BLACK HISTORY MONTH ARTS & WRITING COMPETITION

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The Submission

  • We welcome submissions on the theme of: Black Identity.
  • You can submit static visual art, short fiction and poetry. Every student may submit one piece in each category.
  • Writing must be in English as the main language, other languages included must be made accessible to English speakers through context or translation.
  • The submissions must not have been published before.
  • Short stories must be a maximum of 1,000 words, and can be submitted as a Word Document or PDF. There is no minimum number of words.
  • Poems must not exceed one page in 12pt double-spaced, and can be submitted as a Word Document or PDF.
  • Visual art can be submitted as JPEG, PNG, TIFF or PDF.
  • Every story, poem, and visual artwork must be given a title, which is to be specified in the submission form.
  • The submissions will be judged anonymously. Your name, signature, student ID number or other identifying personal details must not appear in your submission document and file name. Your student email address will be pulled automatically when you submit the submission form, and this will be the address we’ll contact the winners on.
  • Please name your submission files as follows, replacing “title” with the title of your entry.
    Short Story: BHM-COMP-2024_SS_Title
    Poetry: BHM-COMP-2024_PO_Title
    Visual Art: BHM-COMP-2024_VA_Title

Eligibility and Dates

  • The competition is open to all University College Birmingham students who identify as Black.
  • Entry is free and limited to one piece per category per student.
  • Entries must be received by 11.59pm on Friday 25th October 2024.
  • You must submit your entry via the online form. Only submissions made via the form will be entered into the competition.

Judging and Prizes

  • The best entry in each category will be decided by a panel of judges and the winners will be notified via email. 
  • The creator of the winning entry in each category wins a prize money of £50. If a student wins in more than one category, they’re eligible to receive all prizes won.
  • The winners will be announced in early November 2024.
  • The winning entries will be showcased in Moss House.
  • The Guild of Students will also publish a print magazine, which will include all winning entries, plus all shortlisted poems, stories and artworks.

Data and Copyright

  • The copyright for the stories, poems, and artworks will remain with the creators. However, upon submission, all entrants give permission to UCB Guild of Students to hold, process and display the work on campus, on their website and social media accounts and on other UCB Guild of Students channels, in relation to this competition. UCB Guild of Students will have the right to make minor edits to the submitted work (i.e. to correct typos).
  • You will always be credited by your first and last name alongside your story, poem, or artwork.
  • UCB Guild of Students may contact you only in relation to your story and your data will not be used for any other purpose.

Final Notes

  • The judging panel’s decision is final.
  • Entrants may not enter into any correspondence/discussion with any of the judges about the competition before the results are announced.
  • Any submissions that don’t adhere to the above rules and specifications will not be accepted.