Details

Details

UK Writing Competitions (currently 79)

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: £10, or £7 for subscribers to the magazine.  Includes a free tick-box critique if you enclose sae.
    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 Chambers Dictionary.
    Entry Fee: £5 each for the first three, £3 each thereafter.  Enclose sae for free critique.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Forward Press Animal Antics Competition.  This is for poems of up to 30 lines about your pet.  In addition to the poem, you are expected to send a photo (of the animal, not you, you vain fool).
    Closing: Anually.
    Prize: £1,000.
    Entry Fee: None.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

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.

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.

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: £3.
    Comp Page: Click Here .

Cinnamon Press Poetry Collection Award.  Entries for ths one should comprise 10 poems of up to 40 lines.
    Closing: 30.6.10, 30.11.10.
    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.

Cinnamon Press Short Story Award.  This is for stories of between 2,000 and 4,000 words.
    Closing: 30.6.10, 30.11.10.
    Prize: £100 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: 30.6.10, 30.11.10.
    Prize: £400 and your novella published.
    Entry Fee: £16.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Words Magazine Short Story Competitions.  Words Magazine seems to have been around for a long time and for most of that time it’s been running competitions. They close quarterly and have different themes.  This year’s are Kids (stories for children), No theme, No theme.
    Closing: 30.4.10, 30.6.10, 31.12.10.
    Prizes: £100.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Website: 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 .

                                       A Reader Writes ...
Dear Michael Shenton,
     I would just like to say ‘thanks’.  I entered a writing competition that I saw on your website. I didn’t win but still thought the story was OK. I re-wrote it and submitted it to The Lady. It was published! This was the first story that I have had published and I was very happy. Also ecstatic, giggly, smug, cheerful, optimistic and generally jolly pleased with myself. I would not have written that particular story if it had not been for your entertaining, helpful and inspirational website.  -  Patsy Collins.

Dark Tales Short Story Competition.  Yarns of up to 5,000 words are required here, and it should be obvious from the name of the contest that the yarns we are talking about are not fluffy romances ... unless something nasty happens on the honeymoon.  Winners will be published in the magazine (Dark Tales).
    Closing : Quarterly (this year’s dates: 30.9.10, 31.12.10).
    Prize: £500, £250, £100.
    Entry Fee: £3, or £6 with tick-sheet critique.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Story Feedback Competition.  Although this one is being run by the editor and publisher of the magazine Dark Tales it is for stories in any genre.  You are allowed up to 3,000 words.  The contest is open worldwide.
    Closing: End of every other month (31.8.10, 31.10.10, 31.12.10).
    Prizes: £100, £50, £25.  The best three stories will be published on the website and in an anthology.
    Entry Fee: £3.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Complaint Letter Competition.  All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning this one is write a complaint about something - bad service, shoddy goods, people who sneeze their flu bugs all over you in supermarkets, etc - and post it on the website.  Your entry must have at least 250 words.  A winner will be chosen each month based on the quality of the writing and the letter’s popularity with other visitors to the site.
    Closing: Monthly.
    Prize: £30.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    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

Writing Spirit Award 2010.  This international contest from the Irish writers’ website Writing4all is for short fiction of up to 4,000 words, and poetry collections of between 4 and 10 poems, each poem running to no more than 20 lines.
    Closing: 30.6.10, 30.9.10, 30.11.10.
    Prizes: In each category - 1000 euros, 200 euros, 100 euros.  Winners and 17 others will be published in an anthology.
    Entry Fee: 7 euros.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Hi Michael
     Well, you told me to let you know if I won anything, and who'd imagine I'd be writing so soon? I started sending to writing contests last month, fully expecting everything to fail dismally (bit of a pessimist that way). And this week I found out I have won the Biscuit Flash Fiction comp for 2009 ! To be honest, I had never even heard of flash fiction till I looked at your site. I sent a weird little thing I wrote in 1995 and it came first! That means publication and a 1000 prize! So a big lovely thankyou to you and your site for pointing me in the right direction.
                                                                             -  Cheryl Latter

Bloomsbury 247 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.

