Match Point Literary Competition launches the third edition with a highly relevant theme, ‘ Future or no?’After the success of the first two editions and the publication of the 2023 three-winning short stories in the prestigious online literary magazine Cattedrale – Osservatorio sul racconto, Match Point Literary Competition is back for all the Italian speakers living in UK.
Organized together with the Londra Scrive writing school and with the patronage of the Consulate General of Italy in London, Match Point is the first and only competition for short stories written in Italian by authors resident in the United Kingdom.
Future or not
This year’s theme is “Future or not?” Do we still have a future? If so, what will it be? In light of what is happening around us, from outbreaks of war to the climate crisis and the overwhelming growth of artificial intelligence, Match Point invites budding writers to imagine possible future scenarios not only on a global level but also on a personal level, describing those ‘’sliding doors’’ choices that can change people’s lives.
Match Point 2024 – “Future or not?” it is, therefore, a call for stories on the theme of the future, which can be expressed in a thousand possible ways: visions of the future of humanity, of advancing technologies or new societies; or contemporary stories based on our lives, and on the ways in which every day we decide which direction to take: choices, projects, dreams, relationships, the conflict between hoping or not hoping, between believing in something or not more.
How to participate at Match Point
To enter the competition, you must have a UK address and be of age. The stories must not exceed 20 thousand characters and must be uploaded to the Il Circolo website using the following link. The deadline to participate is 15 June 2024.
Match Point Jury
As in previous years, the jury is made up of Italian professionals, in many cases Italian-London, of writing and publishing: Olga Campofreda (writer), Isabella d’Amico (literary communication), Daniele Derossi (writer), Marco Mancassola (writer), Luisella Mazza (writer), Paolo Nelli (writer), Giovanna Salvia (editor), Caterina Soffici (writer).
The winning stories will receive cash prizes offered by Il Circolo: £1,000 for the winning story and two prizes of £500 for the second and third place. The three winning stories will also receive the opportunity for professional editing and will be presented for publication in one of the competition’s partner literary magazines. Here is the link to read the winning short story of 2023: Nero pesto.
The awards ceremony will be at the Institute of Italian Culture in London on 17 October 2024, during the Week of the Italian Language in the World.
As Simona Spreafico, president of Il Circolo, underlined: “The success of Match Point Literary Competition makes us proud. As in the best ideas, we identified and satisfied an unexpressed need. Italians and Italian speakers in the United Kingdom want to talk, write and make their experiences known. Match Point offers everyone the opportunity to do so in a serious competition, with a qualified jury and great public interest.”
Londra Scrive, the competition’s main partner, is a creative writing school in Italian created by Marco Mancassola in London, originally in collaboration with the Italian Bookshop. It made its debut in 2017 and has not stopped offering courses and seminars on narrative writing since then. Further information on Match Point can be found at this link.
