Pride Month 2018: LGBTQ+ #SweekPride Writing Contest

Sweek launches #SweekPride campaign to celebrate diversity. We aim to popularise the literature written by the LGBTQ+ community and flood the Internet with their stories. That is why we are looking for light-hearted stories that put LGBTQ+ members in the center. 

Please keep in mind that stories spreading hate are forbidden. You can enter no matter how you identify.

 QUESTIONS ANSWERED 

 

What does LGBTQ+ stand for?

• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning + intersex, asexual, ally, pansexual

Why in June?

• June is known as Pride Month. To celebrate it, we are launching #SweekPride on Sweek to raise awareness and expand understanding of LGBTQ+. This month people around the world honour the Stonewall riots that took place in June 1969 in NYC (this event is considered to be the milestone for the Gay Liberation Movement in the US).

What is the Sweek’s goal and mission behind this contest?

• Sweek organises #SweekPride writing contest to recognise the impact of LGBTQ+ community members on culture as well as promote love and respect towards every individual who identifies as LGBTQ+. 

Why does Sweek want to promote LGBTQ+ literature?

• We believe that literature written by the LGBTQ+ members is still underestimated and often marginalised in the bookstores. Help us to change that and embrace diversity as #WeNeedDiverseBooks!  

 

CONTEST SUMMARY

 

– Open topic as long as the main characters represent the LGBTQ+ community,

– 5,000 words max. (can be less!) of prose or poetry,

– Existing stories are allowed,

– Please be respectful when writing the story. We will not accept hate towards LGBTQ+ community. 

 

  DURATION

 

Submissions open: 12th of June – 15th of August @23:59 CET

Winners Announcement:  17th of September 

 

  PARTICIPATING LANGUAGES

 

English, Spanish, and German

 

  PRIZES

 

– The best story per language will receive a cash prize of $75,

– Shortlist of 10 best stories will get featured on Sweek,

– Top 20 most liked stories per language will get a special badge

 

 JURY MEMBERS

 

Roz Bellamy is a freelance writer and journalist based in Melbourne, Australia. She has written about sexuality and gender identity for newspapers, magazines, literary journals and online publications, including the The Huffington Post, The Big Issue, Junkee, Sydney Morning Herald, Daily Life, SBS, Everyday Feminism, Kill Your Darlings, Going Down Swinging, and Ten Daily. She won the Stonnington Prize for Poetry in 2016 and her memoir writing was shortlisted for the Scribe Nonfiction Prize.

 

 

 

Tahni J. Nikitins is an American writer and avid reader. She spent her last year of university in Sweden, finishing her master’s degree in comparative literature, graduating with honors and publishing her 2014 essay “The Deconstruction of Narrative Framing in David Markson’s Wittgenstein’s Mistress” in her department’s annual journal, Nomad. Her work has appeared in the online journal Eternal Haunted Summer, and was recently featured in the independently published “FLASH!”. Currently she’s eagerly awaiting the publication of her story “Only A Dream” in the upcoming anthology Terror Politico.

 

 

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

 

Step 1: Download the Sweek app or use our website:

Website: https://sweek.com/

Android app: http://bit.ly/SweekforAndroid

iOS app: http://bit.ly/SweekforiOS

Step 2: Create an account or log in.

Step 3: Upload your work by going to ‘My stories’ and ‘Start a new story’.

Step 4: Publish your entries with the tag #SweekPride in the tags section in Story Details.

That’s it! Don’t forget to share your work with friends and family to get more readers!

Video tutorial on how to publish a story on Sweek!

 

 

  RULES

Read these guidelines carefully before joining this writing competition!

• You can enter this contest no matter how you identify. 
• Spreading hate towards LGBTQ+ is strictly forbidden. All the entries that promote hate will not be participating. 
• You need to be 13 years or older to participate. Younger participants need their parents’ permission.
• To participate, the entry must be tagged #SweekPride in story details.
• Your work cannot exceed 5,000 words. If it does, it will be disqualified.
• Both prose and poetry are accepted.
• Only stories submitted before 15/08 @23:59 CET will be accepted.
• You can take part with all literary genres, excluding fan fiction (preferably YA, chick lit, romance, general fiction and nonfiction).
• Entries do not have to be newly uploaded on Sweek (you can participate with previously published work).
• Participation in the contest and using our website is free of charge.
• Your entry does not have to be exclusive, meaning it can be already uploaded somewhere else.
• The entry has to meet Sweek community guidelines.
• The submitted work must be created by you. You can also write with a friend if you want to, but in case you win, the prize will be shared.
• You can participate with multiple entries. There is no limit per person.
• You can edit your entry until the submission deadline. After the deadline, you can no longer modify anything until the winners announcement (this will lead to disqualification).
• You can win only one prize.
• The Best Story prize will be based on the writing style, plot development of the story, originality, overall correct use of the English language (including grammar and punctuation) as well as interpretation of the given prompt. 
• Spamming on Sweek or falsification of your followers will lead to disqualification of your story with a prior warning.
• Sweek reserves a right to disqualify any entry that breaks our community guidelines and rules of this contest. 
• The cash prize will be transferred via Paypal (Sweek bears the transfer costs). If the winner is based in Europe, the cash prize can be arranged via a bank transfer. In case there is no option to create a Paypal account, we can arrange the prize via a gift card or a bank transfer for which the costs are split. We are not responsible for currency conversion rate at the time of transferring the cash prize.
• Participation in the contest constitutes acceptance of the official rules stated above.
• The contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with Facebook.