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At NewWriters.org.uk, we curate the best and most trusted current and upcoming writing competitions for writers in the UK and internationally — including flash fiction, short stories, poetry, novels, and non-fiction. Each competition listing includes the deadline, prize details, word limit, entry fee, and eligibility so you can quickly decide which contests fit your writing goals.
Our current competition: New Writers 100-Word Writing Competition 2026 – Deadline: 30th Apr 2026. Prizes: 1st: £1,000; 4x Runners-up: £100.
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Competition Details
The Bristol Short Story Prize is now open and accepting entries from writers around the globe. It has been running for 16 years and was previously under the direction of coordinator Joe Melia. As of 2024, it has been under the direction of Dr Carrie Etter of the Department of English at the University of Bristol. The top prize is £1,500, with £500 for second and £250 for third. All shortlisted entries will receive £50, be published in the print anthology and receive a free copy.
The judges for the 2026 competition are:
– Daisy Johnson is the author of Fen, Everything Under, Sisters and The Hotel. Her short story collection Fen was the winner of the 2017 Edge Hill prize.
– Celeste Mohammed is the author of the novels-in-stories Ever Since We Small and Pleasantview which won the 2022 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature.
– Claire Carroll writes about the intersection of nature, technology, and desire. She is also a PhD researcher at Bath Spa and Exeter Universities, where she explores how experimental writing – particularly short stories – can reimagine how humans relate to the natural and non-human world.
– Zakiya McKenzie is a Senior Research Associate in creative research methods in the University of Bristol’s History Department, working the project ‘Plants, Enslavement and Public History’.
– Michael Kalisch teaches American literature at Bristol. He is the author of The Politics of Male Friendship in Contemporary American Fiction (Manchester UP, 2021) and The Midcentury Minor Novel: American Literature, 1945-1965 (Edinburgh UP, 2024).
Entries can be submitted online or by post, although online is recommended. The entry fee is £14 per story, with up to 50 low-income entries available each month.
Details