The Mad as a Hare Contest

Details

"A strong breeze soon fanned the spark into a flame, and the eaglets, as yet unfledged and helpless, were roasted in their nest and dropped down dead at the bottom of the tree. There, in the sight of the Eagle, the Fox gobbled them up."

On such a note of cheery optimism ends the fable of the Eagle and the Fox, thought to be the first ever written using animals as its principle characters. There's a long and varied history of stories with non-human characters, ranging from the short, punchy fable tradition of Archilochus (quoted above) and Aesop, to the inter-related, multi-frame-narrative complexity of the Hindi Panchatantra, and everywhere in between. A few other notable examples:

• The Medieval European Beast Epics staring Reynard the fox—so popular that the word for 'fox' in French is now 'renard.'
• Native American trickster stories about Coyote and the other animals.
• The African-American Br'er Rabbit tales of 'Uncle Remus,' controversial for the racism they arguably contain.
• The many animals Alice meets down the rabbit hole and through the looking glass.
• Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime narratives, which sometimes included totemic beings in the form of giant animals.

Of course, there are plenty of more modern animal stories, too—including those faithful to the originals and those which work to subvert them. For the Mad as a Hare Contest, you'll be creating your own animal story.

Entries must be 2500 words or fewer as counted by Scribophile, must be about personified animals in some way, shape or form, and must be fiction or non-fiction. Beyond that, you're free to explore. Have fun!

Winning entries

Winners have been announced! Log in to see them.

Prizes

Rules

• Your entry must be a piece of fiction or non-fiction totaling 2500 words or fewer which deals with personified animals.

• Entries must be received before midnight on March 31, 2012 (UTC time), and winners will be announced within two weeks of that date.

• Entries will be judged by the Scribophile staff. Decisions are final.

• Only one entry is allowed per member. Multiple entries will all be disqualified.

• Work must have Public visibility on Scribophile until winners are announced.

• Winners must have a valid Paypal account, or we won't be able to send the prize money!

Submission guidelines

• To enter the contest, post your work on Scribophile and check the box that says "Enter this work into the Mad as a Hare contest". Your work will automatically be considered. The checkbox will be visible until the contest deadline, which is in UTC time.

• Entry is free, but you'll need karma points to post your work. You can earn karma points by writing critiques of work by other members.