With the amazing support of Rainbow New Zealand Charitable Trust, Same Same but Different are again running a short fiction writing award. From 2020 it celebrates the life and work of our founder, Peter Wells.

First prize is $1000 cash for the winning story, $500 for the runner up and $500 cash for the best writing from a promising young writer aged under 25. This makes it one of the leading short fiction competitions in Aotearoa. That it is only for LGBTQI writers offers an incredible opportunity to upskill and show your writing talent. Short fiction is demanding and we are looking for quality writing.

The contest history includes The Wallace Foundation Short Fiction Contest, which was first awarded in 2016, after a couple of years as the express writing contest.  It gives New Zealand LGBTQI writers an opportunity to prove their creative skills and to publish and publicise their work in a safe and supportive environment. At the Auckland Writers Festival in 2019, Queer American Writer, Alexander Chee encouraged us all to write stories and enter contests because in doing so we find our own voices and gain satisfaction irrespective of the result of the competition.

“Finding your future in Aotearoa today” is our theme. Other than a word limit of 2000 words there are no other creative restrictions; excellence is what is being looked for and LGBTQI subject matter may be approached tangentially. Past winners have demonstrated craftmanship and good storytelling. We are not looking for flag waving or sob stories: fiction is about inventiveness, imagination and the power and use of language.

The word limit is a maximum of 2000 words and should not be exceeded. Stories must exceed 1200 words. Our judges, yet to be announced, will have mana in both the writing community and the LGBTQI worlds. They are looking for outstanding sparks of creative brilliance. The judges’ decision is final.

Please state in your covering email if you are eligible for the promising young writer award. All entries will be judged for the overall contest winner.
Entries will close 5 January 2020, with the winners being announced and awarded during our fifth samesame but different LGBTQI writers festival, 14-15 February 2020
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Go with your heart and share your chosen story. We want to hear your stories.

1. Stories must be your own work, and not previously published.
2. Stories must be original works of fiction.
3. All stories should have relevance to the broader New Zealand LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex) community.
4. Stories should be at least 1200 words in length but must not exceed 2000 words. Any entry over this limit will be disallowed automatically. Please include your word count at the end of your story.
5. Stories must be emailed as attachments in Word to: litergayture@outlook.com
6. All stories must be received by midnight on 5 January 2020.  Late entries will not be accepted.
7. Be sure to include your full name, email address and contact phone number in your submission email.
8. Please state in your covering email if you are entering your story in the promising young writer category. If you are, please confirm that you are aged under 25. You will still be eligible to win the xxxx Short Fiction Contest.
9. Your name must not appear in headers or footers or anywhere in your story – our judges read all stories in blissful ignorance of the writer’s identity.
10. Please give your work a name.  This helps us identify each piece.
11. If you submit a story to the competition, you are also giving us permission to publish it, which may be online or in a printed publication.
12. The winner may be invited to read their work at our winner’s event.
13. You may submit more than one story.
14. We only accept stories from writers resident or normally resident in New Zealand.