be sketched by the author.)

OR
Write a story incorporating the symbolism behind this picture.

OR
Involve quarks, bubblewrap, linoleum, mobile and Timothy Parker in a story in the most original way possible.
For instance, a line in the story that reads "She saw a short story writing competition that required her to involve quarks, bubblewrap, linoleum, mobile and Timothy Parker in a story in the most original way possible, but found it too challenging a task." is the most unoriginal way to incorporate the words into your story.

OR
Write a story incorporating the following dialogue:
'But didn't Charlie want to be a butterfly?' she asked.
'Yes, but that was because his dad wouldn't let him.'



Prizes:
1st: Rs. 5000/-
2nd: Rs. 3700/-
3rd: Rs. 2300/-
The best Supervillain sketch shall have an additional prize worth Rs. 1000/-!!! 


The Competition shall be judged by the very talented Kuzhali Manickavel. Her first book - Insects Are Just Like You And Me Except Some Of Them Have Wings was published by Blaft Publications in 2008. Her short stories have also appeared in print magazines like Shimmer Magazine, Versal literary journal, AGNI, PANK, FRiGG and Tehelka. You can find her blog here and reviews of her book here, here and here, amongst others.


The Fine Print:

0) The Competition is only open to students studying in 5 year LLB programmes in India.
1) Each entry must be more than 500 words and within 3000 words, in Times New Roman, Font Size: 12.
2) One person may send more than one story, but each story must be sent as a separate entry.
3) A Supervillain sketch shall only be considered a valid entry when it accompanies a short story.
4) There can be no joint entries, except in the cases where a second person sketches the Supervillain.

5) Email one soft copy, pdf or word, to:  nujs.writersblock@gmail.com

6) Send us your personal details in a separate document (though in the same email), which include:
  • The Title of Your Story
  • Your Name
  • College Name
  • Contact Address
  • Contact Number

Please ensure that none of these personal details are mentioned in the document that contains your entry.


7) Entries must be received before midnight strikes on the night of the 4th of July, 2012.

For any further queries you may contact the NUJS MagCom by shooting off an email to: nujs.writersblock@gmail.com with the following as the subject line: "Query".