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 

Creative Writing Ink Writing Competition.  This contest from Ireland is for stories and poetry running to no more than 3,000 words.  Two days after I published the supplied entry details I received an email informing me that everything had changed.  Now, instead of posting your entry on the site forum you submit it by email.  A winner will be selected every month from each category and published in an e-journal.  From these selections a winner will be declared each quarter and awarded the prize.  I think I’ve got that right, but feel free to correct me if not.
    Closing: Monthly, sort of, but the prize is only awarded quarterly.
    Prize: 60 euros or a critique for a manuscript of up to 3,000 words.
    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

Shortbread Stories Hometown Tales Competition .  Shortbread Stories is a website developed by author Robin Pilcher to encourage short story writing and, if I understand the name correctly, an appreciation of Petticoat Tails.  Each month they take the best story submissions and produce audio recordings using professional actors.  The contest is for ‘humorous recollections and nostalgia’ inspired by your hometown.
    Closing: 15.9.10.
    Prize: A five-day creative writing course/workshop at Finca El Tornero de Abajo, a beautiful house in the Sierra de Arcena Natural Park in Spain (‘Finca El Tornero de Abajo’ is Spanish for Dunroamin).   Accommodation and meals are included in the prize, although not the cost of travel.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

GuideGecko Writing Contest .  This one from the publisher GuideGecko is for travel, food and nightlife guides with a minimum of 32 pages.
    Closing: 15.9.10.
    Prize: Your book published and showcased at the Frankfurt Book Fair, plus a trip to the Fair and a chance to meet top publishers and 10,000 journalists.  You may not be able to use your keyboard after all that hand-shaking, but you should come away with some useful contacts.  Don’t believe anything the journos promise you though.
    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

Poole Literary Festival New Media Writing Prize.  This one, run in conjunction with Bournemouth University Media School, is for new ways of sharing writing with an audience.  None of that old-fashioned ‘you write, they read’ hardcopy stuff.  Your work has to be delivered by computer, mobile phone, Internet, etc, and should have an element of interactivity.  I used to think hardcopy was interactive.  You had to open a letter or go out and buy a newspaper or magazine to read what the writer had written, and you could drop it on the floor and stamp on it if you didn’t like it.  But interactive, it seems, is when you prod a button on a mobile phone or click a mouse to select some gimmicky option designed to liven things up.  No substitute for lively writing in my view, but I’m hopelessly old-fashioned.  Entries should be complete stories, poems or collections of poems.
    Closing: 15.9.10 (noon).
    Prizes: 1st - £250 and an Apple iPad.  Best Student New Media Writing - £250 plus Apple iPad.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Glass Woman Prize.  This American contest is for short fiction or creative non-fiction of between 50 and 5,000 words written by women.  Entries must be ‘of significance to women’.  No football or cars, then.  No shopping either by the sound of it: this is serious stuff.  A glass woman is described as having a blood system and a gut system visible inside her, and in these there are bits of poetry, newspapers, roses, baby’s teeth, birds, ice-picks, wedding cake ... and so on.  A glass woman, then, has an eating disorder which compels her to consume inappropriate things.  But this gives her an insight and a literary talent beyond the grasp of mere men.  Hence men are excluded from the competition.
    Closing: 21.9.10.
    Prizes: $500, $100, $50.
    Entry Fee: Non - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Flash 500 Competition.  No theme for this one, and you won’t be surprised to learn that the word limit is 500.  Or perhaps you will, in which case you need to sharpen up your powers of deduction.
    Closing: 30.9.10.
    Prizes: 1st - £250 plus publication on the Words With Jam website.  2nd - £100.  3rd - £50.
    Entry Fee: £5 each, £8 for two.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Leaf Books Micro Fiction Competition.  This is for micro-fiction of up to 300 words ‘on any subject imaginable’.  The unimaginable is not eligible for obvious reasons.
    Closing: 30.9.10.
    Prizes: 1st - £150 and a free copy of the Leaf Writers’ Magazine and the competition anthology.  Runner-up - A free copy of the magazine and anthology.
    Entry Fee: £3 each, £10 for four.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Meridian Writing - Autumn Short Story Competition.  This is for stories on any theme, running to no more than 3,000 words.
    Closing: 30.9.10.
    Prizes: £100, £50, £25.  In addition all winners receive a £10 Firstwriter.com voucher.
    Entry Fee: £5.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Twisted Tails Short Story Competition.  This new contest from Ireland is for stories that surprise the reader.  You could surprise the reader by changing all the characters and the plot in the middle of the story, but the surprise will be mixed with a certain amount of annoyance and is not therefore recommended.  A twist ending is more likely to find favour with the judge, who incidentally is fiction writer and poet Nuala Ni Chonchuir (who was recently on a virtual tour promoting her poetry pamphlet Red Car, according to her website).  Nuala’s latest short story collection goes under the intriguing title of Nude.  However, it’s the thought of that virtual tour that really intrigues me.  I must conduct a virtual investigation.  Entries for the contest should not exceed 3,000 words.
    Closing: 30.9.10.
    Prizes: 100, 75, 50, 25 euros.
    Entry Fee: 6 euros each, 12 euors for three.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

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.

