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Short Story

The Author of Tomorrow

Information

Closing date: 
31 May 2019
Entry: 
Open to young people of any nationality writing short stories in English in three different age groups No entry fee
Prize: 
16-21 years £1,000, 12-15 years and 11 and under £100 plus £150 in book tokens for their school, library or charity of choice

The Author of Tomorrow is designed to find the adventure writers of the future. Part of the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, it is an annual competition open to young people, aged 21 and under, who have completed a short piece of adventure writing in English.   Read more

The Moth Short Story Prize 2019

Information

Closing date: 
30 June 2019
Entry: 
Open to any writer over 16 from anywhere in the world Entry fee €15 per story
Prize: 
1st prize €3,000, 2nd prize week-long writing retreat at Circle of Misse in France plus €250 travel stipend and 3rd prize €1,000

This year's judge is Kit de Waal.

The Prize is open to anyone (over 16), as long as the work is original and previously unpublished. There is a word limit of 5,000 words.

The winners will be announced in September 2019 and all three stories will appear in the autumn issue of the Morh Magazine.  Read more

Futurebook Story Competition

Information

Closing date: 
30 October 2018
Entry: 
Open to international writers of 18 or over No entry fee
Prize: 
Reading your story at the Futurebook conference, publication on the Pigeonhole app and full set of novels from this year’s Arthur C. Clarke shortlist.

Calling all writers!

Could you create a fresh and exciting vision of the future of the book?  Read more

LoveReading Very Short Story Award 2019

Information

Closing date: 
31 October 2018
Entry: 
Unpublished stories by writers from all over the world No entry fee
Prize: 
The winning story will be read by a professional actor on The LoveReading Podcast, and published on the LoveReading website.

LoveReading.co.uk has launched a competition for stories of between 600-1000 words in length, written in English, in any genre. The award is open to entries from overseas as well as the UK, from both unpublished and published authors. However, only unpublished stories are eligible for entry.  Read more

The Caterpillar Story Prize 2018

Information

Closing date: 
30 September 2018
Entry: 
The Prize is open to anyone (over 16), as long as the work is original and previously unpublished. Entry fee £12 per story
Prize: 
£1,000

The entry fee is €12 per story, and you can enter as many stories as you like.  Read more

Manchester Poetry and Fiction Prizes 2018

Information

Closing date: 
14 September 2018
Entry: 
Open to all internationally £17.50 entry fee for each prize
Prize: 
£10,000 for each

Poetry Prize

Judges

Adam O'Riordan (Chair), Gillian Clarke, Carol Ann Duffy and Imtiaz Dharker  Read more

The Moth Short Story Prize 2018

Information

Closing date: 
30 June 2018
Entry: 
Any writer over 18 with an unpublished story Entry fee €12 per story
Prize: 
1st prize €3,000, 2nd prize week-long writing retreat in France plus €250 travel stipend and 3rd prize €1,000

The Moth Short Story Prize is an important date on the literary calendar. Every year, a single judge is asked to choose three winning stories to feature in the autumn issue of The Moth.  Read more

The White Review Short Story Prize 2018

Information

Closing date: 
1 March 2018
Entry: 
Open to writers resident in Britain and Ireland who have yet to secure a publishing deal Entry fee £15 but some low income exclusions
Prize: 
£2,500

The White Review Short Story Prize 2018 is an annual short story competition for emerging writers. This will be the sixth year of the prize. The closing date for entries to the prize is 1 March 2018.  Read more

Manchester Poetry and Fiction Prizes 2017

Information

Closing date: 
29 September 2017
Entry: 
Open to all internationally £17.50 entry fee for each prize
Prize: 
£10,000 for each

Poetry Prize

Judges

Adam O'Riordan (Chair), Mona Arshi and Pascale Petit

£10,000 prize for the best portfolio of three to five poems (maximum combined length: 120 lines). Open internationally to new and established writers aged 16 or over (no upper age limit).

For more details  Read more

Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award 2018

Information

Closing date: 
28 September 2017
Entry: 
Authors ‘must have record of prior publication in creative writing in the UK’ No entry fee
Prize: 
First Prize £30,000 five shortlisted prizes £1,000

Entries are now open for the 2018 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award.  Read more

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10 June 2019 - What's new

June 2019
  • ‘First the length. In an age of ever-shortening attention spans, you have to have a pretty powerful message to keep anyone's interest for much over 75,000 words (about 300 pages).
  Read more

The Kindle Storyteller Award 2019

Information

Closing date: 
31 August 2019
Entry: 
Writers of 18 or over publishing in English in any genre, who publish their work through Kindle Direct Publishing between 1st May and 31 August 2019 No entry fee
Prize: 
Grand Prize £20,000 cash, publishing agreement with Amazon Publishing and Amazon launch

The Kindle Storyteller Award 2019 is a £20,000 literary prize recognising outstanding writing. It is open to writers publishing in English in any genre, who publish their work through Kindle Direct Publishing between 1st May and 31 August 2019. There are some specific exclusions in the Terms and Conditions, which need carefuly reading.  Read more

'If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.'

— Stephen King

Writing your first non-fiction book

10 June 2019

‘First the length. In an age of ever-shortening attention spans, you have to have a pretty powerful message to keep anyone's interest for much over 75,000 words (about 300 pages). In fact, if you can't present your proposition in 300 pages, then you may have a problem with excessive verbiage you should deal with.  Read more

3 June 2019 - What's new

June 2019
  • ‘When...I started, there was the hardback and the paperback. Then there was the hardback, the trade paperback, and the paperback. Then there was the hardback, the trade paperback, the paperback, and the ebook. Then there was all that plus audio.
  Read more