Details

Details

UK Writing Competitions (currently (97)

Writers’ Forum Short Story Competition.  There is a new contest in each issue of this writers’ mag.  All types of stories are accepted, from horror to romance, with a length of between 1,000 and 3,000 words.
    Closing: Monthly.  Entries arriving too late for one comp go into the next.
    Prizes: £300, £150, £100 in each issue.
    Entry Fee: £6, or £3 for subscribers to the magazine.  Critique - £5 (enclose sae if entering by post).
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Writers’ Forum Poetry Competition.  This monthly contest from the glossy magazine Writers’ Forum is for poems of up to 40 lines.
    Closing: Monthly.  Entries arriving too late for one month go forward to the next.
    Prizes: 1st - £100.  Runners-up - A Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.
    Entry Fee: £5 each, £3 each thereafter.  Includes a free critique (sae required if entering by post).
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Pen Cove Award (formerly the Whidbey Writing Competition).  This contest from Whidbey Writers Workshop in the USA is open worldwide and is for fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry and writing for children or young adults.  Up to 1,000 words.  I should point out that they have a rather strange - and if I may say so, lazy - way of selecting a winner for this one.  The judge reads submissions until he or she finds one that ‘knocks his/her socks off’.  Never mind that the next one might have divested the judge of his/her pants and woolly vest, the remaining entries are tossed aside without so much as a glance.  However, you can submit you entry again if it isn’t selected (try to get it in early, as entries are read in order of submission).
    Closing: Monthly.
    Prize: $50.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Books to Improve Your Writing Skills  

Cazart Short Story & Flash Fiction Competition.  Well I’ll be ******.  They allow swearing in this one.  However, I don’t suppose expletives alone will be enough to win.  For the short story category, entries should be between 400 and 3,000 words.  Flash fiction can be up to 400 words.
    Closing : 26th of each month.
    Prize (in each category): A cash amount based on the number of entries received.  The winning stories will be published on the Cazart homepage for two months.
    Entry Fee: £5.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Flash 500 Humorous Verse Competition.  Any kind of humorous verse up to 32 lines is required for this one.
    Closing: 30.6.13, 30.9.13, 31.12.13.
    Prizes: £150, £100, £50.
    Entry Fee: £3 for the first, £2.50 thereafter.
    Comp Page: Click Here .

Five Stop Story Competition.  This is for stories of up to 3,000 words on any subject or theme.
    Closing: End of each month.
    Prizes: Monthly - £50.  Top author in league table at end of year - £150.  Winners and runners-up will be published on the website.  They will also be published as an iPad and iPhone ap, whatever that means.
    Entry Fee: £4 each, £7 for two, £8 for three.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Hi
    Before I discovered your website I’d never even thought of trying my luck in a writing competition. My stories were a very private part of my life, I was (and for the most of the time still am) very convinced that they are not good enough for the ‘outside world’.
     I don’t know what made me try - call it a crazy moment of self-confidence - but here I am the October winner of the Cazart short story competition. I haven’t felt so good about myself in months. It might not seem like a big deal to the world but for me it means everything. And it would not have happened if it wasn’t for your wonderful website.
     Thank You very much.                                         -  Dorota Nocun

Cinnamon Press Poetry Collection Award.  Entries for ths one should comprise 10 poems of up to 40 lines.
    Closing: Bi-annually (end of June and November).
    Prize: £150 and your collection published.
    Entry Fee: £16 per batch of ten (includes a free copy of the winners’ anthology).
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Cinnamon Press Short Story Award.  This is for stories of between 2,000 and 4,000 words.
    Closing: Bi-annually (end of June and November).
    Prize: £150 and publication.
    Entry Fee: £16 (includes a free copy of the winners’ anthology).
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Cinnamon Press Novel/Novella Award.  To enter this you submit the first 10,000 words of your novel or novella.
    Closing: Bi-annually (end of June and November).
    Prize: £400 and your novella published.
    Entry Fee: £16.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

WriteOnSite Writing Competition.  This, they say, could be described as literary open mic.  The competition opens at 5.30pm GMT every Saturday, at which point three themes are given.  You choose your theme, pay your entry fee and then write.  You have just 20 minutes to complete your story.  Three entries are then chosen to be read and judged by all the other entrants during the following week.  Only for the brave.
    Closing: Every Saturday.
    Prize: £40.
    Entry Fee: £3.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Telegraph ‘Just Back’ Travel writing Competition.  If you are just back from somewhere a little more interesting than the local park, the Telegraph Online would like the gripping details in up to 500 words.  You can read previous winners on the website.  A ‘voyage’ across the Mersey is one of them - proving that you don’t have to write about anywhere exotic to scoop the prize.
    Closing: Monthly.
    Prize: £200 in the currency of your choice.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

     Thank you, Michael, for bothering to put your website together. Encouraged by your words I sent off a piece to the Daily Telegraph Travel Writing Competition but didn't win. Third time lucky, and after considerable honing and editing, I have just been informed by the deputy editor that my piece will be published this Saturday (17th July) and I have won £200.
     I am now inspired to go on to bigger things.
     Thanks again.                                                      -  Liz Cleere

Bloomsbury 247tales Competition.  Here is a contest from the publishers of Harry Potter for tales of up to 247 words written by children between the ages of 8 and 16.
    Closing: Monthly.
    Prize: £75 worth of Bloomsbury children’s books, publication on the website and a framed copy of your story.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Hi Michael,
     Just wanted to say thanks for working so hard on your fantastic site. It must take up loads of your time and energy to keep updating it with such enthusiasm and humour! I found it last year, and entered the Global Short Story competition. Although I didn't win, I was shortlisted for the August comp.  I then submitted a short story to the Bridge House Anthology which aimed to raise money for the Born Free Foundation. I remember you saying something like there is no prize money, but it will help your CV if you can say you are published in a book with Richard Adams, author of Watership Down, and a foreword by Virginia McKenna.
     Well guess what - I am! Well, in June anyway. The anthology is a collection of animal stories and is called Gentle Footprints.
     So thanks again, and a plug for charity - all readers of your site are kindly invited to buy a copy!                                             -  Mandy James

The Write Place Novel Competition.  This contest has now been cancelled by the promoters (The Write Place Creative Writing School) following my comments about the alleged value of the prize (publication) and the nature of the publishing firm (Pneuma Springs Publishing) supplying it.  Although the promoters are blaming me for ruining a worthwhile competition, I consider the cancellation to be their acceptance that my comments were spot on.
    Pneuma Springs Publishing offers services which are deemed by the book trade to be vanity publishing.  If anyone is unclear about the meaning and implications of this term, they should read the free Occasional Paper on Vanity Publishing by the Society of Authors: Click Here.

                         The Rules, the T&Cs, the Fine Print
When you submit a story or poem to a competition, you are entering into a contract with the promoter.  Make sure you know the terms.  It may be, for instance, that you are granting the promoter the right to publish your work without payment even if you don’t win.  This is often the price you pay for entering a contest with no entry fee.  If it bothers you, don’t participate.  But before you get sniffy about that 450-word story set in the sedate world of turnip farming, ask yourself this: Would I really be able to sell it to anyone else?  Publication, even without payment, might not be a bad thing if it gets you a healthy crop of readers.  And if it’s in a newspaper or magazine that carries some prestige ... well, there are plenty of struggling writers who would gift wrap and hand over their very souls for the privilege of being able to put that in their cv.  Only you can decide if it’s worth it.

Dear Michael
   I discovered your excellent site a few months back and entered some of the poetry competitions. I have in all my long years never received a payment for anything I have written, but I today received an email from Cooldog Publications to say I have won second prize in their E-mag Poetry Competition! £50! What a great way to start the new year.
   I just had to write and say thanks to you for the trouble you have taken with your site and how much I appreciate the sense of humour that underpins it.
  This has given me a terrific boost.                             -  Carol Browne

Global Short Story Competition.  This contest, which is supported by the Darlington Arts Centre in County Durham and renowned author Bill Bryson, is for stories of up to 2,000 words on any theme.
    Closing: End of each month.
    Prize: 1st - £100.  Runner-up £25.  After a year the monthly winners will be considered for an annual cash prize.
    Entry Fee: £5.
    Website: Click Here.