Sentinel Literary Quarterly Poetry Competition.  This frequent visitor to my pages is for poems on any subject, running to a maximum of 40 lines.  The judge will be Geoff Stevens who holds something called the Ted Slade Award 2009 for Services to Poetry.
    Closing: 30.9.10.
    Prizes: £150, £60, £40.  The winners and selected entries will be published.
    Entry Fee: £3 each, £12 for five.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Sentinel Literary Quarterly Short Story Competition.  Here’s another contest from the online magazine SLQ (‘the magazine of World Literature’).  It’s for short stories extending to a maximum of 1,500 words on any subject.  The judge will be Ivor Hartman who is based in South Africa, well out of reach of any irate losers.
    Closing: 30.9.10.
    Prizes: £150, £60, £40.
    Entry Fee: £5 each, £9 for two, £12 for three.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

The Watty Awards.  The U.S. Website Wattpad, ‘the world’s most popular e-book community’, is running its annual awards contest again.  To enter you write a story and upload it to the website, then cast it with movie stars as if making a film.  As in the movies, there are awards for Best Mystery, Best Science Fiction, etc, and other aspects such as Most Imaginative Setting and Best Hero.  Stories, novels and scripts are all acceptable, and they can be any length and any of the specified genres.  Strange, but I like it.
    Closing: 30.9.10.
    Prizes: Individual prizes are not specified but are stated to be worth thousands of dollars.  You also get to be read by a lot of people.  Last year’s winning story, they say, had over five million readers.  Impressive.  That’s almost as many as I get for one of my poems.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here .

Earlyworks Press Fiction for Children or Teens Competition.  For this you submit up to 5,000 words of your novel plus a synopsis.
    Closing: 30.9.10.
    Prize: 1st - A £100 Advance and a Royalty Contract.  Alternatively, if no entries are deemed to be up to publication standard, £350 cash will be shared between the top ten authors.
    Entry Fee: £14.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Scottish and Northern Equestrian Magazine Writing Competition.  This one from ‘the No. 1 magazine for Scotland and the North of England’ is for fictional tales with an equestrian flavour.  Once you’ve got the bit between your teeth, you can write a story or novella running to at least 5,000 words or, if you bridle at that, trot over to the coffee break category for stories of 1,000 words.  I have many more equestrian puns but I think it’s time to rein them in.
    Closing: 30.9.10.
    Prizes : Long story/novella - £150.  Coffee break - £75.
    Entry Fee: £5.
    Comp Page: Click Here .

Tom Howard/John H Reid Poetry Contest.  This annual contest from American website Winning Writers is for poems of any length.
    Closing: 30.9.10.
    Prizes: $3,000, $1,000, $400, $250.  In addition there will be six ‘Most Highly Commended’ awards of $100 each.  The ten winning entries will be published on the website.
    Entry Fee: $7 for every 25 lines submitted.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Jaquie Bennett Writers Bureau Short Story Competition.  For this contest you study the three photographs on the website and then write a story based, as loosely as you like, on one of them.  Your story can be in any genre but should be no more than 2,500 words.  It seems if the photos fail to inspire you they can be disregarded, and if you don’t want to write a short story you can submit the opening pages of a novel instead.  Discipline has gone to the dogs.
    Closing: 30.9.10.
    Prizes: £150, £50, £25.  Winning entries will be published on the website.
    Entry Fee: £4.
    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: 30.9.10.
    Prize: £50.
    Entry Fee: £1 plus the normal cost of sending a text message (no use asking me what that is).
    Website: 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

Whitechapel Society Short Story Competition.  Stories for this one should not exceed 3,000 words and must open as follows: ‘Everyone called it the double event.  Two women on the same night, less than an hour apart, and less than half a mile apart.  Things were definitely getting out of control ...’  Jack the Lad or Jack the Ripper?  I think we can safely say it’s the latter.  Author Brian L Porter will be the judge ... if nothing happens to him on the way to the Whitechapel Society’s headquarters on that dark and foreboding evening in December.  The winning entry will published in the Society’s journal, possibly after being ripped apart by a sub-editor.
    Closing: 2.10.10.
    Prize: £100.
    Entry Fee : £5 each, £7.50 for two.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

