ELLE WRITING COMPETITION

Here at ELLE we have always been committed to finding new voices and supporting emerging talent. And never has this been more vital than in 2017, when the next generation of women’s voices needs to be heard

As our writing competition enters its ninth year, we want to hear from you. Don’t procrastinate – just start typing. Make this the year you realise that dream of being a writer.

This time we’d like you to write a memoir. Strong life stories get the ELLE team every time, from Gloria Steinem’s My Life on the Road, which inspired the activist in all of us, to Patti Smith’s Just Kids, whose relationship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe taught us how to love and celebrate our friends. And not forgetting Ariel Levy’s The Rules Do Not Apply, which reveals what makes and breaks a woman in 2017, or Lauren Collins’ When in French, a love story with the power to make us question our own identity.

YOUR TURN Write a 500-word memoir called The Outfit I Will Never Wear Again. Treat the title as a springboard; your memoir doesn’t have to be fashion focused. Perhaps there was a situation that led to you lending your coat to stranger, a disastrous interview that you still blame on inappropriate shoes, or a much-loved dress that last fitted you aged five. Where you take it is up to you – make the judges laugh, cry or cringe. Visit elleuk.com/talent-competition-17 for full details on how to enter. Deadline for entries is midnight, 17 April 2017. The winning memoir will be printed in ELLE July, and the five finalists will be mentioned in the magazine.