man up creative writing competition

Man Up! Creative Writing Competition

Please note this competition is now closed., are you 15-25, a nd an aspiring writer .

Last week was the final week of our Man Up! exhibition. To mark its end, we are inviting young writers to take part in a creative writing competition inspired by the exhibition.

Man Up! highlights stories of women in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries who stepped into male roles. By picking up a pen, pistol or sword, they broke with convention to survive and thrive.  Out of necessity or choice, to seek glory or escape the fetters of a restrictive life – they kept control over their inheritance, unashamedly sought fame, adopted fake names, took to the high seas, or even joined the army. To meet some of these pioneering women, you can view the exhibition online .

We are now looking for short stories and poems inspired by the women and stories in Man Up! Entries can be entirely fictional or based on fact.

• A Man Up! Bundle of merchandise
• Publication in the Summer issue of Chawton House’s magazine, The Female Spectator
• House & Gardens Annual ticket for the winner + 1 adult

15-17 years old

Poetry (not more than 50 lines)

Short story (500-1000 words)

18-25 years old

Short Story (not more than 1500 words)

To take part, please email your submission to [email protected] with the subject heading ‘Man Up Creative Writing Competition’. Please include your name, address, and age.

Deadline: 15 August, 2021

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25 Best Writing Competitions for High School Students – 2024

April 12, 2024

Over the past several years, the number of college applicants has been steadily rising. [i] As college admissions become more competitive, there are many steps a student can take to achieve high school success and become an outstanding candidate for college admissions: earning high SAT scores, securing strong letters of recommendation , and participating in various competitions will all boost your admissions prospects. [ii] In particular, writing competitions for high school students are a popular way to win scholarships and prize money, receive feedback on writing, build a portfolio of public work, and add to college application credentials!

Below, we’ve selected twenty-five writing competitions for high school students and sorted them by three general topics: 1) language, literature and arts, 2) STEM, environment and sustainability, and 3) politics, history and philosophy. It’s never too soon to begin thinking about your future college prospects, and even if you are a freshman, many of these writing competitions for high schoolers will be open to you! [iii]

Writing Competitions for High School Students in Language, Literature, and Arts

1) adroit prizes for poetry and prose.

This prestigious creative writing award offers high school students the opportunity to showcase their work in Adroit Journal . Judges are acclaimed writers in their respective genres.

• Eligibility: All high school students (including international students) are eligible to apply. Poetry contestants may submit up to five poems. Prose contestants may submit up to three pieces of fiction or nonfiction writing (for a combined total of 3,500 words – excerpts accepted).
• Prize: Winners will receive $200 and their writing will be published in Adroit Journal . All submitted entries will be considered for publication!
• Deadline: May 1st (specific deadline may vary by year).

2)  Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest

This unique essay competition allows writers the chance to explore and respond to Ayn Rand’s fascinating and polemic 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged . Specific essay topics are posted every three months; prizes are granted seasonally with a grand prize winner announced every year.

• Prize: Annual grand prize is $25,000.
• Deadline: Deadlines occur every season, for each seasonal prompt.
• Eligibility: Essays must be written in English and be 800-1,600 words in length.

Writing Competitions for High School Students (Continued)

3)  the bennington young writers awards.

Through Bennington College, this high school writing competition offers three prizes in three different genre categories: poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Winners and finalists who decide to attend Bennington College will ultimately receive a substantial scholarship prize.

• Eligibility: U.S. and international students in grades 9 through 12 may apply.
• Prize: First place winners receive $1,000; second place wins $500; third place winners receive $250. YWA winners who apply, are admitted, and enroll at Bennington receive a $15,000 scholarship per year (for a total of $60,000). YWA finalists who apply, are admitted, and enroll at Bennington will receive a $10,000 scholarship per year (for a total of $40,000).
• Deadline: The competition runs annually from September 1st to November 1st.

4)  Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) Student Essay Contest

Do you love Jane Austen? If so, this is the high school writing competition for you! With the JASNA Student Essay Contest, high school students have the opportunity to write a six to eight-page essay about Jane Austen’s works, focused on a specific, designated topic for the competition year.

• Eligibility: Any high school student (homeschooled students also eligible) enrolled during the contest year may submit an essay.
• Prize: First place winner receives a $1,000 scholarship and two nights’ lodging for the upcoming annual JASNA meeting. Second place wins a $500 scholarship and third place wins a $250 scholarship. All winners will additionally receive a year membership in JASNA, the online publication of their article, and a set of Norton Critical Editions of Jane Austen’s novels.
• Deadline: Submission accepted from February-June 1st (specific dates may vary by year).

5)  The Kennedy Center VSA Playwright Discovery Program

Young aspiring writers with disabilities are encouraged to apply to this unique program. Students are asked to submit a ten-minute play script that explores any topic, including the student’s own disability experience.

• Eligibility: U.S. and international high school students with disabilities ages 14-19 may apply.
• Prize: Multiple winners will receive exclusive access to professional development and networking opportunities at The Kennedy Center.
• Deadline: January (specific deadline date may vary by year).

6)  Leonard M. Milburg ’53 High School Poetry Prize

Through Princeton’s Lewis Center for the Arts, this prestigious writing competition for high school students recognizes outstanding poetry writing and is judged by creative writing faculty at Princeton University.

• Eligibility: U.S. or international students in the eleventh grade may apply. Applicants may submit up to three poems.
• Prize: First place wins $1,500; second place wins $750; third place wins $500.
• Deadline: November (specific deadline date may vary by year).

7)  Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest

Nancy Thorp was a student at Hollins University who showed great promise as a poet. After her death, her family established this scholarship to support budding young poets.

• Eligibility: Female high school sophomores and juniors are eligible to apply. Applicants must be U.S. citizens.
• Prize: First place wins $350 and publication in Cargoes literary magazine, along with a $5,000 renewable scholarship (up to $20,000 over four years) if the student enrolls in Hollins University, and free tuition and housing for Hollins University’s summer creative writing program (grades 9-12). Second place wins publication in Cargoes, along with a $1,000 renewable scholarship ($4,000 over four years) if the student enrolls at Hollins and $500 to apply toward Hollins’ summer creative writing program.
• Deadline: October (specific deadline date may vary by year).

8)  National Council of Teachers of English Achievement Awards in Writing

Students may be nominated by their English teachers to win this prestigious writing award. Winners “exhibit the power to inform and move an audience through language” and prompts and genres may vary by competition year.

• Prize: A certificate will be awarded to students who are judged to have exceptional writing skills. Student names will be displayed on the NCTE website.
• Eligibility: U.S. high school sophomores and juniors are eligible for nomination.
• Deadline: February (specific dates may vary by year). Contest prompts released in August.

9)  National Scholastic Art and Writing Awards

At Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, numerous opportunities for scholarships and awards await those who submit writing in various genres: literary criticism, drama, poetry, and fiction. In all, there are 28 generic categories of art and writing to choose from!

• Eligibility: Teens in grades 7-12 (ages 13 and up) may apply.
• Prize: Various types of recognition and scholarships (up to $12,500) are offered for these award winners.
• Deadline: Scholastic Awards opens for entries in September; deadlines range from December to January.

10)  National Society of High School Scholars Creative Writing Scholarship

In this creative writing competition for high schoolers, students have the opportunity to submit a piece poetry or fiction (or both – one in each category!) for the opportunity to be published on the NSHSS website and win a monetary prize.

• Eligibility: Rising high school students graduating in 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027 may apply.
• Prize: There will be three $2,000 awards for the fiction category and three $2,000 awards for the poetry category.
• Deadline: Submissions Accepted from May to October (specific dates may vary by year).

11)  National Writing Award: The Humanities and a Freer Tomorrow

This writing competition allows high school students the chance to be nominated by a teacher for a piece of writing in response to Ruth J. Simmons’ “Facing History to Find a Better Future.” Specific prompt topics may vary by year.

• Eligibility: Nominating teachers can submit work from 11th and 12th graders in one category (fiction, poetry, prose, or essay).
• Prize: One top prize of $1,000. Four additional prizes of $500 each. Winners will have the opportunity to have their work published by NCTE.
• Deadline: Applications are open September to October (specific dates may vary by year).

12)  New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award

Although this prestigious award isn’t exclusively for high schoolers (anyone younger than 35 may submit a work of fiction), if you’ve written a collection of short stories or even a novel, you should certainly consider applying!

• Eligibility: Any writer below the age of 35 may submit a novel or collection of short stories to participate in this competition.
• Prize: $10,000 award.
• Deadline: September (specific date may vary by year).

13)  Princeton University Ten-Minute Play Contest

This writing competition for high school students awards three annual top prizes for the best ten-minute play. Play submissions are judged each year by an acclaimed guest playwright.

• Eligibility: U.S. or international students in the eleventh grade may apply. Students may submit one play entry; entries must be ten pages or less. Plays must be written in English.
• Prize: First place prize is $500; second place is $250; third place is $100.
• Deadline: Varies by year. However, students are recommended to submit before the deadline date – the submission portal will close when a maximum of 250 applicants have applied.

14)  YouthPLAYS New Voices One-Act Competition for Young Playwrights

In this exciting writing competition, students have the chance to submit an original play script for a play of around 10-40 minutes in length. An excellent competition choice for any student considering a future in the theatre!

• Eligibility: Prospective authors ages 19 and under may submit a script for consideration in the competition. See specific writing guidelines here .
• Prize: First prize wins $250 and publication with YouthPLAYS; second prize wins $100.
• Deadline: Submissions run from January 1st to May 1st.

STEM, Environment, and Sustainability High School Writing Competitions

15)  engineergirl essay contest.

This wonderful essay contest invites students to explore topics related to engineering and science. Each year a new, specific prompt will be chosen for young writers who wish to compete.

• Eligibility: High school students are eligible to apply. Previous winners and close family members of employees of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine are not eligible.
• Prize: First place winners receive $1,000; second place receives $750; third place receives $500.
• Deadline: Competition opens in September and submissions are due February 1st of the following year. Winners are announced in the summer.

16)  Ocean Awareness Contest

The Ocean Awareness Contest is an opportunity for students to create written and artistic projects that explore sustainability, environmentalism, and positive change. High school freshmen (up to age 14) may apply to the Junior Division. Students ages 15-18 may enter the Senior Division.

• Eligibility: Students ages 11-18 may apply (international students included).
• Prize: Monetary prizes ranging from $100-$1000 will be awarded each year. Additionally, $500 will be awarded to ten students who identify as Black, Indigenous, or Latino via the We All Rise Prize program.
• Deadline: June 10, 2024 (specific deadline may vary by year).

17)  Rachel Carson Intergenerational Sense of Wonder / Sense of Wild Contest

If you are interested in issues of sustainability, environment, biology and the natural world, this is one of the high school writing competitions that is just for you! Essay prompts explore the natural world and our place within it and may include poetry, essays, and photography.

• Eligibility: Students must pair with an adult from a different generation (e.g. parent, grandparent or teacher – contestants need not be related). Entries must be submitted as a team.
• Prize: Winners will receive a certificate from RCLA; their first names, ages, and entry titles will be posted on the RCLA website.
• Deadline: November 16th, 2024 (specific deadline may vary by year).

18)  River of Words Competition

This writing competition for high school students is another top choice for those thinking of pursuing majors or careers in biology, environment, and sustainability; this specific contest hopes to promote positive education in sustainability by “promoting environmental literacy through the arts and cultural exchange.”

• Eligibility: Any U.S. or international student from kindergarten through 12th grade may apply.
• Prize: Winners will be published in the River of Words
• Deadline: January (specific deadline may vary by year).

Writing Competitions for High School Students in Politics, History and Philosophy

19)  american foreign service association essay contest.

With this writing competition for high school students, entrants may submit essays ranging from 1,000-1,500 words about diplomacy, history, and international politics (specific prompts vary by year).

• Eligibility: Students in grades nine through twelve may apply. Students whose parents are in the Foreign Service Association are not eligible.
• Prize: The first-place winner will receive $2,500, an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. for the winner and the winner’s parents, and an all-expense paid voyage via Semester at Sea. The second-place winner receives $1,250 and full tuition for a summer session at the National Student Leadership Conference’s International Diplomacy program.
• Deadline: Early spring (specific deadline may vary by year).

20)  Bill of Rights Institute We the Students Essay Contest

In this writing competition for high school students, civic-minded U.S. high schoolers may explore the principles and virtues of the Bill of Rights Institute. Interested applicants should review the specific submission guidelines .

• Eligibility: Any high school student aged 13 to 19 may apply.
• Prize: Prizes range from $1,500 to $10,000.
• Deadline: Submissions for 2024 due May 19th (specific deadline may vary by year).

21)  JFK Presidential Library and Museum Profile in Courage Essay Contest

For students interested in history and political science, this competition offers the chance to write about U.S. elected officials who have demonstrated political courage.

• Eligibility: U.S. high school students from grades 9-12 may apply.
• Prize: First prize is $10,000; second prize receives $3,000; five finalists receive $1,000 each; ten semifinalists receive $100 each; eight students receive honorable mention.
• Deadline: Submissions accepted from September to January (specific deadline may vary by year).
• Sample Essays: 2000-2023 Contest Winner Essays

22)  John Locke Institute Essay Competition

This essay competition is for students who would like to write about and cultivate “independent thought, depth of knowledge, clear reasoning, critical analysis and persuasive style” from one of seven intellectual categories: philosophy, politics, economics, history, psychology, theology or law.

• Eligibility: Students from any country may submit an essay.
• Prize: $2,000 for each subject category winner toward a John Locke Institute program; winning essays will be published on the Institute’s website.
• Deadline: Registration must be completed by May 31st, 2024; essay submission due June 30th, 2024 (specific deadline may vary by year).

23)  Society of Professional Journalists and the Journalism Education Association Essay Contest

This exciting writing competition for high schoolers allows students to explore topics related to journalism, democracy and media literacy. Specific prompts will be provided for contestants each year.

• Eligibility: All U.S. students from grades 9-12 may submit original writing to participate in this contest.
• Prize: First-place winners will receive $1,000; second place is awarded $500; third place receives $300.
• Deadline: February (specific deadline may vary by year).

24)  Veterans of Foreign Wars Voice of Democracy Youth Scholarship Essay

This audio essay allows high school students the opportunity to “express themselves in regards to a democratic and patriot-themed recorded essay.” One winner will be granted a $35,000 scholarship to be paid toward their university, college, or vocational school of choice. Smaller prizes range from $1,000-$21,000, and the first-place winner in each VFW state wins $1,000.

