Litro, the free monthly literary magazine that publishes new, original short fiction has joined with the International Gateway for Gifted Youth (IGGY) to announce a major new short story award for young people: the Young Person’s Short Story Award.

Inspiring, encouraging and acknowledging the creativity of young people is a common goal for Litro Magazine and the International Gateway for Gifted Youth (IGGY). The award is open to young people from around the world aged 11-19. In addition to a cash prize of £2,500, the winner will be published in Litro Magazine and will see parts of their work displayed on a poster in a London Underground station. The winner and two runners-up will also have their story published on Litro Online (www.litro.co.uk) and on the IGGY website (www.warwick.ac.uk/go/iggy).

An illustrious panel of judges has been assembled for the award, including novelist Sadie Jones, author of international bestseller The Outcast; acclaimed author and actor Ian Kelly; award-winning poet Laura Dockrill and Peter Blegvad, creative writing lecturer at the University of Warwick.

Submissions open 19th April 2010. Submissions should be no more than 3,000 words in length and must be submitted by the 25th June 2010. The winner will be announced on the 3rd September. Submissions are to be emailed to competition@litro.co.uk

Commenting on the award, Eric Akoto, Litro’s founder, said:
“This will be a fantastic opportunity for aspiring young writers to showcase their talent and to be recognised for their literary creativity. We are delighted to be partnering with IGGY on this. The magazine has thrived because of the creativity and talent of its writers and it’s exciting to think of who and what we might discover through this award.”

 Ken Sloan, Director of IGGY, added:
“IGGY is all about providing opportunity for talent to flourish, and we’re delighted to work with Litro on launching this exciting new prize.”

For further information please contact:

Peter Dunn, Head of Communications, University of Warwick 
Tel: 024 76 523708 Mobile 07767 655860 p.j.dunn@warwick.ac.uk

PR34 20th April 2010