The MPH-Alliance Bank National Short Story Prize 2009

27 October 2008 - 31 March 2009
In Support of Malaysian Writing in English

MPH Group of Companies has collaborated with Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd as our main sponsor and the Malay Mail as our official media partner to create a national short-story prize in support of the creative arts and to encourage Malaysians to showcase their literary prowess. The Prize is also supported by Reader’s Digest, Discovery Channel Magazine, Seventeen Magazine Malaysia, The British Council, the National Library of Malaysia and the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage.

Objectives
We aim to promote the following objectives through the administering of the Prize:

• To encourage reading and writing in the English language;
• To recognise new writers and give them increased confidence to pursue writing as a career;
• To make more widely known the work of rising literary talents;
• To encourage more people to write about their lives in Malaysia; and
• To highlight a diversity of cultures, voices and viewpoints.
  

We hope that the creation and administration of a short-story competition with substantial prizes, courtesy of Alliance Bank Malaysia, will help foster talented Malaysian writers to move on to publishing books of their own. It is also a platform to encourage Malaysians to write about their lives in Malaysia, overcoming ethnic, linguistic and cultural differences through the common language of English.

Two categories
The competition is divided into two categories: adult and teen. There is no specific theme for the adult category; for the teen category, the theme is ‘Staying and Leaving.’ The Prize is open to Malaysian nationals and residents only. The word count is between 2,500 and 7,000 words for the adult category and between 2,000 and 4,000 words for the teen category. Stories must be previously unpublished and each writer is only allowed to submit a maximum of two entries.

Prizes
MPH Group as administrators of the Prize will select a longlist from the entries received, from which the judges will select a shortlist of six stories. The winner of the adult category will receive RM5,000 cash, a laptop and magazine subscriptions; the other five shortlisted entries will each receive a laptop and magazine subscriptions. The winner of the teen category will receive RM2,000 cash, a subnotebook and magazine subscriptions; the other five shortlisted entries will each receive a subnotebook and magazine subscriptions.

Entry forms
Entry forms are available at all MPH bookstores and in the October-December 2008 issue of MPH’s Quill magazine or can be downloaded from mphonline.com. The competition is free for MPH Readers’ Circle members and Alliance Bank Malaysia cardholders; otherwise, a minimum purchase of RM10 from any MPH bookstore is required. Entries are to be sent by post to MPH Group (M) Sdn Bhd (address below) or dropped off at collection boxes in selected MPH bookstores. Faxed or emailed entries will not be accepted and manuscripts will not be returned.

For full terms and conditions, please log on to mphonline.com

For other information, please contact:

Ms. Kuah Sze Mei
MPH Group (M) Sdn Bhd
e-mail: szemei@mph.com.my
Tel: (03) 7960 7334

Mr. Eric Forbes
MPH Group Publishing Sdn Bhd
e-mail: mphpublishing@mph.com.my
Tel: (03) 7960 7334