• Prize: College scholarships range from $1,000-$35,000
• Eligibility: U.S. students in grades 9-12 may submit a 3-5-minute audio essay.
• Deadline: October 31st
• Sample Written Essay: 2023-2024 Prize-winning essay by Sophia Lin

25)  World Historian Student Essay Competition

The World Historian Student Essay Competition recognizes young scholars who explore world historical events and how they relate to the student scholar personally. Ultimately the student writer must describe “the experience of being changed by a better understanding of world history.”

• Eligibility: Internationally, students ages K-12 may submit an entry. See specific prompt and submission guidelines for writing instructions.
• Prize: $500

Writing Competitions for High School Students – Sources

[i] Institute for Education Sciences: National Center for Education Statistics. “Number of applications for admission from first-time, degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students were received by postsecondary institutions in the fall.” https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/TrendGenerator/app/answer/10/101

[ii] Jaschik, Scott. “Record Applications, Record Rejections.” Inside Higher Ed . 3 April 2022. https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2022/04/04/most-competitive-colleges-get-more-competitive

[iii] Wood, Sarah. “College Applications are on the Rise: What to Know.” U.S. News & World Report. 21 June 2022. https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/college-applications-are-on-the-rise-what-to-know

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For the past decade, Jamie has taught writing and English literature at several universities, including Boston College, the University of Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon University. She earned a Ph.D. in English from Carnegie Mellon, where she currently teaches courses and conducts research on composition, public writing, and British literature.

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MA in Creative Writing

Get your work recognised: free to enter creative writing competitions

For an up-and-coming writer , being selected for a writing award can be a monumental step in their career. 

Not only is it recognition of their talent and hard work, but the opportunities and visibility provided by competitions can be the support they need to secure publishing deals and more paid work.

If you’ve been considering submitting your work for a writing competition, we’ve compiled a list of excellent options that may be of interest to you.

All of the competitions below are free to enter, accept international applicants, and are held on a yearly basis – so consider your top choices and plan your time around each deadline.

Good luck in advance!

Please note that all deadlines are accurate as of 6 May 2021. It’s possible that the organisations listed may change the dates of future events.

Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize

Deadline: April (annually)

Prize: up to £10,000

The Alpine Fellowship is a charitable organisation that commissions and celebrates emerging talent. Each year, they set a new theme for participants of their Writing Prize; this theme can be approached through prose, poetry, or non-academic essays.

The winner receives a cash prize of £10,000 and an award presented by acclaimed poet John Burnside. Second place receives a £3000 cash prize, while third place receives £2000.

Both the winner and the two runner ups are also invited to attend the Fjällnäs symposium – an annual event in Sweden attended by artists, academics, and philosophers from around the world.

Perito Prize

Deadline: October (annually)

Prize: £500

Run by Perito Ltd, an inclusive environments consultancy based in the UK, the Perito Prize challenges participants to think – and write – about inclusivity, accessibility, and diversity.

The cash prize is awarded to the best submitted work of short fiction, while second and third place will have the opportunity to participate in interviews and readings on the Perito website.

All finalists, plus other shortlisted stories, will also be published in the annual Perito Prize Anthology – which is available for purchase with all profits going to charity.

ServiceScape Short Story Award

Deadline: November (annually)

Prize: $1,000

The ServiceScape Short Story Award is open to all original, unpublished works of short fiction or nonfiction.

The winner of the award will also have their short story featured within the ServiceScape blog for added exposure. Outside of the requirement for the piece to be published on the blog first, the winner retains all other copyright, publishing, and reprint rights.

Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Competition

Deadline: July (annually)

Prize: up to $5,000

Writer’s Digest offers a number of benefits to winners of its writing competition. The top five submissions of each award category receive cash prizes, while the sixth through tenth place participants are gifted a $25 gift certificate for the Writer’s Digest Shop.

The categories available for entries (as of May 2021) are Inspirational/Spiritual; Memoirs/Personal Essay; Print or Online Article; Genre Short Story; Mainstream/Literary Short Story; Rhyming Poetry; Non-rhyming Poetry; Script; and Children’s/Young Adult Fiction.

Keen to take your career in creative writing even further? Our online, part-time MA in Creative Writing is a flexible way to enhance your skills and gain valuable industry expertise. 

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Find details about every creative writing competition—including poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, grants for translators, and more—that we’ve published in the Grants & Awards section of Poets & Writers Magazine during the past year. We carefully review the practices and policies of each contest before including it in the Writing Contests database, the most trusted resource for legitimate writing contests available anywhere.

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A collection of articles edited by the staff of  Poets & Writers Magazine , our guide to writing contests is the essential resource for navigating the sometimes overwhelming world of grants, awards, and all things literary competition, including:

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How to win a creative writing competition - top tips

Joe Craig, author of the Jimmy Coates spy series and judge of the National Short Story Week young writer competition, has some tips for budding young writers on avoiding common creative writing pitfalls and how to stand out from the crowd

Read The Promise, the winner of the National Short Story Week young writer competition 2015

Standing out is hard. Sometimes you just want to blend in and stick with whatever everybody else is doing. Creative writing competitions are not those times.

I’ve judged a lot of competitions for young writers, which means I’ve read through thousands of stories, each one trying to stand out. But so many of them fall into the same traps. So often I spot a promising story and wish I could give the writer just a couple of simple pointers that would take their writing above the competition.

Here are the tips I find myself screaming into my hands as I read those entries. Each one is an understandable mistake, and most of them don’t come up in English lessons at school.

Standing out will still be hard, because it takes a little extra time and extra thought to create something original. But if you follow these tips, you’ll give yourself the best chance of finding a spark of something special. Good luck.

(Oh, and the most important one is number 6…)

1. Don’t start with the weather

It’s an easy way to start, isn’t it? A lovely warm-up for the mind and typing fingers to ease yourself into the story, like spewing out “once upon a time” yet again.

It was a bright, sunny day… It was a dark and stormy night… It was rather chilly with a brisk easterly and a 50% chance of precipitation…

Nobody cares. I don’t even pay attention to weather reports in my real life, let alone take an interest in what’s happening in the sky above fictional characters I haven’t met yet. Start with one of two things, and preferably both: People and conflict. Those two things are the essence of any story. People and conflict. That’s all the reader (your judge) cares about. People and conflict will drive your story forward, will be the essence of everything you write. So start with people and conflict.

(The only possible reason to start with the weather is if your story is ABOUT the weather – perhaps it’s a disaster story about a big storm, or a survival story where extreme conditions threaten an expedition. But even if you think your story is about the weather, it’s really about the people, isn’t it? People in conflict with their environment. So don’t start with the weather.)

2. Cut your first paragraph

It’s amazing how many stories are instantly improved by simply covering up the first paragraph. Try it. Your first paragraph is probably about the weather, anyway.

Or your brain found some other way of warming up. Or you were so excited you just had to tell me some crucial information in the first few lines. Well, that information is not as crucial as you thought it was. It can wait. The right moment will come up later in your story for you to SHOW me that information about your world. Or, even better, I’ll have worked it out for myself from the way you’ve written everything else.

Readers are two things: bright but impatient. It’s OK to plunge us straight into your story without explaining – straight into the conflict (see point one). So once you think you’ve finished your story, go back and see what happens if you cover up your first paragraph. Or cover up your first two paragraphs. Or three. Or scan your first page looking for the most arresting opening line. It’s there somewhere. You might not have realised it was the perfect opening line when you wrote it, but you can find it now and cut everything that comes before it.

3. Don’t write a “spooky story”

Spooky stories are wonderful. But for a writing competition they give you a lot of problems. First, everybody thinks they can write them. But you should want to stand out. Second, it’s very hard to come up with anything spooky that hasn’t already been done a million times. So how can you make your story unpredictable?

But the biggest problem is going to be your ending. Spooky things are usually spooky because they can’t be explained – the supernatural curse, the face at the window, the ghosts and ghouls from beyond our world… So once you reveal what’s behind the spooky stuff it feels like an anticlimax. And if you don’t reveal what’s behind your spooky stuff, what do you end with? You end with dot, dot, dot of course.

Almost two in three stories by young writers that I read for competitions are spooky stories that ‘end’ with a thrilling moment of danger and then… that’s it. No resolution, no explanation, no fun of seeing how the character fights back (or fails to) just the dreaded dot, dot, dot… I can usually guess from the first line whether a story is going to “end” with a dot, dot, dot.

Dot, dot dot is not an ending. It’s a beginning. If you really love the spooky situation you’ve come up with, start your story where you’ve written your dot, dot, dot. Develop it from there, then give me a wonderful, satisfying ending that I wasn’t expecting but which makes sense of everything that’s come before.

Setting up a spooky mystery is easy. I, your judge, will give you no credit for it. Setting up a spooky mystery unlike anything I’ve read before is a bit harder. I’ll still give you very little credit for it. I’m mean. Unravelling a mystery in a satisfying, surprising way… that’s hard. You’re going to need a brilliant twist. Try it if you dare…

4. Avoid celebrities or characters that already exist

Recently I was running a writing workshop for a group of students who had all written stories in preparation for the day with me. The first thing I did was to ask them to put up a hand if they’d written a story about a footballer. About a quarter of the room put their hands up. Then I asked them to keep their hands up if their stories were about either Ronaldo or Messi. All the hands stayed up.

This is pretty typical. And it’s understandable too: it’s easy to plug in a celebrity or existing character to your story. Of course it is. You don’t have to do any of the work of creating a character from scratch. You know a bit about the person so you can imagine them in a story. The same applies to characters from fairy tales or from popular stories that already exist.

I was recently judging a creative writing competition for a big network of hundreds of international schools. Thousands of students from all over the world write stories for this competition every year, and every year the organisation compiles a list of the characters or character names that crop up over and over. Most popular this year: Cinderella. Closely followed by, guess who, Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. There were superheroes on the list too, including Superman, Batman, The Hulk and One Direction (yes, of course they count as superheroes). James Bond was there, alongside, for some reason, the Tooth Fairy.

So think twice before grabbing an existing character or personality for your story. Fan fiction is great, and a wonderful way to start out as a writer. It can help you hone your skills and be a launchpad for your own imaginative journeys. But it’s not going to win a creative writing competition.

If you want to write about Harry Potter, or a footballer or superhero or celebrity, it doesn’t take that much extra time and imagination to use someone you’ve heard of as a starting point but then tweak it. Make it your own. Change the name. Change the situation. What are you really trying to say about that character? Try exaggerating an aspect of the personality to make your point bolder. Or, for a quick fix, mash two things together: a footballer superhero. A boy band that goes round after dark collecting people’s teeth. Suddenly, you’re in fresh territory and you won’t see your characters crop up on a list of what everybody else is writing.

5. Calm down. Keep it simple. Your words are giving me a headache.

When writing competitions are split into age categories, I see a really odd trend in the stories. Writers in the older age groups try to show me how well they can use fancy words. The younger writers are better at telling a story. Which do you think is more important? If you’re in the older age-group category, you might find that a tricky question. It isn’t. The story is ALWAYS more important.

Writing a good story is not the same thing as writing to get ticks from an English teacher. All those fancy words, the complicated constructions, the flowery images… cut them. Pretend you’re still a young kid who just wants to hear a story. Focus on that.

Want an easy way to work out whether you’re overwriting? Count your adjectives. Try to limit yourself to a couple per page. More than one per sentence is definitely not a good idea. Count your adverbs too. Then cut all of them.

There’s always a better way of SHOWING me your story than just TELLING me what to imagine by using an adjective or adverb. And the more syllables there are in your adjectives, the more they’re getting in the way of your story.

So calm down with your thesaurus. Nobody’s trying to break the English language into a new dimension. We just want to hear a story.

6. Write an ending

Remember why I warned you not to write a spooky story? Remember the dreaded dot, dot, dot…? Well, it turns out endings are difficult no matter what kind of story you’re writing. But remember this: if your story doesn’t have an ending, you haven’t written a story. At best, you’ve written a set-up. If you’re entering a story-writing competition, you’re going to need to write a story, and that means you need an ending.

Have you any idea how frustrating it is to read entry after entry, all of them setting up story situations, some of them excellent, but hardly any of them leading anywhere or giving me the satisfaction of a pay-off? Please, I’m begging you: give me that sense of completion that every story should promise – and deliver. Write an ending.

If you’re finding it tough to work out an ending to your story: that’s the way it should feel. Endings are hard. But they’re worth it.

Here are a couple of hints to help you. The great film director Alexander Mackendrick said, “If you’ve got a beginning, but you don’t yet have an end, then you’re wrong. You don’t have the right beginning.” He also said, “There are no wrong endings, only wrong beginnings.”

I suggest you come up with your ending first. Plan that out, then plan how you’re going to get there.

How about writing just an ending? Remember up in point two, when I said you could cut your first few paragraphs? What if you cut the whole of the start of the story and just threw me, your reader, straight into a brilliant ending?

The writer Kurt Vonegut suggested something like that. One of his 8 tips on how to write a good short story is simply: “Start as close to the end as possible”

7. Get out of school

A quick one. A simple one. Most people hear about writing competitions in school. So they look around and they start writing a story set in a school. Break the mould. Think beyond the walls of the space you’re in.

8. Write from an adult’s point of view

Remember I suggested you think beyond the walls around you and write something that isn’t set in a school? How about getting beyond the body you’re in too? Try writing something with an adult as the main character, or from an adult’s point of view. Why not? It might seem difficult at first, but if I can write books starring a genetically-engineered assassin who’s only 12, you can make the leap into an adult’s existence.

Try it. Trust me: nobody else in the competition is doing it.

9. Challenge every word

The best stories are the most re-written stories. It’s that simple. And the more you re-write, the more you’ll stand out from every other entry in a creative writing competition. Find the best bits of your story and hone them to make them better. Change what’s around them to show them off. Find the weaker parts – cut them. Cut and rewrite furiously. Are there sections where you’re rushing? Slapping down too much information at once? Are you explaining when you could be showing?

I could write a whole new piece on how to rewrite. I love rewriting. I don’t write a message in a birthday card without a rough draft I can tear apart and reconstruct into something better.

But it all boils down to this:

Make every line count – for the story, not for its own beauty.

Challenge every word.

Every. Single. Word.

Find out how to enter this year’s National Short Story Week competition here!

Are you a budding writer or poet join the children’s books site and send us your scribblings.

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News | Tuesday, 28th November 2023

Manchester writing competition 2023 shortlists announced, poetry prize and fiction prize make up uk’s biggest award for unpublished writing.

