Creative Writing Competitions to Enter in November

Tags

000 words Novel Competition, Bath Children's Novel Award, Betty Trask Prize, Caledonian Novel Award, Creative Mind Horwich Prize, Fish Short Story Competition, Hastings Writers Room First 1, Retreat West Novelette Flash Prize, Writers Bureau Flash Fiction Competition

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness… A time to curl up with a really good book, or maybe even to write one.

The Caledonian Novel Award for an unpublished novel of at least 50,000 words. First 20 pages plus 200-word synopsis. Open to over-18s only. Entry fee: £25. Prize: £1,500, plus trophy. Runner-up from UK or Ireland to receive free place on writing course at Moniack Mhor Creative Writing Centre. Deadline: 1 November. Details: thecaledonianovel-award.com/rules-entry/

Hastings Writers Room First 1,000 words Novel Competition for a psychological thriller, gothic horror or crime novel. Prizes: £100, £50, trophy, signed books, judge’s feedback on the shortlisted entries. Entry fee: £7. Deadline 30 November. Details: http://www.hastingswritersroom.org

Retreat West Novelette Flash Prize for 3,000-8,000-words total, made up of flashes up to 500 words each. Prizes: £150, £100, £50; publication. Entry fee: £14. Closing Date 29 November. Details: http://www.retreatwest.co.uk

Betty Trask Prize for published or unpublished traditional or romantic (not experimental) first novels by authors under the age of 35 on 31 December. Prizes: £20,000 total, to be used for foreign travel. FREE ENTRY. Deadline: 30 November. Details: http://www.societyofauthors.org

Bath Children’s Novel Award for unpublished and independently published writers of children’s novels. Send first 5,000 words plus synopsis. Prizes: £3,000, manuscript feedback, Cornerstones online course. Deadline: 29 November. Details: http://www.bathnovelaward.co.uk

Creative Mind Horwich Prize for short stories up to 1,500 words or poems up to 40 lines on the theme ‘walking in nature’. Prizes £50, £30 and £20 each category. Entry fee: £3, £5 for three. Closing date: 7 November. Details: http://creativemindhorwich.btck.co.uk

Fish Short Story International Writing Prize, word limit 5,000 words. Prizes: 3,000 Euros; Week at Anam Cara Writers’ Retreat; 300 Euros; 7 runners-up will receive 200 Euros each. Entry fee: £18. Deadline 30 November. Details: http://www.fishpublishing.com

Writers Bureau Flash Fiction Competition for stories up to 500 words, open theme. Prizes: £300, £200, £100, plus Writers Bureau course. Entry fee: £5, £10 for three. Closing date: 30 November. Details: http://www.wbcompetition.com

Do please remember to check entry details in case of last-minute changes.

Someone has to win these competitions, why not you? Best of luck!

Competitions to Enter in November

Tags

Aeon Award, Against the Grain Poetry Press, Bath Children's Novel Award, black cats, Caledonian Novel Award, Cornerstones, Everything With Words Urban YA Competition, Fish Short Story Competition, Inktears Short Story Competition, Mother's Milk Books, Nanowrimo, Sylvia Plath, The White Review Poets Prize 2018

 

With Hallowe’en imminent, here is a spooky/lucky black cat for you. The chair on which Gizzy is conducting her radiator worship was purchased from an antique shop in Edenbridge, then humped laboriously back to the car park at the far end of the High Street. My plan was to recline in it for late afternoon reading of Jane Austen. Fat chance…

Everything With Words independent children’s publisher wants entries for its Urban YA Competition, for a debut novel set in today’s urban, multi-cultural Britain. The winner will receive £1,000, plus possible publication. Novels should be between 40,000 and 700,000 words and may be written by agented or unagented writers, but must be the author’s first novel for YA readers. Send novel and a 500-word summary, with “YA competition” in subject line. Closing date is 30 November and THERE IS NO ENTRY FEE, so what do you have to lose? Details: wwweverythingwithwords.com

The Against the Grain Poetry Press (which publishes three collections each year) is inviting original unpublished entries for its Poem Competition 2018. The winning entry will be submitted to the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem, and will be awarded £100. There are second and third prizes of £50 and £25. Entry fee is £5 for two poems, or £10 for five poems. Closing date is 30 November. Details: atgcompetition@gmail.com

Indie press Mother’s Milk Books is inviting submissions of dark fairy tales for the fifth in the series of their popular annual anthology The Forgotten and The Fantastical. Stories should be up to 5,000 words and may be set in the present day or in any fantastical or sci-fi setting. Entry is free, but submitting writers are asked to buy a copy of one of the previous books in the series through the website and to include the invoice number with their submission. Each accepted author will be paid £20 and will receive a complimentary book and the chance to read at the book launch in Nottingham. Closing date 30 November. Details: submissions@mothersmilkbooks.com

Arkbound Short Story Competition for stories between 500 and 1,000 words on the theme of ‘time‘. Prizes: £100, £50, £25, 3 x £20. Entry fee: £3. Arkbound will sponsor entries from disadvantaged people. Closing date 1 November. Details: competitions@arkbound.com

Caledonia Novel Award for the first 20 pages, plus 200-word synopsis, of a novel by an unpublished writer. Prize: £1,000, plus trophy. Entry fee: £25. Closing date 1 November. Details: http://www.caledoniannovelaward

Fish Short Story Competition for stories up to 5,000 words. Prizes: 3,000 Euros for first; a week at Anam Cara Writer’s Retreat in West Cork, plus 300 Euros expenses for second; 300 Euros for third. Entry fee: 20 Euros for the first, 10 Euros thereafter. Closing date 30 November. Details: info@fishpublishing.com

Inktears Short Story Competition for stories between 1,000 and 3,500 words. Prizes: £1,000, £100, 4 x £25. Entry fee £7.50. Closing date 30 November. Details: http://www.inktears.com

Aeon Award for short stories up to 10,000 words ‘in any spec fic genre’.

Ely Amnesty Group Short Story Competition for stories up to 1,500 words on the theme of ‘hope’. Prizes: £50, publication. Entry fee: £5. Closing date

National Novel Writing Month is an annual internet-based creative writing project that takes place during November. Participants attempt to write a 50,000 word manuscript between 1 November and 30 November. Although there is no monetary prize, participants can get on-line support, pep-talks, and can even get involved in local events. This could be a brilliant way to get started on a new novel project.  Details: https://nanowrimo.org

Literary magazine The White Review is inviting entries for The White Review Poets Prize 2018. The winner will receive £1,700, expert professional advice and will be published in the Review. To enter, submit between five and ten pages of original and unpublished poetry. The entry fee is £12. Closing date 6 November. Details: http://www.thewhitereview.org.

As ever, let me remind you to check entry details with care before submitting in case I’ve got something wrong…!

And finally, to also remind you that even rejections give something positive back, is that brilliantly encouraging quote from Sylvia Plath: