90 Asian Englishes, Vol. 8, No. 2, 2006 International Collaboration to Promote Literature and Linguistics via the Extremely Short Story Competition [ESSC] Peter John HASSALL There is a danger that our students' writing becomes meaningful only as far as it ends up in the assessment archives of our universities and colleges. The Extremely Short Story Competition (ESSC), as introduced here, provides an educational event designed to fulfill a very real need of our student writers by offering a safe, secure environment where their voices can be heard by a much wider audience than is usually available, even from within the language classroom. At Zayed University (ZU), an information-technology rich institution for female Moslem Emirati students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the ESSC has been devised to provide university students with a context which ensures their writing will reach a wide audience. Run under the auspices of the ZU Literature Club and with support from the British Council, the ESSC combines freedom of expression together with strict submission rules. Students with all levels of English ability are invited to write extremely short stories combining: a) a subject of their own choice b) fact or fiction c) poetry or prose d) non-English words - when necessary However, adherence to rigid submission rules is required: a) students must write EXACTLY fifty words - not 49 or 51! b) they may add a title c) they may use a nickname or “nom de plume” d) individuals confirm that the writing is “all their own work”; however this does not preclude any “pre-teaching” using extremely short stories e) students agree to their work being used for research purposes f) they agree to their work being edited for publication ESSAY