Writing Competitions to Enter in July

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Cinnamon Press Annual Debut Fiction Prize, Daily Mail First Novel Competition

We’d all love to be shortlisted by the Bridport, but here are some other competitions worth considering, which should have fewer entries against which to compete. Working on a poem, short story or piece of flash fiction can provide a useful cure for writer’s block – or a break from the slog of editing a 100,000-word novel. Why not give one of them a go?

Daily Mail Random House First Novel Competition. The first prize in this competition for a novel for  adult readers is a £20,000 advance. Entries must be original, previously unpublished fiction in any genre for adults except saga, sci-fi or fantasy. In addition, entrants must not previously have published a novel with a valid ISBN, or be represented by a literary agent. The prize is an advance against publication and literary representation by Luigi Bonomi of LBA Books Ltd. Manuscripts must be available by March 2019 and the entry deadline is 13 July 2018. Please note, you must enter by post, sending the first 3,000 words of a debut novel, plus a 600-word synopsis, printed in 12pt font and double-spacing on single sides of A4, to Daily Mail First Novel Competition, c/o Penguin Random House Group, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London. SW1V 2SA. Website details: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/first novel

The Brighton Prize wants short stories between 1,000 and 2,000 words, and flash fiction up to 350 words. Short story prizes are: £1,000, plus 2 x £100. Flash Fiction prizes: £500, plus 2 x £50. ‘We love stories that work on the stage as well as they do on the page.’ Deadline 7 July. Details: http://www.brightonprize.com

Ledbury Poetry Festival Competition is for poems of up to 40 lines. Prizes: £1,000 plus a week at Ty Newydd; £500; £250. Entry fee: £5, £3.50 for each subsequent. Deadline 12 July. Details: http://www.poetry-festival.co.uk

Wrekin Writers are inviting entries up to 1,200 words for the 2018 Doris Gooderson Short Story Competition. There is a first prize of £200, a second of £100 and a third of £50. Half of the competition profits are donated to Severn Hospice. The entry fee is £5, and the closing date 12 July. Details: https://wrekinwriters.wordpress.com

Wasifiri New Writing Prize. Poetry, up to five poems; fiction and life writing up to 3,000 words. Prizes: £300 in each category, plus publication in Wasifiri. This is run by The Open University in London, so well worth supporting. Entry fee: £6 for one category; £10 for two categories; £15 for three categories. Closing date 15 July. Details: http://www.wasafiri.org

The H G Wells Short Story Competition is for short stories on the theme of ‘peace’ of 1,500-5,000 words. There is a £250 prize in the adult category and £1,000 in the Margaret and Reg Turnhill Prize for writers under 21. Winning entries will be published in an anthology. Adult entry fee is £10, while under 21 entries are free. Closing date is 23 July. Details:  https://hgwellscompetition.com/

HISSAC Flash Fiction and Short Story Competitions. Flash fiction: max 500 words. Story: max. 2000 words. Fee: £5; £12 for 3; £18 for 5; £25 for 7. Prizes: £250; £50; £25. Deadline: 31 July. Details: http://www.hissac.co.uk

The Olga Sinclair Award, promoted by Norwich Writers, is looking for short stories of up to 2,000 words on the theme of ‘markets’. There will be ten winners, with the top three receiving prizes of £400, £250, £100. All ten will be published in a non-profit-making anthology. Postal deadline is 16 July, online deadline 31 July. Details: https://norwichwriters.wordpress.com/the-olga-sinclair-open-short-story-competition/

Trapeze Books Write Your Own Love Story competition offers a £10,000 book contract plus mentoring from Trapeze author, Anna Stuart. One lucky runner-up will receive a place on a Curtis Brown on-line novel writing course worth £200. Send your first 5,000 words, plus biographical details and a brief synopsis by 30 July to lovestories@orionbooks.co.uk  Full details and advice on what they’re looking for at: https://www.curtisbrowncreative.co.uk/sam-eades-on-write-your-own-love-story-a-new-competition/

Inktears Flash Fiction, up to 500 words. Prizes: £250; £50; £25 x 8, plus your story and biographical details published to the readership of the Inktears website (something well worth taking a look at).

