2024 HISTORICAL FICTION SHORT STORY CHALLENGE
PRIZE: £1,000
* Correction: Please note that during the first 24 hours of the challenge, a poster was displayed here featuring an image of a plague doctor in a bird mask. It has been brought to our attention that these costumes were actually used in a much later plague outbreak and not during the time of the ‘Black Death’. We apologise for this oversight.
HISTORICAL FICTION SHORT STORY CHALLENGE 2024
Prize: £1,000
Early Bird Ticket: £2.50 for one story
General Ticket: £10 for one story
Words: 4,000 (max)
Deadline: 23:59 (UK time) 16th September, 2024
Winner Announced: 21st Oct, 2024
THE CHALLENGE:
All writers retain full ownership of their stories, including the winner. We only publish the winning story on our website. We welcome international entries!
It's time for another Globe Soup writing challenge!
For this short story challenge, all participants will be randomly assigned a period in history. As soon as you receive your assignment, you'll have until the closing time to research, write, and submit a short story of no more than 4,000 words, set during this historical period.
All we ask is that your story (or a significant portion of your story) be set in your assigned historical period. How much the actual history of that time influences the plot is up to you.
You can use real historical figures as characters, you can use completely fictional characters, or you can use a combination of both.
Your story can be centred around an actual historical event, have a historical event as the backdrop, or you can simply set your story during your assigned period.
Want to mix genres? That's fine too! You can write a historical horror story, a historical romance, a historical drama, or any kind of historical fiction story you want! The possibilities are endless!
The entries will be judged on the quality of the story, not the amount of historical detail included. However, for your story to be successful and effective, it will need to feel credible, so we recommend participants do a certain amount of research and include enough historical detail for their story to feel authentic. Just don't lose sight of the story! The judges are looking for a compelling story not a history lesson!
The historical periods chosen for this year's challenge are:
The Black Death
The Vietnam War
The Roman Empire
The California Gold Rush
The Renaissance
The British Colonial Period in India
If you choose to participate in the challenge, you'll be randomly assigned one of these historical periods. Yes, you can buy multiple tickets to get the historical period you want. This actually helps us to keep the cost of entry low. You may not exchange tickets with (or transfer tickets to) someone else participating in the competition. We have allowed this in the past, but it created too much admin work for us. If the administration cost of running the competitions increases, the ticket price will also have to increase, and we want to keep our competitions as affordable as possible.
How to Enter:
Read the official rules of the contest here.
Buy a ticket. There are 6 tickets available. Each ticket corresponds to one of the historical periods. Simply pick a ticket and purchase. You’ll then be able to download the ticket which will contain your assigned historical period and the submission instructions. If you want to submit more than one story in that assigned period, simply buy the same ticket again. If you want to submit more than one story, but in a different historical period, simply buy a different ticket the next time. You can buy as many tickets and submit as you many stories as you want.
Make sure you download the submission instructions when you receive them.
Join the Community:
All participants can join our Members-Only Facebook Group. Here you can meet other writers taking part in the challenge, ask questions, and get advice. The Globe Soup team are also on hand to offer any support and guidance you may need. At the end of the challenge, you can even get extensive feedback on your story or stories from other members in the group by taking part in the feedback exchange. The community aspect of these challenges is often the best part, so do consider joining!
We also run free monthly mini writing contests in the group, exclusively for members, with additional cash prizes up for grabs. Once you're a member, you're a member for as long as you want. This means you'll have access to a network of like minded writers and free entry to our mini contests for life.
Feedback From Previous Challenges:
"This was tremendous motivation to continue writing and I will always be grateful for the encouragement that Globe Soup has provided me. Globe Soup has also managed to create a wonderful community of writers who motivate and inspire each other. I'm very thankful to be a part of this community." — Nimisha, Mumbai, India
"This competition helped me reignite my passion for writing, so much so that it has started some new writing projects for me.” — Rachel, United Kingdom
“Really enjoyed that it gave me a steady and clear writing goal!” —Fódhla, Ireland
“I wouldn’t have been confident enough to start my MA in Creative Writing if it hadn’t been for Globe Soup. Such a great group to be a part of." — Fhionna, Clyde Valley, Scotland.
“I won’t ever forget that first win, it was an amazing feeling!! (I was in floods of tears, my husband didn’t get why!) You set me on my writing journey and so so much has grown from that first seed of belief, thank YOU!!! — Katrina, Llanfairpwll, U.K.