GGBT Creative Writing Awards 2012

Members of the public are invited to submit written texts under one of seven headings, and a panel of judges will decide the best entries. Winning texts will be displayed for the Festival public to read.

See the 2011 winners at the bottom of the page

Awards will be offered to the writers of the best entries in the following categories in 2012:

best fiction writer
best thriller writer
best travel writer
best screenplay writer
best writer under the age of twenty-one years on 1st April 2012
best Berkhamstedian writer (i.e. a writer who is a pupil at Berkhamsted School on 1st April 2012)
best Old Berkhamstedian writer (i.e. a writer who is a former pupil at Berkhamsted School on 1st April 2012).

Starting points for the 2012 Creative Writing Awards:

Prose writers must begin with the following line, and continue from there:
“A voice near his / her / my foot said, “Got a cigarette?”….”
Screenplay writers must embed this line somewhere in their dialogue:
“A voice near his / her / my foot said, “Got a cigarette?”….”

Writers should choose between the words “his”, “her” and “my”.

The rules and practices governing the Awards are:

each entry shall be written mostly in the English language and shall have a title; each prose text shall be no more than 800 words; each screenplay text shall be written on no more than four sides of A4 paper in a normal font size (e.g. Times New Roman 11pt);
each written text shall be typed, shall be submitted as a pdf file and attached to an e-mail message sent to the Awards Secretary, by the closing date, which is 1st April 2012;
each written text must be original and unpublished, must be submitted under a specific category, and must have been written by the person who submits the work;
a writer may submit work in more than one category, provided that the work is different in each case;
a writer must also supply full contact details, including real name, full postal address and telephone number;
a writer who submits work in category (5), (6) or (7) must also present evidence of status and eligibility to the Awards' Secretary along with the entry;
entries received after the closing date shall not be considered for an Award;
writers shall be responsible for the appropriateness, suitability, decency and legality of their own written texts, and neither the Graham Greene Birthplace Trust nor its judges nor any of its members or associates shall be responsible for the content of such texts;
written texts which are deemed to be inappropriate, unsuitable, obscene, offensive or illegal shall not be considered for an Award, and may be the subject of legal action;
Awards shall be announced at the Festival in October 2012;
an Award shall be not made under a specific category if, in the opinion of the judges, there is no entry which merits an Award;
the decisions of the judges shall be final, and no correspondence shall be entered into.

Download the rules as a PDF file.

The Awards will be judged by Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone, Creina Mansfield, William Ivory and Dermot Gilvary. The prizes for the GGBT’s Creative Writing Awards 2011 will be presented at the Festival in 2012.

Winners of the Graham Greene Birthplace Trust’s Creative Writing Awards for April 2011

Best Fiction: Matthew Smith (Wimbledon, London, England, UK)

Best Thriller: Fergal Casey (Ballinteer, County Dublin, Ireland)

Best Screenplay: Cathy Hogan (Kilkenny & National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland)

Best Under 21 Writer: Nathan Ellis (Oakham, Rutland, England, UK)

Best Berkhamstedian: Emily Beauchamp (Hertfordshire, England, UK)

Prizes were presented in Deans' Hall, Berkhamsted School (Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, UK) on the afternoon of Saturday 1st October 2011.

The judges would like to thank all the entrants – from as near as Greene’s home town, Berkhamsted, and from as far away as Canada – for their excellent efforts and fine writing. There were many interesting and individual texts, and a great range of styles and subject matter, allied to abundant enthusiasm and impressive commitment to the project. Although Awards were not made in the categories of Travel and Old Berkhamstedian, nevertheless the entries were a credit to the writers in all instances. In the category of Travel, the entry from William Whyte (Great Chishill, Hertfordshire, England, UK) was commended by the judges.