Hi there,
     I just want to say a BIG thank you from South Africa for your incredible website. It is so informative and detailed -- and this morning (on Christmas!) I just discovered that I’ve won First Prize for the Mona Schreiber competition - the details of which I found on your BRILLIANT website!  $500!  Thank you again!!
     Sincerely,  Sharon Rina de Villiers

Camp Trip Writing Contest.  This recurring US contest is for camping related articles (minimum 200 words) in which you share your tips, tricks, advice, infomative experience, etc.  Note that your entry may appear on the website, so leave out the illegal stuff (such as what you were smoking round the campfire).
    Closing: Each time 100 entries have been received.  Then a new contest begins.  See website for latest count.
    Prizes: $100, $75, $25 - all in Visa Gift Cards.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Flash 500 Competition.  This quarterly flash fiction contest, which offers higher prize money than many similar competitions, is for stories of up to 500 words on any theme.
    Closing : 31.3.13, 30.6.13, 30.9.13, 31.12.13.
    Prizes: 1st - £300 and publication in Words With Jam.  2nd - £100.  3rd - £50.  Highly Commended - A copy of The Writer’s ABC Checklist.
    Entry Fee: £5 each, £8 for two.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Dear Michael,
     I just wanted to tell you that I won first prize in the Charnwood Arts' miniWords Poetry Competition (£250), so thank you very much for that!
                                                                               -  Mary Whitsell
Hello Michael
     I've just won the Telegraph's 'Just Back' Travel Writing Competition, which I heard about on your site. Thank you yet again for providing this service to writers.
     It's a good thing I don't have to tell you about all the competitions I entered but didn't win, isn't it?  But all the rejections only make the wins that much sweeter!
                                                                                                  -   Mary Whitsell

Phil Williams often promotes competitions through the blog of the Poetry Society’s Stoke Stanza website.  If you would like to check this out, Click Here.

Hi Michael
     Back in autumn 2007, I took up writing, and your excellent site was a great help in finding competitions to enter. In 2008, my short story came second in the Yeovil Literary Prize and was read on BBC Radio Somerset. In 2010, I won the Words with Jam short story competition. I was also a runner up in nine other competitions along the way. As well as £500 in prize money, I also gained the encouragement I needed to keep writing, and now my debut novel, Earth Girl , will be published by HarperCollins Voyager imprint in August 2012. This is the first book in a trilogy, so I'm taking a break from competitions now, but I wanted to thank you for the help you've given me and other writers.
                                                                              -   Janet Edwards

Dark Places Story Competition.  This one from the online magazine Dark Places is for stories of between 1,000 and 5,000 words.  The magazine specialises in sci-fi and fantasy, a fact I mention in case you are wondering what sort of yarn to submit.  Stories must be error-free with correct grammar and punctuation.  Oh dear, if only you’d paid more attention in school.
    Closing: 15.6.13, 15.9.13, 15.11.13.
    Prize: £50.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Daggerville Games Writing Competition.  This monthly contest from Daggerville Games is for short pieces of writing (up to 250 words) on a different theme each month.  The theme for April - and I apologise if it is no longer April and I’ve forgotten to update this - is ‘The Perfect Murder’. You have to ‘Like’ the firm on Facebook to enter, but other than this requirement to be free and easy with your affections, there is no cost.
    Closing: End of each month.
    Prize: $50 Amazon voucher.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

The Poetry Competition.  This charitable contest in aid of Iain Rennie Hospice at Home is for poems of any length.  There is currently no theme but some weeks there will be.  Entries are displayed on the website and rated by the site’s visitors who will thereby decide the winners.  Iain Rennie Hospice at Home, as the name implies, helps people with terminal illness who wish to be cared for in their own homes.
    Closing : Weekly.
    Prizes: £25, £10.
    Entry Fee: £3 each, £5 for two, £7 for three.
    Comp Page: Click Here .

Dear Michael
     I regularly look at your website which is very helpful. I entered my novella 'Living Doll' in the Pageturner competition run by Contact Publlshing which you listed and it made the 10 shortlisted entries, being rated 6th overall. Not a big success but something! Many thanks for your website.
     Best wishes
                                                                            -  Suzanne Thorpe

The Ó Bhéal Five Words Competition.  Here’s another Corker from ireland.  Sorry couldn’t resist that.  I’ll start again.  This one from Cork in Ireland is for poems of up to 50 lines (including line breaks) which feature the five words given on the website for that week.  At the time of writing, the five words were: yellow, room, steadfast, hope, pirate.  So you could write about a yellow-bellied pirate steadfast in his hope to remain in his room while his shipmates are fighting for their lives with the Navy.  I wouldn’t advise it though.  A shortlist of 12 will be selected after the final closing date next January, and the winner will be chosen from that.  Ó Bhéal, incidentally, is a weekly poetry event in Cork (as you probably know, the word itself is Irish for ‘word of mouth’).
    Closing: Every Tuesday at noon until the last week of January 2014.
    Prize: 500 euros and an invitation to read at the Ó Bhéal’s event in Ireland, with travel expenses of 100 euro and B&B accommodation.
    Entry Fee: 5 euro.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Hi Michael,
     I know that plenty of other writers have said this, but a big thank you for compiling your competition listings. I rely on your website for finding out about upcoming contests. It gives me all the information I am after as well as making me laugh. I found out about the Trowell competition through you and came second this year, after winning in 2009. I have forwarded your link to many other writer friends. Keep up the good work.
                                                   -  Andrew Campbell-Kearsey (Brighton)

Hi Michael
     I spent a year or so reading all those comments on your website from people who, since consulting your list, seem have won just about every competition going. I read it and thought it must be too good to be true – but worth a try. Then, on my third submission, I have actually gone and won the Yeovil Literary Prize for Poetry. I am absolutely over the moon, unable to believe it, etc.  Thank you so much.
                                                                                   -   Andy Miller

The Word Hut 9th Short Story Competition.  Allow me to shed a little light on this contest from The Word Hut.  Open worldwide, it is for stories of up to 1,000 words on any theme and in any genre.
    Closing: 19.5.13.
    Prizes: £60, £30, £15.  Winners published on the website.
    Entry Fee: £4.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Futurespark Playwriting Competition.  This one from How It Ended Productions and UK Centre for Carnival Arts is for plays with a performance time of no more than ten minutes on the theme of Carnival.  There is a useful definition of Carnival on the website.
    Closing: 20.5.13.
    Prizes: Winning plays will be allocated a professional director and performed before a live audience at the UK Centre for Carnival Arts in July.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

The Times Stephen Spender Prize for Poetry Translation.  How many readers aged 14 and under does The Times have, I wonder?  And how many of these translate poetry in their spare time instead of, say, playing computer games that are well good?  Not a vast number, I would have thought, and yet the contest has a category for this group.  That’s probably why the promoters put it on the Internet: there’d be no entries otherwise.  Luckily, adults may also have a go.  To enter, find a poem written by some foreigner and translate it into English.  Then send it in together with a commentary and the original poem.  But first, ask yourself this: Is there really such a shortage of home-produced poetry that we need to ship it in like melons from countries that don’t even speak the lingo?
    Closing: 24.5.13.
    Prizes: Adults - £1,000, £750, £500.  18 and Under - £250, £150, £100.  14 and under - £100.  Selected winning entries will be publishd in The Times.  All winners ‘and any others the judges wish to select’ will be published in a commemorative booklet.
    Entry Fee: £5.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Printerpix Sunshine Poetry Competition.  This freebie from Printerpix, ‘one of the fastest growing photo stores online’, is for poems of up to 45 lines in any style on the theme of Sunshine.
    Closing: 24.5.13 (9am).
    Prize: An Amazon voucher worh $100 and a 20” x 16” canvas.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Welsh Poetry Competition.  Here’s another regular runner, this time from Wales, and if you can write Welsh poetry in English you could be in with a chance of winning ... but only if you manage to keep your entry down to 50 lines or fewer.  To avoid confusion I should perhaps say that Welsh poetry, for the purpose of this contest, is any poetry.  It’s just the contest that’s Welsh.  I expect you realised that anyway, but if I didn’t state the obvious sometimes I’d have nothing to say.  Note that according to the rules you have to be living to enter, so check your pulse before you begin.
    Closing: 26.5.13.
    Prizes: £400, £200, £100.
    Entry Fee: £4.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Dear Michael,
     I love your website and its pertinent personal comments re the comps.
     I entered the Alexander Cordell one some months ago, the mini saga, and was short-listed to win. It was a 600 mile round trip with two toddlers but we had a really wonderful weekend. My husband is self employed and works really long hours so it was great to drag him away and out into the countryside. The people were lovely, the whole event was fascinating, and I was thrilled to get two books and a book token. My little girl age 3 gets excited every time Wales is mentioned on the news now! The greatest thrill was hearing the Director of Visit Wales read out my story so reverently, and with evident enjoyment. The organisers were delighted with the world-wide entries.  I don’t write for money - just as well - but for the love of the medium and the message.
     Keep up the good work!                                         -  Julie Noble

