My Novel

My Novel

UK Poetry Competitions (currently 45)

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.

And now a word from our sponsor.  Hello.  I’m Michael Shenton, creator of this website and author of Stiff Competition , winner of the Peter Pook Humorous Novel Competition.  People who are looking for me through search engines can remember just about everything about the website save its name and, more distressingly for me, my name. They search for ‘Peter Pook author’, ’the man who wrote Peter Pook’, ‘that bloke who won the cars’ and all manner of other odd things, but never ‘Michael Shenton’. The sole purpose of this site is to get my name known in the hope that one day dozens of people will buy my current novel and any others I manage to get published.  So would you all kindly make a note of it.  Michael Shenton.  Thank you.

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: £100 and your collection published.
    Entry Fee: £16 per batch of ten (includes a free copy of the winners’ anthology).
    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 .

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

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,
     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

SLQ Poetry and Short Story Competition.  This one from Sentinal Literary Quarterly is for poems of up to 50 lines and stories of up to 1,500 words.  Any subject or style.
    Closing: Quarterly.
    Prizes (in each category): £150, £75, £50, 3 x £10.  Winners and runners-up will be published in Sentinel Champions magazine.
    Entry Fees: Poetry: £3 each, £11 for four, £12 for five.  Stories: £5 each, £8 for two, £10 for three, £12 for four.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

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 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.

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.

Dear Michael

Just to let you know I’ve been entering writing competitions for several years and this year came second in the 19^th Feile Filiochta International Poetry Competition. Hurrah! I probably wouldn’t have heard about it but for your site (and I still don’t know how to say it). I don’t even consider it one of my better poems – but it was free to enter. It just goes to show that literary competition judges have to be very subjective in the end, so it’s worth carrying on even when you don’t feel that confident. Anyway, I’m off to spend my winnings of 500 euros (that’s very nearly £375 in real money). Keep up the good work!
     Here’s a link to the poem that won the prize
      All the best - Clare Kirwan

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Hi Michael
     I discovered your website last year and entered lots of comps - no prizes in 2008. This year I decided just to enter The Trowell and District Writers Trust competitions - again directed from your site and also in the hope of bettering my marks compared to my entries last year.
     I am delighted to say I went along to the Presentation yesterday and received 1st prize in the Open Poetry competition - a lovely certificate, a shield and some prize money.
     I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon which had a "Stand and Deliver" poetry competition as well as a raffle, refreshments, sales of Members poetry, and time to chat and get to know people.
     The comps are great - all entries receive a mark and a short critique - I found all these helpful and encouraging. I feel I have new friends and a lovely day to look back on.
                                                                                -  Kate Brumby

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 .

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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). 

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.

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.

Hi Michael,
     Thanks for a very useful website. Since finding the contact details on your site, I've won the Txtlit competition twice, and the Write Invite competition four times. With the prize money I'm now entering other competitions. Thanks for keeping us writers posted!
     Best regards, Uta Coutts

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Notes: Unless otherwise stated in the rules, poetry should be single-spaced.  It is sometimes the case that your name shouldn’t appear on the manuscript. 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.  The colour and pizzazz to make you stand out from the crowd should be in the words.  Plain white A4 80gsm paper is the stuff to use, with plain black typing or print.  My preferred font for poetry manuscripts printed on an inkjet or laser printer is Gill Sans in 12 point (13 if I’m not pressed for space).  This gives a clear, dark print that’s easy to read.  Although publishers and agents sometimes demand the feeble Courier font, which comes out on my printers like something produced by a typewriter with an antique ribbon, I’ve never known competition organisers to express any preference.  But as always, check the rules.  Finally, write on one side of the sheet only - unless asked to put your address, etc, on the back.
 

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Disclaimer

For other types of writing competitions, see the full list of literary contests on my Writing Comps page.