January’s Competition Monthly
22 January 2018
A new year, a new start. Francesca hopes you’ll find something familiar, or even better, something outside your comfort zone in this latest selection of competitions.
When I first attended Adult Education creative writing classes I’d written several short stories and poems, but not a lot else. Our tutor (author Elaine Everest), encouraged us to try our hand at all sorts of different writing. We had a go at scripts, several forms of poetry, articles, flash fiction, tips and fillers, leaflets, non-fiction books, novels and a few more things besides.
One of the most valuable aspects of these classes was that we were also encouraged to submit to all sorts of markets. Between us, we’ve ended up with a whole heap of different
genres and types of writing published in different arenas. This success is largely due to us being pushed to write and submit outside of our comfort zone. Today, now running her own classes, Elaine still encourages us to try new things, giving us challenges that we might not normally tackle.
It’s a new year, so why not try a competition outside of your comfort zone? Or dig out work you’ve abandoned in order to write something else. The selection this month includes short stories, novels for adults and children, script writing, poetry, flash fiction and two humour competitions. Perhaps you fancy yourself as a Ben Elton or Carla Lane? Perhaps the new Mike Leigh? Have a go and see what new doors you can open.
Good luck to you all, and don’t forget to let us know of any successes you have.
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Kelpies Prize 2018
Theme: Children’s novel set in Scotland for either 8-10 or 12-15 year olds.
Prize: Winning author, £2,000
Closing date: 28 February 2018
Entry: Free
Bridgend Writers’ Circle Short Story Competition
Theme: Open. 1,500 – 1,800 words
Prize: £200 / £50 / £30
Closing date: 1st March 2018
Entry: £5 / £7.50 for 2
The International Windsor Fringe Award for New Drama Writing
Theme: Plays of 30 minutes max, 6 actors max. Only amateur playwrights.
Prize: 3 winners selected for stage performance.
Closing date: 5 March 2018
Entry: £10
Brittle Star Short Story Fiction Competition (also poetry)
Theme: Open, 2,000 words max.
Prize: £250 per genre / £50 pg / £25 pg
Closing date: 14 March 2018
Entry: £5 / £3.50 each subsequent
Writing Magazine Humour Short Story Competition
Theme: Humorous short story, 1,500 – 1,700 words.
Prize: £200 plus publication in magazine / £50 plus publication online
Closing date: 15 March 2018
Entry: £5 / £3 for subscriberss
Edge Hill Short Story Prize
Theme: Single author collection of short stories, published between 1st Jan & 31 Dec 2017 (not self published)
Prize: £10,000 / £1,000 reader’s choice.
Closing date: 23 March 2018
Entry: Free
Retreat West Flash Fiction
Theme: ‘Forgetting’.
500 words max. No children’s stories
Prize: £200 / 2 x £75
Closing date: 25 March 2018
Entry: £8
The International Rubery Book Award
Theme: For international and self published books.
Prize: £1,500 plus read by top literary agent. Catergory winners £150 each. No publication
date restriction. All genres.
Closing date: 31 March 2018
Entry: £36
Twisted Mysteries Writing Competition
Theme: Read the brief, but basically what lies beneath the surface in 1933.
Prize: £100 / £50 / £25 plus all winners published in an eBook anthology.
Closing date: 30 March 2018
Entry: £5
Scottish Arts Club Short Story Award
Theme: Open. Max 1,500 words. Unpublished writers only (novel and short story)
Prize: £1,000 / 2 x 100 / Scottish prize £500
Closing date: 31 March 2018
Entry: £10
Writers Bureau Short Story Competition
Theme: Open. 2,000 words max.
Prize: £300 / £200 / £100 / £50 plus a WB course for all winners
Closing date: 31 March 2018
Entry: £5
Writers’ Forum Fiction Competition (also poetry)
Theme: Open. 1,000 – 3,000 words
Prize: £300 / £150 / £100
Closing date: Rolling.
Entry: £6 / £3 for subscribers
(Writers’ Forum also have a flash fiction competition each month, but the duration for
each is short and you’ll need to look for the current theme)
Bristol Poetry Prize
Theme: Open. Up to 100 lines.
Prize: £600 / £300 / £100
Closing date: 31 March 2008
Entry: £6
Details (scroll down)
Wergel Flump Humor Poetry Contest
Theme: Humorous poem up to 250 lines
Prize: £1,000 / £250 / 10 x £100
Closing date: 1st April 2018
Entry: Free
Looking Ahead
First Novel Prize
Theme: Novels over 50,000 words
Prize: £1,000 / £250 / £100
Closing date: Open February 1st – 31 May 2018
Entry: £25
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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 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.
