ILA International Short Story Contest on Insolvency and Bankruptcy, 2023

After a successful inaugural edition Insolvency Law Academy announces the 2nd Edition of ILA Short Story (Insolvency and Bankruptcy) Contest, taking it international and tugging it under the Emerging Scholars Group (ESG).

By way of this Contest, ILA-ESG have invited short stories from the public on bankruptcy of natural persons due to: (a) household debt distress (b) credit card defaults or other reasons.

The best short story, to be selected by a jury of international experts shall be awarded the “ILA Best Short Story Award 2023”. The award comprises of a plaque and INR 1,00,000 (approximate US$1200). The authors of the three top scoring stories will be invited to the ILA Annual Conference to be held in Goa, India from 9th to 11th February, 2024. Registration fees for their attendance will be waived. The submissions are required to be made in accordance with the Guidelines for Participation and Submissions.

To know more about the eligibility criteria and participation visit our website-https://insolvencylawacademy.com/ila-international-short-story-contest-on-insolvency-and-bankruptcy-2023/

Objective

One of the objectives of ILA is to promote a ‘safe to fail’ business environment’. Literature is a powerful medium to sensitise people and build awareness. Stories in particular are impactful that leave a deep and long-lasting impression on the reader. They bring forth invaluable data based on real time experiences and observations or popular perceptions about insolvency. They have a longer shelf life and recall value.

While promoting the much-needed conversation on the need to create an effective framework for individual insolvency, the Contest will gather resource material for ESG to study the notion of stigma and other negative notions that often serve as an impediment in use of insolvency law.

Outcomes

• The best short story selected by the Jury shall be awarded the ILA Best Short Story Award 2023. The award comprises of a plaque and INR 1,00,000 (approximate US$1200). ILA Best Short Story Award 2023 is sponsored by Chambers of Eshna Kumar.
• The authors of the three top scoring stories will be invited to the ILA Annual Conference to be held in Goa, India from 9th to 11th February, 2024. Registration fees for their attendance will be waived.
• A fine Collection of Short Stories selected by ESG, in consultation with the Jury will be published in the form of an e-book or hard publication, as may be determined by the ILA. The book may be co-sponsored by a third party. Selected authors will have copyright on the stories together with ILA, but not receive any royalties.

• All submissions received shall be utilised for the purposes of research by ILA. Consent of participants will be obtained at the time of submission of entries.

Terms, Conditions & Guidelines for Participation and Submissions

i. The Contest opened on 1st August 2023.

ii. The Contest closes on 31st December, 2023. Only entries received before midnight on 31st December, 2023 will be considered. No entry shall be accepted after the deadline for submission has expired unless the deadline is extended by ILA.

iii. All entries must be submitted online only at submissions@insolvencylawacademy.com

iv. The contest is open to persons above 25 years of age.

v. Only one entry per person is admissible. If a person submits more than one entry, all entries will be rejected and attract disqualification. The person submitting the entry should be the author (or a combination of authors) of the story submitted through the entry. A person cannot submit a story that has not been authored by him/her/that person.

vi. The Short Story should involve any or many elements of corporate or individual insolvency or bankruptcy, as understood or perceived in common parlance or in its technical form. Insolvency or bankruptcy may either be a central or a dominating theme, or a turning point in the story. It need not use legal or technical language or text. Name of real persons or insolvency cases should not be used. Entries must be in good taste.

vii. Stories must not have been already published on any social platform or in any book or otherwise, or should have featured amongst the winners in any competition.

viii. Stories must be written only in English. It should range between 2500 to 3000 words. It must not exceed 3000 words (including footnotes).

ix. Stories must be typed, double-spaced, on single-sided sheets and in a readable, 12-point font. Use one-inch margins all around; indent each paragraph 3 to 5 space. Do not include illustrations or pictures in the manuscript. Do not use fancy or script fonts for the text, except when stating character thoughts, which must be in italics.

x. The Story should be easy to read, use proper grammar and punctuation, and correct spelling. Each page must be numbered. The title of the story must appear at the top of each page.

xi. Stories cannot be altered once entered. Stories will not be sent back. The author should keep its own copy. There will be no correspondence about submitted Stories.

xii. Do not put your name, phone number and email address on the Story.

xiii. Any plagiarised work will be disqualified along with any other work submitted by the entrant.

xiv. Stories will not be returned, so please retain a copy.

xv. The ILA staff, members of Jury, Pre-Jury and ESG Chairs are not eligible to enter the competition.

xvi. A Jury will select the winner for the award and the collection of stories without being influenced by gender, caste, religion, and nationality of the entrant or any criterion or factor.

xvii. A Pre-Jury comprising of internal and external resources identified by ILA shall shortlist 20 entries for review by the Jury.

xviii. All entries will be considered anonymously by the members of Pre-Jury and the Jury. In the absence of consensus, the decision of Jury shall be taken by majority. In the event of a split, the chairperson shall have the casting vote. The decision of the Jury shall be final and no queries or challenge will be entertained in that respect thereof.

xix. A story selected by the Jury for award and/or publication shall be the copyright of the author.

xx. By submission of entry, the participant is deemed to have given consent to ILA and the publisher to publish the story on any platform or mode at the sole discretion of ILA or use the story for screenplay or script for any documentary, film or TV/OTT series. No royalty or payment will be paid by ILA or publisher for publishing the story. ILA is not

bound to publish the stories if the Jury is of the view that there are not adequate number of stories that qualify to publish a book.

xxi. If a story is selected by the Jury, the author will not publish the story on any other platform, book, website, social media or any other public platform without prior express written consent of ILA. Such consent shall not be granted by ILA before the book is published.

xxii. ILA has the absolute discretion to modify, amend, alter or withdraw and terms of the Contest. ILA may withdraw, re-schedule, cancel or postpone the Contest, or reject any Story received, without assigning any reason.

xxiii. The entry fees shall not be refunded in any circumstance other than on account of permanent cancellation of the Contest.

xxiv. All disputes shall be subject to jurisdiction of courts in New Delhi, India.

In order to view the Jury of our contest you may visit- https://insolvencylawacademy.com/jury-2023/

For regular updates and to view FAQs about the contest follow us on our LinkedIn page- https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/international-short-story-insolvency-bankruptcy-contest-2023/ and our Instagram handle- @insolveny_law_academy

In case of any further query, you may write us on submissions@insolvencylawacademy.com