H. E. Bates Writing Competition.  This one from Northampton Writers Group is in honour of well-known Northamptonshire short story writer and novelist H. E. Bates who wrote, amongst other things, The Darling Buds of May.  Actually, Shakespeare wrote ‘the darling buds of may’ in a sonnet and H E Bates nicked the phrase (or perhaps I should say ‘paid tribute to it’).  A great writer nonetheless.  The contest, which is open worldwide, is for stories of up to 2,000 words on any subject.
    Closing: 4.10.10.
    Prizes: £150, £100, £50.  Under 18 Prize - £50.
    Entry Fee: Adults - £4.  Under 18s - £1.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Pennine Ink Poetry Competition.  This freebie from Burnley is for UK poets only.  Entries should be limited to 30 lines, any style or subject.
    Closing: 7.10.10.
    Prize: £50.  The top three entries will be published in an anthology.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Details: Email the co-ordinator, Laura Sheridan, at: sheridansdandl@yahoo.co.uk

Christchurch Writers’ Competition.  Christchurch used to consider itself quite posh when it was in the country of Hampshire, then it was shunted into yokel country - Dorset - and it never really got over the shock.  Still, the writers’ circle battled gamely on, and here is their latest contest.  It has four categories: Article (up to 800 words), Story (up to 2,500 words), Poem (up to 40 lines), One-Act Play (20 minutes duration).  What it doesn’t have, unfortunately, is a website.  Too common, I suppose.
    Closing: 8.10.10.
    Prizes: Article, story, poem - £50 in each category.  Play - £100.
    Entry Fee: £3.50.
    Details (send sae): Christchurch Writers’ Competition, The Regent Centre, 51 High Street, Christchurch, Dorset, BH23 1AS.

Benjamin Franklin House Literary Prize.  This contest, which is for essays/articles of between 1,000 and 1,500 words, has two categories: Young Writer (under 25), and Professional Writer.  Entries should interpret the following Benjamin Franklin quote for its significance today: ‘In politics, what can laws do without morals?’
    Closing: 14.10.10 (assume this date to be on the safe side: first they say entries must be received before the 15th, then they say they must be sent by the 15th).  Can’t have it both ways, chaps.
    Prizes: Young Writer - £500.  Professional Writer - £1,000.  Winners will be published in the Daily Telegraph.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Dorothy Sargent Rosenburg Annual Poetry Competition.  This American contest, which is open all to writers under 40, is for lyric poems celebrating the human spirit.  Don’t overdo the celebrations however, because brevity is mentioned as an asset.  If you submit the maximum of three poems, only one can be over 30 lines.
    Closing: 15.10.10.
    Prizes: Varying from $1,000 up to as much as $25,000 (expect the former in these hard times).
    Entry Fee: None for entrants outside the United States, as it’s too much hassle dealing with international payments from bankrupt countries.  If you live in the U.S., bad luck - the fee is ten dollars (if you find yourself short of cash you could given them your house and pay the rest in instalments).
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Troubadour International Poetry Prize.  This annual contest from Coffee House Poetry is for poems of up to 45 lines which fit on to one A4 page.
    Closing: 15.10.10.
    Prizes: £1,000, £500, £250.  Runners-up (20) - £20.
    Entry Fee: £5 ($8) each, or £4 ($7) per poem for four or more.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Indigo Dreams Press Annual Poetry Awards.  This is for poems in any style and on any theme with a length of no more than 36 lines.  When I visited the site on July 31 a virtual busker assailed my ears with guitar music which I tolerated only because I didn’t know where to find the mute button on my computer.  However, when this chap started singing - LOUDLY - I knew I had to do something.  So I clicked on the little ‘x’ in the top right-hand corner of the browser.  For this reason I can’t tell you who is judging the contest, and I may have missed important rules such as open only to transvestites (unlikely, but you never know).
    Closing: 15.10.10.
    Prizes: £125, £50, £25.
    Entry Fee : £3 each, £10 for four.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

The Earth Vision Nature Writing Contest 2010.  This US competition is held ‘to support the cause of writing on the subject of nature and deep ecology’.  It is for fiction, creative non-fiction, poetic prose or poetry with some element of nature woven into it.
    Closing: 15.10.10.
    Prizes: 1st - $500.  2nd - $10.  3rd - $100.  Honourable Mentions (2) - An honourable mention.
    Entry Fee: $12.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

