Ort des Schreibens - Geburt und Tod: ein Kurzgeschichtenwettbewerb

Bring us a story that deals with the beginning or end of life. Does death penetrate life - or life penetrate death? Make your point and bring it to us. 6 selected authors will be allowed to present their texts and add them to the literary mosaic of the evening. However, it is the judges who will decide whether you are to be praised or blamed...

Theme:
Beginning and end. Creation and destruction. Birth and death. These are words that initially sound very vague, but quickly take on form and force in our lives. How can a story position itself in relation to this? What can it create from them? Take up the trail and find out.

Participation:
It is necessary to announce your appearance in advance by e-mail to ortdesschreibens@gmail.de. Only 6 candidates will present their texts on this evening. Outline the basic idea of your story in the email. The aim will be to promote the most interesting concepts and contrast opposing approaches to the topic in the competition. An application is possible until 1.7.2025. The competition is free of charge for all participants and spectators. Your effort and ingenuity are enough.

Criteria for a presented short story:
This is a competition where you will only be judged on the spot. Take your text with you, read it out, and also take a second reading copy for the judges' table. The story should be readable in 12 to a maximum of 12 and a half minutes. When the clock says it's over, it's over. A guideline to make this easier is to stay under 1,700 words.

What is a short story? A short story is a single plot that goes from a starting point to an ending point. It is coherent. It is efficient. In its brevity and even in what it lacks, it brings out the theme fully. Every sentence makes sense. The style lets you dive in long enough to understand what it's about and feel the weight of it, but it doesn't shout anything - it demands the reader's participation.

This is how your short stories should be. All texts must also be written in German.

Prize:
For first place, there will be a box containing three items chosen by the judges. And a place on the ortdesschreibens .de website for all appealing stories.
But really, it's all about the honor.
Long live literature.

Moderation:

Ruben Maria Granz, born in 2001 and spoiled by the internet, is a writer and froth-monger. He is the moderator.

Jury:

Aleph Niemeier, born 1989 in Heidelberg, studied in Munich and Berlin, room installations and readings at Salon Irkutsk, Lost Weekend Munich, among others. In the meantime, he has worked in the technical curation of a large science exhibition and in political advocacy. As a juror for the Place of Writing, he judges objectively on the basis of his own mortality.

Alwon Barni, born 1998 in Berlin. Studied library science in Potsdam. He was a librarian in the parliamentary library of the Brandenburg state parliament. Despite his deep connection to the big city, he has remained a country boy, vacationing in Franconia. As a juror, he says he awards prizes to the best, the most profoundly moving or the most stylishly polished. Let the games begin.

Rebecca Tanner, 19 years old, has written several short films herself, in which she interweaves psychological abysses with our modern everyday life, as well as the call of the fatal. It was precisely this affinity for the hidden depths of every fate that drove her to plunge into the study of psychology. She is not easy to inspire. Will your texts stand the test of time?