Tell us your story and win R10 000

The 13th annual True Stories of KwaZulu-Natal competition is now open.

An event from your own life could be the winning story. Previous tales that have won have come from writers’ jobs, childhoods, families and holidays. Last year’s winner wrote about a seemingly uneventful car trip. Stories should be true and have a link to KZN. In the Open category the word limit for stories is 1 500 words, with the winning entry bagging the grand prize of R10 000 and the runner-up receiving R3 000.

In our Snapshot and Schools categories, we will award R3 000 each for the best tale written in under 800 words.

And this year, along with the usual categories for storytellers, we’re introducing a new section for social commentators. In the new Opinion category, we’re looking for an original, crisply written, thought-provoking point of view that fits this brief.

The subject should bring something new to the discussion about how we are living and where we should be going as a society. Articles should not be longer than 900 words and the winning entry will take home R3 000.

The closing date for the competition is August 31, 2012.

Rules:

• State clearly what category you are entering — Open, Snapshot, Schools or Opinion;
• Stories may be submitted via ­e-mail or post. Send your entries to The Witness True Stories of KwaZulu-Natal Competition, P.O. Box 362, Pietermaritzburg 3200, or e-mail: features@witness.co.za
• Do not enclose visuals;
• f you send an e-mail attachment, include your contact details in the same document as the story, not just in the e-mail message field;
• Be sure of your entry before you send it — “improved” versions won’t be accepted;
• Editing is at the discretion of The Witness;
• Manuscripts will not be returned;
• The competition is not open to permanent employees of The Witness.