Literary Contest Terms and Conditions

The competition is open to all writers, regardless of nationality or country of residence, who are at least 16 years old.

The theme of the competition is immigration.

All stories must be unpublished, first-person accounts of fact or creative works of fiction.

The stories must be written in English and should explore the experiences of immigrants, their challenges, and their triumphs.

Stories should be between 1000 and 5000 words. Entries outside of this word count range will not be accepted.

Each author can submit only one story for consideration.

It is forbidden for jury panel members to participate in the competition.

Jury panel members may only submit a total of three stories or articles per person, which will be published online and open to readers worldwide without any compensation, reward, or judge-related privileges. The sole purpose is to inspire contestants and engage readers.

All entries must be submitted via email to the competition organisers at the email address provided after a successful registration.

The email subject line should read “BETWEEN BORDERS AND BEYOND” Submission followed by the title of the story.

The body of the email must include the author’s full name, pen name (if applicable), email address, telephone number (WhatsApp, Viber), the title of the story as well as information about the author – country of origin and country of residence.

Entries must be attached to the email as a Word document, with the title of the story as the file name.

Since the submitted short stories will be read anonymously, the authors should not include their real names, pen names, or any other personal information in the attached file. If the contestant’s entry incorporates additional proof or materials unrelated to the story they submitted, they will be disqualified.

The deadline for submissions is midnight on 31 August 2023, Central Standard Time. Entries received after the deadline will not be considered.

The results of the competition will be posted on Biblioteka’s website on October 4th, 2023.

By submitting a story, the author acknowledges that they are submitting a final version of their work, and no editing or changes can be made once the entry has been submitted.

The author retains all copyrights to their work.

By submitting their work, authors certify that they own the copyrights of the submitted material. The competition organisers will not be responsible for any legal issues that may arise due to copyright infringement or plagiarism of any kind.

Biblioteka will hold exclusive rights to the submitted work for a year once the competition is over.

By submitting an entry, the author grants the competition organisers the right to publish their story on the competition website and in any subsequent anthologies or publications related to the competition.

The competition organisers reserve the right to disqualify any entry that does not meet the eligibility criteria or that violates any of the competition rules.

The competition organisers will not be responsible for any lost, late, or misdirected entries.

The competition organisers will not provide feedback or criticism on individual entries.

The judges’ decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into regarding the judges’ decisions.

The competition organisers reserve the right to cancel the competition or modify these terms and conditions at any time without prior notice.

For any questions about these terms, PLEASE EMAIL US

There will be no correspondence regarding the deletion, alteration, or exchange of individual entries.

The entry fee for this writing contest is final and cannot be refunded.

The competition prizes include:

– One cash prize of 150 EUR will be awarded to the winner of the competition.
– One story will be selected by the judges, and the author will have the opportunity to work with a screenwriter to adapt their story into a screenplay. The screenplay may be considered for production as a film, subject to the discretion of the production company.
– Depending on the number of submissions received, a few stories may be selected by the judges for publication in an anthology. This anthology will be made available to the public.
– Additionally, two stories will be chosen by the judges to be published in their original language in the country of origin of the author. This will give the authors a chance to share their work with a wider audience in their home country.

Please note that all prizes are subject to the terms and conditions of the competition, and the judges’ decisions are final. Good luck!

The winner receives payment from Biblioteka via a PayPal transfer on the day the results are announced.

Before, during, or after the contest, Biblioteka will not involve the entrants in any sales efforts, such as the selling of the contest anthology or other hidden costs and fees. Thus, any attempts to solicit purchases from anybody pretending to be our representatives should be ignored by the contestants.

Prolet Mladenova is the sponsor and host of the contest.

By entering the competition, each author agrees to these terms and conditions.