Thynks Publications International Open Poetry Competition .  This one from Midlands-based Thynks Publications is for poems of up to 40 lines on any theme.
    Closing: 31.5.13.
    Prize: £100 plus publication in the Bards at Blidworth and Beyond anthology 2013.  Runners-up will also be published in the anthology.
    Entry Fee: £3.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Battered Moons Poetry Competition.  This contest, which is supported by the Swindon Festival of Poetry, is for poems of up to 40 lines on any topic and in any style.
    Closing: 30.5.13.
    Prizes: £300 £150, £75.  Winners and four others will be published in the Battered Moons Poetry Pamphlet 2013.
    Entry Fee: £3 each, £10 for four.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Pint-sized Plays Writing Competition.  Now in its fifth year, this contest, as the name implies, is for compact plays, that is plays with a running time of between five and ten minutes, and featuring just 2 or 3 characters and only the furniture you’d normally find in a pub (so forget that three-in-a-bed scene you’ve always yearned to write).
    Closing: 31.5.13.
    Prizes: 1st - The coveted Pint Pot award.  2nd - The not-quite-so-coveted Half Pint Pot award. The six winning plays (and possibly four runners-up) will be performed in pubs throughout Pembrokshire, then at a script slam in Fishguard where the audience can vote for their favourite and, if they are so inclined, throw fish at the rest (prior to being ejected from the premises).
    Entry Fee: £5.50.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Frogmore Poetry Prize 2013.  This annual contest is run by Frogmore Press which was founded in 1983 in the Frogmore tearooms in Folkestone.  Well, what else can you do in Folkestone?  Well, you can fall in the sea, for onething - a feat I managed at the age of 8.  Will I ever forget that day?  Unlikely, for I had the misfortune to be rescued by my two sisters.  ‘No, no - let me drown!’ I cried.  ‘I’ll never be able to face my mates again.’  But I had the ice cream money in my pocket and my pleas were ignored.  I later wrote a poem about the shame of it all but it would have been too long for this contest because it ran to 360 lines.  The line limit here is 40.
    Closing: 31.5.13.
    Prize: 1st - 200 guineas.  Classy.  You also get a two-year subscription to The Frogmore Papers.  2nd - 75 guineas and a year’s sub to the Papers.  3rd - 50 guineas and a year’s sub.  Shortlisted poets will receive selected Frogmore Press publications (Frogs .  More Frogs.  Even More Frogs. Frog Recipes.  Stop.  Come back.  I’m joking.  They publish poetry - and none of it about frogs).
    Entry Fee: £3.
    Comp Page: Click Here .

Garden Museum Garden Writing Competition.  This one from Garden Museum and Granta Magazine is part of the Garden Museum’s first Festival of Garden Literature on June 29 and 30.  The illustrious judges, Antonia Fraser, Adam Nicolson and Sigrid Rausing, will be looking for a piece of literary memoir inspired by, or set in, a garden.  Prune your entry down to a maximum of 2,500 words if you don’t want it to end up on the compost heap.
    Closing: 31.5.13.
    Prize: £2,500, plus publication by Granta Online.  The winner and two runners-up will each receive a free ticket to the Festival where they will be invited to read extracts from their work.  All three will be published by the Garden Museum Journal.
    Entry Fee: £5.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Hi Michael
     Just another Thank You. I have just had notification that my story got selected for the anthology following The Sheriff’s Prize for Literature competition. I went along to the awards night and had fun watching Tony Robinson reading out some of the best entries. To be asked to put my story into the anthology was the icing on the cake!
     Thanks again for the great site.
                                                                                      - Pat Davies

Navegator Writing  Competition.  This one from author Geoffrey Iley requires you to create a credible opened for a sequel to his novel Navegator.  Your entry must be between 800 and 1,500 words.  Journalist/novelist Philip Purser will be judging.
    Closing: 31.5.13.
    Prize: £100.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Yeovil Literary Prize.  This is the tenth of these international contests from Yeovil, the literary capital of the West Country where even the sheep appreciate poetry.  I once read out some of my verses on a Yeovil sheep farm and the verdict was ‘Baaa!’ - which in sheepspeak means ‘brilliant’  I got some of my best reviews that day.  The contest has three categories: Short Story, Poetry, Novel.  The stories can run to 2,000 words, while the poems should be no more than 40 lines.  Novels have a limit of 15,000 words for the opening chapters and synopsis.  Tracey Chevalier, author of Girl With the Pearl Earring, will be judging the novels, while Neil Astley of Bloodaxe Books will tackle to poetry.  Literary Agent Julia Churchill will assess the short stories.
    Closing: 31.5.13.
    Prizes: Short Story - £500, £200, £100.  Poetry - £500, £200, £100.  Novel - £1,000, £250, £100.  In addition there is the Western Gazette Best Local Writer Award someone living in Dorset or Somerset.  It isn’t worth moving down there however as the prize is only £100 plus a trophy.
    Entry Fee: Short Story - £6.  Poetry - £6 each, £9 for two, £11 for three.  Novel - £11 each.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Words With Jam First Page Competition.  This one from the Words With Jam website is for ‘the most captivating’ first page in any genre, running to no more than 400 words.  Well-known author Sue Grafton will be judging.
    Closing: 31.5.13.
    Prizes: £500, £100 £50.
    Entry Fee: £6 for the first, £4 thereafter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Frome Festival Short Story Competition.  This annual contest from Frooom (as the eccentric locals like to pronounce it) is for stories of between 1,000 and 2,200 words.  Winning stories will be read by a leading London literary agent and forwarded to IPC magazines. The rest will presumably be read by the cleaning lady and dropped in the bin.
    Closing: 31.5.13.
    Prizes: £300, £150, £75.  There is in addition a prize for a local author, defined as one living within 25 miles of the local library.  Damn - missed out by 95 miles.
    Entry Fee: £5.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Wigtown Poetry Competition.  Scotland’s Wigtown has been hosting this contest for a few years now with the consequence that both town and contest have become well known.  As a result, dozens of people flock to Wigtown every year (it would be thousands but few can find it).  The contest requires poems of up to 40 lines.  You may enter in English or, if you have something to hide from the masses, Scots or Scots/Irish Gaelic.
    Closing: 31.5.13.
    Prizes: £2,000, £400, and 8 x £25.  Winners will be invited to appear at the Wigtown Book Festival.  Gaelic Prize - £250.  Scots Prize - £250.
    Entry Fee: £7 for the first, £19 for the first three, £5 each thereafter, or a total of £14 for every additional block of three.  It has been acknowledged by the promoters that some of you will not understand this complicated pricing structure, and so examples have been given for up to 12 poems.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

The 9/11 National Schools Competition.  This one is open only to students of between the ages of 14 and 16.  To enter you answer one of the two questions: ‘How did 9/11 change the world?’ Or ‘Why and how would you keep the memory alive in the UK?’  Your answer should consist of an essay of approximately 1,200 words or a film of 3 to 5 minutes duration.
    Closing: 31.5.13.
    Prizes: Eight entrants will win a trip to New York for the twelfth anniversary of 9/11.  The four category winners will in addition receive £500 each.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Dear Michael, 
     Thank you for maintaining your informative and witty list of writing competitions.
     I entered loads of them last year and got precisely nowhere, but I ploughed on regardless and have just won second prize (£100) in the Flash 500 Humour Verse contest, which would suggest that your friend Percy Vere might be onto something.
                                                                             -  Melanie Branton

Fiction Desk Ghost Story Competition.  Here’s one for the spooky-minded amongst you.  It comes from The Fiction Desk, a firm which publishes a quarterly anthology of new short fiction.  The contest, as you have probably guessed, is for supernatural stories.  And if you are not to be haunted by failure, make sure yours is between 2,000 and 5,000 words.
    Closing: 31.5.13.
    Prizes: £500, £100.  Winners published in an anthology
    Entry Fee: £6 each, £9 for two.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Cardiff Women’s Aid Creative Writing Competition.  This charitable contest is for poems of up to 40 lines and stories of up to 2,000 words relating to domestic violence/abuse.
    Closing: 31.5.13 (5pm).
    Prizes: An anthology of shortlisted entries will be produced.  The writers appearing in this will each receive a free copy.
    Entry Fee: £2.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Dear Mr Michael
    I discovered your website back in November, then, in January, finally had the guts to enter the Whidbey Writers’ Competition, with the 'lazy' way of judging entries: stopping reading once they found 'the one'. The January theme was Villains, and, guess what, I won.
    Thank goody-goody gumdrops for Prizemagic.
    Keep Smiling
                                                   - Hannie Duncombe (The youngest ever Student Choice winner, at 13, thanks to you.)

