Benidorm extends the deadline for submitting entries for El Gos i la Tortuga Literary Prize until December 12

Benidorm City Council has extended the deadline for submitting entries for the Valencian-language short story literary award "El Gos i la Tortuga" until December 12.

The award, which has been held for decades, has been revived this year at the initiative of the Departments of Culture and Historical and Cultural Heritage, coinciding with the 700th Anniversary of the city's founding. The heads of both departments, Jaime Jesús Pérez and Ana Pellicer, explained that "initially, the deadline was set to end this Friday, September 19, but given that the school year started just a week and a half ago, it was deemed appropriate to extend the submission period to accommodate more work from the city's students."

Pellicer indicated that this competition "was first held in 1982, named after a very emblematic place beloved by the people of Benidorm," and "seeks, then as now, to promote culture and literary talent, as well as foster the Valencian language." Six prizes worth a total of 1,200 euros are available for this edition.

According to the rules, anyone over the age of 14 who attends a school in the city or who is registered in Benidorm and attends a school in another town may enter the competition. Two categories have been established: one for youth, for participants aged 14 to 17, inclusive; and one for adults, 18 years and older. The Culture Councillor noted that, in both cases, there will be three prizes valued at 300, 200, and 100 euros, respectively, in addition to a Special Prize awarded by the jury to a work whose narrative discourse is about the history of Benidorm.

Likewise, Benidorm City Council will print 200 copies of the winning works, which will allow "beyond the monetary prize, the winners in each category will have the opportunity to see their story published," Pérez explained.
Both councillors encouraged "young and not-so-young literature fans to unleash their creativity and send us their short stories."

Requirements to participate

In addition to the aforementioned requirements, the rules for the "El Gos i la Tortuga" literary prize establish that each participant may submit one work to this competition. It must be original and unpublished, written in Valencian, and have a minimum length of 10 A4 pages and a maximum of 25 pages on one side, double-spaced, and Times New Roman font size 12.

The deadline for submissions is December 12th at 11:59 p.m. Submissions must be made by certified mail addressed to the Municipal Public Library, located at Plaza de SS MM los Reyes de España, number 3, Benidorm.

Each work must have two envelopes, A and B, with the motto written on the outside. Envelope A will contain three copies of the original work, which may not be signed, while envelope B will contain the contestant's identification document (a photocopy of their DNI, NIE, or passport), as well as their personal information (address, telephone number, email address). A declaration of responsibility from the creator according to Annexe 1 of the rules, and the authorisation signed by the parent/legal guardian in the case of the author being a minor, according to Annexe 2 of the rules.

The jury will be composed of five people and chaired by the mayor or councillors designated by him/her. A technician from the Benidorm Library Network will act as secretary and, like the president of the jury, will have a voice but no vote. The other three members of the jury will be individuals who have been recognised with the "Ciutat de Benidorm Cultural Distinction."
The jury will score the work's creativity and originality, narrative coherence, and literary quality and style on a scale of 1 to 10.