Menu

Our current competition is the New Writers Historical (Pre-1960) Flash Fiction Competition 2025.

If you would like us to publish details of a competition you are running, please complete the Listing Request Form.

Writing Competitions Search and Views Navigation

Writing Competition Views Navigation

Today

Cafe Writers Poetry Competition

Cafe Writers Poetry Competition 2023

Deadline: Midnight (UK time) on 30 November 2023

  • Entry Fee: £4 for first entry, £10 for 3 poems & £2 per poem thereafter
  • Prizes: Winner: £1,000; 2nd Prize: £300; 3rd Prize: £200 (Norfolk Prize: £100)
  • Word Limit: 40 lines (excluding the title)
  • Judge: Martin Figura
  • Category: Poetry Competitions
  • Competition Website:  cafewriters.co.uk/home/poetry-competition

Mslexia Poetry Comp 2023

Mslexia Women’s Poetry Competition 2023

Deadline: 23.59 (UK time) on 4 December 2023

  • Entry Fee: £10 per poem (for up to three poems)
  • Prizes: 1st Place: £2,000; 2nd Place: £500; 3rd Place: £250; Unpublished Poetry Prize: £250. The four winners, plus sixteen additional finalists will have their poems published in the March 2024 issue of Mslexia.
  • Line Limit: No limit
  • Judge: Fiona Benson
  • Category: Poetry Competitions
  • Competition Website: mslexia.co.uk/competitions/single-poem-poetry/womens-poetry-competition-2023
Old Typewriter

Prole Laureate Poetry Competition

Deadline: 20 December 2023

  • Entry Fee: £3 for one entry, £2 for each any subsequent entries
  • Prizes: 1st Place: £200; 2x runners-up prizes of £50 each; winners and runners-up will be published in Prole issue 35
  • Line Limit: No limit
  • Category: Poetry Competitions
  • Competition Website: prolebooks.co.uk/competitions

Letter Review

Letter Review Prize for Reprints

Deadline: 1st January 2024

  • Entry Fee: $25
  • Prizes: Three Winners share in the $1,000 USD total prize pool
  • Prizes: Three Winners share in the $1,000 USD total prize pool
  • Word Limit: First 5,000 words of your manuscript or up to 70 lines of poetry
  • Category: Various
  • Competition Website: letterreview.com/information/
Old Typewriter

Prolitzer Prize for Prose

Deadline: 21 January 2024

  • Entry Fee: £3 for one entry, £2 for each any subsequent entries
  • Prizes: 1st Place: £200; 2x runners-up prizes of £50 each; winners and runners-up will be published in Prole issue 35
  • Line Limit: 2,500 words
  • Category: Prose Competitions (fiction or creative nonfiction)
  • Competition Website: prolebooks.co.uk/competitions
Featured

New Writers Flash Fiction Competition 2024

Deadline: Midnight (UK time) on 31 January 2024

  • Entry Fee: £10 for one entry, £19 for two entries, £27 for three entries
  • Prizes: 1st Place: £1,000; 2nd Place: £300; 3rd Place: £200;
  • Word Limit: 300 words (excluding title)
  • Charity:  £1 from each entry will be donated to First Story (England’s leading creative writing charity for young people)
  • Head Judge: Stephanie Carty (Author and Clinical Psychologist)
  • Category: Flash Fiction Competitions
  • Competition Website: newwriters.org.uk/flash-fiction-competition
Walk With Words

Walk With Words Competition

Deadline: 31 January 2024

  • Entry Fee: FREE
  • Prizes: 1st Place: £300; 2nd Place: £200; 3rd Place: £100
  • Line Limit: 250 words (for written entries)
  • Theme: Memories
  • Category: Various
  • Competition Website: walkwithwords.co.uk
TEIGNMOUTH POETRY FESTIVAL POETRY COMPETITION 2024

Teignmouth Poetry Festival Poetry Competition 2024

Deadline: 31 January 2024

  • Entry Fee: £5.50 for first poem, £3.50 for each additional poem
  • Prizes:Open Competition: 1st Place: £600, 2nd Place: £300, 3rd Place: £200; Devon Resident: !st Place: £200, 2nd Place: £100, 3rd Place: £50
  • Line Limit: 40 lines
  • Judge: Malika Booker (for the Open Competition); ​Graeme Ryan (for Devon Poets)
  • Category: Poetry Competitions
  • Competition Website: poetryteignmouth.com/competition-2024

Searchlight Best Chapter Book for 5-8-year-olds 2024

Searchlight Awards − Best Chapter Book for 5-8-year-olds 2024

Deadline: Midnight (UK time) 1 February 2024

  • Entry Fee: £12 per entry
  • Prizes: First prize: £350 and a one-to-one call with the agent judge; the top 10 entries will feature in Searchlight’s Agent/Publisher Pitch Book of winning stories
  • Word Limit: Submit one chapter (1,000 words max) plus a pitch (80 words max)
  • Judge: Katie Blagden of The Bright Agency
  • Category: Novel Competitions
  • Competition Website:  searchlightawards.co.uk
Farnham Flash Fiction Competition 500

Farnham Flash Fiction Competition

Deadline: 1 February 2024

  • Entry Fees: £5 per entry
  • Prizes: First place: £100, Second place: £25, Third place: £25
  • Word Limit: 500 words or fewer (excluding title)
  • Category: Flash Fiction Competitions
  • Competition Website: flashfiction500.com
Heroica Poetry Prize

