COMPETITION 2016 GUIDE

Keep on top of your submissions calendar with our definitive listing of competitions to enter until 31 December 2016

APRIL

Firstwriter International

Short Story Contest

Short stories up to 3,000 words, any theme

Prizes: £200, ten special commendations will receive subscription voucher worth £20, publication for all winners

Entry fee: £6.50

Closing date: 1 Apr

Website:www. rstwriter.com/competitions/

Wergle Flomp Humor

Poetry Contest

Highly enjoyable annual competition for humorous and spoof poetry, no limit

Prizes: $1,000, ten $100 Honorable Mentions

Free entry

Closing date: 1 Apr Adam Cohen, Winning Writers, Attn: Wergle Flomp Contest, 351 Pleasant Street, PMB 222, Northampton, MA 01060-3961, USA

Email: adam@winningwriters.com

Website:www.winningwriters.com/wergle

Colm Tóibín International

Short Story Award

Short stories, 1,800-2,000 words

Prizes: €1,000, €500, €350

Entry fee: €8

Closing date: 1 Apr Colm Tóibín Short Story, c/o Focal @ Enniscorthy Library, Lymington Road, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, Ireland

Website:http://writ.rs/colmcomp

New Welsh Writing Awards

University of South Wales Prize for Travel Writing between 5,000 and 30,000 words

Prizes: £1,000, e-publication, second prize week-long residential course at Ty Newwyd, third a weekend at Gladstone’s Library

Free entry

Closing date: 3 Apr New Welsh Review, PO Box 170, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 1WZ

Email: admin@newwelshreview.com

Website:www.newwelshwritingawards.com

Bath Novel Award

For the frst 5,000 words of a novel, plus one-page synopsis

Prizes: £2,000, plus consultancy report

Entry fee: £22

Closing date: 10 Apr Caroline Ambrose,The Bath Novel Award, 12 Great Pulteney Street, Bath BA2 4BR

Email: bathnovelaward@gmail.com

Website:http://bathnovelaward.co.uk

Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize

Unpublished short stories, 2,000-5,000 words

Prizes: Aus $5,000, $2,000, $1,000

Entry fee: $20

Closing date: 11 Apr ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize, Studio 2, 207-229 City Rd, Southbank, Vic 3006, Australia

Website:www.australianbookreview.com.au

Moniack Mhor Travel Writing Award

Prizes: A place on the Travel Writing course

Free entry

Closing date: 11 Apr Moniack Mhor, Teavarran, Kiltarlity, By Beauly, Inverness-shire IV4 7HT

Tel: 01463 741675

Email: rachel@moniackmhor.org.uk

Website:www.moniackmhor.org.uk

Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest

Amusingly silly annual comp for deliberately bad opening lines to novels, comic writing inspired by Edward BulwerLytton’s notorious Paul Clifordord opening, ‘It was a dark and stormy night...’

Prizes: Modest prizes, but a lot of interest

Free entry

Closing date: Offcially 15 April each year, actually 30 June Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, Scott Rice, Department of English, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA 95192-0090 USA

Email: srice@pacbell.net

Website:www.bulwer-lytton.com

Limnisa Short Story Competition

Short stories up to 3,000 words

Prizes: One week’s writing retreat at Limnisa, Greece, including full board and accommodation

Entry fee: £5 or proof of sharing competition announcement on social media

Closing date: 15 Apr Mariel Hacking, Agios Georgios, Methana, Greece

Email: entries@limnisa.com

Website:www.limnisa.com

Binsted Arts Poetry Competition

Poems up to 40 lines, on the theme ‘A way through the woods’

Prizes: £100, £50, £25

Entry fee: £5, £3 each subsequent

Closing date: 17 April Competition Secretary, Shirley Park, Yapton Lane, Walburton, Arundel BN18 0AN

Website:www.binsted.org/poetry-comp

Dark Tales Short Story

Ongoing monthly comp for horror and sci-fi short stories, up to 5,000 words

Prizes: £100 for each monthly winner plus publication in Dark Tales

Entry fee: £5, £10 with critique, £20 with edit and critique

Closing date: monthly, last day of each month Sean Jeffrey, Dark Tales, 7 Offley Street, Worcester WR3 8BH

Email: sean@darktales.co.uk

Website:www.darktales.co.uk

Kishboo Short Story Competition

Quarterly competition for short stories up to 2,000 words.