Two international shortlists have been announced for the Manchester Poetry Prize and Manchester Fiction Prize, which together make up the 2023 Manchester Writing Competition , the UK’s biggest awards for unpublished writing.

The two six-strong shortlists feature emerging writers from across the UK, New Zealand, USA, and the Netherlands, demonstrating Manchester’s status as an international centre for creative writing.

Set up by then Poet Laureate and current Creative Director of Manchester Met’s Manchester Writing School Professor Carol Ann Duffy in 2008, the competition has awarded more than £220,000 in prize money to writers since its launch.

The two awards celebrate Manchester as an international city of writers, find diverse new voices, and create opportunities for writer development. Each year, two £10,000 prizes are awarded to new and established writers: the Manchester Poetry Prize for the best portfolio of poems, and the Manchester Fiction Prize for the best short story. This year marks 15 years of the competition which has helped to accelerate the careers of previous winners and finalists including Mona Arshi, Helen Mort, Alison Moore, Pascale Petit, and Momtaza Mehri.

The Fiction Prize judges said that choosing the shortlist “seemed near-impossible” while the Poetry Prize judges commended entries as “outstanding poems that demonstrate the quality of contemporary poetry”.

2023 Manchester Poetry Prize Finalists

• Elena Croitoru
• Shakeema Edwards
• Debra Marquart
• Katie O’Pray
• Tracey Slaughter

2023 Manchester Fiction Prize Finalists

• Edward Hogan
• Dayal Kindy
• David McGrath
• Nicholas Petty
• Chloë Philp

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on December 8, hosted at Manchester Met’s Grosvenor East building, home to Manchester Writing School and Manchester Poetry Library , and the ceremony will be live-streamed for the first time this year.

The Poetry Prize judging panel is chaired by Malika Booker, award-winning poet who recently won Forward Prize for Best Single Poem , and Lecturer in Creative Writing at Manchester Met. The panel was completed by poet Clare Shaw, and Momtaza Mehri, poet and independent researcher and winner of the Poetry Prize in 2019 and this year’s Forward Prize for Best First Collection.

Booker said: “What unites this year’s shortlisted portfolios is their remarkable singularity. The poems we have chosen both attend to and break with form, irrepressible in their varied approaches to movements and turns. These risk-taking poems disrupt our expectations at every turn, by pushing at the limits of language, with intertextual depth.

“History, violence, kinship, wit, humour, and tenderness flow through these poems, as they illuminate the mundane and spectacular, their imagery lingering with the reader long after the last line. These are disarming poems, haunting poems, ones which sneak up on you, confronting your expectations and defences. They reveal themselves anew, again and again. These outstanding poems that demonstrate the quality of contemporary poetry.”

The Fiction Prize judging panel is chaired by Lara Williams, award-winning writer, and Lecturer in Creative Writing at Manchester Met. The panel was completed by Laura Barnett, novelist and journalist, and writer Oliver Harris, who are both Senior Lecturers in Creative Writing at Manchester Met.

Williams said: “One and a half thousand stories of overwhelming quality and eclecticism, these stories have showed such an incredible breadth of imagination, emotional resonance and technical expertise. Each of them challenged us to think, feel and reflect on the people we are, and the world we live in. “Whittling it down to a shortlist seemed near-impossible, though we are confident we have unearthed some stories that will linger in the mind of the reader; by turns mesmerising, explosive, haunting, innovative, eye-opening and unforgettable. These stories stand as testament to the rude health of the short story form right now, in the UK and around the world. Every one of them is world-class.”

The prizes have been crucial in supporting emerging writers at getting a foothold in the industry, providing winners with some financial security to focus on writing full-time, as well as attracting literary agents and getting novel or collections published. The competition also cements Manchester’s status as an international UNESCO City of Literature.

A list of highly commended long listed entrants was also selected by the Poetry judges, and comprise of entrants from across the globe including Austria, America and Australia.

2023 Manchester Poetry Prize – highly commended (long listed) 

• Ash Adams, United States  
• Isabelle Baafi, United Kingdom 
• Melanie Banim, Liverpool, United Kingdom   
• Kathryn Bevis, Winchester, United Kingdom  
• Kizziah Burton, United States 
• Zoë Green, Austria  
• Katie Hale, Cumbria, United Kingdom  
• Nick Makoha, United Kingdom 
• Javier Sandoval, United States 
• Victor Tapner, United Kingdom 
• Marvin Thompson, United Kingdom  
• Mark Tredinnick, Australia 
• Jack Wiltshire, United Kingdom 
• Chloé Rose Whitmore, Nottingham 

D A Angelo 

D A Angelo (they/them) is a disabled, working-class UK-based poet with work currently featured in Autumn Sky Poetry Daily , Sage Cigarettes , Flights of the Dragonfly, Impspired, The Amazine  and Petrichor Mag . They are currently interested in prose poetry, surrealism and alternative perspectives in nature writing.  

Elena Croitoru  

Elena Croitoru is a British-Romanian writer. She won the Charles Causley Poetry Prize, the South Bank Poetry Prize, the Retreat West First Chapter Prize and was commended in the National Poetry Competition. She was also a finalist for prizes such as the Montreal Poetry Prize, Bridport Prize & other awards. Her first poetry pamphlet, The Country With No Playgrounds , won the Live Canon Pamphlet Prize and was published in '21. 

Shakeema Edwards 

Shakeema Edwards is an Antiguan American writer living in Belfast. She studied poetry at the Seamus Heaney Centre as the recipient of its International Poetry Scholarship and has received an Ireland Chair of Poetry Student Award. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in New Isles Press , Channel , Propel Magazine , and The Apiary . 

Debra Marquart 

Debra Marquart is an American poet, memoirist, and musician living in Ames, Iowa. She teaches in the MFA Program in Creative Writing and Environment at Iowa State University and the Stonecoast Low-Residency MFA Program at University of Southern Maine. Currently serving as Iowa’s Poet Laureate and the Senior Editor of Flyway: Journal of Writing & Environment , Marquart is the author of eight books, including The Horizontal World: Growing Up Wild in the Middle of Nowhere  and Gratitude with Dogs Under Stars: New & Collected Poems . She has released two CD projects— Orange Parade  and A Regular Dervish —with her jazz poetry, rhythm and blues band, The Bone People.  

Katie O’Pray  

Katie O’Pray is a creative facilitator, living in Bedford. They have been the winner of The ruth weiss Foundation's Emerging Poet's Prize and the Oxford Brookes International Poetry Competition, and are currently a Barbican Young Poet. Their work has been featured in publications such as bath magg and berlin lit, as well as mental health campaigns for East London NHS Foundation Trust, among others. The poetry workshops they deliver focus on writing as a therapeutic tool. Their debut full-length collection ‘APRICOT’ was published by Out-Spoken Press in October 2022. 

Tracey Slaughter  

Tracey Slaughter is a writer of poetry, fiction and personal essays from Aotearoa New Zealand. Her latest works are the short story collection Devil's Trumpet (Te Herenga Waka Press, 2021) and the poetry collection Conventional Weapons (Te Herenga Waka Press, 2019). Her work has received numerous awards, including the Fish Short Story Prize 2020 and the Bridport Prize 2014, and she has twice been shortlisted for the Manchester Prize, once in Poetry, once in Fiction. She teaches Creative Writing at the University of Waikato, where she edits the literary journals Mayhem and Poetry Aotearoa .  

Read the 2023 shortlisted poems

Edward Hogan  

Dayal Kindy 

Born, raised and now once again based in the West Midlands, Dayal Kindy has earned writing scholarships and awards that have supported her writing journey and led to several short stories being published. She is slowly writing a novel alongside working in NHS Mental Health services. In 2022 she was longlisted for the BBC Short Story Award, was runner up for the Mo Siewcharran Prize and a winner of the Space to Write Project. 

David McGrath 

David McGrath is Irish and lives in London. For short stories, he has won The Bare Fiction Prize, the 2023 Bryan MacMahon Short Story Competition and the 2023 Cill Rialaig Residency which he used to complete a novel set in a pub in rural Ireland. Also this year he has been published in The New Writer’s edition of The Stinging Fly and won a mentorship with the Irish Writers Centre. In the past he has won StorySlam at The Royal Festival Hall and has been Most Valuable Player for Liars' League London twice.  

Nicholas Petty  

Read the 2023 shortlisted stories

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Best Writing Contests in 2024

Showing 356 contests that match your search.

The Reedsy Prompts Contest

Genres: Fiction and Short Story

Every Friday, Reedsy sends out five writing prompts. Enter your response within a week for a chance at $250. Winners may also be included in a future issue of Reedsy’s literary magazine, Prompted.

Additional prizes:

$25 credit toward Reedsy editorial services

💰 Entry fee: $5

📅 Deadline: December 31, 2024

Anthology Poetry Competition 2024

Anthology Magazine

Genres: Poetry

Established to recognise and encourage excellence in the craft of poetry writing and to provide a platform for publication, the Anthology Poetry Competition is open to original and previously unpublished poems in the English language. Entries are invited from poets of all nationalities, living anywhere in the world. There is no restriction on theme or style. Poems submitted should not exceed 40 lines. There is no limit to entries per person. Each submission will require a separate entry form and is subject to a separate entry fee.

2nd: €500 | 3rd: €250

💰 Entry fee: $18

📅 Deadline: October 31, 2024

BBC National Short Story Award

2024 marks the 10th anniversary of the BBC YWA, an award created to inspire and encourage the next generation of short story writers, open to 14 – 18-year-olds. BBC Radio 1 Presenter Katie Thistleton returns as Chair of Judges for the YWA for the seventh time.

4x shortlisted stories: £600

📅 Deadline: March 18, 2024 (Expired)

Craft your masterpiece in Reedsy Studio

Plan, write, edit, and format your book in our free app made for authors.

Learn more about Reedsy Studio .

Climate Change Writing Competition

Write the World

Genres: Essay, Memoir, and Non-fiction

This month, dear writers, ahead of COP27, help us raise the voices of young people in this urgent fight. In a piece of personal narrative, tell the world’s leaders gathering in how climate change impacts you. How has this crisis changed your environment, your community, your sense of the future? Storytelling, after all, plays a critical role in helping us grasp the emergency through which we are all living, igniting empathy in readers and listeners—itself a precursor to action.

Runner-up: $50

📅 Deadline: October 18, 2022 (Expired)

The Christy Award

Genres: Christian, Fantasy, Novel, Novella, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, and Young Adult

The Christy Award® was established in 1999 to acknowledge the value and impact of the novel of faith in contemporary culture. Since that time, the Christys have been a focal point for the writers and publishers in our community.

💰 Entry fee: $175

📅 Deadline: March 31, 2024 (Expired)

The International Amy MacRae Award for Memoir

Memoir Writing Ink

Genres: Memoir, Non-fiction, and Short Story

Original, unpublished works of memoir writing up to 2000 words. The winner will be interviewed and the winning story published on Alison Wearing’s website and featured in the Memoir Writing Ink program. This award was created in celebration of the life of Amy Macrae and in support of her living legacy to improve the outcomes of women with ovarian cancer. Submissions accepted between April 15 to June 30, 2024.

💰 Entry fee: $25

📅 Deadline: June 30, 2024

Inception 2024: $500 for Best Opening

Sunspot Literary Journal

Genres: Fiction and Poetry

For Sunspot Lit’s Inception contest, send your best opening (novel, CNF, art collection, photo series, etc.). No restrictions on theme or category. Submit via Submittable or Duotrope.

Publication

💰 Entry fee: $12

As Bright as the Moon

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Short Story, and Thriller

Can’t decide between the headstrong alpha or the hunky omega? Us either. We’re seeking stories featuring steamy werewolf romance, perfect for reading under a full moon. Whether you’re Team Jacob Black or Team Alcide Herveaux…we’re all Team Awoooo. Works up to 3,000 words will be considered.

2nd place: $300; 3rd place: $100

💰 Entry fee: $0

📅 Deadline: May 31, 2022 (Expired)

The Carolyn Readers' Choice Awards

North Texas Romance Writers

Genres: Romance

The Carolyn Readers Choice Award contest is open to all authors of traditional, e-published, and self-published books. Romances featuring characters of all races, creeds, ethnicities, genders, and sexualities or with disabilities or containing spiritual/religious elements are welcome to enter. Please enter the category that best suits your entry over all.

Digital medallion for runners up

💰 Entry fee: $35

📅 Deadline: March 01, 2024 (Expired)

Ninth Drapers Guild Short Story Contest

Drapers Guild

Genres: Fiction

We accept stories of any length, written in English, that fit the theme "Fiction about a Stranger"

Publication on Drapers Guild Website

💰 Entry fee: $15

📅 Deadline: February 15, 2024 (Expired)

Best Stories on Human Impact of Climate Change

Secant Publishing

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, and Young Adult

We are seeking the year's best original short stories (fiction) devoted to the theme of global climate change and its human impact. We are interested in literary interpretations of how individuals and families, cities and nations are bearing the brunt of a world dominated by new extremes of weather, seasons, and eco-disasters. All genres welcome.

2nd: $500 | 3rd: $250 | Publication in anthology

💰 Entry fee: $10

Take a Photo Poetry

FanStory.com Inc.

Go out for a walk and take a camera, smartphone or tablet with you. Snap a picture of something interesting and write a poem about it when you get home. Post the photo along with the poem.

📅 Deadline: August 31, 2022 (Expired)

Blue Lynx Prize for Poetry

Lynx House Press

The annual Blue Lynx Prize for Poetry awards $2000 plus publication for a full-length poetry collection. The Prize is awarded for an unpublished, full-length volume of poems by a U.S. author, which includes foreign nationals living and writing in the U.S. and U.S. citizens living abroad. Lynx House Press has been publishing fine poetry and prose since 1975. Our titles are distributed by the University of Washington Press.

💰 Entry fee: $28

📅 Deadline: June 16, 2024

HG Wells Short Story Competition

HG Wells Competition

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, and Short Story

There are two different competitions in 2024: one for those 21 and under, and one for those over 21. The competition for those 21 and under is free to enter and has a prize of £1,000 for the winning entry. All shortlisted entries will also be published in a quality, professionally published paperback anthology.

