Bradt/Independent on Sunday travel-writing competition 2015

First prize

The main prize is an seven-night fly-drive holiday for two to Iceland, publication of the winning entry in the travel section of The Independent on Sunday, and a commission from the newspaper to write a feature article about the prize visit to Iceland. This prize can be won by either a previously published or an unpublished writer.

Best unpublished writer

An unpublished writer will win a five-night rail holiday for two through the Swiss Alps to the Cinque Terre in Liguria, the opportunity to write a short account of the trip for The Independent’s website, and a place on a travel writing weekend run by Travellers’ Tales (the UK’s leading training agency for travel writing). If the main competition winner is an unpublished writer then the prize will go to the judges’ second choice entry by an unpublished writer.

Best young writer

For the second year, the competition includes a special category for writers aged 18 to 21. The prize is a place on the Bradt Travel Writing Workshop and five Bradt books of the winner’s choice.

How to enter

We have again teamed up with Bradt Travel Guides (bradtguides.com), publishers of pioneering guidebooks for over 40 years. The competition is open to all who are resident in the UK. The theme this year is “Serendipity”. Entries must be a previously unpublished, true story, based on your personal experience and written as a first-hand account, in the first person. Minimum length is 600 words; maximum length is 800 words. The closing date for the competition is midnight on Tuesday 30 June 2015. For full competition rules, go to ind.pn/bradtcomp2015. To enter, go to bradtguides.com/travelwriting

What are we looking for?

For inspiration, the shortlisted entries to our 2014 competition are available at bradtguides.com/travelwriting (along with details of the next Bradt one-day travel-writing seminar in November).

Get started!

The opening sentence is the “hook” with which to catch the reader. Here are some strong first sentences from 2014:

“There’s an old man in a bar on the Costa de la Luz who says he can run faster than the sun.”

“‘OK,’ I said. ‘You look after him. I’ll be back in a week.’”

“Everything looked fine, which wasn’t at all reassuring.”

“I never intended to decapitate the old woman.”

Shape and description

Some of the most successful articles start with an eye-catching sentence or two, as above, and then go back to set the scene and explain how the writer got to that situation. Assuming there’s a beginning, a middle and an end, the middle is where you generally find the best descriptive writing. All good writers have the ability to “paint the picture”. With only 800 words to impress the judges, every sentence carries weight.

Wrapping it all up

The closing sentence or paragraph is all-important for your entry. It sums up the story, often returning to the opening sentence. Ideally there is something surprising, shocking, moving, or amusing about it. The following extract is from the last paragraph of the 2014 winning story “Meeting the Challenge”; the challenge in this case was setting cultural scruples aside to befriend rubbish scavengers in Kosovo.

“Ahmet looked uncomfortable. ‘Actually,’ he said, ‘when we met and you held out your hand it was the first time I had ever touched the hand of a woman who was not in my family.’

I thought about all the Ashkali men who had made me feel welcome in their homes, about the sticky, unwashed feeling, the belief of contamination; and about the triumph of basic human connections, and who it was who’d worked hardest to make them.”

Iceland

First prize is a fabulous eight-day fly-drive holiday for two to Iceland, courtesy of Discover the World, leading Iceland experts for over 30 years (01737 214285; discover-the-world.co.uk). This “Journey to the Centre of the Earth” itinerary focuses on the highlights of southern and western Iceland, from tiny fishing villages to spectacular waterfalls and glaciers. The prize includes two return flights, hotel accommodation and car hire, and you will be commissioned to write a feature article about your trip to be published in this newspaper.

Italy rail break and Travellers’ Tales course

The prize for best unpublished writer is in two parts. First, you will win a five-night break for two, travel- ling by rail from London through the Swiss Alps to the Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera. Generously donated by tailor-made rail holiday experts Railbookers (020 3327 0869; railbookers.com), the prize includes all travel and accommodation, and the chance to write about your trip on The Independent website. And second, you will receive a place on any travel-writing weekend in 2015 or 2016 run by Travellers’ Tales (travellerstales.org), excluding transport.

Bradt Travel Writing Workshop

The winner of the best young writer prize will receive a place on a one-day Bradt Travel Writing Workshop (with a panel of leading travel writers and editors) as well as five Bradt books of his or her choice. The next workshop (bradtguides.com/seminar) will be held in November.

The judges

The judges will include representatives from Bradt Travel Guides, Travellers’ Tales and The Independent on Sunday. The winners will be announced at an event at Stanfords, the UK’s leading travel bookshop.