May 2018: Competition Monthly
21 May 2018
Francesca looks at the different prizes on offer
A few days ago it was announced that the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic fiction will not be awarding the annual prize to anyone this year. Apparently none of the books submitted made the judges laugh out loud. A little sad for all the authors who submitted their already published novels, especially as they’ve presumably entered for the prestige of winning rather than the prize. This consists of a jeroboam of Bollinger Champagne and a set of PG Wodehouse novels, as well as having a local rare breed pig named after the winning novel.
So what are you prepared to accept for a prize? Money only? Books, book tokens or a chance to perform your work? A writing course/retreat or a week’s holiday? A chance to pitch to an agent? Mentoring ? Short story publication with no recompense? Membership of a literary organisation or a writing residency? A publishing contract and free copies of your book? These are all prizes I’ve come across as I’ve looked through competitions currently open.
What a writer is prepared to accept for all their hard work is up to the individual, though it’s always advisable to read the small print for hidden conditions. I personally wouldn’t be happy with having my entry published without some kind of payment, though I did in my early days as a writer in order to get my name ‘out there’. Some prizes of holidays or retreats don’t pay for your travel there, so that’s another consideration. If the competition is offering a retreat or course away, are the dates convenient for you? If the prize is publication, is the publisher concerned one you feel you can work with?
Hopefully you can find the competition and prize you’re looking for in the bumper crop below. The best of luck to everyone and don’t forget to let us know of any competition success.
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Closing Soon:
Bath Flash Fiction Award
Theme: Open. 300 words max
Prize: £1,000 / £300 / £100 / 2 x £30 / 50 shortlisted to be offered publication in anthology
Closing date: 10 June 2018
Entry: £9
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Rest of June competitions:
Creative Future Literary Awards
Theme: “Chemistry”. 1,000 words max. Only those who are underrepresented in the literary world through disability, mental health, health or social circumstances may enter.
Prize: Selection of cash and other prizes
Closing date: 18 June 18
Entry: Free
Eyelands International Short Story Competition
Theme: “Luggage”. 2,500 words max
Prize: Week’s holiday on Crete / First three winners in the English and Greek anthologies
Closing date: 20 June 18
Entry: €10
Erewash Writing Competitions 2018
Theme: “Summer Gardens”. Short stories 1,500 – 2,000 words, Flash fiction 500 words max
Prize: £25 for short story winner / £10 for one flash winner
Closing date: 21 June 18
Entry: Free
Retreat West Themed Flash Fiction Competition
Theme: “Reunions”. 500 words max
Prize: £200 / 2 x £100
Closing date: 24 June 18
Entry: £8
Commonword Diversity Young Adult Fiction Prize
Theme: Must embrace ethnic diversity. Children’s book 8+ or Young Adult. 4,000 words plus synopsis. Must previously be unpublished.
Prize: £1,000 plus mentoring and an Arvon course / £500
Closing date: 29 June 18
Entry: £10
Flash 500 Flash Fiction Competition
Theme: Open.
Prize: £300 / £200 / £100
Closing date: 30 June 18
Entry: £7
Blue Pencil Agency First Novel Award
Theme: First Chapter of a novel up to 5,000 words, synopsis and cover letter from unrepresented and unpublished authors
Prize: £1,000 plus introduction to agent Madeleine Milburn / £250 and manuscript review from editor
Closing date: 30 June 18
Entry: £20
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July Competitions:
The Brighton Prize Short Story Competition
Theme: Open. 1,000 – 2,000 words
Prize: £1,000 / 2 x £100
Closing date: 1 July 18
Entry: £8
The Brighton Prize Flash Fiction Competition
Theme: Open. 350 words max
Prize: £500 / 2 x £50
Closing date: 1 July 18
Entry: £6
Myriad Fist Drafts Competition
Theme: Submissions only from unpublished women who identify as being of African heritage or descent. 5,000 words of work in progress, synopsis and cover letter
Prize: Week’s retreat in West Dean College, Sussex and publication in an anthology with major writers such as Malorie Blackman and Zadie Smith.
Closing date: 6 July 18
Entry: £10
Doris Gooderson Short Story Competition
Theme: Open. 1,200 words max
Prize: £200 / £100 / £50
Closing date: 12 July 18
Entry: £5
Wasafari New Writing Prize
Theme: Open. 3,000 words max
Prize: Winners published in Wasafari and will receive a cash prize
Closing date: 13 July 18
Entry: £6
Trouble and Strife Short Story Competition
Theme: Stories of protest. 1,000 words max
Prize: £500 / £250 / £125
Closing date: 15 July 18
Entry: £5
Staunch Book Prize
Theme: A thriller where no woman is harmed. First 5,000 words, one page synopsis
Prize: £2,000
Closing date: 15 July 18
Entry: £20
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Francesca Capaldi Burgess has been placed or shortlisted in a number of competitions including Winchester Writers’ Conference, Twyford Writers, Chorley & District Writer’s Circle, Retreat West, Cordelia.net, Meridian Writing, Flash a Famous Phrase, Wells Festival and Writing Magazine. She’s had stories and a serial published in magazines worldwide and in three anthologies, including Diamonds and Pearls and 100 Stories for Haiti plus a few articles and even a poem. She is a member of the RNA New Writers’ Scheme and the Society for Women Writers and Journalists. Francesca runs a writing blog along with RNA member Elaine Roberts called Write Minds.
