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England’s Future History

Information
Closing date: 
30 September 2016
Entry: 
No entry fee
Prize: 
No prize but you get your story published on the site

Writers paint bleak future for England

Brexit blues and post Euro 2016 have created a bleak mood in England - and it's not going to get much better if the country's creative are anything to go by.

We can expect food shortages, rising house prices, and possibly even the death of God. But it's not all bad - we'll soon be able to remove bad memories, chose out after life and even get a new pair of wings attached in the time it takes to ink a tattoo.

These are just some of the predictions found in the short stories on the England's Future History website

Our future timeline

The project was launched by former magazine editor Jonathan Brown to create a future timeline for the country.

Every three months, submissions are invited from short stories writers. The rules are simple - each tale should be set at some point in England's future.

The catch is the events of each published entry become part of a timeline. Other writers then need to make sure their entries take these events into account.

Jonathan Brown, who now works with the Press Association as a digital content editor, said: "I wanted to create a joined up vision of our future.

"We're at a tipping point in our country - we could head in a number of directions. I was just interested to see what other people thought would happen."

The story so far...

The winning writers range from absolute beginners to experienced journalists and authors.

Jonathan Brown added: "The range of topics covered is amazing. But they're definitely a few areas that are coming up time and again, with genetics and future healthcare one of the big issues."

So far, seven stories have been published. See the website.

While there's no set end date of the project, Jonathan says he'll review the timeline after a year and see whether there's still room to expand it or whether it'll be time to reset and start again.

"The stories, I hope, reflect 2016. It'd be interesting to do it every year and see how the future changes."

More information...

  1. Entries are accepted all year round but new stories are only published once a quarter. It's free to enter.
  2. Ideas should be emailed to englandsfuturehistory@gmail.com . Visit the Submissions page for more details.
  3. Want to submit your short story. Here are a few rules...
  4. All stories should be under 3,000 words, but can be as little as 500 words.
  5. All stories should be set in England at some point in the future.
  6. New entries must not contradict anything that has gone before. Check the timeline post for key dates and events.
  7. I will have final say on what goes in.
  8. All submissions should include a future date at the start so I can easily place it on the timeline.
  9. We don't mind if you have published your stories elsewhere previously.
  10. We'd prefer not to remove stories once published - so be certain you want your piece online.
  11. We'll edit your piece for typos and grammar mistakes, so let me know beforehand if there are any intentional mistakes, grammar styles etc that I should know about.
  12. We'll aim to let you know within 3 weeks.
  13. Oh, and it's free to enter.

Deadlines are at the end of March, June, September and December. The next one is September 30, 2016.

If you want your story to be included, simply email us with your story as an attachment, a bit about yourself and brief intro to your piece.

Closing date: 
30 September 2016
Entry: 
No entry fee
Prize: 
No prize but you get your story published on the site