The Big Scribble Poetry Competition.  This one from The Big Issue in the North Trust is for poems of up to 40 lines on the theme of Home.  All money raised goes to support Big Issue vendors as they strive to improve their lives.
    Closing: 18.10.10.
    Prizes: 1st - Publication in The Big Issue in the North, with an interview.  You will also be featured on the website.  Other prizes to be announced.
    Entry Fee: A minimum donation of £3 is requested.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Poetry Society National Poetry Competition.  In 1983 Carol Ann Duffy won this contest, and 26 years later she became the Poet Lauriate.  So if you’re hoping to become an overnight sensation, this is probably not the ideal contest.  But there are compensations.  The top cash award is one of the best in the business, and the second prize isn’t bad either.  In addition, Carol Ann Duffy is not one of the judges.  The thing that makes me uneasy about this one is that the hardcopy entry form asks for your age and ethnic background.  They say this is for statistical purposes only, but I still don’t think it belongs on a competition entry form.  However, I have no complaints about the line limit which is 40.
    Closing: 31.10.10.
    Prizes: £5,000, £2,000, £1,000.  Runners-up (7) - £100.  Winners will be published on the website and in Poetry Review.
    Entry Fee: £6 for the first, £3 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

Flash Stories Flash Fiction Competition.  This one has an open theme and is for stories of up to 500 words.
    Closing: 31.10.10.
    Prizes: £500, £250, £100.  Winning entries will be published on the website.
    Entry Fee: £5 each, £7 for two.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

The Plough Prize .  Arr, it be that time again.  The Plough Prize, which if I’m not mistaken was formerly known as The Hayseeds Award, is back for its eighth annual appearance.  It comes from the Plough Arts Centre in Torrington, Devon.  There are three categories: Open Poem (up to 40 lines), Short Poem (up to 10 lines), and Poem for Children 5 to 11 years (no length restriction).
    Closing: 31.10.10.
    Prizes: Open Poem - £500, £200, £100.  Short Poem - £500, £200, £100.  Poem for Children - £100.  There is in addition a prize for a Devon poet - A specially engraved vase from Darlington Christal (to prove you come from Devon you have to drive a herd of cows down a narrow country lane at such a slow pace that you cause a tailback of traffic at least four miles long).
    Entry Fee : £4 each, £14 for four.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Chapter One Promotions Children’s Story Competition.  This annual contest is for stories of up to 1,000 words written by children.  Your story must have one of the five titles given on the website.  There are four age groups: 7-9, 10-12, 13-15, 16-18.
    Closing: 31.10.10.
    Prizes (in each age category): £150, £75, £50.  Plus publication in a book.
    Entry Fee: £5.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Unbound Press Poetry & Flash Fiction Competition.  Two categories here, with the same closing date and the same prizes.  The poetry should conclude at no more than 40 lines, while the flash fiction should stop flashing at 400 words.
    Closing: 31.10.10.
    Prizes (in each category): £30, £15.  Winners and runners-up will be published in the Unbound Press Journal and will receive a free copy.
    Entry Fee: £3.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

SaveAs Writers Prose and Poetry Competition.  This one from Canterbury Writers’ group SaveAs is for stories of up to 4,000 words and poems of up to 50 lines on any theme.  All entries (as opposed to just those shortlisted by sifters) will be seen by the judges.
    Closing: 31.10.10.
    Prizes (in each category): £35, £20, £10, plus trophies.
    Entry Fee: Stories - £3 each, £8 for three.  Poems - £2 each, £5 for three.
    Website: Click Here.

Cordelia Books Rome Short Story Competition.  Stories which include Italina food in some way and run to between 1,000 and 2,000 words are required for this one from Cordelia Books.  Entries will be judged by members of the cordelia.net Books community in Rome.
    Closing: 31.10.10 (midnight Rome time).
    Prizes: Amazon gift vouchers for 100, 50, 25 euros.
    Entry Fee: 5 euro.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Just thought I would share my good news with you.  I recently entered the U-Star Novels* Competition I found on your web site, and won first prize! Not only did I win £100, but I was also commissioned to write a 40,000 word romantic novel, which I managed to do in just over 3 weeks. It is now with the publisher, and will be available online by the end of January 2010.
     Many thanks Michael for providing such an excellent web site.  It is one that I am constantly recommending to members of my local writers circle here in sunny Eastbourne. Well done, and long may you be sufficiently enthusiastic to continue. Best of luck with your own writing career, and I really hope you have the success you undoubtedly deserve.    -  Harry Pope

* U-Star novels have the purchaser’s details, or those of anyone nominated, inserted into the story so that they become the main character(s).   -  MWS

