Yes, the theme for our February Contest is: Postcards. This month’s contest is your last chance to be part of The A3 Review‘s Issue 6, so don’t be left feeling “Wish I was there!”

Deadline is February 25th.

Write about postcards you’ve written and ones you’ve received, that particular postcard you’ve kept since the 80s. Tell the story of a postcard you wish you’d written, or one (from your gran?) that you wish you’d saved. Write about a character who communicates through postcards. What would their last postcard sound like? For inspiration, read Charles Simic’s “The Lost Art of Postcard Writing.”

Read here about the language of stamps, and how they were positioned on postcards to convey a secret message. Write about stamps. Read Craig Raine’s “A Martian Sends A Postcard Home”, then write your own version, updated for the 21st Century.

Think about postcards from the edge. Postcards from the future. Postcards as propaganda and protest. Postcards which say one thing but mean another. Study a picture postcard and use the image to inspire a story.

For more inspiration, visit our Submittable page and follow us on Twitter at @TheA3Review. You can also get special offers and news by signing up to our newsletter.

For full contest details click here. Each month we choose two winning pieces for publication (The A3 Review is published twice a year). All winning entries receive Writing Maps and contributor copies, while three overall winners in each issue receive cash prizes: 1st = £150, 2nd = £75, 3rd = £50 (approx $190, $95, $65).

The new themes for Issue 7 (The Silver Issue) are now up on our page, so click here to see all six themes.

Happy writing! We look forward ro reading your work.