MBRSC Short Story Award 2026 for Science Fiction Writers in the UAE
Applicant criteria
- 16 - 31
- Both
Opportunity criteria
Opportunity description
The Emirates Literature Foundation, in partnership with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), offers the New Voices in Sci-Fi award, a science fiction short story competition designed to discover new voices and encourage writers to create stories exploring themes such as space exploration, time travel, artificial intelligence, future technologies, and imagined worlds.
Stories may be submitted in Arabic or English and must be original and unpublished, with a length of 1,500 to 2,500 words. Entries are divided into three age categories: 16–21 years, 22–30 years, and 31 years and above.
Benefits
First-place winners in each age category, in both Arabic and English, will receive:
- A cash prize and an award plaque.
- A visit to the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre.
- The opportunity to meet astronauts.
- Participation in creative writing workshops to further develop the story and explore the possibility of expanding it into a longer work.
- Attendance at Emirates LitFest 2027 events.
- Recognition during the awards ceremony at the Emirates Literature Festival 2027.
Eligibility criteria
Applicants must:
- Be residents of the United Arab Emirates.
- Be 16 years old or above.
- Writers of all experience levels are eligible to apply.
- Submit only one story per applicant.
- Submit an original, unpublished story that has not previously been entered into another competition.
- Write the story in Arabic or English.
- Not use artificial intelligence tools to write the story; any entry found to have used AI will be disqualified.
- Shortlisted participants must be prepared to attend the awards ceremony in Dubai at their own expense.
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