Christmas at The Royal Gazette wouldn’t be nearly as jolly without the annual Christmas Short Story Contest, but this year’s competition has had a bit of a revamp.

In honour of the late Dr Stanley Ratteray the competition is now called the Dr Stanley Ratteray Memorial Christmas Short Story Competition. We also have a couple of exciting new prize categories including a prize for school participation and one for an overall winner.

Here are the rules:

The deadline is December 3 at 5pm.

One entry per person, please.

The judges look for vivid Christmas themes, unique content, and correct spelling, grammar and punctuation. Judges prefer entries from students to be free of violence as Christmas is a time of peace.

Entries must be typed and should not exceed 1,500 words.

Manuscripts must be submitted to The Royal Gazette, clearly marked, ‘Christmas Short Story Contest’, indicating the category entered. Categories include 13 and Under, 18 and Under and Adult.

Poetry will not be accepted.

Entry is open to Bermudians or current Bermuda residents. (Entries will be accepted from Bermudians in college or living overseas).

Manuscripts may be submitted by hand at The Royal Gazette office on Par-la-Ville Road or by post: ‘Christmas Short Story Contest’, The Royal Gazette, PO Box HM 1025, Hamilton HM DX. Entries can also be e-mailed to RGChristmascontest@hotmail.com. E-mail entry is encouraged, as winners are asked to have an electronic copy ready.

Please include all contact details on the story itself, not just in the body of the e-mail. Please number your pages.

The full name, address and telephone number of the author must be given in every instance. Student, please give school name.

Teachers: Please make sure the name, school, age of the student and contact number or e-mail of parents are included on every entry. Judges may contact the winners during late evening when schools are closed. These details will be kept confidential.

Pen names will not be accepted. The story must be written by the name of the person on the entry.

Stories sent incomplete or received after the deadline will not be considered.

A panel of judges will decide the winning entries. Due to the high volume of submissions, The Royal Gazette 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.