Have you dreamt of having a short story published but never known where to start or feel a desperate desire to write about Italy? Well now's your chance!
This month we are delighted to launch the first ITALY short story competition in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute and bestselling Italian author Simonetta Agnello Hornby. We are looking for short stories (fiction only please!) about Italy or with an Italian theme, no longer than 1000 words. The prize is £250 and the winning entry will be published in the December issue of ITALY magazine. All you need to do is fill in a form available in the new issue of ITALY magazine and attach it to your entry. You can find the magazine in all good newsagents in the UK or by subscribing online and having it delivered to you at home.
The Italian Cultural Institute is the official Italian government agency for the promotion of culture between Great Britain and Italy. It promotes collaboration between universities, academies and learned societies and also assists in the organisation of major Italin cultural evens in Britain, including the UK Italian Film Festival taking place this winter. The Institute, based in London, was inaugurated in 1949 and since that time has hosted events with personalities such as P.D. James, Primo Levi, Antonia S. Byatt, Enrico Palandri, Hanif Kureishi, Cristina Comencini, Colin Firth and Nanni Moretti.
If you become a member of the Institute you can be kept up to date with the news of the Institute's rich programme of art and music as well as wonderful benefits and discounts - http://www.iiclondra.esteri.it .
We are also honoured to have Simonetta Agnello Hornby, pictured right, on board to help us judge the entries. Simonetta was born in Palermo, Sicily and is a solicitor specialising in children's law. She has been a writer since 2000. Her books include her first novel The Almond Picker/La Mennulara which was a bestseller in Italy and has been published in 12 languages.
So with that as inspiration time to dust off the keyboard and get typing. In bocca al lupo!
