SHORT STORY COMPETITION 2019

The ChipLitFest 2019 Short Story Competition is now open!

Judge: Nicholas Royle

Sponsor: pennyshorts.com

Entry fee: £5 for stories up to 2,500 words. £8 for stories up to 5,000 words

Word Limit: 2,500 (£5) 5,000 (£8)

Deadline (Closing Date): 12 Midnight GMT, Thursday 7 February 2019

First Prize: £500

Second Prize: £100

Third Prize: £50

Further details/rules are here. We look forward to reading your stories, you can submit as many as you like. Get typing!

VERY SPECIAL PREVIEW EVENT WITH PROF JIM AL-KHALILI

Andrew McKay

We are thrilled to bring this very special event to ChipLitFest ahead of the Festival to coincide with the publication of Professor Jim Al-Khalili's stunning debut novel, Sunfall. Cutting-edge science with rip-roaring race against time storytelling in a futuristic thriller about an end of the world event that could actually happen...Tues 16 April, The Theatre. (tickets on sale now)

Become a Festival Friend or join the Family

The ChipLitFest Friends scheme offers members the opportunity to support the Festival and its charitable aims financially. We suggest a minimum donation of £25 but will be happy with any amount you feel able to give. For those with larger pockets, why not join the Family for any donation over £150. A key benefit to Friends and Family is priority booking. A key benefit to ChipLitFest is supporting our work with vulnerable young people. And a benefit to all is sustaining our innovative community Festival that celebrates literature in all its forms. Details about the Friends and Family scheme are here.

Creative Writing Workshops for Vulnerable Students

As part of the Festival's remit to create life-long readers, we run a series of specialist creative writing workshops every year. Our programme involves a number of interactive writing sessions with groups of vulnerable young people, those living in full-time residential care, those with emotional and mental health needs, and those who have been school-excluded. ChipLitFest favourite Bali Rai will return to engage the students and get them thinking about how to express themselves in ways that gets fantastic results. Samples of students' writing from spring 2018 are here. For the academic year 2018/19, we are very generously supported by the Midcounties Cooperative and Oxfordshire Community Fund. Publishers Barrington Stoke are kindly contributing books for the project.

FESTIVAL 2019

ChipLitFest 2019 runs from 25 - 28 April. Tickets go on sale from 25 Feb 2019 for Festival Friends and on general sale from 4 March 2019. By becoming a Festival Friend, you get priority booking for our amazing lineup of extraordinary authors AND you support our programme of work with young people. Sign up to become a Friend today! All details here.

Philip Mould & Company

Philip Mould OBE

Art dealer, author and broadcaster Philip Mould joins us to discuss paintings of childhood and the new exhibition at Compton Verney.

Nicci French

Nicci Gerrard and her husband, Sean French, who write as Nicci French, join another crime-writing couple, Ambrose Parry to talk about the joys (and horrors) of writing with your partner.

Prof Kate Williams

Best-selling author and broadcaster Kate Williams’ Rivals Queens offers an electrifying new perspective on Elizabeth and Mary, and the most important relationship of their lives – that which they had with one another.

Greg James

Alan Rusbridger

Long-time editor-in-chief of the Guardian, Alan Rusbridger brings his powerful study of the news media, Breaking News: the remaking of journalism and why it matters now, to ChipLitFest.

Pal Hansen

Jo Brand

Sometimes it's hard to be a woman and sometimes it's time to be a hard woman. The inimitable Jo Brand's latest, Born Lippy, is a book for all those times.

Colin Thomas

Frank Gardner

The BBC's Security Correspondent, Frank Gardner combines his international broadcasting and journalistic career with best-selling thriller writing. Ultimatum, the second Luke Carlton novel is out now.

Emma Freeman

Gina Miller

Gina Miller came to prominence when she successfully challenged the UK government's authority to trigger Article 50 without parliamentary approval. Her book, Rise, is an extraordinary account of what it means to stand up for justice, and for yourself, no matter the cost.

Death in the Spotlight

Junior reporter Phoebe Haywood reviews Death in the Spotlight, the eighth book in Robin Steven's Murder Most Unladylike series. Robin, a Festival Patron, will be working with two primary schools in January to inspire the pupils to do their own writing as well as presenting a public event in April all about Death in the Spotlight.

Jenny Dee

Shiny Pippin

Harry Heape is part of the extraordinary team of authors visiting local schools in March. His wonderful books about Shiny Pippin, her granny and their friends are reviewed by our junior reporter, Pheebs.