Xàbia Book Circle Memoir competition

 

The competition is open to everyone. The results will be announced at the October meeting, and first prize will be €100. Full length memoirs are not being asked for, but texts could be a fragment of a larger story; the word limit is 4,000. 

 

Autobiographies try to tell the whole story of a life up to the day the author puts down his/her pen or shuts down the laptop – but a memoir is a fragment. And Memoir is a broad church. These fragments of a life can take many forms: the old-fashioned – ‘Jottings from an Active Life’, exotic travel such as ‘My year in Uttar Pradesh’, recollections of a childhood either idyllic or hellish, memories of a special friendship, a loss endured, a distinguished friend, brother, sister, father, mother, teacher, a confession (quite a few recently involving ex-President Trump) – and of course for a time the very popular misery memoirs of the 90s and early naughties.

 

Submissions should have a title but should contain no mentions of the author’s name (either as author, or within the text) in order to preserve anonymity. The font should be 12 point Times or similar, double line spaced. Word count excluding the title should be shown on the last page. Entries can be submitted in a recognised word processing program such as Microsoft Word, or as a pdf. 

 

The closing date is midnight on September 5th; entries should be sent to Jean Hilder at jeanhilder@gmail.com, who will forward them anonymously to Christopher North and his fellow judge. The entry fee is €10 and should be paid directly to any Committee member, perhaps at the Book Circle Summer Supper. 

 

If you are not a member, but would like to submit an entry and have questions, perhaps about entry fee payment, please email xabiabookcircle2021@gmail.com