New Dominican Sci-Fi/Fantasy Writers Contest Launches Today
The Piton Noire Dominica Sci-fi/Fantasy Writers Collective has launched a new contest for writers from the Commonwealth of Dominica and the diaspora.
The Piton Noire Dominica Sci-Fi/Fantasy writers contest is open to all Dominicans ages 16 and up, to both first-time writers and published authors.
Stories must be either science fiction or fantasy, and the top three judged stories will be awarded $100 U.S for 1st place, $75 US for 2nd place and $50 US for 3rd place.
According to Co-Founder Joffrey Levy, The Piton Noire Collective was formed to encourage Dominican writers to explore the sci-fi/fantasy genres, “Our mission is to create a unique Dominican body of work that speaks to afro-futurism, while simultaneously preserving and building on the island’s mythologies and folklore. We’d like Dominicans to begin to imagine the future and their place in it, not just as users of technology but also as the producers of it. This contest is designed to spark that type of critical thinking.”
Meanwhile, fellow Piton Noire co-founder Ronald Deschamps says there may be positive outcomes from developing Dominica’s sci-fi/fantasy literature, “Piton Noire has been created to encourage and nurture writers from the Nature Isle, in order to create a body of work in those genres. Sci-fi/Fantasy is very popular worldwide and can possibly lead to tourism-related products and events for Dominica such as sci-fi conventions and seminars that can attract international visitors. We will be partnering with other writers groups, and community groups based in Dominica, to help promote those genres,” he explains.
The Piton Noire Dominica Sci/Fi Fantasy Writers Contest will run from November 1st 2016 to February 28th, 2017. Stories can be submitted via email to [email protected]. Interested writers can look up contest rules and other information on facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/pitonnoire. Winning entries will be included in the annual Piton Noire Anthology.