Short Story Prize

Do you have a passion for France? Are you a Francophile with a story to share? The FBC, in conjunction with Prospect magazine and Eurostar, is inviting those aged between 16 and 25 to submit a short story of no more than 1,500 words. The story should be inspired by France or the French. It could be based on a real or imagined visit to France, a French person you know in the UK (a friend or celebrity), a French lesson at school, a French film you have seen or it could be a work of pure imagination.

The wining pieces will be published by Prospect and the best contributions will be included in a new collection of work to be published by the FBC

Prizes

The winner of the 16-18 category will receive two return trips to Paris by Eurostar, £100 and have their story published by Prospect.
The winner of the 19-25 category will win two return trips to Paris by Eurostar, £100 and have their story published by Prospect.
Second prizes of £75 and third prizes of £50 will be awarded in each category.

Background

For the past eight years, the Franco British Council has administered a school prize, first on an environmental and then on a sporting theme, and in that time we have seen hundreds of young people enjoying working with French schools and making new friends in France. This prize aims to target a specific problem, which is the decline of UK students choosing to study French. The number of pupils taking the language at GCSE has plummeted by a third since 2004. We hope that this prize will ignite a deeper interest in France and all things French .

Jury

This year's jury includes Bonnie Greer, recently seen battling the leader of the BNP on the BBC's Question Time as well as Boyd Tonkin, literary editor of the Independant, as well as Baroness Quin and Tom Chatfield of Prospect magazine.