Birmingham Public Library Hosts Six-Word Food Story Contest

You know the feeling you get after finishing a book? Sometimes hopeful, mostly empty. What if I told you that you can get that same feeling but only after six words? And this time, the stories are about food, so the empty feeling will be felt in your stomach and not your heart. The Birmingham Public Library is hosting a contest that will do just that.

Urban legend has it that Ernest Hemingway wrote a six-word
short story on a bet. The story has since been debunked, but
many have challenged themselves to write a six-word story as
effective as this one. 

For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” The iconic story supposedly written by Ernest Hemingway made the six-word story challenge more well-known across the country. Today, there are websites and even Twitter accounts dedicated to sharing the emotion-packed tales.

As part of the Birmingham Public Library (BPL)’s annual Eat Drink Read Write festival, BPL is hosting a six-word story contest on the subject of food. Let out the story of your best (or worst) Thanksgiving dinner, your favorite local dish. Submissions will be judged on creativity and originality.

Here are the rules and eligibility:
  • You must be an Alabama resident.
  • You must submit a registration form, available at the following link: http://www.bplonline.org/programs/EatDrinkFest/ContestForm.html
  • You must be at least 18 years old.
  • Submission must be in English and exactly six-words long.
  • Birmingham Public Library staff and immediate family members are ineligible.

There are various ways to enter (only one of the following is necessary):
  • Twitter – tag your post with #edrw6wordstory
  • Instagram – tag your post with #edrw6wordstory
  • Email – send your story to bpledrw@gmail.com

Two winners, 1st and 2nd place, will receive a $25 gift card to Babalu Tacos and Tapas plus a copy of Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure by Rachel Fershleiser and Larry Smith. The deadline to submit is Saturday, October 1, at 11:59 p.m. Winners will be announced on Friday, October 7, 2016.

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