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‘Green Stories’ show a positive future for us all

Words by Smiley Team

If you have a passion for writing and feel committed to looking after our planet, Green Stories might be for you.

Green Stories is a series of free writing competitions across various formats to solicit stories that showcase what a sustainable society might look like. 

Its mission is to create a cultural body of work that entertains and informs others about green solutions, inspires green behaviour and raises awareness of the necessary transformations towards a sustainable economy.

[Discover more stories about people looking after our planet in positive ways]

“I worry about alarm fatigue and eco anxiety in relation to the climate crisis so the competitions are designed to encourage positive visions of what a sustainable society might look like,” explains Denise Baden, professor of sustainable practice at the University of Southampton, and leader of the writing competition. 

“The criteria are based on my research into how readers respond to stories. Research shows solution-based stories, or stories that smuggle in green ideas or characters in an otherwise mainstream story, are more likely to inspire greener behaviours than catastrophic tales of climate change. 

“Thus creating a cultural body of work that presents positive visions of sustainable societies helps enable a shift towards a more sustainable society.”

Denise says they’ve run 12 competitions now and had thousands of entries, but one disappointment was that winning entries didn't always translate into published books.

“I'm delighted to report that we now have ongoing sponsorship from Orna Ross who set up the Alliance of Independent Authors,” she says. “This means that we can offer £1500 of prizes and help towards publication for the winning entries.”

Entries are open to all and must be in English and unpublished. The next competition is the Orna Ross Green Stories Novel Prize, with a deadline of 30th December 2021. Find full details here. The Adult Short Stories and Under 18s Short Story Writing Competitions are also open with deadlines in February 2021 and March 2021 respectively.

Find out more at greenstories.org.uk.

This article aligns with the following UN SDGs

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