Heroica Poetry Prize

Deadline: 29 February 2024

  • Entry Fee:  £2 per poem, £5 for 3 or £10 for unlimited entries. Entry is free for HEROIClub members.
  • Prizes: 1st Place: £125; 2nd Place: £50; 3rd Place: £25
  • Eligibility: Open to women and non-binary poets
  • Category: Poetry Competitions
  • Competition Website: heroica.co/poetry-prize

The Free Verse Prize

Poetry Society Free Verse Prize 2024

Deadline: 11.59pm on 18 March 2024

  • Entry Fee: £5 for first poem, £4 for subsequent poems
  • Prizes: First Prize: £500 plus publication
  • Line Limit: 48 lines (including title & blank lines / stanza breaks)
  • Judges: Chrissy Williams (poet, editor & comic book writer)
  • Category: Poetry Competitions
  • Competition Website:  thepoetrysociety.submittable.com/submit
Short Fiction International Short Story Prize 2024

Short Fiction International Short Story Prize

Deadline: Midnight (UK time) on 31 March 2024

  • Entry Fee: Early Bird:  £10 – until 29 Feb 2024, Standard: £12 – until 31 Mar 2024
  • Prizes: 1st Place: £1,000; 2nd: £300; 3rd: £100; top three will also be published in the Short Fiction journal
  • Word Limit: 5,000 words
  • Judges: Authors Yan Ge and Wendy Erskine
  • Category: Short Story Competitions
  • Competition Website:  shortfictionjournal.co.uk/prize

New Writers Short Story Competition 2024
Featured

New Writers 1000-Word Short Story Competition 2024

Deadline: Midnight (UK time) on 30 April 2024

  • Entry Fee: £10 for one entry, £19 for two entries, £27 for three entries
  • Prizes: 1st Place: £1,000; 2nd Place: £300; 3rd Place: £200
  • Word Limit: 1,000 words (excluding title)
  • Charity:  £1 from each entry will be donated to First Story (England’s leading creative writing charity for young people)
  • Head Judge: Cassandra Parkin (Award-Winning Author & Poet)
  • Category: Short Story Competitions
  • Competition Website: newwriters.org.uk/short-story-competition-1000

Leapfrog Global Fiction Prize

Leapfrog Global Fiction Prize

Deadline: 5 May 2024

  • Entry Fee: $35
  • Prizes: First prize: publication contract offer from Leapfrog Press and Can of Worms Press (with advance)
  • Word Limit: Minimum 22,000 words
  • Category: Novel Competitions
  • Competition Website: leapfrogprize.org/contest
Creative Future Writers’ Award 2024

Creative Future Writers’ Award 2024

Deadline: 23:59 (UK time) on 19 May 2024

Bridport Prize

Bridport Prize – Memoir Award

Deadline: 23.59 (UK time) on 31 May 2024

  • Entry Fee: £24 per entry
  • Prizes: First prize: £1,500; second prize: £750; three further prizes of £150; plus publication and manuscript/extract appraisal
  • Word Limit: 8,000 words max (5,000 minimum) plus 300-word overview. (Title not included in the word count.)
  • Judge: Kit de Waal, award-winning and Booker-shortlisted writer of six novels
  • Category: Non-fiction Competitions
  • Competition Website: bridportprize.org.uk/the-competition/memoir-award/
Bath Novel Award 2025

Bath Novel Award 2025

Deadline: 23:59 (UK time) on 31 May 2025

  • Entry Fee: £29.99 (some sponsored places are available)
  • Prizes: 1st Place: £5,000 plus and a trophy; all shortlisted entrants win feedback on their full manuscript; online novel editing course (worth £1,980) for one longlisted entrant
  • Word Limit: Opening 5,000 words plus one page synopsis
  • Judge: Laura Williams - Literary Agent
  • Category: Novel Competitions
  • Competition Website:  bathnovelaward.co.uk
Pick of the Pops Story Competition

Victory Radio Pick of the Pops Story Competition

Deadline: 31 May 2024

  • Entry Fee: £5
  • Prizes: Top 10 shortlisted stories will be broadcast on air. In addition, the winner and two runners-up receive a variety of prizes sponsored by Victory and Portsmouth Authors Collective.
  • Word Limit: 600 words
  • Eligibility: Entrants must reside in the UK, over 18s only
  • Theme: Use a song title from the 1950s to 2000 to inspire your story
  • Category: Short Story Competitions
  • Competition Website: victoryonline.co.uk/pick-of-the-pops/
The Genesis Emerging Writers programme

Genesis Emerging Writers Programme

Deadline: 31 May 2024

  • Entry Fee: £8.50 (or three for £17). Students: £6 (or three for £12)
  • Prizes: 1st: £1500, 2nd: £300, 3rd: £200
  • Word Limit: Stories up to 3,000 words; poems up to 40 lines
  • Eligibility: Entrants must be aged 17 or older, but from anywhere in the world
  • Category: Short Story Competitions, Poetry Competitions
  • Competition Website: bedfordwritingcompetition.co.uk

If you find this page and our site useful, please consider making a small donation through our Ko-fi page. This will help us offer regular free-to-enter competitions and free entries to our paid-entry competitions for those on low incomes.

Please also sign up to our free monthly newsletter. Subscribers gain exclusive access to our free-to-enter competitions, entrance into free prize draws, information about the latest writing competitions and events from around the world and more.