Launched in 2008 under Manchester Metropolitan University's innovative Enterprise Fellowship scheme, and spear-headed by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, the Manchester Writing Competition was designed to seek out and celebrate the best new writing from across the world, while generating income for new creative and educational projects. The competition alternates annually between poetry and fiction and, since its launch, has attracted almost 6,000 entries from over 45 countries, all of which were judged anonymously.

This year's competition was for short stories and judged by distinguished writers John Burnside, Alison MacLeod and Nicholas Royle. Chair of judges Royle, who is also Senior Lecturer in the Manchester Writing School at MMU, said: "With almost 1,900 entries from across the globe, it's been very hard work short-listing just eight but the process has also been a real pleasure – particularly working with John and Alison. We were thrilled with the overall variety and quality of the writing – so much so that we asked to extend the short-list from six to eight this year, and we also have another 30 stories that we'll be commending as close contenders. We were unanimous, though, in selecting our finalists and in choosing the winner – and look forward to meeting the writers and awarding the prize at what should be a very exciting event."

The winners will be announced at a gala prize-giving at Chetham's School of Music in the centre of Manchester on the evening of Friday 14th October. This event forms part of the 2011 Manchester Literature Festival, and will feature readings from all three judges and each of the short-listed stories before the £10,000 prize is awarded.

To find out more, click here.

See below for profiles of the eight finalists and links to their short-listed stories.

2011 Finalist Profiles (in alphabetical order of surname):

Krishan Coupland: Days Necrotic The night after a funeral, a man finds a woman in the shower – the woman who was buried the day before. "A love story – beautifully tender with a broad emotional range. Odd and haunting." Krishan Coupland was born in Southampton, and recently graduated from Staffordshire University. His work has appeared in Brittle Star, Aesthetica and 3AM Magazine. Krishan's website. Click here for his story..
Nicole Cullen: Flathead Lake A woman calls for help late one night and heads out to a frozen lake, where a doe lies trapped. "A gritty piece. Understated, with a harrowing quality – and a sense of the inevitable – and a truly shocking moment." Nicole Cullen was raised in Salmon, Idaho. She earned an MFA from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas-Austin in 2011. Her work has appeared in Ploughshares and The Dublin Review. Currently, she is the Carol Houck Smith Fiction Fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she teaches creative writing. Click here for her story.
Garret Freymann-Weyr: The Ugly Duckling A graduate's unexpected home-town return from the perspective of a besotted swim-team wannabe. "A beautifully observed story – sharp, subtle and never over-played." Garret Freymann-Weyr was raised in New York City and now lives in North Carolina. She is the author of several novels for young adults, as well as works of literary fiction and a forthcoming picture book from Candlewick Press, French Ducks in Venice. Her novel, My Heartbeat, was a Printz Honor Award and her work has been translated into several languages, including German and Japanese. She has an MFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and loves teaching both creative writing and literature. She has been privileged to work with college and graduate students, as well as aspiring writers from varied backgrounds. Click here to read her story.
Richard Hirst: School Report An inspector calls at a school, arriving during a sneezing fit... "Fascinating and compelling – with some shocks." Richard Hirst is a writer and artist who lives in Preston. His website is here and he can be found at Twitter as @vivmondo. Click here to read his story.
Silvia Moreno-Garcia: The Doppelgangers "A child laments her parents' wanderlust – and then meets the doppelgangers...". Powerful writing that conjures a rich sense of day-to-day life – and desire. Silvia Moreno-Garcia was born and raised in Mexico. She moved to Canada several years ago and now lives in Vancouver. She writes at night and has the dark circles under her eyes to prove it. Her work has appeared in several anthologies and magazines, both in Canada and other countries. One of these days she'll publish a novel and learn how to drive. Find her blogging here or on Twitter @silviamg. Click here to read her story.
Alex Preston: The Swimmer in the Desert A soldier keeps watch in an arid landscape. "A striking story of isolation and yearning with terrific urgency, and very moving." Alex Preston was born in 1979 and lives in London. His first novel, the bestselling This Bleeding City, won the Edinburgh Festival Readers' First Book and the Spear's First Book Awards, and was selected as one of Waterstone's New Voices 2010. It has been translated into twelve further languages. His second novel, The Revelations, will be published by Faber & Faber in February 2012. Alex reviews books for the Observer and the New Statesman and is a regular panelist on the BBC Review Show. He is studying for his PhD at UCL. Click here to read his story.
Bethany Rogers: The Cuckoo A man comes home and finds a sick woman in the bath. "Ambitious writing. A powerful vision – visceral – with some astonishing prose." Bethany Rogers has just graduated from Newcastle University with a degree in English Literature. She's now saving pennies to travel the world and write 'that book'. Aside from writing short stories about why you shouldn't allow tigers to come to tea, she enjoys sticky toffee puddings and edits Alliterati Magazine in her spare time. Find out more about her latest project here. Click here to read her story.
Judith Turner-Yamamoto: A Mercy A woman approaches a mill, to confront a man about a death. "Intriguing, disquieting and poignant." Judith Turner-Yamamoto's stories have appeared in magazines and journals, including The Mississippi Review, The American Literary Review, Verdad, The Village Rambler, Parting Gifts, Potomac Review, and Snake Nation Review. Anthologies featuring her work include Gravity Dancers, Paycock Press, 2009, Double Lives, 2009, and Best New Poets 2005. She has taught fiction at the Writers' Center at the Chautauqua Institution, the Danville Writer's Conference, and at the Writers' Center in Bethesda, Maryland. She divides her time between Washington, DC and Cincinnati, OH. Click here to read her story.

If you have any queries, or would like to know more about the competition, please contact James Draper, Manager of the Manchester Writing School at MMU, on +44 (0) 161 247 1787 or j.draper@mmu.ac.uk.The Manchester Writing School will be launching the third Manchester Poetry Prize in 2012.

Judges’ accommodation provided by the Midland Hotel, Manchester. For Hotel Reservations: phone 0845 074 0060