The story of the stories in 100 words started in 2001 in Santiago de Chile. A group of university students had a dream to open a call for urban dwellers to write their stories, share their thoughts and feelings about their city. There were only two rules: the story has to be connected somehow to the city and it can be maximum 100 words.
This group of young university friends turned into a professional enterprise, called Plagio and in 2014 the competition was already running in 5 Chilean cities (Antofagasta, Valparaíso, Iquique, Concepción, Santiago), in one Mexican city (Puebla) and in Budapest, Hungary as first city in Europe.
The 12 stories of the finalists of each installment, chosen by a jury of prominent national writers, are made available for free in various formats and publicly displayed throughout the Metro de Santiago network.
During its first thirteen editions it has succeeded in receiving more than 500,000 original stories, becoming a phenomenon of mass participation. Thus, “Santiago en 100 Palabras” has positioned itself as the most popular literary project in the country and one of the most valuable urban interventions by the inhabitants of Santiago.
'Your city' in 100 words in Europe
Your city in 100 words In Europe was first organised in 2014 in Budapest by Mindspace, in cooperation with Plagio. Our goal is to spread the word and implement the ‘100 words’ initiative in various European cities.
In 2015, the second literary contest Budapest in 100 Words were a record number of submissions, totalling 1,154 stories from citizens. The majority of stories were submitted electronically, but it was also incredibly special to receive works written by hand and then delivered by post. This year was characterized by inspiring and beautiful texts, impressive contemporary illustrations, wonderful people and touching life stories.
The members of this year’s jury were Nóra Winkler, Balázs Szőllőssy and Dániel Viktor Nagy. The jury had the difficult task of selecting the best 100, the best 12 and the best 3 works from the submissions. The best 100 stories are available online on the MindSpace website and will also be available in print as a pocketbook collection.
The best 12 pieces were illustrated by Hungarian graphic designers and were exhibited at the public gallery event. At the awards ceremony, the participants could view the top stories with their illustrations and also listen to the three of the best 12 works read while accompanied by a musical composition.