Bridport Prize.  This competition from the Bridport Arts Centre is one of the most prestigious writing contests in the British literary calendar.  Everyone in the trade whose mind is not addled by drugs has heard of it, and they will be impressed if you can claim to have won it.  The good news is that winning it is easy.  All you have to do is submit the best poem or short story, the former having no more than 42 lines, the latter running to no more than 5,000 words.   For those who find 5,000 words too tiring to write there is now a flash fiction category for stories of up to 250 words (if that’s too much, consider becoming a poet).  This year’s judges are Gwyneth Lewis (poems) and Patrick Gale (stories).  Writers from beyond the veil should note that the Bridport rules forbid posthumous entries.  Shame: the awards ceremony would be so much more interesting with a couple of ghosts in attendance.
    Closing: 31.5.13.
    Prizes: In each of the main categories (Short Stories, Poems) - £5,000, £1,000, £500.  There are also ten runners-up prizes of £50.  These are called ‘supplementary prizes’ to make you feel less like an also-ran.  There is in addition a special prize of £100 and a perpetual trophy for the highest placed writer from Dorset.  Prizes in the Flash Fiction category are £1,000, £500, £250, plus three supplementary awards of £25.  The top 13 short stories will be entered for the BBC National Short Story Award worth £15,000, and the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award worth £30,000.  The top four poems will be entered for the Forward Prize.  Shortlisted stories will be read by leading London literary agents with a vew to representing the writers.  All winners will be invited to an awards ceremony in October at the Bridport Open Book Festival.  Winning entries will be published in the Bridport Prize 2013 Anthology.
    Entry Fees : Poems - £7.  Short Stories - £8.  Flash Fiction - £6.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

David Burland Poetry Prize 2013.  This international contest, now in its seventh year, is for poems of up to 40 lines on any subject, written in free style or rhyme.  Entries may be submitted in English or French.  The details on the website can be accesed in both, so you get a bit of a language course as well as a competition.
    Closing: 31.5.13.
    Prizes (for each language category): £200, £70, £30.  The winning poem in each language category will be published on the website.
    Entry Fee: £8 for up to two poems, then £3 thereafter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Munch Time Children’s Story Competition.  For this annual contest from Nestlé you have to write a story for children between the ages of two and five with the opening line, ‘Once upon a Munch Time, there was a cow called Munch.’  It’s a cow of a line, but you must make the best of it.  Your story should have a length of between 600 and 800 words.  You are also required to say in under 50 words what the inspiration was behind your entry and why you should win.  The ten shortlisted stories will be published for public voting on the Munch Time website and on Facebook.
    Closing: 31.5.13.
    Prizes: 1st - £1,000.  Runners-up (3) - £500.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

TXTLit Micro Story Competition.  For this contest you need a mobile phone.  Well, everyone’s got one, haven’t they?  No.  There’s still one person in the UK who hasn’t.  Me.  I don’t like phones of any sort.  I have one that plugs into the wall but I never answer it when it rings.  I think: ‘They’ll ring again if it’s important.’  They seldom do, and if they do I never answer it and they never ring again - which proves they were just time-wasters.  Now, I may seem to be rambling a bit here, but hey, what do you know, this turns out to be relevant because you mustn’t ramble in this competition.  Limit your stories to 154 characters (letters and spaces, not people), and while you’re about it, refrain from using abbreviated TXT gibberish, as this is not welcome.  At last - someone is fighting back on behalf of the English language!  There is a different theme each month.
    Closing: 31.5.13.
    Prize: £50.
    Entry Fee: £1 plus the normal cost of sending a text message (no use asking me what that is).
    Website: Click Here.

Wirral Festival of Firsts Poetry Competition .  This is the third of these contests from the Wirral Festival of Firsts, an arts festival which is held on Hoylake’s mile-long promenade in July.  Entries should stretch to no more than 40 lines.  Poet and playwright Colin Watts, Chair of Liverpool’s Dead Good Poets society, will be judging.
    Closing: 1.6.13.
    Prizes: £200, £75, 3 x £25.
    Entry Fee: £3 each, £10 for four.
    Comp Page: Click Here .

    Many thanks for your entertaining and helpful website!  Last year it led me    to win the Wyvern Prize in the Wells Fest of Lit competition.  This was    particularly good news because it came on the day I got home from 7 weeks in hospital.
                                                                               -  Dennis Harkness

Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting.  In terms of playwriting competitions, this is the Big One, they say.  It comes from the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester and is supported by property company Bruntwood.  Open to residents of the UK and Ireland, it is for full-length plays only.  These are defined in the rules as being an hour long or more (stage time).
    Closing: 3.6.13 (5pm).
    Prize: 1st - £16,000.  In addition, there will be two judges’ awards of £8,000 each (I assume these awards are going to entrants rather than judges, but ‘judges’ awards’ sounds better than ‘runners-up’.).
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Segora Writing Competition.  This is the sixth of these contests from Poetry Prose and Plays, which is based in France.  It is for short stories of between 1,500 and 3,000 words, poems of up to 40 lines, and vignettes of up to 300 words.  Not many vignette contests about these days.  This is because hardly anyone knows what a vignette is.  You do, of course, and in fact you probably have a dozen or so already written.  For the rest, I’ll give by way of enlightenment a definition from Collins: ‘A short piece of writing that clearly expresses the typical characteristics of something or someone.’  You can read last year’s winners for all categories on the website.
    Closing: 8.6.13.
    Prizes : Short Stories and Poetry - £150, £50, £30.  Vignettes - £30, £10.
    Entry Fees: Short Stories - £5.50 each, £10 for two, £15 for three.   Vignettes and Poems - £3.50 each, £6 for two, £2 each thereafter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

VS Pritchett Memorial Prize.  This annual contest from the Royal Society of Literature, which aims to preserve VS Pritchett’s warmth of feeling and mastery of narrative, is for stories of between 2,000 and 5,000 words.
    Closing: 13.6.13.
    Prize: £1,000.  The winner will be published in the RSL Review and Prospect magazine.
    Entry Fee: £5.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year Competition.  This international contest from the Canterbury Festival is for poems on any subject and in any style, with a length not exceeding 60 lines.  Shortlisted poets will be asked to read their poems at the Awards Evening in Canterbury on October 3, or to nominate someone else to do this.  The poets concerned will receive a free copy of the contest anthology.
    Closing: 14.6.13.
    Prizes: The winner will be named ‘Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year 2013’ and will receive £50 in book tokens and half a case of wine (the other half of the case presumably having been consumed by the judges).  There will be £25 book tokens for the two runners-up, plus a bottle of sparkling wine for the ‘Best Read Poem’ and a £20 book token for the ‘People’s Choice’.  No doubt it will all be jolly good fun and well worth the effort, but I do think they could have offered the winner a trophy of some sort, something he or she could be casually cleaning when friends come to call.
    Entry Fee: £5.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Poets Meet Painters Open Poetry Competition 2013.  This one from Hungry Hill Writing of County Cork, Ireland is for poems of up to 40 lines inspired by a work of art on the Mill Cove Gallery website or in the gallery itself (see comp page for links).
    Closing: 17.6.13.
    Prize: 200 euros.  There is in addition the Mill Cove Gallery Award for a poem inspired by a ceramic work.
    Entry Fee: 8 euros.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Hi Michael
     Just to say thanks to your website. I have won, not one, but two prizes! Having never entered a travel writing competition in my life before, I entered the Justback competition with the Telegraph, and won after a few attempts - working out what the travel editors liked.  I then came second in the British Guild of Travel Writers competition. Great site - keep up the good work.
                                                                                      -  Helen Moat

Manchester Cathedral International Interfaith Poetry Competition.  Not surprisingly, poems on a religious theme are required for this annual contest.  They can be up to 40 lines and may concern any faith.  This does not mean your faith in your football team or your faith in your ability, when intoxicated, to sing like Tom Jones, even if this faith is possessed of a religious fervour.  Poems, it says on the entry form, should appeal to those who would not necessarily describe themselves as religious.  Tricky.
    Closing: 28.6.13.
    Prizes: £450, £250, £150.  The winner also earns the title ‘Manchester Cathedral Poet of 2013’.  You could have it printed on a T-shirt, for it is said that one never sees the harvest by hiding one’s light under a bushel ... or something like that.
    Entry Fee: £4.50 for the first, £2 thereafter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Ralph Ockendon Poetry Competition.  This one from Cannon Poets in memory of the late Ralph Ockendon is for poems of up to 30 lines in any style and on any subject.
    Closing: 30.6.13.
    Prizes: £500, £250, £100.
    Entry Fee: £4 for the first, £2.50 thereafter.
    Comp Page: Click Here .

