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The Moth Short Story Prize 2024

Deadline: 30 June 2024

  • Entry Fee: €15 per story
  • Prizes: 1st prize: €3,000; 2nd prize: a week at Circle of Misse plus open travel stipend; 3rd prize: €1,000
  • Word Limit: 3,000 words
  • Judge: Louise Kennedy (award-winning writer of novels and stories)
  • Category: Poetry Competitions
  • Competition Website: themothmagazine.com

Inspiring Fiction Special Edition Short Story Contest

Deadline: 31 July 2024

  • Entry Fee: £5
  • Prizes: Winner: The winner receives £100, publication, and a published comment from the editor about why the story won. Shortlisted stories are also published.
  • Word Limit: 1,000 to 2,500 words
  • Contest Prompt: ‘Freedom’
  • Category: Short Story Competitions
  • Competition Website: inspiringfiction.com/contest
Featured Featured

New Writers Poetry Competition 2024

Deadline: 23:59 (UK time) on Wednesday 31st July 2024

  • Entry Fee: £10 per entry; (£18 for two entries, £26 for three entries, £34 for four entries, or £42 for five entries) *Multiple entries must be submitted together to receive the discount
  • Prizes: 1st Place: £1,000; 2nd Place: £300; 3rd Place: £200; all winning poems will be published on the NewWriters.org.uk site and in a future New Writers Anthology
  • Word Limit: 42 lines (excluding title and line spaces)
  • Head Judge: Jordan Hamel (Poet & Performer)
  • Charity:  £1 from each entry will be donated to First Story (England’s leading creative writing charity for young people)
  • Category: Poetry Competitions
  • Competition Website: newwriters.org.uk/poetry-competition

Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition

Deadline: Midnight on 31 July 2024

  • Entry Fee: €19 per entry
  • Prizes: 1st Place: €2,000 plus featured reading at the Cork International Short Story Festival (with four-night hotel stay and full board); 2nd: €500; 3rd: €250. All winners will receive publication in Southword magazine.
  • Word Limit: 3,000 words
  • Judge: Camilla Grudova
  • Category: Short Story Competitions
  • Competition Website:  munsterlit.ie/ofaolain-competition

Aurora Prize for Writing 2024

Deadline: Midnight (UK time) on 7 August 2024

  • Entry Fee: £9 (£7 for additional entries)
  • Prizes: Winner: £500 in each category, Second: £150, Third: A ticket to the 2025 Writers’ Conference, hosted by Writing East Midlands
  • Word Limit: 60 lines (poetry), 2,000 words (short story)
  • Category: Poetry and short fiction competition
  • Competition Website: writingeastmidlands.co.uk/for-writers/aurora-prize-for-writing

21 Futures: Financial Fallout Anthology Competition

Deadline: 31 August 2024

  • Entry Fee: FREE
  • Prizes: 1st place: $1,000 + feature interview; 2nd place: $500 + podcast appearance; 3rd place: $250 + social media shoutout; 4th place: $100 + signed book
  • Word Limit: 3,000 words (not including title)
  • Theme: ‘Financial Fallout’
  • Category: Short Story Competitions
  • Competition Website: 21futures.com/submissions/

Scottish Wildlife Trust Words of the Wild Writing Competition

Deadline: 31 August 2024

  • Entry Fee: FREE
  • Adult Prizes: A pair of Osprey ED binoculars from Viking Optical, An Environmental Book Subscription from The Mainstreet Trading Company, A £200 NHBS voucher, A year’s membership to the Trust or one of our wildlife adoptions
  • Word Limit: 1,000 words
  • Categories: Short Story Competitions, Poetry Competitions, Non Fiction Competitions
  • Competition Website: scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/wordsofthewild/words-of-the-wild-competition

Inclusive Voices Short Story Competition

Deadline: 5pm (UK time) on 31 August 2024

  • Entry Fee: Free
  • Prizes: The winner of each age category with receive various prizes including a day in the Calibre Studio in Buckinghamshire with the opportunity to record their story/hear their story being recorded for inclusion in the Calibre Collection
  • Word Limit: 550 words
  • Theme: Entries should feature a character with a print disability; open to residents of the UK
  • Categories: Under 11s, 11-17, 18-25, 26 and over
  • Competition Website: calibreaudio.org.uk/50th-anniversary/inclusive-voices

Searchlight Awards − Best Novel Opening for Children or Young Adults 2024

Deadline: 23.59 (UK time) 1 September 2024

  • Entry Fee: £16 per entry
  • Prizes: 1st prize: £1,000 plus a one-to-one call with the agent judge; 2nd prize: editorial review of 5000 words of your manuscript and a one-hour on-line meeting with celebrated author and creative writing tutor Steve Voake; The top 10 entries will feature in Searchlight’s Agent/Publisher Pitch Book of winning stories
  • Word Limit: 1,200 words, not including the title. Pitch: maximum 175 words
  • Judge: Rachel Petty of The Blair Partnership
  • Category: Novel Competitions
  • Competition Website:  searchlightawards.co.uk

Searchlight Awards − Best Children’s Picture Book Text 2024

Deadline: 23.59 (UK time) 1 September 2024

  • Entry Fee: £12 per entry
  • Prizes: 1st prize: £500 plus one-to-one call with the agent judge; 2nd prize: Detailed Editorial Review by Natascha Biebow; the top 10 entries will feature in Searchlight’s Agent/Publisher Pitch Book of winning stories
  • Word Limit: Your text and illustration notes together should be no more than 1,000 words; pitch maximum: 125 words
  • Judge: Lorna Hemingway of Bell Lomax Moreton
  • Category: Novel Competitions
  • Competition Website:  searchlightawards.co.uk

