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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.
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
Secret Attic - Need to flex those literary muscles? Enter their monthly short story competition. Entry is free and you can win a prize. The top twenty entries will be published in a printed booklet. Website: http://www.secretattic.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 Flash Fiction Ongoing contest with a deadline date of the first of the following months: September, November, January, March, May, July. For horror and speculative fiction. Maximum 500 words. First prize £25, second £5. Winner and runner-up - plus best shortlisted - published in Dark Tales magazine. Entry fee £1.25. See website for full details: http://www.darktales.co.uk/
Invisible Ink Short Story Competition Twice yearly ongoing competition: Closing dates 31 March and 30 September. Prize: £1,000 + publishing opportunity. Entry fee: None. Short stories (2000 - 4000 words) in general fiction suitable for a mainstream audience. Open to unpublished prose writers. Winner is chosen by reader votes and short-listed entrants receive feedback from readers via the website. Entrants are invited (but not required) to support fellow writers by purchasing the current competition anthology - all proceeds go to fund future competitions and other ventures in new writing. Full details and online entry form: www.invisibleink.org.uk/competition.html
Buxton Poetry Competition Closing date: 1st April. Prizes: £300, £200, £100. Book tokens for youth and children’s winners. Fees: £5 per poem. Under 19’s free. Theme: Stone. Entry form and full details: www.derby.ac.uk/buxtonpoetrycompetition. Or call 01298 70395 or send SAE to Buxton Poetry Competition, c/o Buxton Festival, 3 The Square, Buxton SK17 6AZ.
Dark Tales Spring Short Story Competition Prizes £250, £50, £25. All other short-listed entrants receive £5, and all winning and short-listed stories published in Dark Tales - copyright retained by author. Entry fee £3 per story, or £5 per story if a tick-sheet critique is required. Max 5000 words. Horror and speculative fiction - but best to read a copy of the magazine so that you know what they like to publish (e-books and print issues available from www.darktales.co.uk). Deadline: 30th April 2009.Momaya Short Story Competition Momaya Press sponsors a Short Story Competition to bring fresh writing to the attention of qualified judges. Submit your short story (2,500 word limit) by 30 April 2009 in order to compete for prize money and publication in the Momaya Annual Review 2008. The judges are from Random House, literary agency Andrew Nurnberg Associates, and Reuters. Submission details at: www.momayapress.com
Saga-Whyte Press Short Story Competition Various categories. Closing date 30 April 2009. Win a Book-iLiad and a publishing contract. Full details on website
Segora Short Story Competition 1,500 – 3,000 words. Prize £100. Deadline 29th May. Entry form and payment details: www.poetryproseandplays.co.ukPier Pressure Short Story Competition Theme: Reservation. Closing date: 31 May. Prizes: £125, £75 and £50. Entry fee: £5 for the first entry, £4 each for additional entries submitted at the same time. Details: www.pierpressure.org
Frome Festival Short Story Competition For stories on any theme: 1000 to 2200 words. Prizes: £300, £150, £75 (plus prizes for local authors living within a 25-mile radius of Frome Library). Entry fee: £5 per story. Closing Date: 31st May 2009. Details on website.
Jacqui Bennett Writers Bureau Win £150. Closing date 30 June 2009. Click here for details.
LoveHoney.co.uk Erotic Writing Competition. Open to anyone over the age of 18, the winner will receive £500 and the chance to have their work printed. There are also a number of runner-up prizes up for grabs. Full information on the Erotic Story Competition here: http://www.lovehoney.co.uk/erotic-story-competition/ and tips from last year's winner here: http://www.lovehoney.co.uk/press/2009/02/26/erotic-story-competition-2009-press/ Closing date: 30 June 2009.
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
2009 Doris Gooderson Short Story Competition Stories of 1200 words or less. Entry fee: £3 per entry or £5 for two. Prizes: £80, £40, 20. Closing date: 13th July 2009. Entry forms and full details: www.wrekinwriters.co.uk
The Lost Book - Microstory Competition Part of a wider collaborative storytelling project centred on an animated web series called The Lost Book (http://www.thelostbook.net), and a UK reading campaign giving out thousands of free copies of Conan Doyle's The Lost World (http://www.lostworldread.com/). Closing dates are 4pm GMT every Friday until 17 July 2009. There are no entry fees. Competition website: http://thelostbook.net/get-involved/microstory-competition/
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: www.kudoswriting.wordpress.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.
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 Fish Poetry Prize First Prize: €500 plus publication in the 2009 Fish Anthology. The next best five poems will be published in the 2009 Anthology and will each be awarded €100 plus five complimentary copies of the Anthology. All winning authors will be invited to the launch of the 2009 Fish Short Story Anthology, during the West Cork Literary Festival in July 2009. Closing date: 30 March. Details and entry fees: http://www.fishpublishing.com/annual-fish-international-poetry-prize.php
The MAG Poetry Prize 2009 Closing Date: 30th April 2009. Prize fund accumulates @£2.00 per entry (up to £10,000 maximum). Entry Fee: £6 per poem. An open online poetry competition judged by the entrants. All profits will be donated to MAG (Mines Advisory Group). MAG is a neutral and impartial humanitarian organisation that clears the remnants of conflict for the benefit of communities worldwide. Full details: www.poeticrepublic.com
The Ver Poets Open Competition Closing Date: April 30th 2009. Prizes: £500, £300, £100. Young Writers (aged 16-21) £100. Line Limit: 30. Entry Fee: £3 per poem, 4 poems for £10, £2 per poem thereafter. Full details, rules and entry form: www.verpoets.org.uk
Jacqui Bennett Writers Bureau Poetry Competition Entry fee: £3 - four for £10. First prize £100. Maximum length: 30 lines. Closing date: 30 June 2009. For more details CLICK HERE.
The Basil Bunting Poetry Award 2009 Prizes: £1000.00, £500.00, £250.00. Up to three commendations of £75.00 each. The fee for the first poem is £7 and for any further poems £3 each. Closing date: 30 September 2009. Full details: www.basilbuntingaward.co.uk
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