To Hull and Back Humorous Writing Competition. Do you have a well-developed sense of humour? Christopher Fielden is looking for ‘funny stories’ up to 4,000 words and isoffering generous prizes: £1,000; £500; £250; 3 x £50; 14 x £25. Winners and those shortlisted will be published in an anthology, together with a writer’s profile, ‘a delightful picture of you, a short bio telling readers how amazing you are and details of  your website, if you have one.’ Entry fee: £11 for one, £18 for two and £22 for three. Closing date is 31 July. Details: http://www.christopherfielden.com

Original unpublished short stories are invited to enter the Sean O’Faolain International Short Story Prize 2018. First prize is 2,000 euros, plus a week-long residency at Anam Cara Retreat in West Cork, Ireland. There is a second prize of 500 euros and four shortlisted entries will receive 120 euros each. If a winner attends the Cork International Short Story Festival to collect their prize, hotel accommodation, meals and drinks will be provided. The entry fee is 15 euros and the closing date for submissions 31 July. Website: http://www.munsterlit.ie/SOF%20Page.html

Cinnamon Press Annual Debut Fiction Prize. The first 10,000 words of an unpublished novel, novella or short story collection. Prize: A year’s mentoring worth £1,000, plus publishing contract, and 100 copies of your novel. Entry fee: £12. Deadline 31 July. Details: http://www.cinnamonpress.com

Stroud Book Festival International Writing Competition 2018. Poetry up to 40 lines, flash fiction up to 500 words; Katie Fford Award for Mainstream Fiction excerpt up to 3,000 words and 200 word synopsis. Prizes: £500; £250; £100; and 4-night writing retreat. £50 Katie Fford award. Entry fee: £5, £3 each additional. Closing date: 31 July. Details: https://stroudbookfestival.org.uk

Novel Writing Scholarship. Irish author Marian Keyes is funding the Marian Keyes Scholarship, offering a place on Curtis Brown Creative’s six-month on-line course. Writers from under-represented backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply. The course runs between 10 September and 4 March and is taught by Lisa O’Donnell. Writers should be either unmarried and not cohabiting, with an annual income of less than £25,000 and personal savings of less than £5,000, or married or cohabiting with a total household income of less than £35,000 and personal savings of less than £5,000. To apply, send 3,000 words of a work in progress and a one-page synopsis, and complete the online application form. Website: https://writ.rs/mariankeyesscholarship   Deadline: 29 July.

Checking out all these competitions is fiddly, and sometimes I sadly get things wrong, so please remember to check all rules and guidelines before entering.

Something for everybody there, surely? Good luck!

 

Diversity

At a recent meeting one of our members (bless) suggested that we should have homework that we would bring to the next session. The first theme set was on being awoken by a galloping horse at 3am. Ghost stories, a wife’s revenge and a rant on royal pageantry followed. Maybe these will be developed into fully-fledged stories (not the rant). Is it a good idea? Or does it distract us from other writing?

There’s a PS to this. We’ve had two other “homeworks” since and one of our members has become a poet.

Under attack – when it hurts

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Barbara Pym, Crampton Hodnet

Anyone who has ever given or lent a copy of a much-loved novel to a friend is likely to be familiar with the occasional disappointing response. It might include the suggestive silence, or the apologetic, half-embarrassed ‘sorry, not my kind of thing’ or even (and this is worse!)  ‘I can see why you enjoyed it, but…’

It may still surprise and even disconcert when the people we love don’t ‘get’ an author who means so much to us, but we’ve learnt not to allow this unaccountable gap to mar our friendship. It doesn’t change what we feel about them.

But comedians Kathy Burke and Tom Allen savaging Barbara Pym as ‘twee’ and ‘boring’ in a Radio 4 discussion of the novel Crampton Hodnet provoked bewilderment among Barbara Pym readers. How was it possible that these two critics had entirely missed the point of her novels?

