Creative Writing Competitions to Enter in September

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Cinnamon Pencil Monitoring Competition, Crowvus Christmas Ghost Story, Hammond House 2022 Literary Prize, London Independent Story Prize, Moth Nature Writing Prize, Norwich Writers' Olga Sinclair Competition, Ovacome.org.uk, VS Pritchett Memorial Prize

Love dogs? Why not write a story about one? Chances are, the judge might have a soft spot for them, too.

Cinnamon Pencil Mentoring Competition for 10 poems, two short stories or the first 10,000 words of a novel. Prizes: a place on Cinnamon Pencil mentoring scheme. Entry fee: £12. Closing date: 13 September. Details: http://www.cinnamonpress.com

This year’s Hammond House 2022 Literary Prize – sponsored by University Centre Grimsby – is on the theme of ‘Changes’ and has five categories. Poetry: up to 40 lines. The prizes are £500, £50 and £20. Short Story: between 1,000 and 5,000 words. The prizes are £1,000, £100 and £50. Comedy: sketches (max four sides of A4) or stand-up scripts (max. two sides of A4). Winning scripts will be performed at the 2022 Literary Festival. This category is new for 2022. Scriptwriting: Scripts for film, TV, radio or short film, up to 10 pages. The prize is £250. Songwriting: lyrics or performed song. The prizes are £100. All entries must be original and unpublished and on the ‘Changes’ theme. Entry is £10 for one entry in a single category. Closing date: 30 September. Details: http://www.hammondhousepublishing.com/competitions

V S Pritchett Memorial Prize for unpublished stories between 2,000-4,000 words. Prizes: £1,000 plus publiction in RSL Review and Prospect online. Entry fee: £7.50. Deadline: 16 September. Details: http://www.rslit.org

Moth Nature Writing Prize for poetry, fiction or non-fiction exploring the writer’s relationship with the natural world. Prizes: 1,000 Euros and a week at The Moth Retreat in rural Ireland. Entry fee: 15 Euros. Closing date: 15 September. Details: http://www.themothmagazine.com

Page 100 Competition from independent publisher Louise Walters Books invites entries of 100 pages of a novel or novella manuscript. The competition is for an unpublished novel/novella of a minimum 20,000 words. Shortlisted writers will be asked to send their full manuscripts. The winner will receive mentoring for six months. The winner and two runners up will each receive a box of Louise Walters Books titles. Entry fee: £6.50. Closing date: 30 September. Details: http://www.louisewaltersbooks.co.uk

Norwich Writers’ Circle Olga Sinclair Open Short Story Competition. Stories up to 2,000 words on an open theme. Prizes: £500, £250 and £100. Entry fee: £9, £7 each subsequent. Closing date: 30 September. Details: http://norwichwriters.wordpress.com

Crowvus Christmas Ghost Story Competition for stories up to 4,000 words. Each author may enter up to two stories. Prizes: £100, £75 and £50. Entry fee: £3 per story. Deadline: 30 September. Details: http://www.crowvus.com/competition

Ovacome Writing Competition for short stories up to 1,500 words on the theme ‘perspective’. Prizes: £250, plus £50 Waterstones voucher. Entry fee: £5. Closing date: 30 September. Details: http://www.ovacome.org.uk

Good luck – and Snowy says please remember to double check your entry details.

Creative Writing Competitions to Enter this December

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Barbara Pym, Chorley & District Writers Circle Annual Short Story Competition, Globe Soup Flash Fiction 2021 Competition, HE Bates Short Story Competition London Independent Story Prize, Henshaw Short Story Competition, London Independent Story Prize, Moth Poetry Prize, Retreat West Themed Flash Fiction Prize, Ruth Rendell Short Story Competition, Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award, Sylvia Plath, Virginia Prize for Fiction

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Why not aim high, and end the year with a flurry of entries to competitions looking for short stories or recently completed novels in December? Over the years members of ninevoices have not only entered, but won or been short-listed for some of the competitions given on this site. It can be done…

The list for December entries is being posted earlier than usual, to give anyone interested in the Barbara Pym Competition the chance to enter. The deadline for that is Midnight on December lst. The Virginia Prize for Fiction also has a December lst closing date.

The 2022 Ellen J Miller Memorial Short Story Competition. If you are a fast writer, or a long-established fan of the work of Barbara Pym, you may just have time to enter this competition for a short story which prominently features one or more characters from her published novels. Entries must be between 2000-2200 words and must not be under consideration elsewhere, or have been submitted before. Prizes are: $250, $100 and $50, plus complimentary registration and meals at the Barbara Pym Society North American Conference in Boston. The winning entries will be read at the conference and will also be published on the Society’s website. and in their newsletter. Entry is free. Details: http://barbara-pym.org

The Globe Soup Flash Fiction 2021 Competition wants stories about a secret location that will be revealed when writers enter the contest. One winner will receive £1,000. Enter unpublished flash fiction up to 899 words in any genre or style for adult or young adult readers, with at least part set in the location. Closing date: 31 December. Entry appears to be free. Website: http://www.globesoup.net/writing-competitions

Green Stories Writing Competitions: Novels. For the first three chapters of a full length novel touching on ideas of sustainable societies. Prizes: A discounted appraisal from Daniel Goldsmith Associates. Free entry. Deadline 1 December. Details: http://www.greenstories.org.uk