Under 21: £1,000 | Over 21: £500

📅 Deadline: July 08, 2024

Emerging Writer's Contest

Ploughshares

Genres: Fiction, Non-fiction, and Poetry

The 2024 Emerging Writer's Contest will run from March 1 at noon EST to May 15 at noon EST. The Emerging Writer's Contest is open to writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry who have yet to publish or self-publish a book. Read past winners of the contest here. We award publication, $2,000, review from Aevitas Creative Management, and a 1-year subscription for one winner in each of the three genres. =

Review from Aevitas Creative Management

💰 Entry fee: $30

📅 Deadline: May 01, 2024 (Expired)

The Heartland Review Open Calls

The Heartland Review

Founded in 2000, The Heartland Review (ISSN: 2473-9545) is published in the spring and fall as an imprint of The Heartland Review Press. Our biannual journal publishes fiction, creative nonfiction/fiction, and poetry of any all subcategories, styles, and voices. Our writers have ranged in age from 15 to 80+ from around the world. We consider established writers as well as emerging writers. In the past we have reserved space for student writers and emerging artists. We are currently accepting poetry.

Publication in The Heartland Review

📅 Deadline: April 15, 2024 (Expired)

Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize

Academy of American Poets

Established in 1975, this $25,000 award recognizes the most outstanding book of poetry published in the United States in the previous calendar year. The prize includes distribution of the winning book to hundreds of Academy of American Poets members.

Publication and distribution of book

💰 Entry fee: $75

📅 Deadline: May 15, 2024

Adrienne Rich Award for Poetry

Beloit Poetry Journal

We’re open to a wide range of forms and styles in contemporary poetry. We’re always watching for new poets, quickened language, and work that offers a fresh purchase on the political or social landscape.

📅 Deadline: April 30, 2024 (Expired)

SFWP Literary Awards

Genres: Fiction, Non-fiction, Novel, and Novella

We are seeking fiction and creative nonfiction of every genre. The contest is open to authors who have not been published by a major press. We publish in English, but the contest is open to writers from anywhere in the world. The early-bird entry fee (December 15th-February 15th) will be $25.

Two runner ups will be selected, each receiving $700.

📅 Deadline: July 15, 2022 (Expired)

3-6-9 Poetry Contest

This poem has three stanzas. Each stanza has three lines that follows the 3-6-9 syllable count. The first line has 3 syllables, the second line has 6 syllables and the last line 9 syllables. The subject can be anything.

📅 Deadline: November 15, 2024

The 2022 First Chapter Book Contest

TheNextBigWriter, LLC

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Novel, Science Fiction, Thriller, and Young Adult

Have a book or a novel idea you've been noodling? Enter your first chapter into the Booksie First Chapter Contest and see how it does. You don't need to have finished the book. You don't even need more than the first chapter. We're looking for a start that will grab our attention, that is original, that is well written, and that makes us want to beg you to see what comes next. And for those we find, we'll provide some awards to inspire you to finish writing the book or, if finished, to help get it published.

Gold contest badge.

📅 Deadline: May 14, 2022 (Expired)

Writer's Games

The Writer's Workout

Genres: Fiction, Short Story, Crime, Fantasy, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Script Writing, Thriller, and Young Adult

The Writer's Games is a free competition with six surprise challenges over six weeks, designed to help each individual writer improve his or her craft fast. ​FREE registration is required in advance (opens May 1, 2024). Every entry from a registered participant receives honest, unbiased feedback from multiple judges. There's no elimination; push yourself to try each challenge and see what you alone can do in 72 hours each week. The top five winners each week are published in a competition anthology (that's 25 chances, plus the Judges' Choice!).

Publication in anthology, 72 Hours (26+ spaces)

📅 Deadline: July 22, 2024

Maggie Award for Prepublished Writers

Georgia Romance Writers

Genres: Fiction, Novel, and Romance

The purpose of the Prepublished Maggie Award for Excellence is to encourage, recognize, and reward the mastery of romance writing by Prepublished authors of romantic fiction. The Maggie Award is a symbol of achievement given by the Georgia Romance Writers (GRW) to bring special attention to these writers. The Maggie Award, a silver medallion commissioned by GRW, receives national attention.

💰 Entry fee: $40

📅 Deadline: April 21, 2024 (Expired)

Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize

Desperate Literature

Genres: Fiction, Flash Fiction, and Short Story

The aim of the Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize is both to celebrate the best of new, boundary-pushing short fiction and to give winners the most visibility possible for their writing. That’s why we’ve teamed up with fourteen different literary and artistic institutions to not only offer cash prizes and writing retreats but also to ensure that all our shortlisters have the opportunity to be published in multiple print and online journals, have their work put in front of literary agents, and present their stories in multiple countries.

€2,000 + week's stay at the Civitella Ranieri Foundation artists' residency

2nd + 3rd: €1000 | All shortlisters: publication in our print collection Eleven Stories | All longlisters: One-year subscription to The Literary Consultancy's "Being a Writer" platform | One shortlister: two-week residency at Studio Faire, France

💰 Entry fee: $22

📅 Deadline: December 04, 2024

African Diaspora Awards 2024

Kinsman Avenue Publishing, Inc

Genres: Essay, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, and Short Story

Up to $1000 in cash prizes for the African Diaspora Award 2024. African-themed prose and poetry wanted. Top finalists are published in Kinsman Quarterly’s magazine and the anthology, “Black Butterfly: Voices of the African Diaspora.”

Publication in anthology, "Black Butterfly: Voices of the African Diaspora" and print and digital magazine

The Rubery Prize

Rubery Book Awards

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Novel, Novella, Science Fiction, Thriller, Young Adult, and Romance

The Rubery Prize is a prestigious international book award seeking the best books by indie writers, self published authors and books published by independent presses, judged by reputable judges. Through our reputation of finding quality and outstanding books we aim to bring recognition to the works that win and heighten an author's profile.

£200, a write-up

💰 Entry fee: $60

Science Fiction Writing Contest

FanStory.com Inc

Genres: Fiction, Science Writing, and Science Fiction

Share a Science Fiction themed story to enter this writing contest with a cash prizes. Let your imagination fly and enjoy sharing your writing.

Winning entries will be features on the FanStory.com welcome page.

💰 Entry fee: $9

📅 Deadline: April 12, 2023 (Expired)

Historical Fiction Challenge

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller, and Young Adult

For this short story challenge, all participants will be randomly assigned a period in history. As soon as you receive your assignment, you'll have until the closing time to research, write, and submit a short story of no more than 4,000 words, set during this historical period.

💰 Entry fee: $17

📅 Deadline: October 28, 2022 (Expired)

Ambroggio Prize

The Ambroggio Prize is a $1,000 publication prize given for a book-length poetry manuscript originally written in Spanish and with an English translation. The winning manuscript is published by Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingüe, publisher of literary works, scholarship, and art books by or about U.S. Hispanics.

Publication by Bilingual Press

AWP Prize for Creative Nonfiction

Association of Writers & Writing Programs

Genres: Non-fiction

AWP sponsors the Award Series, an annual competition for the publication of excellent new book-length works. The competition is open to all authors writing in English regardless of nationality or residence, and is available to published and unpublished authors alike.

Publication by the University of Georgia Press

📅 Deadline: February 28, 2024 (Expired)

Letter Review Prize for Short Fiction

Letter Review

Genres: Flash Fiction, Short Story, and Fiction

This Prize is free to enter. 2-4 Winners are published. We Shortlist 10-20 writers. Seeking stories 0-5000 words. Judges’ feedback available. Open to writers from anywhere in the world, with no theme or genre restrictions. Judged blind. All entries considered for publication + submission to Pushcart.

Publication by The Letter Review

First Pages Prize

Genres: Fiction and Non-fiction

First Pages Prize invites you to enter your first 5 pages of a longer work of fiction or creative nonfiction. Prizes in both fiction & creative nonfiction. Open to un-agented writers worldwide, the prize supports emerging writers with cash awards, developmental mentoring, & agent consultation. This year our judge is Edwidge Danticat! Opens March 2024!

Agent Consultation, Developmental Mentorship

💰 Entry fee: $20

📅 Deadline: April 24, 2024 (Expired)

Fairytales & Myths Competition 2024

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, and Flash Fiction

Since the very first tale told by the fireside, the idea of mysterious worlds—rife with talking trees, dragons and beasts, and spells of all kinds—has captivated us humans. This month, dear writers, write a myth or fairytale that uses fantasy as a lens to understand the reality of everyday life.

Best entry: $100

Runner up: $50 | Best peer review: $50

📅 Deadline: March 04, 2024 (Expired)

Young Sports Journalist 2024

Genres: Essay and Non-fiction

The Young Sports Journalist Competition, 2024, seeks well-argued articles from aspiring journalists aged 14-21. Winning entries will be published online and printed in the Summer Issue of Pitch. Critiqued by our panel of accomplished judges, winners will also receive a £50 cash prize and offered work experience here at PITCH HQ. The competition runs from 7 February 2024 to 5 April 2024. And winners will be announced in May.

Publication in magazine and online

📅 Deadline: April 05, 2024 (Expired)

Nimrod Literary Awards

Nimrold International Journal of Prose and Poetry

Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Short Story, and Novel

All finalists in fiction and poetry will be published and paid at our standard publication rate. Semi-finalists in poetry will also be published and paid at our standard publication rate.

$2000 + Publication

2nd: $1000 + Publication

📅 Deadline: April 01, 2024 (Expired)

Discover the finest writing contests of 2024 for fiction and non-fiction authors — including short story competitions, essay writing competitions, poetry contests, and many more. Updated weekly, these contests are vetted by Reedsy to weed out the scammers and time-wasters. If you’re looking to stick to free writing contests, simply use our filters as you browse.

Why you should submit to writing contests

Submitting to poetry competitions and free writing contests in 2024 is absolutely worth your while as an aspiring author: just as your qualifications matter when you apply for a new job, a writing portfolio that boasts published works and award-winning pieces is a great way to give your writing career a boost. And not to mention the bonus of cash prizes!

That being said, we understand that taking part in writing contests can be tough for emerging writers. First, there’s the same affliction all writers face: lack of time or inspiration. Entering writing contests is a time commitment, and many people decide to forego this endeavor in order to work on their larger projects instead — like a full-length book. Second, for many writers, the chance of rejection is enough to steer them clear of writing contests. 

But we’re here to tell you that two of the great benefits of entering writing contests happen to be the same as those two reasons to avoid them.

When it comes to the time commitment: yes, you will need to expend time and effort in order to submit a quality piece of writing to competitions. That being said, having a hard deadline to meet is a great motivator for developing a solid writing routine.

Think of entering contests as a training session to become a writer who will need to meet deadlines in order to have a successful career. If there’s a contest you have your eye on, and the deadline is in one month, sit down and realistically plan how many words you’ll need to write per day in order to meet that due date — and don’t forget to also factor in the time you’ll need to edit your story!

For tips on setting up a realistic writing plan, check out this free, ten-day course: How to Build a Rock-Solid Writing Routine.

In regards to the fear of rejection, the truth is that any writer aspiring to become a published author needs to develop relatively thick skin. If one of your goals is to have a book traditionally published, you will absolutely need to learn how to deal with rejection, as traditional book deals are notoriously hard to score. If you’re an indie author, you will need to adopt the hardy determination required to slowly build up a readership.

The good news is that there’s a fairly simple trick for learning to deal with rejection: use it as a chance to explore how you might be able to improve your writing.

In an ideal world, each rejection from a publisher or contest would come with a detailed letter, offering construction feedback and pointing out specific tips for improvement. And while this is sometimes the case, it’s the exception and not the rule.

Still, you can use the writing contests you don’t win as a chance to provide yourself with this feedback. Take a look at the winning and shortlisted stories and highlight their strong suits: do they have fully realized characters, a knack for showing instead of telling, a well-developed but subtly conveyed theme, a particularly satisfying denouement?

The idea isn’t to replicate what makes those stories tick in your own writing. But most examples of excellent writing share a number of basic craft principles. Try and see if there are ways for you to translate those stories’ strong points into your own unique writing.

Finally, there are the more obvious benefits of entering writing contests: prize and publication. Not to mention the potential to build up your readership, connect with editors, and gain exposure.

Resources to help you win writing competitions in 2024

Every writing contest has its own set of submission rules. Whether those rules are dense or sparing, ensure that you follow them to a T. Disregarding the guidelines will not sway the judges’ opinion in your favor — and might disqualify you from the contest altogether. 

Aside from ensuring you follow the rules, here are a few resources that will help you perfect your submissions.

Free online courses

On Writing:

How to Craft a Killer Short Story

The Non-Sexy Business of Writing Non-Fiction

How to Write a Novel

Understanding Point of View

Developing Characters That Your Readers Will Love

Writing Dialogue That Develops Plot and Character

Stop Procrastinating! Build a Solid Writing Routine

On Editing:

Story Editing for Authors

How to Self-Edit Like a Pro

Novel Revision: Practical Tips for Rewrites

How to Write a Short Story in 7 Steps

Reedsy's guide to novel writing

Literary Devices and Terms — 35+ Definitions With Examples

10 Essential Fiction Writing Tips to Improve Your Craft

How to Write Dialogue: 8 Simple Rules and Exercises

8 Character Development Exercises to Help You Nail Your Character

Bonus resources

200+ Short Story Ideas

600+ Writing Prompts to Inspire You

100+ Creative Writing Exercises for Fiction Authors

Story Title Generator

Pen Name Generator

Character Name Generator

After you submit to a writing competition in 2024

It’s exciting to send a piece of writing off to a contest. However, once the initial excitement wears off, you may be left waiting for a while. Some writing contests will contact all entrants after the judging period — whether or not they’ve won. Other writing competitions will only contact the winners. 

Here are a few things to keep in mind after you submit:

Many writing competitions don’t have time to respond to each entrant with feedback on their story. However, it never hurts to ask! Feel free to politely reach out requesting feedback — but wait until after the selection period is over.

If you’ve submitted the same work to more than one writing competition or literary magazine, remember to withdraw your submission if it ends up winning elsewhere.

After you send a submission, don’t follow it up with a rewritten or revised version. Instead, ensure that your first version is thoroughly proofread and edited. If not, wait until the next edition of the contest or submit the revised version to other writing contests.

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This Is Fictional

The Big List of UK Writing Competitions & Awards 2024 (Part 1)

This one's a biggie.

Hello writery pals!

*Fanfare music* Welcome to the big list of 50 writing competitions and awards for UK writers in 2024.

Whether you write novels, short stories, flash fiction, poetry, prose poetry or anything in between , whether you’re unpublished or published, there’s something for everyone.

The opportunities below come along with some impressive prizes. From free places on writing retreats (I’m dying to go on one of these!) and mentoring with industry experts, to tens of thousands of pounds in cash prizes.

