A Story For Our Times
Could you be the next John le Carré?
John le Carré is famous for writing dazzling novels about the contemporary world - whether he is writing about the Cold War in the 1960s, the 'War on Terror' in the early twenty-first century and, today, in Our Kind of Traitor; a story that could have come straight out of Wikileaks.
Penguin Books in collaboration with the Daily Telegraph are inviting anyone in the UK between 16-18 years old to write a short story that reflects the contemporary world. It can be any genre and - like all of le Carré's fiction, should reflect the contemporary world. The word limit is 2000 words.
Penguin's fiction editors will compile a shortlist of the best entries, and
John le Carré will pick the winner.
The winning story will be published in the Daily Telegraph and on the Penguin website.
The winner will receive a signed limited edition of le Carré's recent novel, Our Kind of Traitor, along with ten Penguin paperbacks at a special prize-giving event at the winner's school or sixth form college.
The prize will be presented by John le Carré at the college or school attended by the winner.
The winning school or Sixth Form College will receive the full Penguin Decades collection - 20 classic novels from the last four decades.
To enter: Please download and complete the entry form and return your entry to lecarrecompetition@penguin.co.uk by 14th April 2011.
» Download your entry form here
Closing date: 14.04.2011
No purchase is necessary to enter this competition.
Terms and Conditions
1. This competition is open to UK residents aged 16-18 years, with the exception of employees of the Promoter, their families, agents and anyone else connected with this promotion. Entries must be received by 23:59 on April 14th 2011. The Promoter accepts no responsibility for any entries that are incomplete, illegible, corrupted or fail to reach the Promoter by the relevant closing date for any reason. Proof of posting or sending is not proof of receipt. Entries via agents or third parties are invalid. Entries become the property of the Promoter and are not returned.
2. Only one entry per person. No entrant may win more than one prize.
3. To enter entrants must write a short story of no more than 2000 words that reflects on the contemporary world and submit it on a completed entry form together with the entrant's name, age and email address to the Promoter at lecarrecompetition@penguin.co.uk. Entries must be in .doc or .rtf form.
4. All correctly completed entries will be forwarded to a judging panel made up of Penguin editors who will select a shortlist of [number] entries. John le Carré will select one winner from the shortlist.
5. The prize: The winning story will be published in the Daily Telegraph and on the Penguin website. The winner will receive a signed limited edition of le Carré's recent novel, Our Kind of Traitor, along with ten Penguin paperbacks at a special prize-giving event at the winner's school or college. The prize will be presented by John le Carré at the college or school attended by the winner. The winner's school or college will receive the full Penguin Decades collection - 20 classic novels from the last four decades.
6. The judges' decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into.
7. Prizes are subject to availability are non-transferrable and no cash alternative will be offered. In the event of unforeseen circumstances, the Promoter reserves the right (a) to substitute alternative prizes of equivalent or greater value and (b) in exceptional circumstances to amend or foreclose the promotion without notice. No correspondence will be entered into.
8. The winner will be notified via email or post by May 5th 2011. The winner must claim their prize within 30 days of the Promoter sending notification. If the prize is unclaimed after this time, it will lapse and the Promoter reserves the right to offer the unclaimed prize to a substitute winner selected in accordance with these rules.
9. By entering this competition each entrant confirms that his/her entry is their wholly-owned creation and to the extent that such entry makes use of any third party materials that these have been fully cleared unless they are no longer protected by copyright or other intellectual property rights. Entrants will keep the Promoter harmless from any claims in relation to their entry that the entry infringes the personal or proprietary right of any other person. By submitting an entry, each entrant grants to the Promoter a perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to edit, publish, translate, modify, adapt, make available and distribute the entry throughout the world in any media now known or hereafter invented. Each entrant undertakes to complete any necessary documentation to formalise the licence. If you do not want to grant us these rights, please do not submit materials to us.
10. To obtain details of the winner please email lecarrecompetition@penguin.co.uk stating the name of the competition in the subject heading 4 weeks after the closing date.
More information here.
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