For immediate release
Contact:  Karen Stewart at 
519-523-4328 | 519-441-7629
April 17, 2013

Submissions for 2013 Alice Munro Writers & Readers Festival

Writers invited to submit their short stories for Competition

Writers of short fiction are encouraged to enter the Alice Munro Writers and Readers Festival’s 2013 Short Story Competition. This annual short story competition is designed to provide an opportunity for writers to develop their craft and connect with like-minded associates.  The Festival’s Steering Committee is dedicated to enthusiastically supporting the efforts and talent of unpublished and emerging writers of short fiction.  The Festival activities will also include opportunities for writers to read their works as well as a gala awards event and a walking tour of Wingham with a focus on the life of Alice Munro as she grew up in the area.   Guest speakers and workshop opportunities are being confirmed and complete information will be available on the website, outlining the September 28-29, 2013 weekend events.

Writers are encouraged to submit their work and fulfill the criteria: entries must be typed using standard fonts such as Times Roman, Helvetica or Arial, size 11 or 12, double spaced on plain white paper.  The entrants name must appear only on the cover page and all pages must be numbered clearly.  Entries cannot exceed 5000 words.  Stories must be written in English.  Copyright remains property of the author. All contestants must have Canadian connections to be eligible for the 2013 Alice Munro Writers & Readers Short Story Competition.

Monetary prizes will be awarded for first-, second- and third-place winners in both adult and teen (age 13-19 as of August 1) categories.  Selected authors will be invited to read from their entries at a Gala Event during the 2013 Festival Weekend, September 27-29, 2013.  Winners will be celebrated at the Gala event on Saturday, September 28 in Wingham, Ontario, home of the first Festival and short story competition created by the volunteers of the local Horticultural Society.

Contest entries must be postmarked on or before August 1, 2013.  Entries must be submitted in hard-copy to Box 90, Wingham, Ontario and a digital copy forwarded to .  Adult entries must be accompanied by a $25 entry fee per story and Teen category submissions must be accompanied by $10 entry fee, both payable online by Paypal.    No more than three entries will be accepted from any one writer in the 2013 competition.   Complete contest rules and entry forms are available at  www.AliceMunroFestival.com.   For more information, email  or call 519-523-4328 | 519-441-7629

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Festival overview

The plans are underway for the 2013 Alice Munro Writers and Readers Festival beginning with the announcement that the short story writing contest is now open for submissions.  Writers from 13 to 19 years of age as well as adult writers are invited to submit unpublished short stories of no more than 5000 words to the Festival’s judging panel.  In 2012 there were 57 stories submitted for the competition and the final selection of six writers included 3 teen writers and 3 adult writers offering their creative effort.

The 2013 Festival weekend will begin on Saturday, September 28 with a writer’s workshop.  A story-telling event based on the accumulated stories from the Women’s Institutes groups in our area of SW Ontario will be offered along with a lively panel discussion of Alice Munro’s work.  Saturday’s activities also include Reading Allowed / A Loud in Huron an ‘open mike’ for writers of fiction or non-fiction or poetry to present their work as well as comedians who will be using local ‘colour and characters’ for inspiration.  Along with musicians this event will celebrate writing and spoken word in a coffee house setting.  Saturday evening the Gala event will include dinner, music, silent auction and the presentation of the awards to the finalists, with all the writers reading excerpts from their work.

Sunday, September 29 will include a guided tour of Wingham featuring the noteworthy locations that have been included in Ms. Munro’s stories over the years and a buffet breakfast with a chance for discussion of favourite Alice writing as well.

Complete information is available online at alicemunrofestival.ca