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Writing Competitions
Here is a list of short story competitions currently running in the UK (mostly). I'll present them in closing-date order, but I strongly advise you not to submit your stories until you have first written to the contact address (or visited the appropriate website) for further details. Other restrictions in length and subject matter may apply.
Flash 500 Competition is a quarterly, open-themed, flash fiction competition. Closing dates: 31 March 2010, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December. Entries of up to 500 words. Entry fee: £5 for one story, £8 for two stories. Prizes: £250, £100, £50. Details: Flash 500 Competition
Fish Publishing Three writing competitions annually – Short Story, Poetry, and Flash Fiction. Details: http://www.fishpublishing.com
Ladder Writers Monthly competitions with a cash prize of £60. Get a critique of your entry and earn points, which allow you to climb the ladder for further rewards. Details: http://ladderwriters.com
Spikethecat Quarterly competitions. £3.00 per story, maximum 2,500 words. Details: www.spikethecat.co.uk.
StoryFeedback.com Monthly Short Story Contest Ongoing contest with a deadline date of the end of each month. For short stories in any genre. Maximum 3000 words. First prize £100, second £50, third £25. Winner and runners-up - plus best shortlisted - published online and in a professionally illustrated anthology. Entry fee £3, plus £3 for tick sheet critique. See website for full details: http://www.StoryFeedback.com. StoryFeedback.com, 7 Offley Street , Worcester WR3 8BH (Cheques/PO paid to 'Dark Tales').
Cooldog Publications Cooldog Publications run regular short story and poetry competitions with prizes of £100, £50 and £25, with the best six entries published in its E-Mag – an electronic magazine published three times a year. Entry fee is £3 with a maximum length of 3,000 words for short stories and 40 lines for poems. Competitions now open. Website: www.cooldog.co.uk
Writing4all is a creative writing community with an ongoing monthly competition, where Irish writers can share and develop their work. Website: www.writing4all.ie
WriteInvite Weekly online short story competitions – every Saturday night at 5.30. Entry: £3.00. Prize £40.00. Website: http://www.write-invite.com/index.php
Meridian Writing Quarterly competition for short stories of up to 3,000 words for new and published writers, in any genre. Prizes are: £100, £50 and £25 for first, second and third places respectively, with the first deadline being 30th June, 2009. www.meridian-writing.co.uk
Cazart Writing Competitions Two monthly writing competitions, Short Story & Flash Fiction. Winner from each category receives £20 and will be published on website. Entry fee is £3 and the closing date is the 26th of each month. More details: http://www.cazart.co.uk
The Global Short Story Competition Organised by Certys Limited, supported by Darlington Arts Centre in Darlington, County Durham, England. Cash prize for the winner of each monthly competition. Entry: £5 per story. Details: www.globalshortstories.net
Txt Lit Txt Lit is a new literary genre of creative writing using a mobile phone texting system, or SMS (Short Message System). A single mobile phone text message contains just 160 characters, including spaces and punctuation. Each entry costs £1 plus the normal cost of a text message as charged by your network provider. You can enter each competition as many times as you like. First prize: at least £50. Competitions every month. The theme for September is romance. More details on website at http://www.txtlit.co.uk
Writers' Billboard Bi-monthly writing competitions in various formats, including poetry. Website: http://writersbillboard.net
Scribble Open Short Story Competition Length: up to 3000 words. Prizes of £75.00, £25.00, and £15.00, will be awarded for the best three stories in each issue. For other published stories, a complimentary copy will be given. Annual subscribers will also receive a credit voucher to the value of £4.00. Stories from non-subscribers are welcome but must be accompanied by the entry fee. Entry fee for the competitions is £3.00 (cheques payable to Park Publications). Free unlimited entry for subscribers. Scribble is published in March, July, October, and December. More details HERE
Monthly Writers' Forum Short Story Competition Any genre, but stories must be original and previously unpublished. Aim for a word count between 1,500 to 3,000. Stories may embrace crime, mystery, romance, sport, humour, fantasy, erotica or science-fiction. The competitions are held monthly and there is also £1,000 for the best short story of the year. Monthly prizes of £250 for the best story published and two prizes of £150 for runners up. All stories not selected for publication are returned to authors with a grid assessment. Text should be type-written or word-processed, printed in double spacing. Entries should be accompanied with a short biography and colour photograph of the writer. Please submit a saved copy of the ms on disk as a Rich Text File (RTF) or Microsoft Word 5.1a (for Apple Macintosh). Send complete ms and contact details to: Writers International Ltd, PO Box 3229, Bournemouth BH1 1ZS Tel: 01202 589828 Fax: 01202 587758 Website www.writers-forum.com
The Seventh Quark Runs three separate competitions, a Quarterly Story Prize (2000-4000 words), a Bi-Monthly Shorter Story Prize (under 2000 words), and the wild excitement of a regular simultaneously written Frantic Flash Competition. Please see details of dates and entry fees on the website www.7thquarkmagazine.com or email seventhquark@tribe13.co.uk
