oh!con logo

Sci-fi, fantasy, comics, games and all that stuff

OH!CON writing competition

NEW for 2024!

OH!CON is holding a writing competition to inspire imaginative, weird, fantastic, speculative or science fiction writing from the Outer Hebrides.

  • Entries can be in Gaelic or English
  • Two age categories: Children and young people (8 to 15 years) and Adults (16+ years)
  • Four prizes: Children and young people (Gaelic), Children and young people (English), Adult (Gaelic) and Adult (English)
  • Closing date: 31 October 2024

More details below!

To launch the OH!CON Writing Competition, we are looking for short stories that look to the future and pose more hopeful and positive alternatives to how we live now. We want you to consider people’s place in the world, and how we can imagine a future that is more sustainable, equitable and just.

This doesn’t mean that your story will necessarily be free from conflict, problems or challenges of course, we are still human. But, help us imagine a future we have learnt from our mistakes and have created – or are working towards creating – a future where people and nature live together

Find out more about SOLARPUNK and Climate Fiction writing.

Things to remember

  • Check the Competition Prime Directive to make sure you meet all the competition terms and conditions.
  • This category is for authors of 16 years or older.
  • Entries must not exceed 2,500 words.
  • The entry must be a work of imaginative fiction and fit the theme described above.

We must receive your entry by the end of 31 October 2024.

How to enter

Please make sure that your entry contains the following information:

  • the title of the story
  • the name of author

Email your entry to beammeup@ohcon.info, with ‘OH!CON Writing Competition 2024’ in the subject line.

We must receive your entry by the end of 31 October 2024.

For this year’s theme, we want you to imagine a story set against a backdrop of the Outer Hebrides in the future, a place where we have tackled the issues of climate change or are working towards solving it . How do you imagine the future? What will home look like in a hundred or several hundred years from now? What will we eat? How will we live? How do we live with nature and animals?

The theme doesn’t have to dominate your story, but use it to inspire your characters and action. Aliens are allowed!

Find out more about SOLARPUNK and Climate Fiction Writing.

Things to remember

  • Check the Competition Prime Directive to make sure you meet all the competition terms and conditions
  • This category is for writers aged 8 to 15 years
  • Entries must not exceed 1,000 words
  • We must receive entries by the end of 31 October 2024

How to enter

Please make sure that your entry contains the following information:

  • the title of the story
  • the name of author
  • the age of author

If it is a group submission from a school, please also include:

  • the name of the teacher
  • the name of the school

Email your entries to beammeup@ohcon.info, with ‘OH!CON Writing Competition 2024’ in the subject line.

We must receive entries by the end of 31 October 2024

Competition Prime Directive

  1. The competition is open to residents of the Outer Hebrides only.
  2. Stories submitted must be original work, and not have been published before. The use of AI is prohibited.
  3. Entries for the adult category must not exceed 2,500 words.
  4. Entries for the children & young people category must not exceed 1,000 words.
  5. The winning entries in each age category in each language will receive a prize (£60 each for the adult category and £20 along with a certificate each, for the children & young people category).
  6. The winners will be notified by email.
  7. Winners must be willing to be photographed for promotional material on the OH!CON website and our press and media releases.
  8. Copyright will remain with the authors, but winners will grant OH!CON the right to publish the winning entries on the OH!CON website.