WritersReign Short Story Competition.  This annual contest from Essex writers’ group WritersReign is for stories of between 1,000 and 1,500 words on the theme of ‘I have a dream’.   They are looking for stories with the feel-good factor, so your usual relentless outpourings of misery and despair will not do.
    Closing: 30.6.13.
    Prizes: £100, £50, £25, plus runners-up 3x£10.
    Entry Fee: £3.50 each, £6 for two.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Writers’ Bureau Short Story Competition.  This annual contest from correspondence college Writers’ Bureau is for stories of up to 2,000 words on any subject.
    Closing: 30.6.13.
    Prize: £500, £300, £200 £100.
    Entry Fee: £5.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Dear Michael
     Many thanks for your witty and informative listings. In 2012 I've won the Swanezine Poetry Prize, The Sampad 'Inspired by Tagore' Poetry Prize, the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Prize and one of the Malahat Review Monostich Poetry Prizes. Feel free to hate me. I will still love you.
     Best wishes and thanks again.
                                                                                    -  Cathy Bryant

Cowley Literary Award.  This international contest from Australian Art Sales is for fiction or non-fiction stories of up to 4,000 words on any subject.  Four finalists will be selected each month from January with entries not selected being carried forward for possible selection in subsequent months.
    Closing : 30.6.13 (midnight AEST).
    Prizes: Best Story - $4,000 (Australian).  Runner-up - $1,000 (Aus).
    Entry Fee: $20 (Aus).
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Andrew Cole International Prize Essay Competition.  This is for essays of up to 10,000 words on the theme of Restoring Human Progress.  ‘Entries are sought which critically engage with Professor Szostak’s view concerning how human progress can be restored.’  You can read details of the Prof’s view (and his book) on the website.
    Closing: 30.6.13.
    Prize: £200.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Keats-Shelley Prize 2012.  This annual international contest from the Keats-Shelley Memorial Association is for poems of up to 40 lines on the theme of Noise, and essays of up to 3,000 words on any aspect of the lives of the Romatics and their circle.
    Closing: 30.6.13.
    Prizes: There is a total of £3,000 to be divided in unspecified ways amongst an unspecified number of winners.  The winning poems and essays will be published in the Keates-Shelley Review.
    Entry Fee : Nothing vague about this.  It's £5 a go.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Almond Press Apocalyptic Short Story Competition.  This one from new publisher Almond Press is for apocalyptic/dystopian stories running to no more than 5,000 words.  They want to know what  tomorrow will look like after the fall.  Well, in America, leaves all over the place, I suppose.  Ah, hang on, it’s not that sort of a fall.  They’re talking about meltdown, flood, plague.  It’s too awful to think about.  I can’t go on.
    Closing: 30.6.13.
    Prize: £100.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Bingo Calls Competition.  Here is your chance to create one of the bingo calls of the future.  You simply come up with a new call that relates to contemporary culture.  E.g. ‘Twenty-three ... pornography.’  There are better examples than mine on the website.
    Closing: 30.6.13.
    Prizes: 1st - £100.  Runners-up (5) - £10.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Hi Michael
     Love, love, love your site! But it should come with a word of warning to other would-be comp winners. Go straight to terms and condition page first. Just spent the last hour and a half crafting (skillfully obviously) a poem about bingo for one of the contests on your site, only to find that (unlucky for some, or rather - me) when I went to email it, it was for UK residents only! I went to dramatically raise my hand to my forehead saying `oh s**t!` when I knocked over my glass of wine on the desk. As I went to quickly mop up everything, I knocked my phone off the table where it now lies wet and immobilised.
     So, to re-evaluate: 1. Check terms and conditions. 2. Don`t make any sudden, dramatic hand movements. 3. Don`t place wine on same surface as computer. 4. Don`t place mobile phone on same surface as wine glass.  And finally, 5. Make sure there`s a spare bottle of wine in fridge when you go to drown your sorrows on your time-wasted, expensive, quiet sunday evening in.
                                                                            -  Susan from Dublin

Shoreline Scripts Screenwriting Competition.  To be eligible for this one you must not have earned more than £20,000 in writing fees.  So far so good.  You then need a good idea for a film and the ability to put it across in the appropriate way.  Those of you who are left might like to know that there are two categories: Feature Script and Short Script.  Scripts for the Feature category should be between 80 and 120 pages.  For the Short category the requirement is for 3 to 20 pages.
    Closing: 30.6.13.
    Prizes: Feature script - £2,500, £500.  Winners also get scriptwriting aids and membership of various organisations plus an IMDB Pro account ... whatever that is.  Short Screenplay - £500, £250.  Winners also get an IMDB Pro account.
    Entry Fees: Short Screenplay - £20 if submitted by 1.6.13, £25 thereafter.   Feature Script - £25 if submitted by 1.6.13, £35 thereafter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

The Henshaw Competition.  This new contest from Henshaw Press of Northampton is for stories of up to 2,000 words on any theme.
    Closing: 30.6.13.
    Prizes: £100, £50 £25.
    Entry Fee: £5.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Lightship Literary Prizes.  Former Poet Lauriate Andrew Motion is one of the patrons for this contest from Lightship Publishing of Kingston-upon-Hull.  That’s all I can think of to say about it, although it does have some good cash prizes.  There are several categories, including: Short Story (up to 5,000 words), Short Memoir (up to 5,000 words), Poetry (up to 200 words),  Flash Fiction (up to 1500 words), One-page Flash Fiction (up to 300 words), First Chapter (up to 5,000 words of a literary novel, plus a synopsis of up to 400 words).  First Act (up to 6,000 words of a play).  There are no themes, and the contest is open worldwide.
    Closing: 30.6.13.
    Prizes: Short Story - £1,000.  Short Memoir - £1,000.  Poetry - £1,000.  Flash Fiction - £500.  One-page Flash Fiction - £250.  First Chapter - Professional Mentoring, possibly leading to publication of the finished novel by Alma Books.  First Act Prize - Professional mentoring sessions from the judges as you write the rest of your play, followed by possible performance in London.  Winners and runners-up will appear in an anthology.
    Entry Fee: Short Story - £12.  Short Memoir - £12.  Poem - £8.  Flash Fiction - £10.  One-page Flash Fiction - £6.  First Chapter - £16.  First Act - £18.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Junior Authors Short Story Competition.  This annual contest from Laura Thomas Communications in Canada is for stories of up to 1,000 words.  It is open to students aged between 9 and 21, and there are four age categories (18-21, 15-17, 12-14, 9-11).
    Closing: 30.6.13.
    Prizes: Amazon gift cards ($100 and 5 x $25 in each age category).  Top prize winner in the 18-21 age category will be eligible for paid writing opportunities with Laura Thomas Communications.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

William Soutar Writing Prize 2013.  Surely you are not asking yourself, ‘Who is William Soutar?  He is of course Perth’s greatest poet - and if there are other poets in Perth who are at this moment bristling with indignation, I apologise but I am only quoting the website.  Now in its twelfth year, the contest, which is run by Perth & Kinross Libraries, is for poems of up to 40 lines.  These can be in English or, for those who like to be incomprehensible to the rest of us, Scots.
    Closing: 2.7.13.
    Prizes: 1st - An Arvon writing course worth £600 at one of the UK’s Arvon centres.  2nd - £100 in book tokens.  Local Prize for a resident of Perth and Kinross - £50 in book tokens.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter (only two entries per person).
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Stringybark Times Past Short Story Award.  This one from the land of the billabong (a device used in the outback for smoking recreational substances) is for stories of up to 1,500 words based on a real event you have experienced or read about.  At the end of your story you must include a synopsis of the real event (up to 100 words).  The event must have some connection, either via the character, setting, etc, with Australia.  No worries mate: ‘Alfred’s blind date had a nose like a boomerang.  It tapped the table as she nodded.’
    Closing: 2.7.13.
    Prizes: 1st  $350 + publication + certificate + ebook + paperback + choice of any Stringybark book except Times Past.  2nd - $150 + same additions as above.  3rd - $75 + same additions.
    Entry Fee: $9.95 for one, $18.90 for two, $27 for three.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Mere Literary Festival Open Poetry Competition.  This annual contest from Mere in Wiltshire is for poems of up to 40 lines.
    Closing: 12.7.13.
    Prizes: £200, £100, £50.  Runners-up (3) - £15.  Shortlisted poems will be showcased at a festival reading before the winner is announced, and additional prizes will be awarded in accordance with audience votes.
    Entry Fee: £3.50 for the first, £3 thereafter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Fringe B.o.A Open Poetry Competition.  This is the third of these contests from the Bradford on Avon Fringe Festival, which I originally thought was some kind of hair styling event.  It is for poems of up to 40 lines on any subject.  Poet Roger Elkin will be judging.
    Closing: 12.7.13.
    Prizes: £200,£50, £25.
    Entry Fee: £4 each £10 for three, £3 thereafter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Doris Gooderson Short Story Competition .  This annual contest from Wrekin Writers of Telford in Shropshire aims to raise funds for Severn Hospice.  It is for stories of up to 1,200 words on any subject.
    Closing: 15.7.13.
    Prizes: £150, £70, £40.
    Entry Fee: £3.  All profits go to Severn Hospice.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

H.G.Wells Short Story Competition.  This annual event from the H.G.Wells Festival in Folkestone is for stories of between 1,500 and 5,000 words in any genre.  The theme is Flight.  If you can arrange to be under 26 it will be to your advantage, as you can then enter for nothing while at the same time quailifying for a much bigger prize.  In addition to the story category, there is also a handwriting contest for children of primary school age.  For this it is necessary to copy one of the given poems.  These can be found by clicking a link on the Prizes page.
    Closing: 20.7.13.
    Prizes: Under 19 (The Margaret & Reg Turnill Prize) - £1,000.  Over 19 (The Grand Prize) - £250.  Handwriting Prize (children of primary school age) - £100.  All shortlisted entries will be published in an anthology.
    Entry Fee: £5, although if you are under 26, it’s free.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Hi Michael
     Just to let you know I was a runner up in last year’s Eyelands short story competition. I entered it mainly because entries were accepted by email. The main prizes were very generous, as I remember they included video cameras and computers and “a notebook” which I took to mean a notebook computer. I didn’t win any of these but I was “awarded with distinction” and sent a certificate to prove it. I also received a copy of the Eyelands anthology which included my story. Only one problem – it’s in Greek. I recognised my story because it had my name at the top in English. I advise anyone entering this year's comp to look for the automatic translation feature in google - unless of course they understand Greek!
     Many thanks for your website. Always interesting even if I don't enter one of the comps.
                                                                               -  Mary Hodges

Eyelands International Short Story Competition.  This is the third of these international contests from Greece.  It is for unpublished stories of up to 2,500 words in any genre.  You have a choice of themes this year: ‘Dream’ and ‘Getaway’ (escape/flee).  Make of them what you will.  Entries must be in English, but if you happen to speak Greek, you’ll be able to discover what the Eyelands website is all about.  The rest of us can only wonder, as the contest page alone is in English.
    Closing: 20.7.13.
    Prizes: 1st - Return air tickets to Greece for one from any of the 20 named European cities (including Manchester).  2nd & 3rd - a Greek handmade ceramic.  The three winners will be published in an anthology in Greece and they, along with shortlisted entrants, will receive a free copy.
    Entry Fee: 10 euros.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Wasafiri New Writing Prize 2013.  ‘Wasafiri’, according to the website, ‘is a literary magazine at the forefront of mapping new landscapes in contemporary international literature today.’  Try saying that in Kiswahili, the language from which the magazine’s title comes.  Now, you are probably thinking that the magazine itself must hail from Africa, but this is not so.  It was born at the University of Kent in 1984, and as far as I know it has no African connection at all.  Nor, I might add, has the contest.  This has three categories (Poetry, Fiction, Life Writing) and is open to anyone anywhere in the world who has not published a complete book.  The word limit in each category is 3,000.  There is no theme.  Incidentally, ‘wasafiri’, in case your Kiswahili is a bit rusty, means ‘cultural traveller’.
    Closing: 26.7.13 (5pm).
    Prize (in each category): £300.  Winners will be published in the mag.
    Entry Fee: £6 if entering one category, £10 if entering two, £15 for three categories.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

The John Betjeman Poetry Competition.  This contest in honour of one of Britain’s most popular poets aims, they say, to foster a love of poetry in young people.  Young people are apparently between 10 and 13, these being the age limits for the competition.  Old at 14, eh?  Too many crafty cigaretttes behind the bike sheds, I reckon.  Entries should be about local surroundings or any aspect of them (such as your house, street, local park, town/city, etc).  The idea behind this is to encourage ‘an understanding and appreciation of the importance of place’.  They want to know what it means to you.  ‘It’s where I live, innit?’ will not be sufficient.  The judge is Susan Hill, winner of the Somerset Maugham and Whitbread Awards, amongst others.
    Closing: 31.7.13.
    Prize: £1,000 to be shared between the winner and his/her school.  The winner and two runners-up will each receive four Eurostar tickets to Paris, Brussels or Lisle.  There will in addition be £50 book tokens for the top five entrants.  The prize-giving and reading of the winning poems will take place next to the John Betjeman statue on the concourse of St. Pancras International station, hopefully before the rush hour.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.  Only one entry per person.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Fleeting Magazine Rules for Writers Competition.  This one from Fleeting Magazine and the delightfully named Wrecking Ball Press is for a single line of writing advice from an emerging or established writer.  ‘Never leave your bread toasting under the grill while you jot down an idea,’ would be my suggestion, but this is probably not the sort of thing they have in mind.
    Closing: 31.7.13.
    Prize: £100.  The winning line will be published along with a selection of advice from famous writers in No Cheap Tricks - A Guide for Writers.  The winning writer will be invited to the book’s launch events where, with luck, there will be free drinks.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Expatclic Travel Reflections Competition.  This literary and photographic contest is for expat woman all over the world.  There are three categories: Stories or Articles (fiction or non-fiction up to 2,000 words), Poems (up to 40 lines), and Photographs.  The themes are: Life as an expatriate woman, Travel, Cross-cultural encounters, the Vaue of writing.  Entries can be in English, Italian, French or Spanish, although in the case of photographs they must be in English (for once I’m not joking: you have to include a description in English, giving the location, date and subject in up to 30 words).
    Closing: 31.7.13 (midnight CET, if you can work it out; if not, get your entry in before noon).
    Prizes (in each of the three categories): 1,500 euros.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.  Only one entry per person (but you can submit three photos).
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Dreamquest One Poetry and Writing Contest.  The requirement for this US contest is for poems of up to 30 lines and short stories of up to five pages, any style or theme.
    Closing: 31.7.13.
    Prizes: Stories - $500, $250, $100.   Poetry - $250, $125, $50.  Winners will be published on the website.
    Entry Fee: Stories - $10 postal, $12 electronic.  Poetry - $5 postal, $7 electronic.
    Comp Page: Click Here .