Disclaimers — sounds boring but, trust me, they’re worth reading

If you’re a new writer, I’d recommend going only with the free entry opportunities in the first instance. Tip: search this page for the word ‘free’ to find them quicker.

The more prestigious awards on this list are highly competitive and some have more expensive entry fees than others, so only go with what you can afford.

Most of the bigger competitions also offer a number of free or sponsored entries for writers on low incomes.

For any opportunities you’re particularly interested in, I’d recommend signing up to the organisation’s mailing list (most of them have one) and following them on social media for updates. I say this because some deadlines or competition details may change as organisations gear up for the 2024 round.

Always make sure you read the full T&Cs for any opportunity you enter.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. There are tons of other amazing opportunities out there, some still to be announced. If there are any you think should be added to this list, let me know in the comments.

Happy writing!

The Big List of UK Writing Competitions & Awards 2024 — Part 1

New Writers - Flash Fiction Competition

This flash competition is open to writers from around the world. Entries should be 300 words maximum. New Writers is offering a top prize of £1,000, a second prize of £300 and a third prize of £200. The deadline is midnight (UK time) on Wednesday 31st January 2024 and £1.00 from each entry will be donated to First Story.

Entry fee: from £10

Deadline: 31st January 2024

Story Unlikely - Short Story Contest

There are no restrictions on genre for this contest. Story Unlikely says, “we don't care as long as it's written and told with quality and care.” The word limit is 4,500. The competition is open to writers of any age and location. 

A prize package of $1,000- $1,500 will be divided up into: $750 first place, $500 second place, $250 third place. The winning story will be featured on Story Unlikely’s website and will be strongly considered for their annual print sample magazine.

Entry fee: unknown but looks like it’s free

Bath Flash Fiction Award

Submit your best flash fiction to this industry favourite award at 300 words or less. 50 longlisted writers will be offered publication in the end of year print and digital anthology. Longlistees will also receive a free print copy. £1,000 prize for the winner, £300 second and £100 third. Two commendations will receive £30 each.

Entry fee: from £7.50

Deadline: 4th February 2023

Curtis Brown Creative - Gillian McAllister Novel-Writing Scholarship for Disabled Writers

The Gillian McAllister Novel-Writing Scholarship for Disabled Writers awards one disabled writer a free place on their online Writing Your Novel – Three Months course. With weekly teaching and workshopping from author Christopher Wakling on CBC’s interactive platform, the winner will also receive one-to-one tutorials and advice from authors and literary agents. 

The course will help the winning writer hone your craft and develop their novel. 

Entry fee: free

Deadline: 11th February 2024

Writers' & Artists' Short Story Competition 2024

W&A’s free annual short story competition offers the winner a place on an Arvon Residential Writing Week (worth £850) as well as publication on our site.

To enter, all you have to do is submit a short story (for adults) of no more than 2,000 words on the theme of risk via our online competition form. Make sure you have a (free) account on their website. 

Deadline: 12th February 2024

The Watson, Little x Indie Novella Prize

Founded in 1971, Watson, Little Ltd is a long-established literary agency offering a full service to its clients across all aspects of media. 

Indie Novella is an online hub providing free advisory services to aspiring writers and a free online forum to help make novel writing and publishing more transparent and accessible. In celebration of this commitment, they are jointly launching a Fiction Prize for emerging writers.

The Prize is for fiction of all lengths (novels, novellas or stories), open to all unpublished (self-published also accepted) UK-based authors aged 16 and over. Writers are invited to write to fit one of three themes.

Deadline: 14th February 2024

The Rhys Davies Short Story Competition

The Rhys Davies Short Story Competition is a distinguished national writing competition for writers born or living in Wales. The first prize is £1,000 and publication in a short story anthology to be published by Parthian Books. 11 x finalists will win £100 each and publication in the anthology.

Entry fee: £8

Deadline: 15th February 2024

Next Generation Short Story Awards

The 2024 Next Generation Short Story Awards is open to all authors, even first time authors, in the USA, Canada or internationally, who have an original short story of 5,000 words or less. Entries should be previously unpublished and written in English.

Entry fee: from $20

Deadline: 28th February 2024

The London Library - Emerging Writers Programme

The London Library Emerging Writers Programme is a unique opportunity which offers writers, in all genres and disciplines, one year’s free membership of The London Library and includes writing development masterclasses, networking opportunities, peer support, access to and guidance in using all the Library’s resources and publication in the cohort anthology. 

The Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition

Every year since 2014, the CWA and the Margery Allingham Society have jointly held an international short story competition. The word limit on this one is 3,500.

The goal of this competition is to find the best unpublished short mystery, one which fits into Golden Age crime writer Margery Allingham’s definition of what makes a great mystery story.

Entries are welcomed from published and unpublished writers, written in English. The prize for the winner is £500. 

Entry fee: £18

Deadline: 29th February 2024

Scottish Arts Trust - Edinburgh Short Story Award 2024

The Edinburgh Short Story Award is open to writers everywhere with stories on any topic up to 2,000 words. The first prize is £3,000 and there’s a £750 prize for the top entry by an unpublished writer living in Scotland. 

Entry fee: £10 per story

Deadline: 29th February 2024 

P.S. Check out the other awards from the Scottish Arts Trust including the Write Mango Award and Isobel Lodge Award. Entries for these close at the same time as the Short Story Award.

The Kelpies Prize for Writing 2024

The Kelpies Prize for Writing is for writers in Scotland who are keen to start a career in children’s books. The prize package includes a mentorship with an experienced editorial team, consideration for a publishing deal and £500 cash, “which we hope will help our winner take their first steps as a children’s author.”

Anthology Poetry Competition

Established to recognise excellence in the craft of poetry writing and provide a platform for publication, the Anthology Poetry Competition is open to original and previously unpublished poems written in English. Entries are welcomed from poets of all nationalities, living anywhere in the world. 

There is no restriction on theme or style. Poems submitted should be 40 lines or less. There is no limit on the number of entries per person. Each submission requires a separate entry form and will be subject to a separate entry fee.

The winner will receive a €1,000 cash prize and the chance to see their work published in a future issue of Anthology. The winner will also receive a one-year subscription to Anthology. Second place: €250. Third place: €150.

Entry fee: €10

Deadline: 27th February 2024 for very early bird entry fee

BBC National Short Story Award

This is one of the most significant short story competitions in the UK. The prize is awarded yearly by the BBC. Writers entering this award must have a prior record of publishing creative work in the UK (so this one is for established writers only). Stories up to 8,000 words are accepted and may be submitted by the author or by their agent. First place: £15,000.

Deadline: estimated March 2024

Tempest Prize

The Tempest Prize will award one unpublished LGBTQ+ writer based in the North of England a £1000 bursary, mentoring from Andrew McMillan and access to the Northern Writers’ Awards Talent Network. It will be open between February and March 2024 to submissions of poetry, fiction and narrative non-fiction. The prize will be judged by Andrew and a co-judge still to be announced.

Andrew McMillan is the writer of award-winning poetry collections physical, pandemonium and playtime and his highly anticipated debut novel, Pity, is due for publication by Canongate in 2024. The Tempest Prize is the second to be set up and funded by a previous award-winner, after author Benjamin Myers inaugurated the Finchale Prize for Short Fiction in 2022.

Entry fee: unknown

P.S. It looks like there’s no website yet so follow Andrew on social media and keep an eye out for this one. 

Forward Prizes for Poetry

This is the largest annual poetry competition in the UK. The prize recognises the best collection, best first collection and best single poem in the UK each year. All works put forward for the prize will also be considered for publication in The Forward Book Of Poetry, an annual anthology. Entries must be published works and individual poets cannot enter their own work. There’s up to £5,000 to be won depending on the category you enter.

The SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction 2024

The SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction (The Smokey) is a biennial competition celebrating excellence in flash.

The grand prize winner of The Smokey is automatically nominated for The Best Small Fictions, The Pushcart, Best of the Net and any other prize deemed appropriate. They’ll also pay the grand prize winner $2,500. Second place: $1,000. Third place: $500. Finalists: $100.

Entry fee: $14

Deadline: 1st March 2024

The Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize 2024

This prize is awarded for the best piece of writing on the theme of the Alpine Fellowship 2024 – to be announced. The winner will receive a cash prize and the runners up will receive travel expense support to attend the 2024 symposium. First place: £3,000. Second place: £1,000. Third place: £1,000

Entry fee: unknown 

PFD Queer Fiction Prize

PFD (Peters, Fraser and Dunlop) runs a Queer Fiction Prize for new LGBTQIA+ writers to find emerging talent. Winners will be signed to PFD and supported in completing their novels. There are two separate categories: Adult and YA & Children’s Fiction.

Any un-agented LGBTQIA+ writer who is in the process of writing a piece of fiction is eligible to enter. Submissions do not necessarily have to be about LGBTQIA+ experiences, though they do especially want stories with LGBTQIA+ characters or themes.

Works do not need to be complete as the prize will provide representation and support in writing to the end of your novel.

The 2024 International Book & Pamphlet Competition

Poets with a collection drafted, this one is for you! This is The Poetry Business’s 38th International Book & Pamphlet Competition, judged by Jane Clarke.

The two winning collections will be beautifully produced and promoted widely and entered for all eligible awards and prizes. They will also be sold in bookshops throughout the UK and through online stockists of The Poetry Business publications.

Entrants should submit a collection of 20 pages of poetry. The two winners will receive £500 each, publication in The North magazine, a reading at The Wordsworth Trust and a place on a residential writing course. Two runners-up will receive publication in East of The North plus an online reading and an honorarium of £100 each.

Entry fee: £29

Deadline: 6th March 2024

Neil Gunn Writing Competition

Poetry and short story entries are welcome for the Neil Gunn Writing Competition. In their entry, writers should respond to this line from Bloodhunt by Neil Gunn: “Mystery. That was the last word, the word you came to at the end. No corner of its coverlet could you lift.”

Entry fee: £10 per single entry or £18 for both a poem and short story

Deadline: 8th March 2023

The Plaza Prose Poetry Prize

A rare one for all you prose poets! The Plaza Prose Poetry Prize aims to shine a light on this exciting hybrid form. They welcome prose poems, up to 50 lines, and encourage writers to be experimental and play with readers' expectations. First prize: £750. Second prize: £200. Third prize: £50

Entry fee: £11 (£5 per additional entry) 

Deadline: 31st March 2024

P.S. The Plaza Prizes has a host of other awards including crime, memoir, microfiction, audio poetry and much more. Check out the website for more information. 

Anthology Short Story Competition

The Anthology Short Story Competition is open to original and previously unpublished short stories, written in English, by a writer of any nationality, living anywhere in the world. 

There are no restrictions on theme or style. There is a maximum word count of 1,500 words. Writers can submit as many entries as they like. Each submission will require a separate entry form and entry fee.

The winner will receive €1,000 and the winning story will be published in a future issue of Anthology. Second place: €250. Third place: €150.

Entry fee: €15

Deadline: 31st March 2024 for early bird entry fee

Anne Brown Essay Prize 2024

The Anne Brown Essay Prize awards £1500 for the best literary essay by a writer in or from Scotland. Essays can be on any topic, with a maximum word count of 4,000. Unpublished essays are especially welcome.

The Deborah Rogers Foundation – The Writers Award

This writer’s award was the first initiative of the Deborah Rogers Foundation. It was set up in 2015 in memory of the much loved and respected literary agent, Deborah Rogers. 

In keeping with Deborah’s special talent for nurturing emerging writers, the Award offers a substantial prize. £10,000 will go to a previously unpublished writer whose submission of 15,000- 20,000 words demonstrates literary talent and who needs financial support to complete their first book. The submitted work can be fiction, non-fiction, children’s or short stories. Applicants must reside in the British Commonwealth or Eire. Two shortlisted authors will win £1,000 each.

Entry fee: estimated £6

Deadline: estimated 31st March 2024

Brick Lane Bookshop Short Story Prize

The Brick Lane Bookshop Short Story Prize was established in 2019 as a celebration of the short story form and the resilience of independent booksellers. Funded by Brick Lane Bookshop, the competition is open to all UK residents and seeks to discover, publish and promote new, exciting and diverse voices in fiction. The prize is run by former Brick Lane Bookseller, Kate Ellis.

Each year, they invite a writer, a publisher and a literary agent to judge the competition. From a longlist of 12, they select a shortlist of six and three prize winners. The first prize is £1,000.

The 12 longlisted stories are published in their anthology which is available to buy from their website, Brick Lane Bookshop and many other good bookshops.

Deadline: estimated April 2024 (check Brick Lane Bookshop to confirm)

Bristol Short Story Prize 2024

The Bristol Short Story Prize is an international writing competition based in Bristol, UK which aims to publish great short stories and promote writers as much as possible. Discovering previously unpublished writers is central to their mission. They are committed to celebrating the short story form and making it accessible and available to as wide an audience as possible.

First prize: £1,000.

Entry fee: £9

Deadline: estimated 26th April 2024 (check Bristol Short Story Prize to confirm)

Jane Austen Literacy Foundation Short Story Competition

The Jane Austen Literacy Foundation Short Story Writing Competition is an international competition for new and experienced writers.

Three winning stories, selected by a panel including Jane Austen’s family, will be recorded as an audiobook by multi-award-winning narrator, Alison Larkin, and published worldwide to raise money for literacy projects in developing communities.

Deadline: 28th April 2024

Belfast Book Festival - Mairtín Crawford Award

The Mairtín Crawford Award invites writers working towards their first full collection of poetry, short stories or a novel. Both published and unpublished writers are welcome to submit between 3-5 poems for the poetry award and a short story of up to 2,500 words for the short story award. The only stipulation is you can’t already have a published collection of poetry, short stories or a novel.

The winner of each award will receive a £500 cash prize. Each winner will also receive a ‘Time to Write’ package which includes a 3-night stay at Bullitt Hotel Belfast and 4 days of dedicated writing space in The Crescent. Two finalists for each category will receive a £250 cash prize.

Deadline: estimated 1st May 2024

The Creative Future Writers’ Award

The Creative Future Writers’ Award (CFWA) is a national writing development programme celebrating talented, underrepresented writers who lack opportunities due to mental health issues, disability, health or social circumstance.

The prizes sound amazing! They include £20,000 and top writing development prizes supplied by publishers and development agencies. 

Deadline: estimated 14th May 2024

SI Leeds Literary Prize

The SI Leeds Literary Prize is for unpublished fiction by UK-based Black and Asian women, aged 18 and above. The aim of the prize is to act as a loudspeaker for fresh literary voices from under-represented groups and to help them reach new audiences in the mainstream.

