Crime Short Story Competition


Do you have a knack for conjuring up sinister plots, capturing the perfect crime, or documenting deadly deeds? If so, this is your chance to showcase your talent. Glencairn Crystal, the maker of the world’s favourite whisky glass – the Glencairn Glass, and a sponsor of the McIlvanney and Bloody Scotland Debut crime writing awards, is seeking crime short stories in collaboration with Bloody Scotland and Scottish Field Magazine. This years theme was “Scottish Crime,” which means that the story must be set in Scotland.

This competition is now closed, please see the winners below.

The winning story is published in the May issue of Scottish Field Magazine (on shelf in April) and the runner up story is published on Scottish Field Magazine’s website: www.scottishfield.co.uk.

 

2021 Winning Stories

2023 Winner

THE DUMMY RAILWAY

BY FRANCES CRAWFORD


Frances Crawford is a passionate advocate of lifelong learning. In 2022, she graduated at the age of 60 with an MLitt (First) in Creative Writing from Glasgow University. She has published a number of short stories with disabled protagonists and is particularly interested in characters traditionally overlooked in fiction. She lives in Glasgow with her family, and is currently working on a crime novel.

Read the Dummy Railway

2023 Runner Up

THE LAST TRAM TO GORBALS CROSS

BY ALLAN GAW


Allan Gaw is a Scot who lives and works near Glasgow.  He is a pathologist by training but now writes full-time. He writes short stories, novel length historic crime fiction and poetry. Recently, he won the UK Classical Association Creative Writing Competition, the International Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize and the International Globe Soup 7 day Writing Challenge. He has also had prose accepted for the literary journal, From Glasgow to Saturn, and for forthcoming anthologies from the Edinburgh Literary Salon and Clan Destine Press in Australia. His poetry has been published by Dreich, Soor Plooms Press and Black Bough Poetry.

Read The Last Tram to Gorbals Cross

Criteria For Entry


Short stories must be 2,000 words or less.

The competition is open to all writers worldwide, published and unpublished, who are over 16 years old by 18th October 2022.

Stories entered for the competition should not have been previously published in any format, online or print, self-published or paid.

Theme

The short story must be based on the theme ‘A Crime Story Set In Scotland’

Prize

First prize – £1000
Runner Up – £500

Both winners will also receive a set of six bespoke engraved Glencairn Glasses.
The overall winning entry will be published in Scottish Field Magazine and online at www.whiskyglass.com

Judges

Tariq Ashkanani, 2022 winner of the Bloody Scotland Debut Crime Novel of the Year Award with Welcome to Cooper

Sharon Bairden, established book reviewer and author of psychological thrillers; Sins of the Father and You Need Me

Gordon Brown, alias Morgan Cry, author of ten crime novels and founding director of the Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival.

Closing Date

All entries should be uploaded below by midnight on the Saturday 31st December 2022. Please click here to see to rules and regulations.