Pulse and Cocktails Looking for budding writers of fun, adult erotic short stories. All entries that are published will receive a £5 voucher to spend, with two runner-up prizes of £25, and the overall winner receiving a £100 voucher. A monthly competition, currently looking for entries before the end of this month. Website: http://www.pulseandcocktails.co.uk/stories/competition.php
Dark Tales Monthly Short Story Contest Ongoing contest with a deadline date of the end of each month. For horror and speculative fiction. Maximum 5000 words. First prize £100, second £50, third £25. Winner and runner-up - plus best shortlisted - published in Dark Tales magazine. Entry fee £3, free for subscribers; plus £3 for tick sheet critique. See website for full details: http://www.darktales.co.uk/ Dark Tales, 7 Offley Street, Worcester WR3 8BH (Cheques/PO paid to 'Dark Tales', £15 to subscribe for 4 issues)
Unbound Press Short Story Competition Prizes: £100 + publication in Unbound Press Journal + free copy; £50 + publication in Unbound Press Journal + free copy. Runners-up: publication in Unbound Press Journal + free copy. Length: up to 3000 words. Entry fee: £5. Closing date: April 30th 2010. Details: www.unboundpress.co.ukUnbound Press Literary Competition First chapter of an unpublished novel. Prizes: £75 + publication in Unbound Press Journal + free copy; £25 + publication in Unbound Press Journal + free copy. Runners-up: publication in Unbound Press Journal + free copy. Length: up to 3000 words. Entry fee: £5
Closing date: April 30th 2010. Details: www.unboundpress.co.ukMomaya Short Story Competition – Deadline: 30 April 2010. 2,500 word limit. Prize money and publication in the Momaya Annual Review 2010. Details: www.momayapress.com
Riptide Stories of up to 5000 words on any theme aimed specifically at the 'crossover' market - for young people from age 12 upward. Deadline 20th May 2010. First prize: £1000 Details: www.riptidejournal.co.uk
Third Segora Short Story Competition. Deadline: 29 May 2010. 3,000 words max. First prize £100. Details: www.poetryproseandplays.co.uk
Frome Festival Short Story Competition Deadline: 31 May 2010. Prizes: £300, £150, £75. Full details: http://www.fromefestival.co.ukThe Yeovil Literary Prize 2010. There are categories for Short Story (prizes £500, £200 and £100, entry £5)and Poetry (prizes £500, £200 and £100, entry £5 for one, £8 for two and £10 for three), and Novel, for which the top prize is £1000, second £250 and third £100. The entry fee for the novel category is £10 and authors are required to submit a synopsis and opening chapters to a maximum of 15,000 words. Closing date is 31 May. Details: http://www.writing-competition.co.uk
AKA Catherine Howard New short story competition with a twist. Entry £5, plus £5 for optional critique. Prizes increase according to the number of entries received. Any length from 500 to 3000 words, any theme. Closing date 28th June 2010. Winner wins at least £100 plus £50 for their chosen charity, plus all entries are put into a draw so if your story doesn't win, you can still win a prize. Details: http://akacatherinehoward.weebly.com/news-and-views.htmlJacqui Bennett Writers Bureau Win £150. Closing date: 30 June 2009. Click here for details.
Wrekin Writers 10th Doris Gooderson Short Story Competition. Short stories of 1200 words or less. £3 per entry or £5 for two entries. Prizes: £150, £70 and £40. Closing date: 12 July 2010. Details.Fifth International Aeon Award short fiction contest. Grand prize is 1000 euro and publication in Albedo One. Second and third place stories win 200 and 100 euro respectively, alongside publication in Albedo One, Ireland’s magazine of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror. Max 8000 words in any speculative genre, including science fiction, fantasy, horror, or anything in between or unclassifiable. Four rounds – deadline: November 30 2010. Details: www.albedo1.com
If you want to win short story competitions, get the best possible help. Join Jenny's Mini Short Story Course
Kudos(formerly Competitions Bulletin/Writing Competitions Monthly)
The ONLY magazine of its type on the market today. Lists details of current UK and Overseas writing competitions - and there are more than you think! Up to £250,000 of prize money in each issue. POETRY - SHORT STORIES - ANTHOLOGIES - PLAYS - NOVELS - NON-FICTION. Compiled and edited by Carole Baldock. Subscribe to any number of issues @ £3 each UK postpaid, largely offset by savings on postage (around 70p each time) because several entry forms are usually enclosed, which also saves time and effort. Save even more - £3 off, if payment for new subs or renewals received by January 31; old rates still apply: £15/6. Write to Carole Baldock, 17 Greenhow Avenue, West Kirby, Wirral CH48 5EL, stating how many issues of Competitions Bulletin you'd like at £3 per issue. (Also, please state which month - Competitions Bulletin is published in: January, March, May, July, September, November.) Enclose Cheque/PO payable to Carole Baldock - and don't forget to include your name and address. Queries: carolebaldock@hotmail.com. Website: http://www.kudoswritingcompetitions.com
Here is a list of poetry competitions currently running in the UK. I'll present them in closing-date order, but I strongly advise you not to submit your poems until you have first written to the contact address for further details. Other restrictions in length and subject matter may apply.