The writer of the winning entry in 2022 was awarded of £4,000 and a range of additional valuable benefits through the prize’s unique writer development scheme, including: a free place at an Arvon creative writing course, free manuscript assessment of their work from The Literary Consultancy, an invitation to New Writing North’s London summer salon event for publishers and agents, workshops and support, speaking engagements and serious consideration for publication by Peepal Tree Press.

Entry fee: £10 but they do have a number of free entry bursaries for writers on a low income

Deadline: estimated 25th April 2024

Bridport Prizes - Short Story Competition

One of the largest short story prizes. The winning story will features in the Bridport Prize anthology, so you will see your words in print, maybe for the first time. The first place prize is £5,000. You will be invited to the awards celebration and get feedback from the judges and professional partners. Bridport will also champion you and your work. Second place: £1,000. Third place: £500. 

Entry fee: from £11

Deadline: May 31st 2024

BPA First Novel Award 2024

This award is open to unrepresented and unpublished authors for a novel in any adult fiction genre.

The winner receives £1,000 and an introduction with an agent. The runner up will get £500 and an introduction with an agent. And the highly commended writer will receive £150 and an introduction with an agent.

Entry fee: £24

Deadline: estimated 31st May 2024

Bath Novel Award 2024

The Bath Novel Award is an international writing competition based in Bath, UK for writers of novels in every genre. Now in its 10th year, the prize celebrates emerging authors who may be unpublished, self-published or independently-published. 

First prize: £5,000 with full manuscript feedback for shortlistees and extract feedback for all listees. Additional longlist prize of a £1,800 course with the Professional Writing Academy & Cornerstones Literary Consultancy 

Entry fee: £29.99 with sponsored places available for writers on a low income

Deadline: 31 May 2024

Jenny Brown Associates – Over 50 Award

Open to all writers over 50, this award was created to address the lack of literary opportunities available to older writers eager to break into the publishing industry. The award also aims to celebrate and value the collected, distilled wisdom and a lifetime of reading and experience of writers over 50. 

Debut novelists are invited to submit the first 5,000 words of their novels. The prize will consist of £1,000 and a week’s residential placement at Moniack Mhor Creative Writing Centre (the dream!) for the winner. The runners up will receive mentoring sessions with experienced writers, editors and agents as appropriate.

Deadline: estimated 31st May 2024 (check the Jenny Brown Associates website for more details) 

As well as compiling this list, I’ve also created a deadline calendar for you, populated with all 50 opportunities! This will make it even easier to keep up to date with writing competitions and awards throughout the year and never miss a deadline.

Read Part 2 and get the deadline calendar link

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Creative Writing Competition 2023

The winners, about the competition.

The Tower Hamlets Creative Writing Competition is an annual event for schools in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets for students aged six years to sixteen.

• Open to pupils in subscribing schools OR to members of Tower Hamlets Idea Stores
• Pupils in years 1 to 11 may enter
• Categories for short stories and poetry

It has been run by Tower Hamlets Schools Library Service since 2011 with the aims of promoting wider reading and literacy, and to encourage young people to express themselves through the written word. Research carried out during the 2020 competition showed that pupils participating in the competition and in the author workshops benefited by gaining confidence in their writing ability and developing greater insight into the issues raised by the competition themes

• Winners are listed by ctegory
• Prizes awarded for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and commended and best in school places
• The judges’ decision is final and correspondence will not be entered into
• We reserve the right to withdraw prizes in the case of any evidence of plagiarism.

Feedback form for teachers

• Let us know how we did
• Add your suggestions for next year’s theme!

Your school

The year group that you teach

The Competition

Why did your school take part in this event? (tick all that apply)

To win prizes Good experience with previous competitions Opportunity for free author workshops To encourage children to write Other (please specify below)

It was easy to submit work for the competition

1. Strongly Agree 2. 3. 4. 5. Strongly disagree If you disagreed, please let us know who we can improve this process.

The Competition theme and supporting resources

How did you find the suitability of the theme for differenct age ranges.

1. More suited to younger children 2. 3. About right for all ages 4. 5. More suited to older pupils

The competition (overall) and the theme helped inspire pupils

1. Strongly Agree 2. 3. 4. 5. Strongly disagree

The theme allowed for a range of writing styles/ genres

The prompts and ideas for writers (suggested on this website) were useful, what kind of resources would you like to see provided as part of future writing competitions, do you have any suggestions for future competition themes, the writing workshops, did your school host one or more of our funded writing workshops as part of the competition, the workshop was useful for the children who took part, the workshop was useful for the teachers who took part, teachers will be able to make use of what they learnt in future lesson planning, the free author visit has inspired us to have more author visits in the future, do you have any other feedback, comments or suggestions for the future of the tower hamlets creative writing competition, submit survey.

To reduce spam, please enter the following in the text box below (case sensitive) :

Enter the required text (SURVEY) and press the submit button. Please wait for the confirmation message before exiting or refreshing the page

Theme for 2023 : A Brighter Future ?

The theme for this year’s competition is A Brighter Future ?

• Prompts and a booklist to support the theme and provide ideas for all year groups can be found at www.towerhamlets-sls.org.uk/cwc-ideas
• Promotional posters and flyers with writing prompts will be sent to all participating schools

In 2023 there will be 5 age groups in the competition:

• Group 1: Years 1 & 2
• Group 2: Years 3 & 4
• Group 3: Years 5 & 6
• Group 4: Years 7 to 9
• Group 5: Years 10 & 11
• may also be an illustrated story or comic book
• Write a poem or verse story up to 25 lines (primary) and 35 lines (secondary)
• Poems and stories may exceed this word count/line limit by up to 100 words/5 lines
• Poems and stories must follow the competition theme

Pupils may enter both the short story and poetry categories. The competition deadline is Friday 31st March 2023. Work must be submitted by this date.

Submitting work:

The competition is now closed!

Register for the competition (schools only).

Parents/ students entering via the Idea Stores do NOT need to register

In order to enter the competition, receive posters, entry forms and flyers, and take advantage of these free author workshops, schools need to:

• enter the competition by “buying” it via SLAonline (Creative Writing Competition 2023. Just £40 to subscribing primary schools to cover administration)
• email [email protected] letting us know who is to lead on running this event in your school.
• use the form below to book your free writing workshops!

The Arts Council grant also enables us to publish a book of the winning entries.

Fully-funded writing workshops for schools

We are thrilled to announce that  Arts Council England  has again awarded Tower Hamlets Schools Library Service with a grant to enhance our annual Creative Writing Competition with author-led creative writing workshops for schools, Idea Stores and home-educated children.

All of the author workshops have now been booked.

Important information

The author workshops are intended to provide practical creative writing skills to your pupils (and teachers!) including structuring a story and character creation. The workshops will relate to the theme of the competition but the skills learnt can be applied to other projects and lessons.

How will a visit to your school work?

It is our intention to arrange in-person author visits rather than virtual visits.

• An author will be able to work with up to 2 groups of pupils during the time allocated to their visit. These 2 sessions will be up to 50 minutes each and run one after the other with a short break in between.
• An author or poet can also work with just 1 group for the visit duration as a more advanced workshop for older pupils – let us know in the additional details box in the booking form.
• The school should suggest a date or (preferably) a range of dates during which you can host your visit. We will match you with an author based on your requirements and their availability.
• Workshops should take place from January to March (world book day week is likely to be booked up very early on)
• Each group of pupils can be up to the size of one class
• Workshops can be for all ages from year 1 upwards
• Groups can be of mixed ages, although there shouldn’t be too wide a gap between these ages in order to ensure age-appropriate content

Idea Stores 

We are working with the Tower Hamlets Idea Stores to provide five workshops in public libraries between January and March. Dates and times to be announced.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected]

Poetry Slam Link!

Schools can also combine this competition with a performance poetry event! Give your pupils a confidence boost with a two-day intensive poetry workshop in association with the Poetry Society. This will prepare them for a half-day Slam performance where they’ll compete with other schools for prizes!

For more information see our Junior Slam page. The Junior Slam requires a separate registration.

Opening Times

Opening times

Term time Monday – Thursday: 9am to 5pm

Fridays and holidays: 9am to 4:30pm

Schools Library Services Catalogue

Copyright © 2024 Tower Hamlets Schools Library Services.

enter our groundbreaking creative writing competition for schools

Competition closed - submission period ended on 26 april 2024, enter your pupils aged 7-16 into our exciting tech-led creative writing competition for the chance to win amazing tech and literary prizes. the 'time to write' competition is open to all schools, and will use cutting-edge adaptive comparative judgement technology to shortlist entries, allowing schools and pupils to take part in the shortlisting process, the top 10 entries in each category (as decided by you) will be read by a panel of judges, who will decide on the winners and runners up., the winning writers will have their stories turned into illustrated books, and win a set of amazing tech and book prizes. plus, each winner's school will also win a great set of prizes, including a £1000 voucher to spend on school resources.

• Get in touch with ISEB

The Categories

Writers in Years 3 and 4: 500 words Writers in Years 5 and 6: 650 words Writers in Years 7, 8, and 9: 750 words Writers in Years 10 and 11: 1000 words

Word counts are advised lengths and final submissions can be +/- 10%

Register your interest for competition updates:

Judging and criteria

The 'Time to Write' competition will be judged in two rounds. Entries will be shortlisted by a group of judges - and you can take part in this! The top ten entries shortlisted in each category will be read by a panel of esteemed judges.

Round 1: Shortlisting

The first round of judging will be completed using Adaptive Comparative Judgement technology via RM Compare. Schools that enter pupils into the competition will be able to take part in this process as judges. We'll be looking for the most creative entries in the first round of judging.

Who can take part in the shortlisting process?

All schools that enter pupils into the competition will be able to take part in the shortlisting process during the first judging window.

If you have not submitted any entries but would still like to take part, please contact us at [email protected] .

Round 2: Final judging

The top ten entries in each category will be read and reviewed by a panel of judges in the traditional way.

The judging panel

Judging criteria

The panel of judges will review the top ten entries with the following criteria in mind: Idea: is there an original and creative idea that makes the story stand out? Structure: is there a clear plot that develops thematically? Character: are the characters well-developed and convincing? Language: are words chosen and language devices used confidently and creatively?

The Time to Write competition is open to all schools, with four categories for different age groups, and prizes for both the winning writers and their schools . The top ten entries shortlisted in each category will be read by a panel of esteemed judges. The winning writers in each category will see themselves in print , as each will have their story turned into an illustrated book ! Prizes will also be awarded to the winning writers’ schools , including £1000 to spend on school resources! A range of other exciting prizes will be on offer for the winners and runners-up , including Amazon Fire tablets, Altec Lansing Bluetooth speakers and headphones, and vouchers.

About the competition

The Independent Schools Examinations Board is a leading provider of innovative qualifications and assessments to schools in the UK and internationally. Founded in 1903 to create and deliver the Common Entrance exams, ISEB has been at the forefront of assessment at 11+ and 13+ for 120 years.

We've partnered with RM Compare to bring schools a unique, interactive creative writing competition for 2024. The time travel theme of the 'Time to Write' competition was chosen to align with ISEB's 120th anniversary. By appreciating the achievements and events of the past, and looking forward to the developments of new innovations and technologies, we can all make sure we are supporting all children to achieve for years to come.

“In celebrating 120 years at the heart of assessment in the independent school sector, we wanted to bring all schools an exciting opportunity to celebrate our core principles of creativity, inclusivity, innovation, and heritage in an interactive and hands-on way. Creative writing is the ultimate creative activity for young people, allowing them to dream big and show us their flair and individuality. We can’t wait to read their stories.” Julia Martin, ISEB

Competition Closed - Submission Period Ended on 26 April 2024. All entries must be submitted by schools. If you are a parent or guardian, please ask your child's school to enter your child into the competition. Schools can submit all entries from pupils together via an online entry form.

Time to Write is open to all residents aged 7-16 years as of 26 April 2024. Stories must be written by an individual and not by a pair, or writing team. Writers may only submit one story each. Entries must be a piece of original fiction and can not depict events that actually took place. Entries can not use details of any living person and must not include personal details about the writer and their family, teachers, or friends.

All entries must be submitted by a school - if you are a parent, please talk to your child's school about submitting your child's entry. Entries must be saved as PDF files, and the file name should be structured as 'Story name, school name'. The writer's name should not be included anywhere on the PDF. Entries can be hand-written or typed, but must not contain any additional embellishments such as drawings or diagrams. All entries must be in English. For full information please see our Terms and Conditions . How to enter 1. Read the competition terms and conditions. 2. Download the ISEB Time to Write - Pupil Entry Submission Upload spreadsheet . 3. Populate the spreadsheet with details for all pupils you are entering and once finished, save as a .CSV (comma delimited) file. 4. Save all entries as PDF files and ensure all files are named correctly ('Story name, school name'). Do not include the pupil’s name anywhere on entries, either in the file name or on the PDF. Entries can be typed or hand-written (as long as they are fully legible). 5. Save all PDF entries to a .ZIP file. 6. Visit the online entry form on the ISEB website . 7. Complete the online entry form, uploading your completed pupil entry submission .CSV file, and your .ZIP file of PDFs. If you have any questions please get in touch with ISEB via our support portal .

• Get in touch with iseb

The 'Time to Write' creative writing competition is all about celebrating the past and looking forward to the future. The theme is...

A time machine is found hidden in a cave. Inside, there is a clock with two options: the first, to travel in time 120 years into the past, and the second, to travel in time 120 years into the future. Who finds it, and what happens next?

We'll be looking for the most creative story in the first round of judging. Find out more about the judging process and criteria.

Visit the resource hub for support articles and information designed to to spark inspiration and support your pupils to produce their stories. Explore our collection of resources.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Please read our terms and conditions to find out everything you need to know about how the Time to Write competition will work, and how to enter.

