Submit your Story to the Momaya Short Story Competition
“Coming of Age” is the theme for the 15th annual Momaya Short Story Competition. While entries for the Momaya Competition may be on any topic and are judged on their own merit, the judges will select additional stories for publication based on their treatment of the “Coming of Age” theme.
Some of the world’s greatest literature has considered the theme of coming of age – “Catcher in the Rye” by JD Salinger, “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens, “Prep” by Curtis Sittenfeld, “Less Than Zero” by Bret Easton Ellis, “The Secret History” by Donna Tartt, “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro, to name just a few. Coming of Age can come at any age – childhood (perhaps from a negative event or series of events), the more usual teenage coming of age, or even well into adulthood if a protagonist has been adept at avoiding uncomfortable realities (or perhaps shielded from them). Coming of Age can be a positive, empowering, enlightening experience in which the protagonists discovers their true self. But it can also present a loss of faith in the people who were protectors, caretakers, educators, or in other positions of trust and authority. When faith is lost, what arises in its stead?
“There’s a point, around the age of twenty, when you have to choose whether to be like everybody else the rest of your life, or to make a virtue of your peculiarities.” ― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed
We look forward to hearing your own unique take on this theme. We hope for equal parts enlightenment to tragedy, and we’ll be rooting for the protagonist to rise to the occasion. We are accepting entries now until the competition ends on 30 April 2018.
This post first appeared on Seán Ó Carolan Over One Thousand Writing Competi, please read the originial post: here
