Edited: 8th February 2021
Important Update
Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to our "Literary Lockdown" project. We have been overwhelmed by so many excellent submissions and have now selected our 28 days worth of creative writing to share with you all each day of February. The writers chosen to be featured will be notified in the coming days, and this part of the project is now complete.
Though we have now selected our 28 pieces, we absolutely encourage you to continue writing, sharing and celebrating creative writing! You are still most welcome to submit your pieces onto our portal to contribute to the Manx National Heritage 'Collecting Covid Isle of Man' lockdown archive and please do feel free to continue to use our prompts for each week too and tag us on social media using #literarylockdowniom.
The portal for submissions will close on the 28th February 2021.
The Isle of Man Arts Council are inviting residents of the Isle of Man to submit pieces of creative writing, written during or inspired by lockdown, to share on the Isle of Man Arts Council social media.
A poem or piece of creative writing of up to 250 words can be submitted with selected pieces receiving £100 as thanks. Each piece must follow the theme of four prompts and will be shared from 1st February for the 4 weeks of the month. Each week there will be a different theme:
Week 1: Home
Week 2: Ritual
Week 3: Community
Week 4: Gratitude
The project aims to showcase pieces of creative writing from all ages and abilities in order to inspire and spread some positivity during this time. The Arts Team look forward to reading and sharing the public’s submissions.
Chair of the Isle of Man Arts Council, Mrs Marlene Maska MLC said: “We have been overwhelmed with the creativity shown by our Island community during the last year, particularly during the lockdown months. This creativity has provided a positive and uplifting platform for us all, bringing us together, and we look forward to receiving exciting and inspirational writing.”
The Arts Team encourage all creatives to submit their creative writing via an online portal on iomarts.com. Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch via iomartscouncil@gov.im.
Important notes for applicants: Writing submitted to the Literary Lockdown project should not contain profanity, sexual content or violent vocabulary, and should be suitable for all ages.
The Isle of Man Arts Council reserves the right to publish the works it selects, in any media, at any time. Copyright for the selected works will remain the sole property of the individual authors.
It is also the intention to present the creative writing to Manx National Heritage as part of their lockdown archive Collecting COVID Isle of Man.
How to submit
Submit your writing to our online portal here.
FAQs
When is the deadline?
There is no formal deadline for this project as we will be sharing one selected piece per day over the course of February. However, you should look to submit your piece as soon as you can in order to increase your chances of being selected as once we have 28 days worth of creative writing then the project will close.
Do I have to write something for just one week or do I have to do something for all four?
You can submit as many pieces for as many of the four prompts as you like! You can simply just pick one of the themes write one for each or amalgamate them all into one work, it’s all very flexible! The idea of the project is to show the creative individuality within our experiences of lockdown.
Will a short poem have as much chance of being chosen as a lengthier piece?
There are no rules regarding length either. You can write just a few lines of poetry or use the entire 250 word limit, it's up to you!
Is it one entry per person per week, or are we allowed to enter more than once?
Feel free to submit as much as you like when you like! We will likely have to be selective as we are already receiving submissions and will most probably only publish one submission per entrant, but you have to be in it to win it so to speak!
