Aspiring story writers needed before 14th June…..

Calling all you budding JK Rowling’s or Agatha Christie’s; St Elizabeth Hospice need you!

Enter the Henry Buckmaster Short Story Competition and help to support your local hospice with the winner receiving a session with a top editor plus your story will be published in the East Anglian Daily Times.

As a family, the Buckmasters felt they owed a huge debt of gratitude to the wonderfully supportive staff at the hospice who gave Henry such dignified and tender care in the last days and hours of his life at home last August. They thought long and hard about ways to help support the hospice whilst remaining at home following government guidance and hit upon the idea of running a short story competition. Writing is something that you can do from the comfort of your own home; it doesn’t require any materials beyond a means of typing (or a pen) and some imagination.

How to Enter

Once you have made your donation of £10 (if you are able to give more it would be very much appreciated) on the JustGiving Page

We will be in contact with you regarding sending in your short story.

Details of the Competition

The competition is open to anyone over the age of 18

To enter please make a donation to St. Elizabeth Hospice of £10 or more per entry. You may enter more than once.

We ask that your short story is a maximum of 3,000 words long

We ask that your short story is based around the themes of family, community or compassion

The competition is now open and will close at midnight on Sunday 14 June.

The Winner

The winner will be announced publicly on National Writing Day, the 26 June, although they will be informed a couple of days before this date.

The winning entry will be printed in the East Anglian Daily Times, as well as on the St. Elizabeth Hospice website, along with two runner up stories.

The winning author will also have a 1.5 hour mentoring session with an editor at Penguin Random House.

The Judges

Dan Franklin – Suffolk resident Dan is one of the most highly respected publishers in the UK and has recently retired after spending over forty years working for the UK’s best publishing houses. In his career he has published and edited, among many others, Ian McEwan, Salman Rushdie, Audrey Niffenegger, Helen Macdonald, Roddy Doyle and Bill Bryson.

Harriet Bailey – Harriet has worked at the Aldeburgh Bookshop since 2015 and regularly contributes book reviews to the Aldeburgh Times.

Elizabeth Young is an Ambassador for St Elizabeth Hopsice and is a social scientist who has worked in the NHS, academia and more recently in the not-for-profit sector. Her research interest is in palliative care.

Lily Buckmaster – Lily works in International Sales for Penguin Random House in London. Her family lives near Ipswich in Suffolk. This competition is being held in the memory of her father Henry Buckmaster who passed away in August 2019. St. Elizabeth Hospice helped to look after Henry immaculately in his final days; they made it possible for him to be peacefully at home surrounded by his wife and three daughters when he died.

Visit the Just Giving page today to start your entry process – Good luck!