1. The Promoter The Promoter is: ISEB Limited of Endeavour House, Crow Arch Lane, Ringwood, BH24 1HP, UK. 2. The competition The title of the competition is ISEB Time to Write. It is a creative writing competition for school pupils aged 7-16. 3. How to enter 3.1 The competition will run from 00:00 on 15 February 2024 (the "Opening Date") to 23:59 on 26 April 2024 (the "Closing Date") inclusive. 3.2 All competition entries must be received by the Promoter by the Closing Date. All competition entries received after the Closing Date will not be entered into the competition. 3.3 To enter the competition: All entries must be submitted using the online entry form on the ISEB website. All entries must be submitted by a school. Visit write.iseb.co.uk and follow the instructions to find the online entry form. 3.4 Schools entering pupils must first complete the ‘Time to Write Pupil Entry spreadsheet supplied as an .Excel file. This can be downloaded from the website and is located above the online entry form. 3.5 Schools will also need to save all writing submissions as PDF files and format the file name as: Title of submission, school name. The pupil’s name should not be included anywhere on the PDF submission. 3.6 These files will need to be uploaded via the online entry form. Entries can be typed as saved as PDF files, or they may be hand-written and saved as PDF files. If entries are submitted in hand-written format, they must be fully legible, and should only contain hand-written words as part of the story. If typed, they should be typed in any font, in 12pt size, and in black. 3.7 No entries may contain additional content such as drawings or diagrams. Entries containing additional content other than the typed or hand-written words of the story will not be accepted. 3.8 Entries must be written in English. Entries must not exceed the word count defined for each category. 3.9 No purchase is necessary. 3.10 The Promoter will not accept responsibility for competition entries that are lost, mislaid, damaged or delayed in transit, regardless of cause, including, for example, as a result of any equipment failure, technical malfunction, systems, satellite, network, server, computer hardware or software failure of any kind. 3.11 By submitting a competition entry, you are agreeing to be bound by these terms and conditions. 3.12 For help with entries, please submit a ticket at support.iseb.co.uk. 4. Eligibility 4.1 The competition is only open to all residents worldwide aged 7-16 years, except: (a) employees of the Promoter or its holding or subsidiary companies; (b) employees of agents or suppliers of the Promoter or its holding or subsidiary companies, who are professionally connected with the competition or its administration; or (c) members of the immediate families or households of (a) and (b) above. 4.2 In entering the competition, you confirm that you are eligible to do so and the Promoter may require you to provide proof that you are eligible to enter the competition. 4.3 The Promoter will not accept competition entries that are: (a) automatically generated by computer or created by artificial intelligence (including but not limited to chatbots such as ChatGPT or similar software applications); (b) completed by third parties or in bulk; (c) illegible, have been altered, reconstructed, forged or tampered with; (d) photocopies and not originals; or (e) incomplete. 4.4 We are sorry but competition entries cannot be returned. 4.5 The story submitted must be written by an individual and not by a writing pair or team. 4.6 Writers may only submit one story. If more than one story is submitted, only the first story received will be accepted. 4.7 The use of generative AI tools to create any part of an entry is not permitted and will lead to disqualification. 4.8 The story must be a piece of original fiction - stories can reference historical figures and eras but can not depict events that actually took place and can not use details of any living person. Stories must not include any personal details about the writer and/or their families/friends/teachers/schools. 4.9 Stories must be unpublished. 5. The prizes 5.1 The prizes for each winner of a category are: (a) The story submitted will be turned into an illustrated and bound book. (b) A Bluetooth speaker and set of Bluetooth headphones from Altec Lansing, models as defined by the Promoter on write.iseb.co.uk (c) An Amazon Fire Tablet, model as defined by the Promoter on write.iseb.co.uk (d) A National Book Tokens voucher to the amount defined by the Promoter on write.iseb.co.uk (e) An Audible voucher to the amount defined by the Promoter on write.iseb.co.uk. 5.2 The prizes for the two runners-up of a category are: (a) A Bluetooth speaker and set of Bluetooth headphones from Altec Lansing, models as defined by the Promoter on write.iseb.co.uk (b) An Audible voucher to the amount defined by the Promoter on write.iseb.co.uk. 5.3 The prizes for the school each winner attends/was entered by are: (a) A selection of fiction and non-fiction books as defined by the Promoter on write.iseb.co.uk (b) A portable pen scanner as defined by the Promoter on write.iseb.co.uk (c) A £1000 voucher (including VAT) to spend with the TTS Group as defined by the Promoter on write.iseb.co.uk. 5.4 All prizes are non-negotiable, no compensation is payable for competition entries or winners and there are no cash alternatives for the prizes. 6. Judging 6.1 The competition entries will be shortlisted to a shortlist of ten entries per category by a pool of judges using the RM Compare platform. Shortlisting will be completed using the following holistic statement: Which entry is the most creative? 6.2 The top ten entries in each category will be judged by a panel of four judges. The decision of the panel of judges (acting reasonably) will be final. 6.3 The top ten entries in each category will be judged on the following criteria: Idea: is there an original and creative idea that makes the story stand out? Structure: is there a clear plot that develops thematically? Character: are the characters well-developed and convincing? Language: are words chosen and language devices used confidently and creatively? 7. Winners 7.1 The decision of the Promoter is final and no correspondence or discussion will be entered into. The Promoter can not offer feedback on entries. 7.2 The Promoter will contact the school each winner and runner-up was entered by personally as soon as practicable after the Announcement Date, using the telephone number or email address provided with the competition entry. The Promoter will not amend any contact information once the competition entry form has been submitted. 7.3 The Promoter must either publish or make available information that indicates that a valid award took place. To comply with this obligation the Promoter will publish the names of the winners and runners-up, the titles of their writing submissions, and the schools of the winning writers on the ISEB website in June 2024. 7.4 If a school or pupil objects to any or all of their name, country and winning entry being published or made available, please contact the Promoter at the address set out at condition three. In such circumstances, the Promoter must still provide the information and winning entry to the Advertising Standards Authority on request. 8. Claiming the prize 8.1 The Promoter will make all reasonable efforts to contact the winner. If the winner cannot be contacted or is not available, or has not responded within 7 of days of the Announcement Date, the Promoter reserves the right to offer the prize to the next eligible entrant selected from the correct entries that were received before the Closing Date. 8.2 The Promoter does not accept any responsibility if you are not able to take up the prize. 9. Limitation of liability Insofar as is permitted by law, the Promoter, its agents or distributors will not in any circumstances be responsible or liable to compensate the winner or accept any liability for any loss, damage, personal injury or death occurring as a result of taking up the prize except where it is caused by the negligence of the Promoter, its agents or distributors or that of their employees. Your statutory rights are not affected. 10. Ownership of competition entries and intellectual property rights 10.1 All competition entries and any accompanying material submitted to the Promoter will become the property of the Promoter on receipt and will not be returned. 10.2 By submitting a competition entry and any accompanying material, pupils are: (a) assigning to the Promoter all ownership rights with full title guarantee; and (b) waiving all moral rights, in and to your competition entry and otherwise arising in connection with your entry to which you may now or at any time in the future be entitled under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 as amended from time to time and under all similar legislation from time to time in force anywhere in the world. 10.3 Without limitation on condition 10.2, the Promoter intends, but is in no way obliged to: (a) publish the competition entry in local, regional, or national press outlets, both print and digital; (b) display the competition entry on the ISEB website or social media platforms; and/or (c) use the competition entry in any promotional materials related to the competition, including posters, flyers, and online advertisements. 10.4 You agree that the Promoter may, but is not required to, make your entry available on its website iseb.co.uk and any other media, whether now known or invented in the future, and in connection with any publicity of the competition. 11. Data protection and publicity 11.1 The Promoter will only process your personal information as set out in the Promoter's Privacy Policy, which is available on the iseb.co.uk website. 11.2 The Promoter will collect the following personal data from the school representative submitting entries. (a) Your first name and surname (b) Your school’s name and location (c) Your email address and phone number (d) Your job title This information will be used by the Promoter to administer the competition, obtain the relevant permissions if required, communicate with the school on matters relating to the competition, and, if an entry submitted by your school is shortlisted or wins a prize, this information may be used as part of promotion on the Promoter’s website and other marketing channels. 11.3 The Promoter will collect the following personal data on pupils aged 7-16 being entered into the competition from the school submitting the entries: (a) Entrant’s first name and surname (b) Entrant’s age and date of birth (c) Entrant’s school name (d) Entrant’s school type (e) Entrant’s school year (f) Entrant’s gender (g) Entrant’s submission title This information will be used by the Promoter to administer the competition, and if an entry is shortlisted or wins a prize, some of this information may be used as part of promotion on the Promoter’s website and other marketing channels. The safety of all pupils is paramount to the Promoter and we will not publish more personal information than necessary. 11.4 Schools are to request permission from your parent/guardian in order to grant The Promoter the rights to become the 'data controller'. RM Compare will be the 'data processor'. 11.5 The Promoter is the ‘data controller’ of your personal data. This means the Promoter will decide what your personal data is used for, however, the Promoter will only collect and process your data in accordance with the purposes in these terms and conditions. The Promoter will comply with data protection law as the data controller. 12. General 12.1 If there is any reason to believe that there has been a breach of these terms and conditions, the Promoter may, at its sole discretion, reserve the right to exclude you from participating in the competition. 12.2 The Promoter reserves the right to hold void, suspend, cancel, or amend the prize competition where it becomes necessary to do so. 12.3 These terms and conditions are governed by English law. If any entrants to this promotion wish to take court proceedings, then they must do this within the courts in the United Kingdom.

Here you'll find a range of support resources for schools, young writers, and parents and guardians. We'll be adding more resources here over the coming weeks so keep checking back to see what's new!

Why should schools enter?

The benefits of creative writing go beyond essential core English skills. Not only does it support creative thinking and the development of imagination (as you might expect!), but other skills too: looking at things from a fresh perspective, expressing feelings and emotions, thinking about structure and choosing your words carefully; all skills that support development in every subject and in the wider world. A benchmark of pupil performance All schools that enter will receive a data report that shows how their pupils have performed alongside other pupils in the competition, as well as information about the types of themes and trends that have emerged. Hands-on experience with Adaptive Comparative Judgement technology The shortlisting process will be done via the RM Compare platform, using cutting-edge Adaptive Comparative Judgement technology. All schools that enter will be given the opportunity to take part as a judge in the shortlisting process and see for themselves how it works. Be a part of wider research on creative writing in schools The information gathered through the competition will help shape the way creative writing skills are developed and assessed in the future.

The St Swithun’s Witch Project: finding new ways to decolonise and diversify our literature teaching

A blog article by naomi anson, competition judge and head of swithun's school.

An introduction to the article from ISEB CEO, Julia Martin : "This inspiring project by Naomi Anson grabbed me when I first heard about it. Decolonising and diversifying our curricula is crucial and it’s fantastic to see St Swithun's School leading the way. This impact of this project went beyond teaching, it was performative, critical and truly interdisciplinary too. At ISEB, our creative writing competition Time to Write is a starting point for thinking about teaching creatively across boundaries and as one of our judges, Naomi Anson will be an inspiring force for championing new ways of being creative in our schools. " Read the article by Naomi Anson on the HMC website:

• The St Swithun’s Witch Project: finding new ways to decolonise and diversify our literature teaching by Naomi Anson

Interview with the author

with Ali Sparkes, competition judge, and children's author of the popular Shapeshifter series

Hi Ali! Did you always aspire to become an author? What first sparked your interest in writing stories? I was a pretty slow reader to begin with; a bit of a struggler. But around about the age of eight I started reading Famous Five books which kicked off my enthusiasm at last. From there I went on to other authors, like Joan Aiken, Anthony Buckeridge, Norman Hunter, Jean Craighead George and many more. I was very much the kid at school who was in the corner of the playground, opening up a book like a trapdoor and disappearing into another world. It didn't hurt that books were part of family life and our parents read to us. But did I aspire to be an author? Nah. I was obsessed with the theatre. For literally as far back as I can remember I wanted to be a singer and an actress. I was in school shows, quite often the lead, and then bigger shows, including a couple of stints as a lead in musicals at The Mayflower (or The Gaumont) as it was back then. Did a little local telly, too. So I was pretty good at the whole acting and singing thing (if not the dancing!) - but always used to write for fun; comedy scripts with my siblings and friends, daft poems, even full on action adventures (a four part series at secondary school!). I never really thought about a career as a writer, but the hallmarks were there throughout my teens; I even wrote a comedy musical for my cohort at college, which we staged as the final part of our Theatre Studies A level. Writing was just a very natural, fun thing to do. I didn't pay it very much attention; I just did it. How do you come up with ideas for your stories? Is there a special place or activity that helps you find inspiration? Ideas arrive at any time, from any direction; something someone says. an interesting location, a what if..?  thought. Dark Summer was inspired by the caves at Wookey Hole, Thunderstruck was inspired by a gravestone in a cemetery just off Southampton Common, 100 Summers was partly inspired by my sons, who both have ADHD. I've never had much problem coming up with ideas; they seem like jets, circling Heathrow, waiting to land. My biggest problem is finding enough time to write them all. But getting out walking (with Willow, the labradoodle) or running definitely helps me to un-knot any plot problems I'm having, or to cook up a new idea when I've been asked to come up with something. The best ideas usually occur nowhere near the keyboard. What does your process of writing a story from start to finish look like? The idea occurs and then, if it's a goer, tends to hang around in my head, getting a bit more evolved. Characters show up. Their problems and their wants and needs slowly get more apparent. Once I have a nice idea beginning to flesh out I will pitch it to my editor or agent and if they like it, I'll work up a synopsis and a few chapters. If it meets with approval I will write the whole thing. Between pitching the idea and getting it published usually takes about 18 months, although it can be much faster for shorter books, such as the titles I write for educational publishers like Oxford Reading Tree and Collin's Big Cat. There's a fair bit of to-ing and fro-ing between me and my editors to get the story as good as it can be, but I rarely write more than three drafts. Working as a journalist in newspapers and then BBC radio has trained me to write and edit quite tightly as I go. Can you tell us about any specific challenges or setbacks in your writing journey? How did you overcome them? I had sooooo many rejections, across a period of about four years. They were maddening because so often I would get a great response from an editor or an agent, full of compliments, but still not quite wanting to take me on. But I think my theatrical experiences helped because, even as a child performer, you get used to rejection and learn to handle it. Sending a manuscript is an audition, except you're not there in front of them when they decide whether or not you're hired. I learned to read the rejection letter, sigh, and then send the manuscript off to the next one on my list that same day. Rejection can come at any point in your writing career - I'm in no way immune to it. I find having lots of different ideas out there really helps, because if one thing falls through there are still others keeping your spirits up. What's the coolest thing about being a children's author? Do you get to do any fun research for your books? I love coming up with an idea and then getting the chance to share it with readers all over the world. I also love the research; the coolest was probably getting to mooch about behind the scenes at the caves in Wookey Hole, where the tourists don't usually get to go - and interviewing a cave diver to find out all about cave rescues. It was also really fun to hang out for a while with Mark King, lead singer and legendary bassist in hit 1980s band Level 42, as part of my research for Destination Earth. If you could give one piece of advice to kids who dream of becoming authors, what would that advice be? Read. Read. And read some more. And then write. Write. And write some more. It's not complicated. If you want to be a writer you have to study the form (reading!) and then practise (writing!) until you get better at it. Entering competitions is also useful because, whether or not you win them, you're training yourself to finish work, polish it, send it, and then deal with the feedback; something every writer has to do throughout their career. You do have to be brave about sharing your work with others and that's not easy for everyone - but it's part and parcel of the whole writer thing.  Write with friends. Have a blast! Play with words. Don't be afraid to put your stories out there.