Ink of Ages Fiction Prize

Deadline: 15 September 2024

  • Entry Fee: FREE
  • Prizes: Various prizes from World History Encyclopedia and Oxford University Press
  • Word Limit: 1,500 to 2,000 words (800 to 1,000 for the Youth Prize)
  • Genre Guidelines: Historical Fiction or Mythological Fiction (see site for details)
  • Category: Short Story Competitions
  • Competition Website:  fictionprize.worldhistory.org
Featured Featured

New Writers Book Review Competition 2024

Deadline: Midnight (UK time) on Monday 30th September 2024

  • Entry Fee: FREE
  • Prizes: 1st Place: £50 and publication on the NewWriters.org.uk website
  • Word Limit: 1,000 words (excluding title)
  • Category: Non-fiction Competitions
  • How to Enter: Send your entry as an attachment (Word doc or Google doc please) to: competitions@newwriters.org.uk with the email subject "Book Review Competition".

EGG+FROG Inspirathlon 2024

Deadline: 11.59 pm (UK time) on 30 September 2024

  • Entry Fee: £6 (or £15 with feedback)
  • Prizes: Round 1: £50, Round 2: £75, Round 3: £100. All winners & runners-up published in EGG+FROG
  • Word Limit: 800 words (for each round)
  • Category: Flash Fiction Competitions
  • Competition Website: eggplusfrog.com/competition

WriteTime Short Story Competition 2024

Deadline: 30 September 2024

  • Entry Fee: £5 for one entry, £10 for three
  • Prizes: 1st Place: £100; £50 each for two runners-up
  • Word Limit: 1,500 words
  • Eligibility: Entrants must be over 60 years old
  • Category: Short Story Competitions
  • Competition Website:  writetime.org/how-to-enter

Galley Beggar Press Short Story Prize

Deadline: Midnight (UK time) on 13 October 2024

  • Entry Fee: £11
  • Prizes: 1st Place: £2,500; Shortlist: £200 (shortlisted authors); Longlist: £50 bookshop vouchers
  • Word Limit: 6,000 words
  • Judges: writers and journalists Claire Armistead, Mathilde Merouani, and Clare Pollard
  • Category: Short Story Competitions
  • Competition Website:  galleybeggar.co.uk/prize

Caledonia Novel Award 2025

Deadline: Midnight (UK time) on 15 October 2024

  • Entry Fee: £28
  • Prizes: 1st Place: £1,500 plus an exclusive framed award (designed by Edinburgh artist Lucy Roscoe); Special Prize: a free place on a residential writing course (best novel from the UK and Ireland); Highly Commended: £500
  • Word Limit: First 20 pages + 200-word synopsis
  • Judge: Alice Lutyens, literary agent at Curtis Brown
  • Category: Novel Competitions
  • Competition Website:  thecaledonianovelaward.com

Marlowe and Christie Novel Prize

Deadline: 15th October 2024

  • Entry Fee: £19 Early Bird Entry (until 30 September 2024) then £24 for standard entry (until 15th October 2024)
  • Prizes: Winner: £1,100; The ten shortlisted entries will receive written feedback from Patrick Gleeson.
  • Word Limit: Up to 3,000 words from the opening of your novel
  • Judge: Patrick Gleeson, author of Hattie Brings the House Down (Bedford Square Publishers, 2024)
  • Category: Novel Competitions
  • Competition Website:  marloweandchristie.com

Solstice Nature Prize For Young Writers

Deadline: 31 October 2024

  • Entry Fee: FREE
  • Prizes: 1st: £100 plus publication in the Solstice Anthology (see notes for other prizes)
  • Word Limit: 500 words (stories or blogs) or 40 lines (poems)
  • Eligibility: Entrants must be UK residents in one of the following age categories: 7-11* years, 12-14* years, 15-17* years and 18-25 years (*entrants will need permission to enter)
  • Judge: Gill Lewis (multi-award-winning and best-selling author)
  • Category: Short Story Competitions, Poetry Competitions
  • Competition Website: writingeastmidlands.co.uk/young-writers-groups/solstice-writing-prize

Broken Sleep Books Poetry Competition 2024

Deadline: 31st October 2024

  • Entry Fee: £10 (standard entry) or £5 (low socioeconomic entry)
  • Prizes: There are two prizes: 1 x full-length collection contract with Broken Sleep Books and £250. 1 x mentorship towards a full collection with Broken Sleep Books, and £250 (low socioeconomic status entrants only)
  • Word Limit: Minimum of 60 pages, maximum of 90 pages.
  • Judges: Penelope Shuttle (Lyonesse) & Andre Bagoo (Narcissus)
  • Category: Poetry Competitions
  • Competition Website: brokensleepbooks.com/broken-sleep-books-poetry-competition

Writing Magazine Writing for Children – Picture Book Prize 2024

Deadline: 31 October 2024

  • Entry Fee: £7.50 (standard rate) or £6 (for magazine print subscribers or digital members)
  • Prizes: 1st Place: consultation with top children’s fiction agent Julia Churchill; 2nd Place: picture book critique by Amy Sparkes; 3rd Place: a year’s subscription to Writers Online Membership
  • Word Limit: 800
  • Judge: Writing Magazine editorial team
  • Category: Children's Novel Competitions
  • Competition Website: writers-online.co.uk/writing-competitions/writing-for-children-picture-book-prize-2024

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