Call for Commonwealth Foundation The Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize 2024 is open now!!!
Awarded for the best piece of writing on the theme of ‘Language’.
Language is mysterious. The right sentence, the right word, a knowing glance can open up entire universes otherwise inaccessible. Silence, the great mode of true language, is so often gold; and yet, silence too can be incredibly painful. Too much of language and peopl find themselves overwhelmed, even disenchanted – as is familiar to anyone who’s spent too much time online. The poet Transstromer writes: ‘Tired of all those who come with words, words but no language…’
What is the connection between language and listening? Is there such a thing as speaking authentically without listening to the emergence of language moment by moment?
And what about other languages – What about the language of touch?
What of all the languages we have not yet learnt- the language of horses, of trees, how to talk with childhood selves, and future aged selves, and of course those that are dead.
Advances in artificial intelligence might be able to map our language to those of animals, enabling people to greatly expand their understanding of the sentient life around them.
Translation is perhaps one of the main purposes of language: The notion of translation suggests things about the human experience: for example, that private experience needs translatory apparatus to take it from one person to another, from private to public.
The Alpine Fellowship 2024 Symposium is hosted in partnership with Bard College through the Open Society University Network and supported in part by a grant from the Open Society Foundations.
Location:
Online, United KingdomBenefits
- The winner and runners-up will receive cash prizes and will be invited to attend their annual symposium.
- They will offer up to £500 travel expenses to help with travel to the event and meals and accommodation during the symposium dates are also covered.
- 2024 symposium – dates and venue to be announced.
- First place: £3,000
- Second place: £1,000
- Third place: £1,000
Eligibilities
- All genres of writing are permitted, including fiction, non-fiction, and non-academic essays.
- Open to all nationalities.
- Applicants must be aged 18 or above at the time of entry.
- All entries must be written in English.
- Applicants can only enter one of our prizes.
- Limited to one entry per person.
- Submissions must be standalone and cannot be extracted from a larger piece.
- A maximum of 2,500 words per entry.
- Stories must not have been published (not including self-published), or accepted for publication in print or online, or have won or been placed in another competition at any time.
- Travel expenses can be used for economy travel costs only and are not exchangeable for cash, any leftover travel budget will not be redeemed as cash.
- Travel expenses can be used for transport only, and can not be used towards accommodation outside of the dates of their symposium.
- Submissions will be judged anonymously, so please ensure that the applicant’s name does not appear anywhere on their work.
- Due to the volume of applications, the judge’s decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into following the results.
Application Process
- Apply by going to the ‘Apply Link’.
- Enquiries about submissions should be directed to The Alpine Fellowship, please always refer to their website for complete details and information.
- Please note, this competition is run by The Alpine Fellowship, not the Commonwealth Foundation.
Application Deadline: March 1, 2024
Application ClosedOfficial link