Prizes: £50, £25, £15 editor’s choice, ten to fifteen best stories published in Kishboo

Entry fee: £3

Closing date: 20 April, 20 July, 20 Oct

Email: comp@kishboo.co.uk

Website:www.kishboo.co.uk

Crediton Short Story Competition

Stories up to 3,000 words on theme ‘food’

Prizes: £50, a night’s stay at The Lamb Inn, Sandford, publication in Riptide, £20 runner-up

Entry fee: £5

Closing date: 24 Apr Credition Short Story Competition, Park House, Sandford, Crediton EX17 4NQ

Email: stories@shakespeare.org Website: http://credfest.co.uk

Bath Short Story Award

Short stories up to 2,200 words, in any style and on any subject

Prizes: £1,000, £200, £100, £50 for the best local writer, £50 Acorn Award for the best story by an unpublished writer

Entry fee: £8

Closing date: 25 Apr Bath Short Story Award, 20 Penn Lea Road, Bath BA1 3RA

Website: http://bathshortstoryaward.co.uk

The Novella Award

Novellas between 20,000 and 40,000 words

Prizes: £1,000, publication by Sandstone Press

Entry fee: £17

Closing date: 29 Apr The Novella Award, Liverpool Screen School, Redmonds Building, Brownlow Hill, Liverpool, Merseyside L3 5UG

Email: thenovellaaward@ljmu.ac.uk

Website:http://thenovellaaward.com/

Poetry Together

Collaborative poems written by children and a member of an older generation

Prizes: 200 copies of the winning poem on specially printed postcards, vouchers worth £500 (100 copies and £250 in vouchers for each winning entrant)

Free entry

Closing date: 29 Apr

Website:www.mcbf.org.uk/get-involved/poetry-together

S1 Leeds Literary Prize

Biennial prize for unpublished fiction (novels or short stories, up to 30,000 words) by Black and Asian women in the UK

Prizes: £2,000, potential publication by Peepal Tree Press, £750, £250

Entry fee: £18

Closing date: 30 Apr

Website:http://sileedsliteraryprize.wordpress.com/

Divine Chocolate Poetry Comp

For poems on the theme ‘a love that grows’, 7-11, 12-16 and 17+

Prizes: Divine chocolate, goodies, book tokens

Free entry

Closing date: 30 Apr Divine Chocolate, 4 Gainsford Street, London SE1 2NE Email: poetry@divinechocolate.com

Website:www.divinechocolate.com/uk/poetry

Bristol Short Story Prize

Stories on any theme, up to 4,000 words

Prizes: £1,000, £700, £400, 17 £100 shortlisted. All published in prize anthology

Entry fee: £8

Closing date: 30 Apr Unit 5.16, Paintworks, Bath Road, Bristol BS4 3EH

Email: enquiries@bristolprize.co.uk

Website:www.bristolprize.co.uk

Exeter Story Prize

Short stories any theme, up to 10,000 words

Prizes: £500, £150, £100, £200 Trisha Ashley Award for best humorous entry

Entry fee: £8

Closing date: 30 Apr Cathie Hartigan, 103 Old Tiverton Road, Exeter, Devon, EX4 6LD Tel: 07722 144357 creativewritingmatters@virginmedia.com

Website:www.creativewritingmatters.co.uk

Geoffrey Whitworth Competition

Original one-act plays performed in one-act play festivals organised by All England Theatre Festival, Association of Ulster Drama Festivals, Drama Association of Wales and Scottish Community Drama Association

