Mahmoud Mansi (Critic Reviews): Short Story Competition / Resurrection of Ancient Egypt / The Forgotten Writers Foundation

“The Forgotten Writers” foundation was created after the Egyptian revolution with a clear Mission Statement to reveal the depth of Egyptian Literature to the rest of the world. This would be done by writing about cultural and social topics that are original and novel. The first project this foundation offered was a book of short stories about the revolution by 12 Egyptian residents.

This is the first competition offered by “The Forgotten Writers”. The theme is about stories inspired by the era of Ancient Egypt. The characters and events could be fictional or real. The suitable stories will be collected in one book to be published, and this will be the first contemporary literary book written about Ancient Egypt.

People from different nationalities cross the world for seeing the ancient monuments of the Pharaohs. They study their theories, their language and their traditions, but we forgot that these people were very artistic, and art was created for us to contemplate it and assume stories out of it. We want to make out of the Ancient Egyptians not only gods of science, but muses too that will still inspire us until this very moment. By speculating their lives and mysteries we will be able to open a new gate that will connect us to their wonders, a gate between our troubled present and their mystic past.

I do not personally believe in setting rules in writing and guidelines. A writer is a mini-creator who has the absolute freedom in writing whatever, and however.

Eligibility and Competition Guidelines:

1-      The competition is open to Egyptians and Non-Egyptians.
2-      Any age group and gender.
3-      Fluent English.
4-      Originally written in English and not translated through another party.
5-      Unpublished work.
6-      Maximum 10,000 words.
7-      It is possible to use illustrations as figures, pictures and drawings if you are a painter.
8-      It is possible to include poetry within your story.
9-      It is NOT possible to use quotes from other writers.
10-   You are free to choose any genre of horror, fantasy, politics, romance, or any other one.
11-   You are free to use any kind of style and narration.
12-   All stories are sent via email.
13-   Word Document: Font must be Times New Roman, 12, Margins Justified and pages numbered.
14-   There must be a title for the story, centered in the middle of the page, bold, and size 12.
15-   Do not mention your name in the word document.
16-   Save the word file with your Name and Title on it.
17-   Numbers must be written in (words) except if it was a date-year / ex: 1996 – Seven years old.
18-   Write using American English (spelling and vocabulary).
19-   Do not use (&) instead of (And).
20-   The deadline date is the same as the revolution / 25 – Jan – 2012 .
21-   Email your stories to: Native_Writer@Yahoo.com

Judging:

1-      The winning stories will be chosen on their creativity and the novelty of the idea. Strange and unusual ideas are needed.
2-      The depth of the text, characters, places… etc.
3-      The metaphors and similes used.
4-      The beauty of the writing style and dialogs if there are any.
5-      The ending of the story and how powerful it is.
6-      There will be no judging on grammar because it will be unjust since there are those who have English as a first language and those who have it as a second language. We will do the editing if needed for you, but try to introduce your piece as decent as possible.

Notice that this book will be a cocktail of different ideas. It is more of using the suitable ratios of stories rather than it is a competition. There might be outstanding stories that might not find a place in the book. But, we will try our best to make all the good stories fit, even if it will be possible to make two separate books. So, just write and know that his competition is not measuring your level, but consider it as a workshop and a chance to do something different, challenge yourself and get to know new intellectual people.
Writers are free to take my opinion in the ideas before they start writing. I am here to assist and support anyone, and honored to. Just email me on Native_writer@yahoo.com or call me on (002) 0100 92 818 08.

You may spread and share, we are thankful for your help :)

Yours,

Mahmoud Mansi

Writer Heidi Lessmann says: "Its wanting to write about my own intepretation of ancient Egypt, how I see it with my eyes, how I feel it with my soul. A part of "unknown" history that may have existed or not,... who knows...? There is no one from the past alive today to tell us that..but maybe a ghost from the past....? This is is a great challenge for all us writers. Facts one knows already can be boring, now we present something that man maybe has never read before....bringing it to life.Maybe touched with Egyptian dust from hundreds of years ago..."

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Identity Magazine - Cairo / December 2011 Issue