A writing competition about England’s future
The website England’s Future History is looking for short stories between 500 and 3000 words set in England at any point in the future.
The organisers are clear what they don’t want:”… sci-fi, flying cars and jet packs…”
And they have ideas about the kind of stories they would like:
It could be the assassination of the Prime Minister, the future of housing in the country, or the day cancer is finally cured. We’re looking for personal accounts of similar events – were you there when the PM was killed, are you buying your first home in 2030 or was your dad the last person to die from cancer?
Is food a bit of a problem in the England of the future?
An interesting twist
As new stories are published the events of these tales will be added to to the website’s timeline. They become the future history and your story has to fit in with the world they have created. Three stories have been selected so far. By the 2030s rats are farmed because they are a good source of protein and twenty years later we can engineer dreams and pay to have memories wiped. Towards the end of the century we’ve pretty much mastered the problem of recycling. Read the timeline in full HERE
Deadlines are at the end of March, June, September and December. The next one is June 30, 2016.
You can read how to submit HERE and, as far as I can see, the prize is honour and glory and publication on the website. I would sigh and pull a face because the writer is working for free (again!), except this is a really interesting experiment and clearly there’s more imagination in the organisation of the competition than hard cash.
17 comments on “A writing competition about England’s future”
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BRIDGET WHELAN writer 
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog.
Thanks Chris – always take it as a compliment!
You post GREAT finds Bridget 👍😃
Reblogged this on newauthoronline.
Thansk newauthorline – like your blog too.
Reblogged this on While there is life, there is hope!.
How true! Thanks for reblogging
Sounds like a fascinating project Bridget and will share around.
Reblogged this on Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life and commented:
How do you feel about creating a little bit of the future. Bridget Whelan shares a project for short stories.. do head over and take a look.
It’s an imaginative approach, isn’t it? Thanks for reblogging.
It is Bridget and I am sure will be very interesting to see people’s view of the future.
Could you please explain the green arm coming out of the woman’s nostril in the above pic? And, what is the green arm suppose to be holding? Thank you.
Green arm? I thought it was the shoot of a plant (not that makes the photo easier to understand). What’s it all about? I have no idea but I thought it was a good illustration for an England in the Future writing competition, especially as the organisors aren’t keen on space ships and ray guns.
I got it from a wonderful site http://www.gratisography.com/ which specialises in quirky photographs. They are are available under a generous creative commons license which allows them to be used for any purpose
I saw it and at first I thought someone had photoshopped a bean sprout up her nose like you had, lol. Once I zoomed in though, I saw that it’s a green arm. Thanks for commenting back though!
So, hey, story pitch for whomever wants it…in future England, tiny green incorporeal aliens came to earth looking for sentient host bodies. This person is one of the aforementioned hosts and her rider is enjoying her chocolate doughnut, too, lol.
You’re right! I zoomed in and it IS a green arm complete with green finger nails. A seriously weird picture.
GRATISOGRAPHY is truly a goldmine. Thank you for the great tip-off Bridget.
It’s a great site Glen – must be an imaginative genius behind it!