It is that time of year again, and The Royal Gazette is reaching out to all wordsmiths, young and old, to embrace the season by entering the Stanley Ratteray Memorial Christmas Short Story Contest.

The competition is open to all full-time Bermuda residents, and stories may be fiction or non-fiction.

The three age categories are 13 and under, 18 and under, and adult.

Almost $4,000 in cash prizes, Stationery Store gifts and gift certificates, and one-year home delivery subscriptions are on offer — including a special prize awarded to the school of the 13-and-under winner.

The prize breakdown is as follows:

Under 13

First: $400 gift card plus $100 cash (bonus $500 gift card to school)

Second: $200 gift card plus $50 cash

Third: $150 gift cards plus $25 cash

Under 18

First: $400 gift card plus $100 cash

Second: $200 gift card plus $50 cash

Third: $150 gift cards plus $25 cash

Adult

First: $300 gift card plus $200 cash (bonus one-year free home delivery/digital subscription valued at $300)

Second: $150 gift card plus $100 cash

Third: $125 gift cards plus $50 cash

Stories should have a Bermuda focus and the judges will pay special attention to Christmas themes and island references.

Entries from young people should be violence-free, as Christmas is a time of peace.

Entries must be in Microsoft Word or in the body of an e-mail.

They should not exceed 1,500 words and must be e-mailed to shortstory@royalgazette.com.

Entries should be marked “Christmas Short Story Contest” and include the writer’s name, age, address and contact numbers.

Teachers who submit entries on behalf of pupils should make sure the name and age of pupils, and contact numbers for their parents are included because the judges may contact the winners at any time of day.

Contact details will be kept confidential. Pen names will not be accepted and poetry is not eligible.

Entries close at 5pm on December 2. A presentation will be held on December 9 at The Royal Gazette Ltd offices on Par-la-Ville Road in Hamilton, and the winning entries will be published in our Christmas Greetings supplement on December 13.

Our staff cannot respond to telephone or e-mail inquiries once an entry is submitted.

The Royal Gazette reserves the right to publish any or all of the stories submitted.