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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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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.
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The Jane Austen Literacy Foundation Writing Competition 2026 is open to entries of between 1,000 and 2,000 words on the theme of ‘A Story Worth Telling’. The Jane Austen Literacy Foundation panel of judges will select a short list of ten stories from all of the eligible entries received and three winning stories will be selected from the shortlist by our special panel of judges including founder & chair of the foundation, Caroline Jane Knight, the lead judge, author Jane MacKenzie and Helena Kelly, author of ‘Jane Austen, The Secret Radical’.
The three winning stories are published on the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation website and promoted to the organisation’s subscribers and on social media (with the author identities kept confidential) for a ten-day public vote, to select our overall winner.
The winner will be announced at The Knight Family Picnic with Jane Austen’s Family, in the grounds of Chawton House on Sunday 21st June 2026. The winner will also be announced on the website and social media. The three winning stories will be recorded as an audiobook and published worldwide.
The competition is open to everyone around the world (aged 16+). The competition is judged in two categories — new fiction writers and experienced fiction writers (see Entry Guidelines on the competition website for details).
Details