Short Story Competition - "We burned so bright"

PowerSwitchJames · Coal Joined: Oct 15, 2004 Posts: 7 Location: London, UK

http://www.powerswitch.org.uk/portal/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=237&Itemid=2

WE BURNED SO BRIGHT

Stephen Baxter, best-selling British science fiction writer , and award
winning author of books such as Evolution, Moonseed, Voyage and The Time Ships, will be judging the finalists of a Â£100-prize short story competition called 'We Burned So Bright', run by PowerSwitch.org.uk, a website dedicated to raising awareness of oil depletion and the energy-culture transition.

Oil. We love it. It is the lifeblood of the developed world. There is
probably nothing around you that has not been made from - or transported
by - oil. From transport to plastics, chemicals to medicine, we have become
totally dependent on oil. Indeed, for every calorie of food we eat, several
calories of fossil fuels are used to grow, farm, transport, package and
store it! We literally eat oil! Oil is fantastic. But as everyone knows, we'
re running out - and quickly .

With just 1000 billion barrels of oil left, there is enough to last us just
35 years at current consumption rates. But we'll never run out of oil - it'
ll become too expensive to use before we get to that point! Losing oil will
be for the economy what losing too much blood is like to a person : first
there is shock then, if there is not enough blood, there is death.

As yet there is no replacement for oil. Any technological breakthrough, if
there is to be one, will take many years to implement. So the question is,
what will life be like in the future : in a world where it is too expensive
to transport food from distant locations ; where plastics will cost too much
to use in everyday products ; where the things we take for granted now will be a luxury ; and in a world where global warming is even more of a reality than it is now ? What will our daily lives be like? Our relationships? Our ethics? How will society function, if at all? Will we still be around or
will we have been ruined as the result of resource wars?

To mark the peaking of global oil production , we are seeking short stories
of up to 3000 words set sometime in the near future, exploring the society
you live in now, where oil is becoming - or has become - too expensive for
everyday use. We want you to use your imagination and knowledge to explore the energy-culture transition. It can be in any genre and in any style.

Stories can be positive as well as negative!

You are not limited to the number of stories you can submit.

To enter the competition, e-mail weburnedsobright@powerswitch.org.uk with either your story in the body of the e - mail or as a .doc, .rtf or .txt
file. Please also include your name, postal address and e-mail address , and your age if you are under 18 years old. Please also indicate whether or not
you would like your story to appear on PowerSwitch.org.uk. Original author
retains full copyright. We apologise, but entries will not be individually
acknowledged.

This competition is funded by PowerSwitch.org.uk. The Â£100 prize is split
into Â£50.00 for the winner and Â£25 for two runner-ups.

The closing date for entries is 28th February 2005 and the results will be
announced by www.PowerSwitch.org.uk on 30 th March 2005. The winner and runner-ups will be notified by e-mail.

You are welcome to address any queries to
weburnedsobright@powerswitch.org.uk

The decision of the judging panel is final.