The QuietManDave Prize celebrates short-form writing and the life of someone who loved to experience new places, art and events and write about them.
The QuietManDave Prize, honouring theatre critic and writer Dave Murray, is now open for entries for its 2024 edition, encouraging submissions in all forms of writing.
Writers are invited to submit flash fiction and non-fiction entries until Friday 25th October, 2024.
Run by the Manchester Writing School based at Manchester Metropolitan University, the prize is named after Dave’s popular blog of the same name where he built up a portfolio of whimsical arts reviews, flash fiction and poetry.
The Prize seeks to honour Dave’s memory and achievements, in addition to encouraging and promoting new writers. It also seeks to embrace some of the core principles of Dave’s creative practice, where no forms of writing were neglected.
Previous prize winners Sara Hills and Kathryn Aldridge-Morris, demonstrated through their winning pieces the creative possibilities of reconciling strict limitations on word count with complete freedom in approaches to style and content.
Speaking ahead of this year’s Prize, Kathryn praised the QuietManDave prize values: “It is one of the best writing prizes out there for flash fiction writers! Flash is the perfect container for experimentation in prose, and in life writing – so it’s wonderful to have a competition which recognises and honours this.”
The QuietManDave competition particularly encourages submissions from new writers. Murray was trained in engineering and accountancy, getting into published writing later in life, and the prize was set up under the reality that writing can be a financially arduous feat, and often excellent writers don’t get the recognition they deserve.
It features two categories: flash fiction (up to 500 words) and flash nonfiction (up to 500 words). In both categories the first prize is £1000 and runner up prizes are £200 and £50 in each category.
Writers are prompted to write in unique and offbeat ways, with the prize asserting that forms often seen as on the periphery of prestigious writing – such as blog posts, book reviews, recipes – should be given a legitimate place in the published landscape.
For more information on the 2024 QuietManDave prize and how to enter, visit www.mmu.ac.uk/qmdprize
Feature Image: Press “It’s important to find your people. Don’t feel like you have to find this incredible producer or person who’s going to give you loads of money and change your life” says Lauerence Tratalos, one-half of the Northern duo responsible for Misper; a feature debut for director Harry Sheriff and script writer Tratalos….
Featured image and gallery: Lucy Elson-Whittaker Fuel Café Bar in Withington hosts the fifth stop of six-piece band Ignoring Izzy’s ‘Motorway Musk’ tour, following the release of their debut single. The room buzzes with the promise of chaos, and possibly a few flying vegetables. Opening the night is Manchester-based Leucotome, a witch-folk trio blending soft,…
Featured image and gallery: Sub Khan Opening the night, Gabrielle eases the Co-op Live crowd into the spectacular night ahead. There’s no need for spectacle, her presence alone is enough with her deep vocals echoing around the arena. A performance rooted in control and feeling, each song reveals a different shade of her understated command. Operating…
Featured image and gallery: Sam Holmes Formed in Belfast in 2019, Chalk have already made a name for themselves. From support slots for Fontaines D.C., IDLES and Sprints, to taking to the stage at SXSW earlier this year, the band’s growth has been rapid and shows no signs of stopping. Touring their debut album Crystalpunk,…
Leave a reply