Prizes: The Geoffrey Whitworth Trophy

Free entry

Closing date: 30 Apr Scottish Community Drama Association, Suite 88, Stirling Enterprise Park, Springkerse, Stirling, FK7 7RP Tel: 01786 440077

Email: headquarters@scda.org.uk

Website:http://scda.org.uk

Grey Hen Poetry Competition

For poems, up to 40 lines, by women 60+

Prizes: £100, £75, £25, website publication

Entry fee: £4, £10 for three

Closing date: 30 Apr Joy Howard, Grey Hen Press, PO Box 450, Keighley, West Yorkshire BD22 9BG Tel: 01535 645711

Email: info@greyhenpress.com

Website:www.greyhenpress.com

Momaya Press Short Story Competition

Short stories up to 3,000 words on the theme of ambition

Prizes: $200, $100, $50, winners and shortlisted authors will be published in the

Momaya Short Story Review

Entry fee: £8

Closing date: 30 Apr

Website:www.momayapress.com

NAWG Open ‘100’ Mini-tale Competition

Rolling competition for flash fiction of exactly 100 words, will be judged when 100 entries have been received then start again

Prizes: £75, £25 every 100 entries

Entry fee: £3

Closing date: rolling deadlines

Email: comp-100@nawg.co.uk

Website:www.nawg.co.uk

Red Shed Open Poetry Competition

For poems up to 50 lines

Prizes: £100, £50, £25 Wakefield postcode prize

Entry fee: £3, £2 each subsequent

Closing date: 30 Apr The Competition Organiser, Red Shed Open Poetry Competition, 3 Sandal Cliff, Sandal, Wakefield, WF2 6AU

Website:www.currockpress.com

Scribble Quarterly Short Story Ongoing quarterly competitions for short stories, up to 3,000 words

Prizes: £75, £25, £15 in each issue

Entry fee: £3 (£5 with critique); free for annual subscribers

Closing date: quarterly, 30 April, 30 July, 30 October Park Publications, 14 The Park, Stow on the Wold, Cheltenham GL54 1DX

Tel: 01451 831053

Email: parkpub14@hotmail.com

Website:www.parkpublications.co.uk

Southport Writers’ Circle

International Poetry Poems, up to 40 lines

Prizes: £150, £75, £25, humour prize £25, local prize £25

Entry fee: £3 or £10 for four

Closing date: 30 Apr Poetry Competition, Southport Writers’ Circle, 15 Mossgiel Avenue, Ainsdale, Merseyside PR8 2RE

Website:www.swconline.co.uk

Tom Howard/John H Reid Fiction and Essay Contest

Short stories, essays or other prose, up to 6,000 words. International entries welcome

Prizes: $1,000, five honourable mentions $100 in each category

Entry fee: $16

Closing date: 30 Apr Adam Cohen, Winning Writers, Attn: Tom Howard Short Story Contest, 351 Pleasant Street, PMB 222, Northampton, MA 01060-3961, USA

Email: adam@winningwriters.com

Website:www.winningwriters.com/tomstory

Ver Poets Open Poetry Competition

For poetry, up to 30 lines; open theme/form

Prizes: £600, £300, £100, publication in The Ver Prize anthology and on website

Entry fee: £4, £10 for three, £2 each extra

Closing date: 30 Apr Gillian Knibbs, 181 Sandridge Road, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL1 4AH

Tel: 01727 762601

Email: gillknibbs@yahoo.co.uk

Website:www.verpoets.org.uk

Ware Poets Open Poetry Competition

Poems up to 50 lines

Prizes: £600, £300, £150, £150 sonnet prize

Entry fee: £4, £12 for four, £3 thereafter

Closing date: 30 Apr The Competition Secretary, Ware Poets Competition, 21 Trinity Road, Ware, SG12 7DB

Website:www.poetrypf.co.uk/comps/ware16.pdf

Writers Bureau Flash Fiction

Stories up to 500 words on an open theme

Prizes: £300 plus Writers› Bureau course worth £300, £200, £100