HE Bates Short Story Competition for stories up to 2,000 words. Prizes: £500, £200, £100. Entry: £6, £10 for two. Closing date: 9 December. Details: ww.hebatescompetition.org.uk (Please make your own checks on this closing date, taken from Writing Magazine’s Competition Guide, since I haven’t been able to verify it it on-line)

Virginia Prize for Fiction for unpublished novels of at least 45,000 words by women. Prizes: development and publication of the winning novel. Entry fee: £25. Closing date: 1 December. Details: https://aurorametro.com/

Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award for stories up to 6,000 words, by authors with a record of publication. Prizes: £30,000, 5x£1,000. Free entry. Deadline: December 4. Details: http://www.shortstoryaward.co.uk

Chorley & District Writers Circle Annual Short Story Competition for stories up to 2,500 words on a theme to be confirmed. Prizes: £100, £50, 3x£20. Entry fee: £6, or £10 for two. Closing date: 15 December. Details: http://www.chorleywriters.org.uk

London Independent Story Prize for short stories up to 3,000 words, or flash up to 300 words. Prizes: £100 for both categories. Entry fee: £4. Closing date: 15 December. Details: http://www.londonindependentstoryprize.co.uk

Ruth Rendell Short Story Competition for stories up to 1,000 words. Prizes: £1,000 and commission to write four further storiesfor InterAct Reading Service over the course of one year. Entry fee: £15. Closing date: 21 December. Details: http://www.interactstrokesupport.org

Henshaw Short Story Competition for stories up to 2,000 words on any theme. Prizes: £200, £100, £50. Entry fee: £6. Quarterly closing date: 31 December. Details: http://www.henshawpress.co.uk

Write Time Competitions for stories up to 1,500 words by writers over 60. Prizes£50; £25×2; publication. Entry fee: £3, £5 for two. Quarterly closing date: 31 December. Details: https://writetime.org/

Retreat West Themed Flash Fiction Prize for up to 500 words on the theme of “after”. Prizes: £200; 2x£100, Entry fee: £8. Details: http://www.retreatwest.co.uk

Moth Poetry Prize for a single unpublished poem. Prizes: 6,000 Euros; 3×1,000 Euros, plus publication; 8×250 Euros. Entry fee: 15 Euros. Closing date: 31 December. Details: http://www.themothmagazine.com

So, please don’t leave your writing resolutions until the New Year and please, as ever, double-check all details before entry.

Ninevoices wish you all the happiest of Christmases and lots of good things for the New Year. Including some well-deserved writing successes. Just remember, somebody has to win these things… why shouldn’t it be you?

We will close with a favourite quote from the excellent Sylvia Plath:

“I love my rejections. They prove that I’m trying.”

Writing Competitions to Enter in April

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Bath Short Story Award, London Independent Story Prize, RA & Pin Drop Short Story Award, Retreat West Micro Fiction

With Easter fast approaching…

With Easter fast approaching, we suggest you let your imagination roam and write an entry for one of the competitions below. How about a story about whoever might live through the portal in this old tree, near Kent’s Scotney Castle? A rabbit family? A fairy band? Some lilliputian people?

On another miniature theme, Retreat West Micro Fiction require exactly 100 words, to a prompt posted on the website each month. Prizes: 50% of the total entry fees received. Entry fee: £4. Closing date 10 April. Details: http://www.retreatwest.co.uk

The Yeovil Literary Prize is for novels (opening chapters and synopsis up to 15,000 words), short stories (maximum 2,000 words), poems (up to 40 lines) and ‘writing without restriction’. Prizes: Novel: £1,000, £250, £100; Short story and poetry, £500, £200, £100; Writing without restrictions: £200 £100, £50. Entry fee: Novel: £12; Short story: £7; Poetry: £7 for one, £10 for two, £12 for three; Writing without restrictions: £5. Closing date: 30 April. Full details: http://www.yeovil

The Bath Short Story Award is for stories up to 2,200 words, in any style, and on any subject. Prizes: £1,200, £300, £100, £50 for the best local writer, £100 Acorn Award for the best story by an unpublished writer. Entry fee: £8. Deadline 19 April. Details: http://bathshortstoryaward.org

Killing It : The Killer Reads Competition from HarperFiction is open for entries from undiscovered crime writers. They want the first 10,000 words of an unpublished commercial crime, thriller or suspense manuscript. Three winners will be chosen, and will receive editorial reports from HarperFiction editors on their full manuscript plus editorial mentoring from a HarperFiction editor. Send the first 10,000 words of a complete or near-complete work, plus a synopsis of up to 500 words and a brief paragraph about yourself. ENTRY IS FREE, but each writer may enter once only. The closing date is 7 April. Details: http://www.killerreads.com/killing-it/

RA & Pin Drop Short Story Award for stories up to 4,000 words. Prize: A reading by a special guest at an evening at the Royal Academy of Arts. FREE ENTRY. Deadline: 15 April. Details: http://pindropstudio.com/

London Independent Story Prize for short stories, max. 1,500 words; flash 300 words; short screenplays, max 30 pages; feature screenplays. Prizes: £100 for stories and flash, Final Draft software for screenplays. Entry fee: £7 for flash, £10 for screenplays. Earlybird deadline: 15 April. Details: http://www.londonindependentstoryprize.co.uk

As ever – PLEASE double-check all entry details, including the deadline dates. We live in changing times and this has altered things like deadlines, or even resulted in cancellations of some competitions.

Someone has to win, remember. Best of luck that it might be you this time round.