One comment among the extensive online discussion which especially resonated was that criticism of Barbara Pym feels personal to him in a way that it doesn’t with other authors. But why should we mind when Barbara Pym is dismissed or mocked when we can shrug off adverse criticism of other authors we enjoy?  Perhaps it is because Barbara Pym writes so tellingly (and with a sharp wit that is always funny but somehow never cruel) about ordinary people, dealing with the small things of life which are also the big things.  Twee and boring seem to be the wrong words for such richness.

But it’s more than that. When Barbara Pym’s characters make reappearances in her later novels, it’s like being given news of old and dear friends. They have an extraordinary habit of living alongside us; in wilder moments we may even feel we are becoming one of them. No wonder an attack can hurt…

 

 

Competitions to Enter in June

 

First of all, check out my post of May 7, which gives details of the Richard & Judy New Novel Competition. If you want a crack at winning that £30,000 prize, the deadline is June 14. Soon.

In celebration of the centenary of the creation of Czechoslovakia and other Czech and Slovak anniversaries the free-to-enter 2018 BCSA International Writing Competition has a theme of ‘Anniversary’. The winning prize has been increased to £400 and there is a second prize of £150. Both winners will be published in the British Czech and Slovak Review. The British Czech and Slovak Association is a registered charity with the aim of ‘raising awareness of matters relating to the history, arts, literature, politics and economies and science of Britain and the Czech Republics and the societal transitions in those Republics since 1989’. There are no age, nationality or educational restrictions on entering the competition – and although erudite offerings are welcome, one of the past winners was a humorous story. The closing date is June 30 and full details can be found on their website: http://www.bcsa.co.uk

Farnham Flash Festival has launched a new flash fiction competition for stories up to 500 words, with prizes of £100 (adult category), £50 (age 14-18), and £25 (12-14 and 7-11). The entry fee is £5 per story and the closing date June 10. Details at: http://www.farnhamflashfestival.org.uk

The Moth Short Story Prize 2018 has a first prize of £3,000, a second prize of £250 plus a stay at Circle of Misse writing retreat in France, and a third prize of £1,000. Stories on any theme are welcome, as long as they are previously unpublished. Deadline June 30. Full details: http://www.themothmagazine.com

The biannual Dorset Fiction Award invites entries for its summer competition for short fiction up to 1,000 words. There is a first prize of £500, with the winner and nine runners-up published in an anthology. Entry fee is £7 per story, and the closing date June 9. Website: http://www.dorsetfictionaward.co.uk

VS Pritchett Story Prize for short stories of 2,000-4,000 words. Prize: £1,000 plus publication. Entry fee: £7.50. Deadline June 29. Details: https://rsliterature.org/award/v-s-pritchett-memorial-prize

Bath Flash Fiction Award, max. 300 words. Entry fee £9; £15 for two; £18 for three. Prizes: £1,000; £300; £100; 2x£30. Deadline: 15 June. Details: http://www.bathflashfictionaward.com

The Wigton Poetry Competition 2018 has a first prize of £1,500 and a runner-up prize of £400 for poems of up to forty lines. Three highly commended poets will each win £100. The entry fee is £6.50, three for £17, £5 each subsequent. Closing date June 8. Details (including extra prizes for poems written in Gaelic): http://www.wigtownbookfestival.com/poetry-competition

The Brighton Prize is open for stories in two categories: short stories between 1,000 and 2,000 words, with a first prize of £1,000 and two runners-up each getting £100. Entry fee is £8. Their flash fiction category is for fiction up to 350 words, with a first prize of £500, with two runners-up each getting £50. The entry fee is £6. There is a £100 book token for the best entry in either category from a Sussex-based writer. Winning entries will be published in an anthology. Website: http://www.brightonprize.com. Closing date June 30.

Please check entry details, especially deadlines, really carefully in case of error. And don’t forget Writers’ Forum and Writing Magazine also have competitions, some of them available for non-subscribers.