Adult Short Story Competition Entry Form
- Entries must be in English.
- Short stories must be no longer than 1500 words. Entries exceeding the limit will be disqualified.
- Entries must reflect the theme of the contest.
- Entries must be submitted in a clear, generic font such as Times New Roman, 12pt or 14pt, double spaced, with pages numbered.
- Manuscripts must not show the name or address of the entrant, but must include the title.
- Entries must be the work of the entrant and must not have been published or accepted for publication elsewhere.
- Entries may have appeared online in private (password protected) peer review sites, but should not have been published in any commercial online form including blogs or personal websites.
- We accept simultaneous submissions but request that entrants notify us if their work has been accepted elsewhere. No refund will be given.
- The competition is international and welcomes entrants from overseas.
- Copyright remains with the author.
- Entries cannot be returned.
- The decision of the judge is final, and no correspondence will be entered into.
- The closing date for entries is midnight (Irish Summer Time) on 5th June 2026. Entries received after this date will not be accepted.
- Shortlisted entrants will be notified by email, on 25th June 2026.
- Winners will be announced during the Mullingar Literary Festival on Sunday 5th July at Caffreys Bar and subsequently by email.
- The results of the competition will be published on the Mullingar Literary Festival Website.
- Entries should be submitted via the entry form as a Microsoft Word Document (.doc or .docx), OpenDocument Text (.odt), Rich Text File (.rtf), or PDF (.pdf).
- Entries will not be accepted without payment.
- Only manuscripts which are within the word limit (1500 words) will be accepted.
- There is no minimum word count.
- The title does not form part of the word count.
- No corrections will be accepted or refunds given.
- Entries not complying with competition rules will be disqualified.