Wells Festival of Literature Writing Competition.  Here we go again with the famous Wells Litfest and its trio of competitions - Poetry, Short Story, Crime Novel.  I should mention before we go any further that we are talking about Wells in Somerset, not Wells in Norfolk which also has an annual litfest (I wouldn’t want you turning up at the wrong event to receive your prize or to berate the judges for not awarding you anything).  Anyway, back to business.  For the poetry you are allowed up to 40 lines.  Short Stories should be between 1,000 and 2,000 words.  For the Crime Novel category you submit a first chapter running to no more than 3,000 words, plus a synopsis of between 500 and 1,000 words.
    Closing: 31.7.13.
    Prizes: Poetry and Short Story (in each category) - £500, £200, £100.  Wyvern Prize for a local entrant - £100.  Novel - £100 and the winning entry read by a major publisher and a leading agent.  This reading by publisher and agent may be bestowed also on a runner-up if the entry is exceptional.
    Entry Fees: Poetry and Short Story - £5.  Novel - £10.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Portico Poetry Prizes.  Here’s a contest from the Portico Library & Gallery in Manchester.  It is for poems up to 40 lines around the theme of Letter Writing.  There are two categories: Over 16, and Under 18, the latter being free to enter.
    Closing: 31.7.13.
    Prizes: Over 16 Category - £250, £150, £100.  The 1st prize winner will earn the title ‘Portico Poet of the Year 2013’, and his or her poem will be published in the Portico Quarterly newsletter.  Under 18 Category - Book tokens for the three winners, plus for the top poet the title ‘Portico Poet of the Year 2013’ and his or her poem published in the Portico Quarterly newsletter.  All six winners and the runners-up will be published in an anthology.  Contributors to this will be invited to the Closing Event in December.  Winners will be announced at the Manchester Literary Festival.
    Entry Fee: Over 16 Category - £5 for the first, £2.50 thereafter.  Under 18 Category - Free.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition .  This annual contest from the Munster Literature Centre in Ireland is for unpublished stories of up to 3,000 words on any subject.  The Munster Literature Centre, incidentally, is named after the town in southern Ireland where it is located, not the old American TV sitcom about a bunch of friendly monsters.  At least, I assume that’s the case.  I must admit I’ve never been there.
    Closing: 31.7.13.
    Prizes: 1st - 2,000 euros plus a week’s residency at Anam Cara Writer’s and Artist’s Retreat.  In addition, if you go to Cork to collect your prize, you will receive hotel accommodation, meals, drinks and VIP access to the literary stars at the Cork International Short Story Festival (18-22 September 2013).  2nd - 500 euros.  Runners-up (4) - payment for publication in the mag.  Winners will be published in the literary journal Southword.
    Entry Fee : 15 euros or £15.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Essex Open Poetry Competition.  This is the thirteenth of these annual contests from the Essex Poetry Festival.  As usual it is for poems of up to 40 lines on any subject.  The judge this year is Matthew Caley who has an amusing piece on the Huffington Post website about his poetry competition tactics (link on comp page).
    Closing: 31.7.13.
    Prizes: £500, £250, £100, 3 x £25.  Winners and runners-up will be invited to read their entries at the Festival on October 6, 2013.  These entries will be published on the website.
    Entry Fee: £3 each. £10 for four.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Writers Abroad Anthology 2013.  If you are an ex-pat or former ex-pat or any writer living outside the country of your birth, here’s your chance to help a worthy cause while at the same time seeing your work printed in a book.  What do you mean, ‘What’s in it for me?’  I’ve just told you: you get the warm glow that comes from helping others, and if that leaves you cold, there’s the boasting rights you get from being in the book.  Money isn’t everything ... unless the bailiffs are knocking on your door.   Submissions can be short stories, non-fiction pieces or poetry, and they should be firmly grounded in a particular place (country, area, town, village, building).  Fiction can run to 1,700 words while flash fiction is limited to 500 words.  Non-fiction is has a maximum of 1,000 words.  Poems should comprise no more than 30 lines.
    Closing: 31.7.13.
    Prize: Publication in the book Far Flung and Foreign, with a foreword by novelist Amanda Hodgkinson.  There will be a print edition and, later, an e-book.  The book profits will be donated to Book Aid International.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

                                  One less Pedestrian ...
Hi
     Just to let you know rather belatedly that I entered a number of prose competitions last year – all from your web site and had great fun trying a varied menu of different word lengths and genres. I won $500 in an essay writing competition in the Pedestrian magazine - entering despite your scathing comments. I got the money and bought a lovely new bike. The magazine then went bust so my entry wasn’t published - so yet to see my name in print but I have the bike so hey ho.
                                                                                                       -  Rosemary Barry

Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2013.  This one from the Poetry Society is said to be the UK’s largest poetry competition for writers between the ages of 11 and 17.  It certainly attracts a lot of entries.  Over 7,300 young people entered last year.  There are two age categories: 11 to 14, and 15 to 17.  Poems can be any length and on any subject.
    Closing: 31.7.13.
    Prizes: For winners in the 11 to 14 category - A short residency at your school by some obscure, sorry leading, poet, followed by ‘distance mentoring’.  Winners in the 15 to 17 category receive a week-long residential course at one of the prestigious Arvon writing Centres.  The fifteen overall winners will have their entries published in the winners’ anthology.  These plus the 85 Commended poets will be invited to the awards ceremony in London. There are also prizes of books for the schools which inspire the most entries, and there are unspecified prizes and books for all 100 winners plus Youth Membership of the Poetry Society.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Luke Bitmead Writers’ Bursary Competition.  For this one from Legend Press, now in its sixth year, you submit the first three or four chapters of your completed novel plus a synopsis.  You should also send a personal statement introducing yourself and saying why you would particularly benefit from the bursary.  Note that to be eligible you must be a UK resident and a first-time, non-published author of fiction for adults.
    Closing : 2.8.13.
    Prize: A publishing contract with Legend Press and a £2,500 cash bursary.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here .

Buzzwords Open Poetry Competition.  This one from Buzzwords of Cheltenham has the generous line limit of 70, something you don’t often see these days.
    Closing: 17.8.13.
    Prizes: £600, £300, 5 x £50.  Local prize for a Gloucestershire resident - £200.
    Entry Fees: Postal: £4 each, £10 for three.  Email: £4.35 each, £8.70 for two, £11 for three.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

SaveAs Writers International Shakespearean Writing Competition.  As you will know, this year marks the sexcentenary of Henry IV’s death.  No doubt you already have plans to mark this event, but you might in addition like to enter this contest from SaveAs Writers of Canterbury, the city in whose cathedreal His Majesty was buried.  Your entry - poetry of up to 50 lines or prose of up to 3,000 words - must be inspired by any character from a Shakespeare play.  The shortlist will be announced at the Canterbury Umbrella Festival, of which I have not had the pleasure and so can’t say if it is a festival for all things or just a festival for personal portable wet-weather shelters.
    Closing: 24.8.13.
    Prizes: £40, £25, £15.
    Entry Fee: Postal - Poetry £2, Prose £3.  Electronic - Poetry £2.50, Prose £3.50.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Manchester Writing Competition.  This international contest from the Writing School at the Manchester Metropolitan University celebrates ‘the substantial cultural and literary achievements of Manchester’ of which I am unable to give an example at this time.  My childhood memories of Manchester are centred around Moss Side where my father ran a fast-food business (chip shop, as we called it back then).  I was kept locked in the celler peeling spuds, with a 15-watt light bulb for company.  It was there in that creepy dungeon, while peering into the dark corners, that I developed my vivid imagination - not to mention my nervous twitches.  Culture?  Literature?  Be serious.  But times, I suppose, have changed.  So let us return to the competition, which is for poems and short stories.  To enter the Poetry Prize you submit a portfolio of three to five poems, these to consist of no more than 120 lines in total.  For the Fiction Prize the requirement is for a story running to no more than 2,500 words in any genre.
    Closing : 30.8.13.
    Prize (in each cetegory): £10,000.
    Entry Fee: £17.
    Comp Page: Click Here .

Cremona Crime Writing Competition.  This contest from the Cremona hotel in Bournemouth is for stories of up to 1,200 words on the theme of Crime.  One crime you should avoid if you want to win is failure to mention the hotel in the story.  This mention must not be peripheral, so avoid things like, ‘He dashed past the Cremona on his way to the beach.’
    Closing: 31.8.13.
    Prizes: 1st - A 4-star weekend for two at the Cremona with £50 spending money.  Runners-up (2) - £25 and £15.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Salopian Poetry Society Open Poetry Competition .  Here’s another annual contest from a poetry group in Shropshire. It is for poems of up to 40 lines.  The judge is Martin Newell, poet-in-residence at the Sunday Express.
    Closing: 31.8.13.
    Prizes: £200 £100, £50.  Runners-up (6) - £25.  All nine winners received a free copy of the magazine Salopeot, which will contain the winning entries.
    Entry Fee : £3 each, £10 for four.
    Comp Page: Click Here .

Welcome Abroad Writing Competition.  This ferry interesting contest is the fourth in the Ferrytales/ writefrance series.  It is for poems, short stories or articles inspired by a holiday or by life in an adopted country.  There is also a category for photographs, drawings or paintings on the same theme.  The contest comes courtesy of UK-based Writefrance, but entries needn’t have a French connection.  They needn’t have a ferry connection this year either, which is a pity because I wanted to use my nautical puns again (stories/articles can sail on for 2,500 words (minimum 150), but poems must heave-to after 35 lines, while photographs, etc, should be suitable for the cover of the planned book if they are not to sink without trace).  Ah well, never mind.  I’ll just have to think of something else.
    Closing: 31.8.13.
    Prizes: £50 in each of the three categories, plus £100 for the overall winner.  The best 40 entries will be published as a print book, with the overall winner receiving two free copies.
    Entry Fee: £4.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Hello Michael
     Thanks to your wonderful website I entered two short stories for the recent 'Writefrance' competition which (to my great surprise) I won!  £100 prize money and publication in a collection of winners’ stories in the new year.  Furthermore my second story was also chosen for a publication prize.  What a boost!  I'm now scribbling away and trawling through the other competitions in the hopes of repeating my success!
     Many Thanks
                                                                       -  Kerry Chiron. France

The High Sheriff’s Cheshire Prize for Literature.  This annual contest, which is open only to writers with some connection to Cheshire, is for an original and unpublished poem or collection of poems running to no more than 100 words in total.  It is administered by the University of Chester’s Department of English and funded by Bank of America.  To be eligible you must have been born, work or have worked, live or have lived, study or have studied, in Cheshire.  If you lived there for just a fortnight while on holiday in Stockport, I’m afraid this doesn’t count, although you might be in line for a medal of some sort.
    Closing: 1.9.13.
    Prizes: 1st - £2,000.  Additional prize money of £750 will be awarded and the best entries will be published.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here (then download pdf doc for 2013 comp details) . 

