The Norfolk Day Drabble writing competition has been extended by a week to give even more creatives the chance to enter.

The competition was launched to mark this year’s Norfolk Day celebrations on Tuesday, July 27.

The free-to-enter competition, in association with the National Centre for Writing (NCW), is on the lookout for the best 100 words written on the theme of ‘A Norfolk Holiday’.

A drabble is a short work of fiction, precisely 100 words in length. Participants will need to adhere to the theme, which is a nod to this year's Norfolk Day headline sponsor, Richardson’s. It can be interpreted as loosely as desired.

There are three categories to enter: Young writers (ages 5 – 10), older writers (ages 11 – 17), and adult writers (18 and over). Collaborations are allowed but all participants will need to be in the same category.

Meet The Twitches author, Hayley Webster, who also writes under the name Hayley Scott, will be judging the young writers’ category while Becoming Death author, Melissa Brown, will oversee the older writers. And NCW’s communications director, Alice Kent, will judge the adult category. Crime writer Elizabeth Haynes will also be involved in drawing up a shortlist for our judges and is especially keen on receiving more entries from young people.

Norfolk Day Drabble organiser, the EDP's community life reporter Donna-Lousie Bishop, said: “We have received so many wonderful entries already but we wanted to extend the competition’s deadline by a week to make sure no one misses out.

“We are especially keen to receive more pieces from our younger writers and would encourage all parents, carers, guardians, and schools to spread the word about the Norfolk Day Drabble. Perhaps it could make for an English task during a lesson, or maybe siblings could work on a project together at home? Either way, we can’t wait to receive your drabbles.”

The NCW is offering prizes to the winners - a bundle of online courses totalling £350 worth of creative writing advice including courses on writing for young people, how to stay productive with your writing, getting started with poetry, and trying your hand at sci-fi.

Winners will be announced on July 27 and the winning entries will be published in the EDP.

- If you have any questions about the Norfolk Day Drabble writing competition, please email donna-louise.bishop@archant.co.uk.

How to enter:

  • Use Google Docs to check the word count. Submissions must be 100 words exactly. Titles will not be included in the final word count.
  • One entry per person, including collaborations.
  • Participants retain rights to their submissions.
  • Entries must be fictional and written in English.
  • Participation is open to anyone from anywhere.

The final deadline for entries is now 11.59pm GMT on Wednesday, July 7, 2021. Email submissions to norfolk.day@archant.co.uk with the subject header ‘Norfolk Day Drabble Competition’. Include full name, age, and address.

If you are organising something for Norfolk Day, no matter how big or small, then please tell us about it or share a photo so we can give it some promotion. Email norfolk.day@archant.co.uk, tweet @norfolk or use the hashtag #NorfolkDay, or visit the Norfolk Day Facebook group or online store.