European Institute of the Mediterranean and the Anna Lindh Foundation “A Sea of Words” Literary Contest

Combating gender violence is the subject of the 9th edition of “A Sea of Words” literary contest held by theEuropean Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) and theAnna Lindh Foundation, availing itself of the European Parliament’s proposal for 2016.

From the very beginning and on several fronts, IEMed has been dedicated to the fight for gender equality. Working with the Anna Lindh Foundation, IEMed drew up the preliminary document for the First Ministerial Conference in Istanbul in 2006 "Strengthening the Role of Women in Society:The Role of Culture and Media as Key Instruments for the Evolution of Mentalities"; and since 2013, it has promoted the Euro-Mediterranean Women’s Foundation (FFEM).

Gender violence translates into any expression of violence or abuse related to women’s rights, for the simple reason that they are women. This means gender violence extends far beyond physical or sexual aggression, and is often perpetuated by discriminatory behaviors and inequalities such as the wage gap between men and women, the lack of women in positions of responsibility, discrimination against and stereotyping female figures in the media, reducing the female figure to sexual object, or the aesthetic and behavioral pressure advertizing constantly places on women.

At the same time, it is clear that the basis for this inequality lies in the mentality of societies in countries within Europe, as well as those in the southern and eastern Mediterranean areas, which often unconsciously repeat discriminatory behavior. This type of mentality needs to be questioned, so that everyone, and especially young people, can take another look at behaviors and assumptions learned in childhood.

Technology has taken on a greater and ever more decisive role in the way young people relate to each other. Interaction through social media, which is often conducted anonymously, shows that there is still a long way to go in the fight against gender violence.

The language of literature is a valuable tool that allows us to probe our most deeply-held convictions and experiences introspectively. A message from literature can contribute a vantage point of equality, shattering the stereotypes that have been created, and so firmly instilled, in our individual and collective mentalities.

In the 9th edition of “A Sea of Words” contest, we are calling for real or fictional stories that address different experiences and views on the various types of gender violence and discrimination within our diverse societies, in order to question established patterns and promote new ways of approaching equality.

Call and conditions

“A Sea of Words” is directed towards the production of short stories addressing the construction of a common future based on shared values in the fight against gender violence, with the goal of presenting different situations and levels of awareness in regard to the realities of women in the Euro-Mediterranean area, from the viewpoints of the young people who live there.

Moreover, this initiative seeks to promote a collaborative relationship among networks in Euro-Mediterranean civil society, and to encourage the creation of stable, permanent spaces for debate and exchange among these networks and the public, in order to foster social, political and cultural action in regard to society’s active participation in the fight against gender violence.

Project's specific objectives:

Promote the production of children’s literature that fosters an awareness of the surroundings and the political, social, cultural and economic complexities of Mediterranean and European countries.
Create meeting spaces in order to promote debate and public awareness of actions against gender violence.
Promote development of transnational social, political and cultural media to combat gender violence and foster coexistence among different national, cultural, linguistic and ethnic communities.
Strengthen collaborative ties among the national networks of the Anna Lindh Foundation

Submission Guidelines:

Call for submissions of short stories by authors from the 44 countries within the Euro-Mediterranean area, through the national networks of the Anna Lindh Foundation.
Authors must be between 18 and 30 years old on the date of the deadline for submitting texts.
The stories must be original. They can be written in any of the official languages of the 44 countries within the Euro-Mediterranean area.
Stories must not exceed the maximum length of 2500 words.
Original stories may be submitted individually or collectively.
Among all submitted stories, 15 texts will be selected.

Awards

The selected stories selected by an international jury will be published in an ebook with texts in the original language as well as their corresponding English translations (December 2016).

Besides, the authors of the 15 selected texts will be invited to participate in the following activities:

Writing workshop on improving literary expression, lead by world-class experts (9 November 2016)
Guided tour of a Spanish city which is emblematic in its melding of cultures (10 November 2016)

Awards ceremony in Barcelona

The awards ceremony will be held the November 8th 2016 in Barcelona.

The organization covers travel and visa expenses, as well as the cost of hotels and meals involved in the aforementioned activities.

Selection process

Call for short story submissions and national selection

(7 April 2016 - 2 June 2016)

On 7 April 2016, the European Institute of the Mediterranean, in collaboration with ALF, opens the new “A Sea of Words” call for submissions from the organizations making up the 44 national networks. IEMed will also issue this call through other networks in which it participates.

The deadline for submitting original stories in any of the official languages of the Euro-Mediterranean countries is 2 June 2016. The texts will be grouped by authors’ countries of origin and sent to the national network coordinators of the Anna Lindh Foundation, who will compose a national jury for each country. National judges shall have one month to evaluate the quality of the stories submitted by their country’s participants, select the best 5, and send them to the international jury.

International selection of the stories

(28 July 2016 - 28 August 2016)

An international jury will evaluate the works preselected by the national judges, and will have one month, beginning 28 July 2016, for the process of selecting the winning stories. The international jury will select 15 finalists, and will then select from among these the 3 contest winners. The first place winner will be invited to form part of the international jury in the next edition of the contest.

The judges will take into account the literary quality of the stories as well as the personal experiences related in the texts as they relate to participation in civil society, volunteer tasks, social action, etc.

http://www.romstudyabroad.com

This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:

http://www.iemed.org/dossiers-en/dossiers-iemed/cultures-mediterranies/a-sea-of-words-2016/un-mar-de-paraules-2016

European Institute of the Mediterranean and the Anna Lindh Foundation “A Sea of Words” Literary Contest