Creative Writing Competitions to Enter in the New Year

Tags

Bath Flash Fiction Novella in Flash Award, Discoveries 2022 Award, Fish Memoir Contest, Mogford Prize for Food and Drink Writing, Retreat West First Chapter Competition, The Exeter Novel Prize

January is the time for New Year Resolutions which, for writers, will surely involve finishing that novel or winning a writing competition or two…or three. To help concentrate your mind, below are some tempting opportunities – but please note that some of the deadlines are right at the beginning of the month, which is why this post is a few days early.

The Exeter Novel Prize requires the first 10,000 words of a novel not under contract, including a 500-word synopsis. Any genre can be entered, with the exception of children’s. Prizes: £500, 5x£100. Entry fee: £18. Closing date: 1 January. Details: http://www.creativewritingmatters.co.uk

Mogford Prize for Food and Drink Writing for short stories with food and drink themes, up to 2,500 words. Prizes: £10,000m 3x£250. Entry fee: £10. Closing date: 12 January. Details: http://www.mogfordprize.co.uk/

Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize for the first 40-50 pages of a finished but unpublished novel by a woman writer. Prizes: £1,500. Entry fee: 12. Closing Date 17 January. (Now extended to 12 February) Details: http://www.lucy-cav.cam.ac.uk/fictionprize/

Bath Flash Fiction Novella in Flash Award for flash fiction novellas between 56,00 and 18,000 words. Prizes: £300, 2x£100; publicatin. Entry fee: £16. Closing date: 16 January. Details: https://bathflashfictionaward.com/

Discoveries 2022 Award for novels by female unpublished writers. Prizes: First prize is representation by Curtis Brown Literary Agency and a cash prize of £5,000, plus the opportunity to workshop their manuscript with an Audible commissioning editor specifically matched to their writing style and genre; one promising writer from the shortlist of six will be named Discoveries Scholar and win a free scholarship place to attend a three-month Writing Your Novel course with Curtis Brown, worth £1,800; all shortlisted writers will be offered a mentoring session plus free enrollment on a Curtis Brown Creative six-week online course worth £210; all 16 longlisted authors will be invited to join the two-week online Discoveries Writing Development course, plus receive an annual Audible subscription. Send the first 10,000 words, plus a synopsis of between 500-1,000 words. Entry is free. Deadline 17 January. Details: discoveries.curtisbrowncreative.co.uk/

Retreat West First Chapter Competition for the first chapter of a novel, up to 3,500 words. Prizes: critique and review. Entry fee: £10. Closing date: 31 January. Details: http://www.retreatwest.co.uk

UK Film Festival Script Writing Competitions for 3-minute scripts, 10-minute scrips, feature film scripts. Prizes: winning scripts passed to leading directors. Entry fee: varies with category and date: enter early. Closing dte: 28 January. Details: http://www.ukfilmfestival.com

Lancashire Authors’ Association Flash Fiction Competition for a story in exactly 100 words. Prizes: £100. Entry fee: £2, £5 for three. Closing date: 31 January. Details: http://www.lancashireauthorsassociation.co.uk

Fish Short Memoir Contest for personal non-fiction, up to 4,000 words. Prizes: 1,000 Euros, publication in annual Fish Anthology, a week at Casa Ana Writers retreat in Andalucia and 300 Euros expenses; 200 Euros. Entry fee: 18 Euros Closing date: 31 January. Details: http://www.fishpublishing.com

Please check all entry details with special care. Best of luck!

Creative Writing Competitions to Enter in January

Tags

Creative Writing Competitions, Retreat West First Chapter Competition, The Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize

Most of us long to escape our present circumstances, so why not do so by immersing yourself in a new story (perhaps Tanya’s prize-winning compliment to the style of Barbara Pym?), by ordering a new book (plenty of those on offer via Amazon or Waterstones on-line) or – better still – by penning something for one of the writing competitions on offer in the New Year?

The Fish Short Memoir Prize has a word limit of 4,000, an entry fee of £16, and closes on January 31. Prizes are: 1,000 Euros; a Writing Course plus 200 Euros; 200 Euros; with the 10 best memoirs being published in the Fish Anthology 2021. Details: http://www.fishpublishing.com

The Henshaw Short Story Competition requires a maximum of 2,000 words and entries must not have been published before the submission date. Entry fee is £6 (add £12 for an optional critique). Prizes: £200; £100; £50; plus publication in the next Henshaw Anthology. Deadline 6 January. Details: http://www.henshawpress.co.uk

The Mogford Food & Drink Short Story Prize has a magnificent £10,000 first prize, together with the story read by an actor and uploaded onto the Storyplayer website; three other entrants will receive £500. The entry fee is £16 and the requirement is a maximum of 2,500 words, with the theme of food and drink at the heart of the story. The deadline is 13 January and details can be found: http://www.mogfordprize.co.uk/how-to-enter

The Bath Flash Fiction Novella in Flash Award is for ‘linked flashes’ of 6,000-18,000 words. Entry fee is £16 and the deadline 17 January. Prizes: £300, 2 x £100, publication. Details: http://bathflashfictionaward.com/

The Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize for the first 40-50 pages of a finished but unpublished novel by a woman. Prizes: £1,500. Entry fee: £12. Closing date: 17 January. Details: http://www.lucy-cav.cam.ac.uk/fiction/prize/

The Kent and Sussex Poetry Society Open Competition is for a poem of under lines. Entry Fee: £5; £4 each for three or more. Prizes: £1,000; £300; £100; 4 x £50. Deadline: 31 January. Details: kentandsussex-poetry.com/the-kent-sussex-poetry-socity-open-competition

The London Magazine Short Story Award. Short stories up to 4,000 words. Prizes: £500; £300; £200. Entry fee: £10; £5 each subsequent. Closing date January 15. Details: http://www.thelondonmagazine.org

Retreat West First Chapter, for the first chapter of a novel on any theme, up to 3,500 words. Please read the entry requirements carefully, since including a prologue will disqualify you. Prizes: critique and review. Entry fee: £10. Closing date: 31 January. Details: http://www.retreatwest.co.uk

Finally – though this is really close to the wire – The Exeter Novel Prize is open until midnight tonight, the 1st January. They require your first 10,000 words, plus a synopsis, and the competition is open to currently unagented authors. The entry must be the opening of the novel; no children’s books. Prizes: £500 plus a trophy; 5 runners-up will receive $100. Entry fee is £18 and the deadline, as mentioned above, midnight on January 1st. Details: http://www.creativewritingmatters.co.uk

Please remember to double check all details before entering as some competitions are being cancelled because of covid crisis difficulties.

We are entering a new year full of hope for better things to come. So stay safe, and follow your writing star.

Competitions to Enter in January

Tags

Arundel Festival Theatre Trail Writing Competition, Bath Flash Fiction and Novella Award, Fish Short Memoir Contest, Kent & Sussex Open Poetry Competition, Lancashire Writers' Group Open Writing Competition, Lucy Cavendish Fiction Award, Mogford Prize for Food and Drink Writing, Plymouth Writers' Group Open Writing Competition, Retreat West First Chapter Competition

If you’re anything like ninevoices, one of your New Year’s Resolutions will have been to write more and to enter more competitions, especially those that might give feedback. Skipper would definitely approve. So it’s time to put on those reading specs and scrutinise the opportunities below:

You’ll need to be quick, as the deadline is to day, but The Exeter Novel Prize is looking for the first 10,000 words of a novel not under contract, together with a 500 word synopsis. Any genre except children’s. Prizes: £500, with five £100 runners-up. Entry fee is: £18 – but for £100 they will give you a 1-page report on your entry. Details can be found at: http://www.creativewritingmatters.co.uk

The Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize for unpublished female authors over 21 to win expert guidance and support from publishing agent Peters Fraser Dunlop, plus a cash prize of £1,500. Deadline: 17 January. Entry fee: £12. Details: http://www.lucy-cav.cam.ac.uk/fictionprize

The Mogford Prize for Food and Drink Writing. Short stories with food and drink themes, up to 2,500 words. (Plenty of inspiration from the last couple of weeks!) Judges Stephen Fry and Pru Leith. Prizes: £10,000, 3x£250. Entry fee: £10. Closing date: 13 January. Details: http://www.mogfordprize.co.uk/

Bath Flash Fiction Novella in Flash Award for flash fiction and novellas between 6,000 and 18,000 words. Prizes: £300, 2 x £100. Entry fee: £16. Deadline: 20 January. Details: http://bathflashfictionaward.com/

Retreat West First Chapter Competition for the first chapter of a novel up to 3,500 words. Prizes: Critique and review. Entry fee: £10. Closing date: 26  January. Details: http://www.retreatwest.co.uk

Arundel Festival Theatre Trail Writing Competition for short plays, 30-40 minutes. Prizes: £250, £150 for each shortlisted play, performance. Free entry – what do you have to lose? Closing date: 31 January. Details: http://www.dripaction.com

Fish Short Memoir Contest for personal non-fiction up to 4,000 words. Prizes: 1,000 Euros, publication; a week at Casa Ana Writers retreat in Andalucia and 300 Euros travel expenses. Entry fee: 17 Euros. Closing date: 31 January. Details: http://www.fishpublishing.com

Kent & Sussex Poetry Society Open Poetry Competition for poems up to 40 lines. Prizes: £1,000, £300, £100, 4 x £50. Entry fee: £5; 3 or more £4 each. Closing date: 31 January. Details: http://www.kentandsussexpoetry.com

Lancashire Authors’ Association Flash Fiction Competition for a story in exactly 100 words. Prizes: £150. Entry fee: £2, £5 for three. Closing date 31 January. Details: http://www.lancashireauthorsassociation.co.uk

Plymouth Writers’ Group Open Writing Competition for  short stories of 1,000-1,500 words. Prizes: £250, £50, anthology publication for top five. Entry fee: £5. Closing date: 31 January. Details: http://plymouthwritersgroup.co.uk

As always, please check all entry details before submitting. Remember those New Year Resolutions and, good luck!