The contest is under study of the Guinness World Record for high participation.
The César Egido Serrano Foundation confirms that the IV Edition of the micro fiction contest received 35, 609 stories from 149 countries.
The 35.609 short stories of the 149 countries could be in Spanish, English, Arab and Hebrew language.
Argentina has been the country with the highest participation, with nearly 8,000 stories, followed by Spain and the United States.
In this edition, the English language entries have exponentially risen, with over 8,000 stories. Amongst the countries of origin, United States has had a third of the writers entering in that language. Australia and the United Kingdom have also had high participation. Stories in Arab and Hebrew have also increased from the previous edition.
This year´s motto has been: “Mandela: Words and Concord”, following the ethos of the César Egido Serrano Foundation, that is the use of words as a tool against violence and to promote dialogue. To use words against violence.
The winner in any of the four languages entering the contest (Spanish, English, Arab or Hebrew), will be awarded with $ 20,000. The winners in each one of the languages that are not awarded with the first prize will be awarded with a runner up prize of $ 2,000 each.
The Jury is composed of 27 professors and teachers, specialists in the languages entering that will select 300 finalist stories, from which an international Jury will determine the winner and the finalists. The finalist stories will form an Anthology, that the César Egido Serrano Foundation publishes and distributes for free.
