Taking its cue from the notion that "competition" as a concept continues to be at the centre of vigorous debate within political and social theory, this curated collection introduces "competition" as essential to literary community-building. It suggests considering "competition" as a fruitful tool that helps analyse the performative habits of literary communities – conceptualised as 'networked structures', as connections that are being established all the time as having an interest in their own existence and persistence – and their ideas and practices of globality. "Competition" thus emerges as an extended and transtemporal concept that is not only tethered to but also highly mediated by notions of "community" and "communication".