MENA Writing Competition: Aspiring Writers Take Note! Here’s Your Big Chance To Be Published in Bazaar
The MEPRA Youth Board has launched a creative writing competition in partnership with Emirates Literature Foundation and Harper’s Bazaar Arabia
In a move to bring more regional voices to the foreground, a brand-new e writing competition has been initiated by the Middle East Public Relations Association (MEPRA). Young storytellers in the Middle East are invited to write either in English or Arabic about a topic that is sparked by the world around them. The goal is to encourage the next generation of leading writers to expand their creative thinking and hone their narrative voice.
“While we now live in a digital-first world where visual content is key, writing remains the fundamental start of any storytelling journey. We therefore decided to launch an initiative to highlight writing and with that, storytelling, whilst also offering the opportunity to highlight the amazing young talent in the region,” explains Jennifer Love, Senior Account Director at Brazen MENA and President of the MEPRA Youth Board.
A jury that includes authors Jessica Jarlvi and Eman Al Yousuf, the Harper’s Bazaar Arabia editorial team, the MEPRA Youth Board, and members of the Emirates Literature Foundation, will read all of the entries and pick two winners – one for English writing and one for Arabic. To encourage a wide swath of fiction and non-fiction entries, the texts can be in any genre – romance, historical, humour, fantasy, crime, or even food-related – but they must be in a short-story format. Writers are also allowed to turn in multiple submissions. The only parameters to follow are that the text has not been previously published, runs no longer than 750 words, and the piece be inspired by two words: culture and community.
Submissions to [email protected] will be accepted from the 3rd of October to the 25th of November. The winning stories will be published in the January edition of Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s print magazine and harpersbazaararabia.com.
To find out more visit mepra.org/creativewritingcomp
Lead image courtesy of Giphy/@Filmin
From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s October 2021 issue