ENTRIES for a short story competition with a first prize of £1,000 are being invited by Chawton House Library.
This is the second time the Jane Austen Short Story Award has been held.
The aim is to encourage new writers to submit stories inspired by her novels.
The winning entries from the first competition were published as an anthology entitled Dancing with Mr Darcy.
The collection attracted the attention of American publishers Harper Collins, who launched it in the United States last autumn.
Award-winning author Michèle Roberts is to chair the judging panel for the 2011 award.
The first prize of £1,000 comes with an invitation to a week’s writer’s retreat at Chawton House Library. The Elizabethan manor house was once owned |by Jane Austen’s brother and |is now home to a unique collection of books by early English women writers.
Two runners-up will receive £200 plus a week’s retreat at the house. The three winners and 17 other shortlisted stories will be published as an anthology by independent publishers, Honno.
The closing date for this year’s competition is Thursday, March 31. Rules and entry forms are available at www.chawtonhouse.org.
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