A new short story competition has launched giving writers the chance to map out what happens to England in the future.

England’s Future History is seeking stories or poems between 500 and 3,000 words set in the future and based in England. Simple, right?

The twist is that once a story has been accepted and published, the events in that story become canon – they are officially part of England’s Future History. Other stories that follow have to take these historic events into account.

Some tips:

• Don’t write us into a corner: The selection of stories will be curated so any that write us into a corner (apocalypse scenarios etc) will be rejected no matter how good they are
• Think small: Not every story has to have a major event. We’re looking for more personal views of the future. Characters are just as important as the events. But the story should reflect the changing times
• Follow the timeline: As new stories are published the events of these tales will be added to our timeline. Before you submit, read the timeline to make sure you’re not contradicting someone else.
• Get connected: One of the aims of this project is to create a connected vision of England’s future. So, you’ll get extra brownie points if you make reference to events in other stories. Think of it as the EFHLU – the English Future History’s Literary University.

What do predict for the future?

Will your story be about the day Wales gains independence? Will your character be the last red head in the UK? Or the first Brit to reach 120 years old?

Will it be about a new technological advance that changes everything or a political movement that threatens to send the country into meltdown?

Or maybe you just imagine a future in which Newcastle finally win the Premier League – stranger things have happened.

The rules…

1. All stories should be under 3,000 words, but can be as little as 500 words.

2. All stories should be set in England at some point in the future.

3. New entries must not contradict anything that has gone before. Check the timeline post for key dates and events.

4. I will have final say on what goes in.

5. All submissions should include a future date at the start so I can easily place it on the timeline.

6. We don’t mind if you have published your stories elsewhere previously.

7. We’d prefer not to remove stories once published – so be certain you want your piece online.

8. We’ll edit your piece for typos  and grammar mistakes, so let me know beforehand if there are any intentional mistakes, grammar styles etc that I should know about.

9. We’ll aim to let you know within 3 weeks.

10. Oh, and it’s free to enter.

11. Deadlines are at the end of March, June, September and December. The next one is Thursday, March 31, 2016.

If you want your story to be included, simply email us with your story as an attachment, a bit about yourself and brief intro to your piece.