The Prolitzer Prize 2013.  If you’ve failed to win the Pulitzer Prize yet again, you might like to have a go at this one from Prole Books of Abergele in Wales, as there will be fewer entries.  It is for fiction and creative non-fiction that challenges, engages and entertains.  There is a 2,500 word limit for entries.
    Closing: 30.9.13.
    Prizes: 1st - £140 and publication in the anthology.  Runners-up (2) - £30 and possible publication.
    Entry Fee: £4 for the first, £3 thereafter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Prize.  This regular visitor from the USA has now become two competitions in one - the Tom Howard Prize and the Margaret Reid Prize.  The former is for poems in any style, while the latter is for traditional verse as defined on the competition page.
    Closing: 30.9.13.
    Prizes: Tom Howard Prize (any style) - $2,000, $500.  Margaret Reid Prize (traditional verse) - $2,000, $500.  In addition there will be some High Distinction awards of $100.  Alas, the Extremely Hard Luck awards have been dropped this year.
    Entry Fee: $8 for every 25 lines.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Harry Bowling Prize.  When I first saw this one I thought it said Hairy Bowling, something I used to do in the school cricket team until I was removed on health and safety grounds (typical - you knee-cap one kid and they act as if you’re a danger ot all mankind!).  But it has nothing to do with cricket.  It’s a novel-writing contest in memory of the East End author Harry Bowling.  Sponsored by his publishers Headline, it is for novels in any genre written by unpublished authors.  Previously these had to be set in London, but now they can be in any urban setting.  To enter you submit the first 5,000 words plus a 500-word synopsis.  New for this year there is also a Flash Fiction contest for stories of up to 749 words (or 750, depending on which page you read on the website) set in an urban location.
    Closing: 30.9.13.
    Prizes: Novel - £1,000 plus lunch and an in-depth editorial consultation with a top agent, publisher and novelist.  Flash Fiction - £100 and publication on the Harry Bowling and MBA Literary Agents websites.
    Entry Fee: Novel - £10.  Flash Fiction - £5.  Both - £12.50.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

NUHA Foundation Blogging Prizes 2013.  The NUHA Foundation has established this annual contest as an international platform to debate issues of education and development.  It has three categories: Adult, Youth, Young Writers.  Your task is to write an article of between 500 and 1,500 words in response to one of the three statements on the relevant category page.  Here’s an example from the Young Writers category: ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge.  Knowledge is limited.  Imagination encircles the world.’  You have to say whether or not you agree with this quote from Albert Einstein, whose house allegedly burned down after he employed an electrician with more imagination that knowledge.  As I am addressing young writers at the moment, I’d better just mention that Einstein is NOT the inventor of one of your computer games.  He invented E=mc2, a theory that explains why we have relatives.  If you can’t be bothered with that one, try: ‘Why do grown-ups read fairy tales?’  I had that question in a Christmas cracker last year.  The answer is: A nervous wreck.  No, hang on, that’s the one that lies on the bottom of the ocean shaking.  Oh well, you’ll have to work it out for yourselves.
    Closing: 6.10.13.
    Prizes : Adult - £150.  Youth - £100.  Young writers  £50.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Playing Bingo Poetry Competition.  No prizes for guessing the theme of this one from the Playing Bingo website.  It’s ‘Bingo’ by jingo.  Poems can be emotional, humorous, romantic - in fact anything you like as long as long as they’re about the game, the people involved, the places it’s played, etc.  Minimum length is 10 lines or 200 words; maximum is 40 lines or 1,000 words.  Entries will be displayed on the website.
    Closing: 31.10.13.
    Prizes: £150, £100, £50.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

The Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition.  If you have an original idea, a fresh voice and a story children will love, you could be in luck because that’s just what the organisers of this contest are looking for.  They’re also looking for fifteen quid from your pocket, but grit your teeth and think of the prize.  Your story should be suitable for a worldwide audience of children between the ages of 7 and 18.  Your manuscript can run to 80,000 words, and there is a suggested minimum of 30,000.  You have to include a brief synopsis, a plot plan (as described on the website) and a letter explaining the book’s appeal to children (e.g. ‘It’s about fluffy bunnies - the hero likes to eat them.’).
    Closing: 1.11.13.
    Prize: A publishing contract worth £10,000.
    Entry Fee: £15.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Aeon Award 2013 Short Fiction Contest.  Aeon Press publish the Irish sci-fi magazine Albedo One.  Therefore you won’t be surprised to learn that the contest, which incidentally is open worldwide, is for speculative fiction.  This can be in any genre - sceince fiction, fantasy, horror, ‘or anything in between or unclassified’ - but stories must be limited to 10,000 words.
    Closing: 30.11.13.
    Prize: 1,000 euros, 200 euros, 100 euros.  Winners will be published in Albido One.
    Entry Fee: 7.50 euros.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Valentines Day Ideas Romantic Story Competition.  This contest from the USA is for your romantic stories of at least 3,000 words.  If nothing romantic has happened to you up to now, don’t give up hope as you have until next February to enter.  If you are still waiting come February 1st, you’ll probably have to make something up.
    Closing: 14.2.14.
    Prizes: $1000.  Runners-up (9) - $100 in Amazon vouchers.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Thanks so much for your fantastic website which I discovered a few months ago.  I recently found out I have won 2nd prize in the Legend Writing Flash Fiction competition - 100 words only.  I am so happy!  The prize was £30 but the feeling of pride is priceless.
                                                                                  -  Karren Francis

L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Competition.  This US contest is open worldwide and is for short stories of up to 17,000 words.  They should be science fiction, fantasy or horror with fantastic elements.
    Closing: Quarterly.
    Prizes: $1,000, $750, $500.
    Entry Fee: None.
    Website: Click Here.

Scribble Quarterly Short Story Competitions. This is run by short story magazine Scribble.  It is for stories on any subject, up to 3,000 words.
    Closing: Ongoing.
    Prizes: £75, £25, £15.
    Entry Fee: £3.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Envoi International Poetry Competition.  This one, from the well-known though small magazine Envoi , is for poems up to 40 lines.
    Closing: 20th February each year.
    Prize: Poetry books to the value of £150, £100, £50.
    Entry Fee: £3.00 per poem or 5 for £12.00.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Dear Michael
     Just to say a big ‘Thank You’ for your work on the website. I have been selected for publication in the Mirador competition which ran last year and have been awarded 3rd place in the Stringybark Speculative Fiction competition. To be published twice is like a dream for me, which the information found on your site made possible. Thanks again.
                                                                                    -   Pat Davies

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Notes: Unless otherwise stated in the rules, all poetry should be single-spaced.  The rest should be double-spaced (which is to say, double spacing between the lines, not the words!).  It is sometimes the case that your name shouldn’t appear on the manuscript.  Again, check the rules.  If you put your name on there after being told not to, you’re out.  Don’t use coloured paper or fancy fonts, and don’t send your manuscript done up like the Queen’s dinner menu with a fancy gold-tooled leather cover.  These things merely announce that you have no confidence in your submission or, worse, that you think the judges are shallow enough to judge on appearance rather than content.  Plain white A4 80gsm paper is the stuff to use, with plain black typing or print.  Write on one side of the sheet only (unless asked to put your address on the back).

            Before you start writing, allow me to introduce you to an old friend

                                       The Typo Goblin

            I am the Typo Goblin, my heart is made of flint,
            My role in life is simply this: to keep you out of print.
            I sneak into your manuscript and do my fiendish work,
           Adding errors guaranteed to make you look a berk.
           And then I cast the ‘Careless’ spell: you say, ‘Ah, what the heck!’
           And pop your script into the post without that final check.
           At length some hapless editor receives your golden wit,
           And after reading fifty words he writes it off as ... unpublishable.

                                                                            - Michael Shenton

Finally, as you sift through the remnants of your shattered dreams and wonder if it’s worth going on ... www.samaritans.co.uk/

                                    
My Humorous            This is the Prizemagic website                   Poem:
       Verse                 Email comps@prizemagic.co.uk               Being a
    & Songs            Copyright:  Michael Shenton  2013              Writer