I JUAN R. MENA SHORT STORY PRIZE
The prize is designed to promote the appreciation of short stories from around the globe.
The competition is open to all writers worldwide
The spirit of this competition is the participation of writers in terms of equality, regardless of nationality, gender or language.
Key dates
- 23 April 2025 Entries close.
- 25 May 2025. Finalists.
- 30 June 2025. Winner.
Eligibility
1. The short stories can be written in any official language of the world.
2. Only one work per writer may be submitted. Translation of another author’s work is not eligible.
3. Entries may be on any subject. Manuscripts must be typed and consist of 1,500 to 4,000 words.
4. The entry must not have been published in any form or awarded previously.
5. There is no fee to enter, and there are no hidden costs for the entrants.
How to Enter
7. The competition deadline for entry is on Wednesday, 23 April 2025.
8. The entry may be submitted via links provided at shortstory.edalya.com or on the Editorial DALYA site: www.edalya.com.
a) The document must contain a front page stating:
1) The title of the short story.
2) A slogan or pseudonym.
b) The author will receive an email acknowledging receipt of the entry.
The judging process
10. Finalists. Eight works will be selected by Sunday, 25 May 2025.
a) The writers of these works will be notified by email after selection.
b) The awarded writer must re-submit the work, including personal details (name, headshot, address, nationality...) and bio-bibliography in the front page..
11. Winner. The Jury will select the winner before Monday, 30 June 2025:
a) The writers will be contacted after selection. After this deadline, the Jury’s verdict will be announced through the website of Editorial DALYA (edalya.com), its social networks and the media.
b) The date of the resolution is tentative. It could be delayed if the provision of the final works to the jury requires extensive translation work.
c) The Jury’s verdict is final.
The Prize
6. The winner will receive 800€. All finalist stories will be translated into at least one other language and published in the 'Juan R. Mena' Short Story Anthology Volume 1, a bilingual Spanish-English edition. The authors of the finalist stories will receive a free copy of the publication.
Publishing Rightsl
11. The authors of the award-winning stories assign the copyright their work worldwide (including audiovisual, broadcasting, and dramatic rights) to the owner of Editorial DALYA. The transfer of rights will remain in effect until December 31, 2028; however, Editorial DALYA's owner may continue to exploit publications made up to that date. Compensation for the assignment is fully covered by the prize and the translations of the short stories. Upon reversion of rights, the use of each translation can be freely exploited by the author of the original work, provided the author respects the translator's copyright.
General
12.By entering the competition, entrants warrant that: the entries never have been previously published, in print or online (including self-published, eBook, magazines, journals, websites, blogs, social network sites), or broadcast or won a prize in another writing competition on or before 25 May 2025; their works will not infringe any copyright or intellectual property rights; the short stories will not violate any personal privacy regulations; they do not violate the rights of any person or entity.
13. Entrants are required to inform the organisation about the awards or publication of their works before the announcement of the Jury’s verdict.
14. All participants acknowledge that their work will be translated and published by Editorial DALYA, or by another publishing house within the same group, in both print and digital formats, including audiobooks and podcasts, if their short story is a finalist.
a) Editorial DALYA commits to publishing the awarded works in six months, plus any period of force majeures.
b) For the publication of the award-winning short stories, the authors will not be required to pay any fees, such as expenses, translations, co-publishing costs, or similar charges.
15. Participation in the competition signifies full acceptance of these terms conditions and the decisions of the jury. In the event that a work does not receive an award, no further correspondence will be entered into..
16. Entrants accept the terms of privacy policy described in edalya.com/?Itemid=250
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Rules of Juan R. Mena Short Story Contest (Download document).