The Dan Hemingway Prize
Dan Hemingway (2.6.72-25.12.91) spent only one term as an undergraduate at St Andrews, but he enjoyed it to the full both academically and socially. Whilst cycling to his home near Oxford shortly after midnight on Christmas Eve 1991, he was killed instantly when hit from behind by a motorist.
His interests and talents were eclectic, and his powers of human observation and insight quite remarkable. He listened to Bob Dylan, played Beethoven and blues on the piano, and read Wodehouse avidly. His passion was literature, of all styles and periods, and he first started to write short stories and novels at the age of sixteen. Whether or not his final output would have fulfilled his early potential we will now never know.
The Annual Prize at St Andrews has been established in Dan's memory by his family and friends. It is intended as one small encouragement to other young writers who have the promise and ambition to make a lasting contribution.
The Prize of £300 will be awarded for the best original, unpublished Short Story submitted.
Current undergraduate students at St Andrews are eligible to submit one entry in a given year. The suggested maximum length is 5000 words, but the judges will take a flexible view as they feel appropriate. All submissions must be in the English language and consist of previously unpublished material. The Dan Hemingway Fund will reserve the right to publish winning entries at its discretion.
To preserve anonymity for the purposes of judging the entry should NOT be marked with the author's name or other identifier. This should be supplied instead on the attached sheet so that the two may be matched by a numerical code assigned by the School of English Secretary.
The judging committee will comprise Professor John Burnside, Professor Robert Crawford, and Meaghan Delahunt of the School of English, and Dan's mother, Sue Hemingway.
It would bring some comfort to Dan's family to be able to inform the winner on Christmas Day if possible. Please supply a means of contact on the entry form if you can.
All entries should be submitted through the Administrator, School of English, Castle House (opposite the castle), The Scores, St Andrews.
The closing date for entries, which should be typed or word-processed, is Friday 30 November 2012 at 4.30 pm. Three copies are required and must be clearly legible. Entrants are urged to keep a further copy for themselves.