Southport Writers’ Circle Open Short Story Competition.  I once lived in Southport.  It undoubtedly has many memorable features but I can’t remember any of them.  I guess I had other things on my mind.  Competitions, perhaps.  This one is for stories of up to 2,000 words on any theme.
    Closing: 31.10.10.
    Prizes: £200, £100, £50.
    Entry Fee: £3.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Leaf Books Tiny Weeny Writing & Drawing Competition .  The writing can be in any form - poem, story, playlet, tweet - but must not run to more than 140 characters including spaces and punctuation.  Now, wouldn’t it be clever if I’d used exactly 140 characters here?  Ah well, you can’t have everything.
    Closing: 31.10.10.
    Prize: £75 and a year’s subscription to the Leaf Writing Magazine.  Selected entries will be published in the mag.
    Entry Fee: £2 each, £10 for six.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Ragged Raven Poetry Competition.  This is the 13th of these annual contests from Ragged Raven Press of Stratford-upon-Avon.  As usual there is no line limit.  You can ramble on to your heart’s content, confident in the knowledge that a warm welcome awaits you from judges with nothing better to do than spend signifcant portions of their lives battling their way through the obscurities of your endlessly convoluted thought processes.  So you toil mightily, send in your entry and wait, tingling with anticipation.  Then a bell rings.  There’s someone at the door.  It’s a Ragged Raven judge with a shotgun.  Have you perhaps overdone it?
    Closing: 31.10.10.
    Prizes: 1st - £300.  Runners-up (4) - £50.  Winners will be published in an anthology.
    Entry Fee: £3 each, £10 for four.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Brighton COW Short Story Competition.  The COW stands for Community of Writers, the name having being inspired no doubt by Holy COW (Congregation of Worshippers) and MIserable COW (Collection of Worriers).  I’d better not milk it, so I’ll turn instead to the contest, which is for stories of up to 3,000 words on any subject including cattle.
    Closing: 1.11.10 (noon).
    Prizes: £100, £50, £25.
    Entry Fee: £4.
    Comp Page: Click Here .

Segora Poetry Competition.  Poems of up to 40 lines (in English) are required for this one from The International Writers Block based in France.  Roger Elkin, published poet, will be judging.
    Closing: 14.11.10.
    Prizes: £100, £30, £15.
    Entry Fee: £3.50 each, £6 for two, £8 for three, etc.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Bedford Poetry Competition.  This is for poems of up to 50 lines on any subject.
    Closing: 14.11.10.
    Prize: £300.
    Entry Fee: £3.
    Details (send sae): Bedford Open Poetry Competition, 38 Verne Drive, Ampthill, Bedford, MK45 2PS.

The Poetry Business Book & Pamphlet Award.  For this regular contest you send a collection of poems of between 20 and 24 pages.  The judges will select up to four collections for publication in pamphlet form.  These first stage winners receive a share of the prize money and will have the option to submit an extended manuscript for possible publication in a book.  Note that if the judges decide no collection is worthy of publication, no winner will be chosen - but there is no mention of a refund of entry fees.  I don’t like this sort of thing.  It’s fair enough to withhold publication in these circumstances, but I see no justification for withholding the prize money.  After all, the entrants have paid for that.
    Closing: 29.11.10.
    Prizes: Publication, free copies and a share of the £2,000 prize fund.
    Entry Fee: £25.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Bridge House Short Story Competition.  This is for stories of up to 5,000 words about something that might have happened to someone else at the time of some world-stopping event, such as the assassination of JFK, the attack on the Twin Towers or the day some jealous toerag set fire to the first car I ever won in a competition.  All right, this last wasn’t really a world-shattering event, but it certainly shattered me.
    Closing: 30.11.10.
    Prizes: 1st - Six months of one-to-one mentoring by a published writer, editor and creative writing lecturer.  2nd - Written critiques of ten of your short stories or a novel.
    Entry Fee: £5 (one pound of which will be donated the the Born Free Foundation).
    Comp Page: Click Here.

