The 2025 Book a Break Flash Fiction Competition.
First prize: A long weekend for two (4 night stay) in Provence (see below for details).
The entries of the winner and 4 runners-up will be published (print and e-book) in the forthcoming The Best of the Book a Break, a compilation of the best stories from previous competitions (2016-2018). (A separate Flash Fiction Compendium e-book of selected stories from the current competition will also be published.)
Rules:
Maximum 500 words. The theme: Kids. This can be a single child, siblings, childhood itself - any way of expressing the theme of offspring, whether human or animal. All angles are welcome, from the humorous to the dramatic.
Deadline: 6 pm GMT, February 23rd 2025
Entry fee: 8 euros (or $8 or £8), to be donated directly to the GoFundMe campaign in support of the Little Sapphires School, Madagascar. All proceeds of the competition will go towards meeting the current urgent needs of the school: a well, solar panels, an office for the headmistress, the renovation of an old classroom. (You are of course welcome to donate more, but though it will be much appreciated, this will not influence in any way your chances of winning.)
Link to donation / entry fee page
Entries to be sent to curtis.bausse(at)outlook.com, in the body of the email (not as an attachment) with Book a Break in the subject line.
The winner will be announced: March 22nd 2025.
The entries will be judged by Sherry Morris, winner of the 2018 Book a Break competition, and playwright Phil Baarda, to whom I will forward the entries after making them anonymous.
The entry fee donations on the GoFundMe page can also be made anonymously, your name being only visible to me. Be sure, however, to use the same name as on the flash fiction entry itself.
Entries must be in English, and previously unpublished in any form. Nor should an entry have already won a competition prize elsewhere, even if unpublished. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please inform me as soon as possible if your story is accepted elsewhere.
Writers may submit more than one entry if they wish, the entry fee to be paid for each.
First Prize Details
The prize, valued at approximately 650 euros, includes:
4 nights bed and breakfast for two (dates to be negotiated, with a preference for May or September 2025), in en suite accommodation 3 kms from the centre of Aix en Provence, equipped with king-size bed, adjoining bathroom, coffee machine and wi-fi connection.
Free access to swimming pool and garden.
Transport (arrival and departure) between the accommodation provided and either Aix-Marseille airport or the Aix-TGV train station (NB: the prize does not include travel to or from Provence).
Dinner (if desired) for two of the four nights.
Talking shop with Curtis, who will happily converse for hours, but will also shut up and go away when you tell him to.
If you have any queries, don't hesitate to get in touch: curtis.bausse(at)outlook.com
My thanks are due to Almond Press for listing this competition along with many others on their website.