CMgp Writing Contest 2025!

We are proud to announce the call for submissions for the CMgp Writing Contest 2025!

Who can participate: Any CMgp student

Genre: Short Story

Topic: Life as a student in an advanced school
in Brno, Czech Republic, OR anything else.

What you get:
A modest prize (TBD);
A certificate;
Recognition from your peers, including in school social media and possibly in the yearbook;
Feedback from the jury;
Bonus points in your English course; and
Practice to improve your English and writing skills.

Length: 1,000 words or less.

Deadline: April 9, 2025

Who is on the jury:

1 Bruno Zalubil
2 Matthew Vlcek
3Daniela Švandová
4 Stanislav Chvíla

See the Official Rules for submission instructions here:

1.  The 2025 CMgp Short Story Writing Contest (CMgpSSWC-2025) is designed to encourage
students at Cyrilometodějské gymnázium a střední odborná škola pedagogická Brno to write a
creative story in English.

2. The contest is for anyone who attends CMgp as a student.

3. The topic for the contest is: Life as a student in an advanced school in Brno, Czech Republic,
or anything else. (In other words, there is no specific theme or topic.)

4. Entry is free.

5. One entry per person.

6. The maximum length for each short story is 1,000 words.

7. The entry must be original, and created and written by the entrant. Previously published work
will be disqualified. Non-human-generated material is forbidden. NO AI assistance is allowed at
any point of the creation process.

8. All submissions must be in English. Some foreign words (e.g., Czech names, terms) are
allowed. It should be assumed that the jury and the audience know only English.

9. Winning entries may be published on the school social media.

10. Important dates:
Wednesday, April 9, 2025: Deadline for submissions.
May 2025: Announcement of winners.

11. Entries must be emailed to zalubil@cmgp.cz by 11:59 p.m. CET on Wednesday, April 9,
2025. Entries that are not received by the deadline will not be reviewed and will be ineligible.

12.  The actual Short Story entry should be a Word document (.doc) or a Text file (.txt) and
follow these guidelines:

A. NAME — The name of the file must be: “The Title of your Short Story”.  For example,
if the title of your Short Story is “I Love CMgp”, then the name of your Short Story must
be saved as “I Love CMgp.doc” or “I Love CMgp.txt” 

B. FONT — Each individual Short Story must be in 11-point, Calibri or Times New
Roman typeface. Please double-space and number the pages.

C. TITLE PAGE — Each entry should have a title page. The title page should contain the
title of the Short Story and a brief synopsis.

D. BRIEF SYNOPSIS — The brief synopsis is part of the Title Page. It can be a
maximum of two sentences and a minimum of one sentence (and no longer than one-
half page in length). The brief synopsis will serve as a description of the Short Story and
be used in online promotion to show the public what the story was about.

E. ANONYMITY — The author’s name must NOT appear anywhere on the Short Story,
including the title page. The identity of the author will be determined by the email, and
the information contained therein, to which the entry is attached.

F. LENGTH — The maximum length for each individual Short Story is 1,000 words.
Stories that are longer than 1,000 words will be disqualified. This word total does not
include the title-page synopsis. (Judges are not compelled to provide feedback on
disqualified submissions.) 

13.  All stories must be submitted via email as an attachment to the following address:
zalubil@cmgp.cz. The body of the email must include the following information:

Title of the Short Story
Author’s first and last name
Author’s class
Author’s email address

14. Please keep your entry within the realms of decency. Overtly questionable content without
artistic merit may be disqualified. Similarly, any work deemed to be promoting any brand or
organization may face disqualification.

15. This contest shall take every possible action to protect the privacy of all entrants, including
their email address. Any individual concerned about such privacy issues should contact the
contest administrator directly by email at zalubil@cmgp.cz. 

16. The jury for the competition includes the following:

– Bruno Zalubil
– Daniela Svandova
– Matthew Vlcek
– Stanislav Chvila

17.  The contest administrator is Bruno Zalubil.

18.  The jury will be instructed that the contest is focused on creating a Short Story. The story is
the most important aspect, including writing, originality, character development, and plot
development. It is understood that this may be their first attempt for the authors to write
creatively in English. All entrants should adhere to the rules of English; however, spelling and
perfect grammar will not be critical for success.

19. Results will be announced in early May 2025.

20. Each contest entrant may receive feedback from the jury and their work may be published
online. Winning entries should expect to be published on school social media.

21. The administrator of the CMgp Short Story Writing Contest reserves the right to disqualify
any entrant or submission that does not comply with these Official Rules and other contest
requirements. Entries that are deemed completely off topic, or that were not created and written
by the applicant, will be considered for disqualification and can, in fact, be disqualified.

22. If you have any questions or doubts about your eligibility, please send an email to
zalubil@cmgp.cz.

23. A confirmation email is sent when each entry is received. If you do not receive a
confirmation email within a reasonable amount of time after your submission, please contact the
administrator at zalubil@cmgp.cz.

24. This is a contest for humans and human creativity. Technical assistance and Artificial
Intelligence-generated stories will be disqualified.

25. All decisions as to compliance with these Official Rules are within the sole discretion of the
contest administrator. Any decisions by the contest administrator are final, conclusive, and
binding upon all entrants.