International Student Playscript Competition.  Sir Alan Ayckbourn is the patron of this contest from the World Student Drama Trust, which is aimed at student playwrights of all ages and nationalities.  Unusually, there are no restrictions on form, content, length, number of characters or location.  Perfect for that much-rejected 16-hour play of yours with a cast of thousands and 46 scene changes.  Yes, you’re right, I’m joking.
    Closing: 30.11.10.
    Prize: £1,000 and a rehearsed reading at the National Student Drama Festival.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

The New Writer Prose & Poetry Prizes 2010.  There are three categories in this annual contest: Fact (essays, articles, interviews - up to 4,000 words), Fiction (stories - up to 2,000 words; serials/novellas - up to 20,000 words) and Poetry (singles - up to 40 lines, collections - between 6 and 10 poems).
    Closing: 30.11.10.
    Prizes: Fact - £150, £100, £50.  Fiction: Short Stories - £300, £200, £100; Novella - £300.  Poetry Single - £100, £75, £50.  Poetry Collection - £300, £200, £100.
    Entry Fees: Fact - £5.  Fiction - £5 for short stories, £15 for Serials/Novellaa.  Poetry - £5 for two single poems, £12 for collections.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Café Writers Open Poetry Competition.  Café Writers is a Norfolk writing group which meets in a bar in Norwich and ought therefore to be called, in the interests of accuracy, Bar Writers.  However, I suppose this doesn’t quite have the same refined ring to it.  The contest is for poems of up to 40 lines.
    Closing: 30.11.10.
    Prizes: 1st - £1,000.  2nd - £300.   Runners-up (5) - £50.   Funniest Poem - £100.  Norfolk Prize (Norfolk residents only) - £100.
    Entry Fee: £4 each, £10 for three, £2 thereafter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Creative Writing for All Short Story & Poetry Competition.  This has two categories: Stories (up to 2,000 words) and Poems (up to 40 lines).  The theme is Domestic Violence.  All profits will be donated to Women’s Aid.
    Closing: 30.11.10.
    Prizes (in each category): £70, £35, £20.
    Entry Fee: £5 for the first, £3 thereafter.
    Comp Page: Click Here .

Leaf Books Memoir Writing Competition.  To enter this one you send in an extract from your own life running to no more than 1,000 words.  Let me make it clear that this extract needs to be something interesting, so if you haven’t done anything interesting, you’d better get a move on as you only have until November.
    Closing: 30.11.10.
    Prizes: 1st - £150 plus a copy of the anthology and a year’s sub to Leaf Wriiters’ Magazine.  Runner-up - A copy of the anthology and a full set of Leaf mini-books.
    Entry Fee: £4 each, £10 for three.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Catherine Howard Short Story Competition .  This one from writer Linda Lewis (aka Catherine Howard) is for stories of between 500 and 3,000 words with a twist.  Any theme, but stories must be aimed at adults ... so go easy on the sex, drugs and swearing.
    Closing: 30.11.10.
    Prizes: 1st - £100 plus £50 to your chosen charity.  2nd - £50.  3rd - £20.  These prizes may increase depending on the number of entries.
    Entry Fee: £5.  Optional critique: £5.
    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

Aeon Award 2010.  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.  The word limit is 8,000.  Author Ian Watson will be judging the shortlisted entries.
    Closing: There are four separate rounds, the first closing on 31.3.10, the last on 30.11.10.  Entries will be selected from each round to go on the shortlist for final judging in December.
    Prize: 1,000 euros, 200 euros, 100 euros.  Winners will be published in Albedo One.
    Entry Fee : 7 euros.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

The Mona Schreiber Prize.  This American contest is for humorous fiction and non-fiction running to no more than 750 words.  Comic essays, poetry, short stories, scripts and humorous shopping lists are all acceptable.
    Closing: 1.12.10.
    Prizes: $500, $250, $100.
    Entry Fee: $5.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Writer’s Digest Short Story Competition.  Bold, brilliant, brief - that’s the sort of fiction required for this contest from across the pond.  By brief they mean up to 1,500 words.  That’s stretching the definition a bit, if you ask me.  Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to say a brief word.  Bye!
    Closing: 1.12.10.
    Prizes: 1st - $3,000.  2nd - $1,500.  3rd - $500.  4th to 10th - $100.  11th to 25th - $50 gift certificate for Writer’s Digest books.
    Entry Fee: $15.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Genomics Forum Poetry Competition.  If you have any ideas for poems about ‘improving the human’ then this contest from the Genomics Forum and the Scottish Poetry Library is just what you’ve been looking for.  You can submit one poem of no more than 50 lines on the subject, and it won’t cost you a penny.  Not much room for improvement there, eh?
    Closing: 7.12.10.
    Prizes: £500, £200, £100.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Wyvern Publications Novel Competition.  This one from Wyvern Publications, a ‘small but passionate’ publisher of teen and young adult fiction, is for teen novels in any genre.  To enter, submit the first chapter of your completed story plus a one-page synopsis.  Note that extreme violence, sex and profanity are not welcome.  Ah well, you’ve got plenty of time for a rewrite.
    Closing: 12.12.10.
    Prize: A full novel and synopsis critique plus a publishing contract with Wyvern Publications.
    Entry Fee: £10.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Willesden Herald Short Story Competition.  There is a word limit of 7,500 for this short story competition from the quirky online magazine Willesden Herald (‘All the news that’s unfit to print’).  There is no theme.  A study of the magazine is recommended.
    Closing : 17.12.10.
    Prizes: 1st - £300 plus a one-off Willesden Herald mug inscribed ‘The Willesden Short Story Prize 2011’.   Runners-up (2) - £150.  All ten shortlisted stories will be included in an anthology to be published by Pretend Genius Press.
    Entry Fee: £3.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