Cooldog Publications Cooldog Publications run regular short story and poetry competitions with prizes of £100, £50 and £25, with the best six entries published in its E-Mag – an electronic magazine published three times a year. Entry fee is £3 with a maximum length of 3,000 words for short stories and 40 lines for poems. Competitions now open. Website: www.cooldog.co.uk
Writers’ Forum Magazine Monthly Poetry Competition Prizes: £100 plus publication; three runners-up receive a dictionary plus publication. Entry fee: £5 per poem, £7 for two. No theme, up to 40 lines. Every entry with SAE receives a free check-box critique. No deadline as the competition is continuous. Email: poetry@writers-forum.com Details and downloadable entry form at: www.writers-forum.com, or from the magazine, which is available from branches of WH Smith.
Writers' Billboard Bi-monthly writing competitions in various formats, including poetry. Website: http://writersbillboard.net
Bluechrome Publishing Check out this excellent publisher's website, ideal for anyone interested in poetry or experimental fiction. And while you're there, spend some time on the Competitions page. Whether it be poetry or fiction that you're interested in, there's something there for everyone.
The Ver Poets Open Competition 2010. Closing Date: April 30 2010. Prizes: £500, £300, £100, Young Writers (aged 16-21) £100. Theme: open. Line Limit: 30. Entry Fee: £3 per poem, 4 poems for £10, £2 per poem thereafter. Details: http://verpoets.org.uk
Northampton Literature Group Annual Open Poetry Competition. Free Verse (Category A) and Rhyming Poetry (Category B), each with prizes of £150, £50 and £25, and highly commended £10. Deadline is 15 May 2010. Details HERE.
The Welsh Poetry Competition. Prizes: £300, £150, £75. Closing date: 30th May 2010. Details: http://www.welshpoetry.co.uk
Leaf Books Poetry Competition Winning and commended entries will be published in an anthology and very outstanding poems in the Leaf Writing magazine. Max 35 lines, on any subject. First Prize: Winner receives £200 and a free copy of the anthology. Runner up receives a free copy of the anthology and 10 free mini-books. All published authors will be able to pre-order the book and the magazine at a significantly reduced rate. £3 per entry, 4 entries for £10. Enter by post or online. Closing Date: 31st May 2010.
The Yeovil Literary Prize 2010. There are categories for Short Story (prizes £500, £200 and £100, entry £5)and Poetry (prizes £500, £200 and £100, entry £5 for one, £8 for two and £10 for three), and Novel, for which the top prize is £1000, second £250 and third £100. The entry fee for the novel category is £10 and authors are required to submit a synopsis and opening chapters to a maximum of 15,000 words. Closing date is 31 May. Details: http://www.writing-competition.co.uk
Jacqui Bennett Writers Bureau Poetry Competition Entry fee: £3 - four for £10. First prize £100. Maximum length: 30 lines. Closing date: 30 June 2010. For more details CLICK HERE.
Poetry Rivals Competition Now accepting entries for Poetry Rivals 2010 (Closing date 30th June 2010). Full details: http://www.onlineleaversbooks.co.uk/poetryrivals
Essex Poetry Festival 10th Open Poetry Competition Closing Date: 30th July 2010 First prize £1000. Second £500, Third £250 and 3 runner-up prizes of £50. Poems up to 40 lines. Entry Fee: £6 per poem or £20 for 5 poems. Full details: http://www.essex-poetry-festival.co.uk
The Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award You'll need to be aged 11-17 on the closing date of the 31st July 2010 (i.e. Under 18 years old) in order to enter. Poems on any theme, of any length and in any shape you like. Entry is completely free. Website.
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