March 2019: Competition Monthly
18 March 2019
A Bumper Crop of Competitions for Spring
Not only is there another abundance of competitions as we approach spring, but there’s a preponderance of short story contests to get stuck into.
Something a little different is the Furious Fiction Competition. It gives you only the weekend to write and hone your short story. If you enter this, make sure you keep an eye on the time as it starts 5pm on the Friday, Australian time (which of the three Aussie time zones I’ve no idea!). However, there is a clock on the site which will help. I’ve known people who’ve entered similar competitions and found the limited time immensely helpful in getting a project finished.
If you fancy a free week at Swanwick Writers’ Summer School in August, there are three chances to win a place. I went to Swanwick for the first time last year and I heartily recommend it.
Finally, the Creative Future Writers’ Award is for under-represented writers in the UK who find it difficult to access the literary world either because of mental health issues, disability, health or social circumstance. Anyone who wishes to enter will have to state on the form why they think they qualify.
See February 2019’s competition post for further competitions that are still open here
Good luck in your competition endeavours.
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Rolling competitions:
Writers’ Forum Short Story Competition
Theme: Open. 1,000 – 3,000 words
Prize: £300 / £150 / £100
Closing date: Ongoing
Entry: Subscribers £3, non subscribers £6
Closing Soon:
Gemini Magazine Short Story Competition
Theme: Open. Any length
Prize: US$5,000 / $250 / 3 x $50
Closing date: 1 April 2019
Entry: US$10
Furious Fiction
Theme: Announced 5pm 5th April (Australian time)
Prize: Aus$500
Closing date: 7 April 2019
Entry: Free
Tethered by Letters Short Story Contest
Theme: Open. 1,000 – 7,500
Prize: US$1,000
Closing date: 5 April 2019
Entry: US$15
Bath Short Story Award
Theme: Open. 2,200 max.
Prize: £1,200 / £300 / £100. £50 local prize. £100 for unpublished writer.
Closing date: 15 April 2019
Entry: £8
Shooter Short Story Competition
Theme: Open. 5,000 words max.
Prize: £500 / £100
Closing date: 21 April 2019
Entry: £7
Glimmer Train Short Story Award for New Writers
Theme: Open. 12,000 words max.
Prize: US$2,500 / $500 / $300
Closing date: 30 April 2019
Entry: US$18
Glimmer Train Family Matters Short Story Competition
Theme: Families. 12,000 words max.
Prize: US$2,500 / $500 / $300
Closing date: 30 April 2019
Entry: US$18
The Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award
Theme: Any paranormal or supernatural theme. 1,500 – 10,000 words
Prize: US$1,000 / 2 x $250
Closing date: 30 April 2019
Entry: US$20
Tamworth Literary Festival Competition
Theme: Open. 1,500 words max.
Prize: £100 / £50 / £25
Closing date: 30 April 2019
Entry: £4
Win Your Way to Swanwick 2019
Theme: Short story or children’s fiction up to 1,000 on theme of ‘Close Call’. (Also poetry)
Prize: Fully inclusive week at 2019 Summer School.
Closing date: 30 April 2019
Entry: £6
Tom Howard / John H Reid Fiction Contest
Theme: Open. 6,000 words max.
Prize: US$2,000 / 10 x $100
Closing date: 30 April 2019
Entry: $20
May competitions:
Bristol Short Story Prize
Theme: Open. 4,000 words max.
Prize: £1,000 / £500 / £250 / /17 x £100
Closing date: 1 May 2019
Entry: £9
Remastered Words Short Story Competition
Theme: Any fantasy sub-genre. 5,000 words max
Prize: £75 / £50 / £25 plus story entered in audio anthology from which writers receive royalties.
Closing date: 1 May 2019
Entry: Free
Blue Pencil Agency First Novel Award
Theme: All genres except children’s and non-fiction. First 5,000 words
Prize: £1,000 plus introduction to literary agent / £250 plus manuscript review
Closing date: 31 May 2019
Entry: £20
1,000 Word Challenge
Theme: ‘Thirteen’
Prize: £150 / £75 / £50
Closing date: 31 May 2019
Entry: £5
Early June Competitions:
The Bath Novel Award
Theme: First 5,000 words & one page synopsis of complete novels over 50,000 words
Prize: £2,500 plus literary agent introduction / two further prizes
Closing date: 2 June 2019
Entry: £25
Creative Future Writers’ Award
Theme: ‘Home’. 2,000 words max.
Prize: Various cash and other prizes
Closing date: 2 June 2019
Entry: Optional donation
Bath Flash Fiction Award
Theme: Open. 300 words max
Prize: £1,000 / £300 / £100
Closing date: 9 June 2019
Entry: £7.50 until 14 April, then £9
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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. Her first book, Danger for Daisy, was published by My Weekly Pocket Novels at the end of 2018. Apart from the RNA, she’s also a member of the Society for Women Writers and Journalists. Francesca runs a writing blog along with RNA member Elaine Roberts called Write Minds.
