The 2011 Rhys Davies Short Story Competition could be your big chance to make your mark on the Welsh literary scene and get your hands on the First Prize of £1000. A further ten equal runner-up prizes of £100 are also available. Plus, the 2011 competition once again sees Academi working with BBC Radio Wales who will broadcast a selection of the winning stories on BBC Radio. Academi is delighted to announce that the 2011 competition will be judged by award-wining writers Trezza Azzopardi, Russell Celyn Jonesand Siân Preece.

Trezza Azzopardi, who was born and grew up in Cardiff, is a lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. Her first novel, The Hiding Place (Picador), won the 2001 Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Russell Celyn Jones is Professor of Creative Writing at Birkbeck College, University of London. His short fiction has been widely anthologised and he is a recipient of the Society of Author’s Award, Welsh Arts Council Fiction Prize and the David Higham Prize. Siân Preece, a previous winner of the Rhys Davies Competition, will act as filter judge.

The competition, which is judged anonymously, is open to all writers born in or currently living in Wales. Stories can be in any style and on any subject. However, entries must be no more than 2,500 words in length, previously unpublished, in English and not a translation of another author’s work. Entry fee is £6.00 per story.The competition closing date is Friday 22 July 2011.

To receive an entry form, send a stamped, self addressed envelope to: Academi, 2011 Rhys Davies Entry Form, Mount Stuart House, Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff, CF10 5FQ. Entry forms are now also available to download from the Academi website: www.academi.org

The Rhys Davies Short Story Competition is administered by Academi and sponsored by The Rhys Davies Trust, a body which has as its aim the fostering of Welsh writing in English.