The Prole Laureate Competition.  This one from Prole , a new print magazine that publishes high quality prose and poetry, is open worldwide and is for poems in any form and on any subject (also any length).
    Closing: 24.12.10.
    Prizes: 1st - £100 and publication in the mag.  Runners-up (2) - £30.
    Entry Fee: £3 for the first, £2 thereafter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

The Terry Pratchett Prize.  Open to unpublished novelists aged 18 or over who are resident in the UK, British Commonwealth or RoI, this contest from Transworld is for stories of between 80,000 and 150,000 words.  Stories must be set on Earth as it might have been if, er, it hadn’t been what it is.  For clarification I give you the words of Sir Terry Pratchett regarding this Earth: ‘... one that has gone down a different leg of the famous trousers of time.’  I must confess I’ve never heard of the trousers of time, but then I’m not a scientist.  The owner of these trousers would presumably be wearing odd socks, and this would give us a starting point for an Earth similar in shape to the one we know but not identical, one in which perhaps some momentous historical event didn’t happen or happened in an alternative way, thus producing different repercussions in the long-johns of the present.  With the novel, you must submit a synopsis of up to 600 words.
    Closing : 31.12.10.
    Prize: Publication by Transworld with an advance of £20,000.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Brit Writers’ Awards.  The first of these contests had its closing date extended, presumably because there hadn’t been enough entries.  Then the awards ceremony was moved to a later date because they’d had so many entries they couldn’t cope.  Thus the promoters learned that most people enter competitions on the last minute.  And so this time, to encourage you to send in your work early, they are closing the contest when they’ve received 20,000 entries (they had 21,000 last time - eventually).  I don’t like the uncertainty this has introduced.  It’s bad enough extending a closing date, but to bring one forward without warning is downright inconsiderate.  Imagine writing a novel specially and then finding, as you try to upload the file, that they’ve just stopped accepting entries.  Still, it has to be said that the contest, due to the publicity surrounding it, is a prestigious event despite the unprofessional attitude of the promoters, so let us turn, grudgingly, to the details.  The requirement is for short stories (1,000 - 5,000 words), novels, non-fiction, children’s stories, poems (collections of 5), songs, and stage/screen plays.  There is in addition a category for children, but the little darlings will be too busy squabbling over the latest video game to write anything, so I won’t give any details.  Finally, there’s a category for published writers.  Alas, published writers do not qualify for any cash, as it is assumed they will already have made a fortune from their work.  Ah, if only ...
    Closing: 25.2.11 (5pm) - or when 20,000 entries have been received.
    Prizes: Adult - £10,000.
    Entry Fee: £10.95 (you may submit as many entries as you wish for this one-off payment).
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Synergise Travellers’ Tales Competition.  Synergise is a travel website about which I know very little.  They are looking for travel articles of between 1,000 and 2,000 words to publish on-site. The best of the submissions receive prizes as detailed below, while the rest, if deemed good enough, are published without payment.
    Closing: None given.
    Prizes: £100.
    Entry Fee: None.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

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, June and October 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 .

Hi Michael,
     I won the Prima magazine contest you advertised - I was in the November 2008 issue. Better yet, the prize was not a pair of pink garden shears emboldened with the Prima logo (as you suggested), or even a polyester nightie, but £200 and a year’s subscription to the mag. It might not have given me worldwide fame but it’s encouraged me to continue writing. And since that I’ve placed a short story in the Sunday Express magazine, a venue that ‘rarely accepts unsolictated fiction,’ have had other stories accepted by various websites and an American anthology, and have completed my first novel.
                                                                         -  Louise Beech

>>>>>>>>>>>>>   Books for Writers - Improve your Skills   <<<<<<<<<<<<<

Special Offer: Ink Club is offering a free compatible ink cartridge (post £2.99) for Epson or Canon printers, plus big savings on all original & compatible cartridges.

*********************************************************************************
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  2010              Writer