Understanding the Time to Write competition terms and conditions

A breakdown for parents and guardians.

As the parent or guardian of a young person submitting an entry to the Time to Write competition, you will need to agree to some terms and conditions via your child's school. We recommend that you read these in full, but here is a breakdown of the main things you need to know and agree to. Your child’s school will collect your permission and share this with ISEB , so please liaise with your child’s school about this. If you need any help from ISEB, you can submit an enquiry through our customer support portal . Assigning ownership to ISEB When your child writes a story, they are the owner of their piece of work. When they enter the competition, they will need to assign these ownership rights to ISEB . ISEB will then upload the piece of work into the RM Compare platform so that it can be processed as part of the shortlisting process, which will use RM’s cutting-edge Adaptive Comparative Judgement technology to find the top ten entries in each category. By shortlisting in this way, a large group of judges can take part, ensuring a totally fair, transparent, and reliable process. This is what your child’s school will ask you to agree to. What else will ISEB do with these ownership rights? If your child is a winner or runner up in the Time to Write competition, ISEB may publish your child’s entry on our website and social media platforms and any other ISEB-owned platforms. We may also publish your child’s story in third-party press outlets. We will always let parents and guardians know where these stories have been published. We may also use your child’s story in promotional materials for either the Time to Write competition or future ISEB products. By agreeing to the terms and conditions via your child’s school you are giving your permission for us to do these things. If your child wins their category, their story will be turned into an illustrated and bound book. We’ll provide a limited number of printed copies to you and your child’s school. To be able to turn your child’s story into a book, we also need ownership transferred to us. What about data relating to your child? ISEB will need to collect a set of personal data about your child to administer the competition. This includes your child’s name, date of birth, school name, school type, school year, their gender, and the title of their entry. If your child is a winner or runner up, ISEB may use some of this personal data in promoting the results of the competition. We will put pupil safety first and we will not publish more personal information than necessary. By agreeing to the terms and conditions, you are allowing ISEB to become the ‘data controller’ of your child’s personal information and piece of work submitted. What about RM Compare? Once you have assigned ownership of your child’s piece of work to ISEB, ISEB will grant RM Compare the rights to become the data processor. This gives RM Compare the levels of permission required to run the shortlisting process. As the ‘data controller’ ISEB will decide what your child’s data is used for and will comply with data protection law (in England).

• Read the full terms and conditions

Getting started with writing a story - 10 things to think about

Are you ready to embark on an exciting adventure of imagination and creativity? Writing a story is like painting a picture with words, and the best part is that you get to be the artist of your own tale. Here are some things to think about as you get started on your storytelling journey: 1. Imagine your world: Close your eyes and let your imagination soar! What kind of world do you want your story to be in? Is it a land of talking animals, a futuristic city, or a mysterious enchanted forest? Picture it vividly in your mind – the colours, sounds, and even the smells. This is the beginning of your magical creation. 2. Meet your characters: Who will be the heroes of your story? Create characters with personalities as unique as yours. Think about their strengths, weaknesses, and what makes them special. Are they brave adventurers, mischievous fairies, or curious explorers? Your characters are the heart of your story, so make them unforgettable! 3. What's the big idea? Every great story has a big idea, or what we call a plot. It's like the roadmap that guides your characters through exciting adventures and challenges. What amazing quest will your characters go on? Maybe they're searching for hidden treasure, solving a mystery, or saving their magical world. Your big idea is the magic that keeps readers turning the pages. 4. Start with a bang: Begin your story with a burst of excitement! It could be a funny joke, a mysterious riddle, or your characters finding a magical object (like a time machine!). The beginning is your chance to grab your reader's attention and invite them into your enchanting world. 5. Use your senses: Make your story come alive by using your senses. Describe what your characters see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. If they're in a candy kingdom, how does the air smell? What do the rainbow-colored candies taste like? Engaging the senses helps your readers feel like they're right there in your magical world. 6. Add dialogue magic: Let your characters talk and share their feelings. Dialogue is like the magic spell that brings your characters to life. Use quotation marks around what they say and show how they react to different situations. Maybe they laugh, cry, or even do a happy dance! 7. Build suspense: Keep your readers on the edge of their seats by adding suspense. Will your characters solve the mystery? What's behind the hidden door in the enchanted forest? Building suspense makes your story even more thrilling and exciting. 8. End with a bang, too: Just like the beginning, your story's ending should be spectacular! It could be a surprising twist, a heart-warming reunion, or a celebration. Make your readers feel satisfied and happy after going on this magical journey with your characters. 9. Share your magic: Once your story is complete, share it with others! Whether it's your friends, family, or even your pet, sharing your magical tale is a wonderful way to spread joy. You're the author, and your words have the power to enchant everyone who reads them. 10. Have fun! Most importantly, have fun with your storytelling adventure. Writing a story is your chance to let your imagination run wild and create something truly magical. So grab your pen, pencil, or computer, let the words flow, and enjoy every moment of your enchanting journey into the world of storytelling.

FEELING STUCK? HOW TO OVERCOME WRITER’S BLOCK

BY EMMA DRAGE, COMPETITION JUDGE, AND SENIOR COMMISSIONING EDITOR AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

It can be daunting to be faced with a blank piece of paper, and even the best writers can feel stuck at times. Here are some top tips to help you get writing! Free writing Give yourself the challenge of writing for ten minutes without stopping. This is sometimes called free writing. Set a timer and write whatever comes into your head. Try to keep your hand moving the whole time and don’t cross anything out. You don’t need to share this work with anyone – it’s not going to be your final piece of writing, but you might find that some interesting ideas emerge that you can use as a starting point for your story. Free writing can help to increase the flow of ideas. It can also help to stop you overthinking and ruling out ideas before you’ve given them a chance! Create some writing prompts Write a list of five characters on separate slips of paper or pieces of card and put them face down on a table. Then create a list of five different locations on slips of paper or card and lay them out upside down on the table too. Pick out one character and one location at random. Use whatever combination you pick out as a starting point for a story. It’s a great way to come up with unusual combinations, for examples robots in a castle or dinosaurs in a cinema. Take inspiration from your favourite stories Make a list of some of your favourite stories. Think about what it is that you enjoy most about them. For example, if you love reading books about aliens, perhaps you could try writing your own alien story. If you’re writing something you’d love to read yourself, you are going to feel more motivated to start – and finish – it. Imagine untold stories An interesting starting point can be to retell an existing story from a different character’s point of view – or even from the perspective of an inanimate object. Myths, legends, and fairytales can be great sources of inspiration. For example, what if you retold Cinderella from the point of view of the stepmother, or Jack and the Beanstalk from the point of view of the bean? It’s very important never to simply copy existing texts, but lots of great writers have enjoyed great success reimagining or reinterpreting well-known tales from different perspectives. Carry a notebook with you If you’re still struggling to get started or are feeling like you’ve reached a dead end with your story, a change of scene can help. Try going for a walk or doing another activity, keeping a notebook with you. Jot down any ideas that come to you. You could try carrying a notebook with you throughout the day – you might be surprised when inspiration strikes! Some writers also like to keep a notebook by their bed to jot down their dreams when they wake up in the morning to use as inspiration. Remember, starting is often the hardest part and everyone struggles with it from time to time! Try not to put too much pressure on yourself, pick a topic you enjoy, and have fun!

10 ways to cultivate a love of storytelling in your child

Encouraging children to explore the enchanting world of storytelling can be a delightful journey for both parents and children. Cultivating a love for writing not only enhances language skills but also nurtures creativity and self-expression. Here are some magical ways for parents and guardians to spark their children's interest in writing stories: 1. Create a writing wonderland: Designate a cozy writing corner at home. Make it a special place where your child can escape into the world of imagination. The allure of a dedicated writing space can turn the act of writing into a magical adventure. 2. Be a storytelling role model: Share your own stories or even create tales together. When children see their parents engaging in storytelling, it ignites their curiosity and provides a model for expressing thoughts through words. It can be a collaborative experience, with each family member contributing to the unfolding narrative. 3. Start with short and sweet: Begin with short writing activities that are both manageable and fun. Encourage your child to write a brief description of their day, compose a silly poem, or invent a dialogue between fictional characters. Short and sweet exercises help build confidence and lay the foundation for more elaborate storytelling adventures. 4. Turn everyday events into stories: Transform routine activities into story prompts. You could ask your child to narrate their trip to the supermarket, turning it into a whimsical adventure with talking fruits and mischievous shopping carts. This helps them see storytelling opportunities in everyday life, making writing a natural and enjoyable activity. 5. Embrace diverse writing tools: Explore various writing tools to make the process more engaging. From traditional pencils and papers to colourful markers, or even a kid-friendly writing app on a tablet, the choice of tools can add an extra layer of excitement to the writing experience. 6. Inspire with book adventures: Take regular trips to the library or bookshop and let your child explore different genres and styles of books. Share captivating stories that align with their interests, whether it's adventures, mysteries, or tales of magical lands. A love for reading often blossoms into a desire to create stories of their own. 7. Celebrate storytelling traditions: Share family stories and traditions with your child. Whether it's tales from your own childhood, stories passed down through generations, or even cultural folklore, storytelling traditions connect children to their roots and inspire them to create their own narratives. 8. Organise writing challenges: Turn writing into a playful challenge. Set weekly themes or prompts and encourage your child to create short stories around them. It could be anything from 'space adventures' to 'talking animal tales.' This adds an element of excitement and creativity to their writing routine. 9. Create a story journal: Provide your child with a special journal where they can jot down story ideas, doodle characters, or even draft short paragraphs. A story journal serves as a personal space for their thoughts to flourish and can become a treasure trove of inspiration for future writing endeavours. 10. Foster a positive writing environment: Cultivate a positive attitude towards writing. Offer praise for their efforts, celebrate their unique ideas, and create an environment where mistakes are seen as stepping stones to improvement. A nurturing atmosphere boosts confidence and makes writing a joyful exploration. Remember, the key to getting children interested in writing stories is to make it a delightful and imaginative experience. By weaving storytelling into the fabric of everyday life, parents can nurture the budding authors within their children, fostering a lifelong love for the magic of words and storytelling. Check out our Time to Write competition - if your child would like to write a creative time travel story, talk to your school about entering.

Five time travel writers for children

Time travel is a captivating theme in children's literature, transporting young readers to different eras and adventures. There are several notable authors who have created time-traveling narratives that have engaged and inspired the imaginations of countless children. Here are five time travel writers for children that you can discuss in the classroom: 1. Mary Pope Osborne: Renowned for her 'Magic Tree House' series, Mary Pope Osborne has taken young readers on thrilling time-traveling adventures since 1992. The series follows siblings Jack and Annie as they discover a magical treehouse that allows them to travel through time and space. Each book introduces historical events and figures, making learning an integral part of the enchanting tales. Osborne's storytelling has made history accessible and exciting for generations of young readers. 2. Madeleine L'Engle: Madeleine L'Engle's classic 'A Wrinkle in Time' is a timeless work that blends science fiction and fantasy. While not strictly about time travel in the conventional sense, the novel explores the concept of 'tessering,' a form of space-time travel that takes the protagonist, Meg Murry, and her friends to otherworldly realms. L'Engle's imaginative narrative, rich characters, and exploration of cosmic concepts have made 'A Wrinkle in Time' a beloved and influential work in children's literature. 3. Eoin Colfer: Eoin Colfer, known for his Artemis Fowl series, also delved into time travel with 'W.A.R.P.' (Witness Anonymous Relocation Program). The series combines science fiction, historical elements, and fast-paced adventure as young FBI agent Chevie Savano time-travels to Victorian London. Colfer's witty writing and engaging characters make the W.A.R.P. series an entertaining and thought-provoking experience for young readers interested in time travel. 4. Judy Blume: While Judy Blume is widely recognized for her contemporary and realistic fiction, she ventured into time travel with the book 'Here's to You, Rachel Robinson.' In this novel, the protagonist, Rachel, has an encounter with a mysterious old woman that propels her back in time to experience life in the 1960s. Blume's exploration of time travel adds an intriguing layer to her body of work, allowing readers to consider the impact of different eras on the lives of young people. 5. H.G. Wells (Retold by Stephanie Baudet): H.G. Wells' classic science fiction novel 'The Time Machine' has been retold for children by Stephanie Baudet in a series titled 'Classic Science Fiction for Kids.' Baudet maintains the essence of Wells' original narrative while adapting it for younger readers. 'The Time Machine' introduces children to the concept of time travel through the adventures of the Time Traveller in a captivating and accessible format. Baudet's retelling allows young readers to explore Wells' timeless masterpiece. These five authors have made significant contributions to children's literature by incorporating time travel into their narratives. From magical treehouses to mysterious wrinkle-filled dimensions, their stories not only entertain but also stimulate curiosity and imagination. Time travel continues to be a compelling theme that opens doors to exploration, discovery, and understanding for young readers across generations. Why not explore some of these authors with your pupils, and see if their stories spark creative ideas for the Time to Write competition!

Four children’s books still popular 120 years later

In 1904, the world of children's literature was undergoing a transformation, marked by the publication of several notable books that have since become classics. The turn of the 20th century saw a shift in the way stories were written for young readers, with authors increasingly focusing on themes of imagination, morality, and adventure. One of the prominent releases of this era was ‘The Tale of Benjamin Bunny’ by Beatrix Potter . Published in 1904, Beatrix Potter's charming tale continued the adventures of Peter Rabbit and introduced readers to Benjamin Bunny, Peter's cousin. Potter's stories were revolutionary in their use of anthropomorphic animals and vivid illustrations, captivating the imaginations of young readers and laying the foundation for future generations of children's literature. Another significant work from 1904 is L. Frank Baum's ‘The Marvelous Land of Oz.’ Building upon the success of ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ Baum's sequel continued to transport readers to the magical realm of Oz, introducing new characters such as Tip and Jack Pumpkinhead. Baum's imaginative storytelling and fantastical world-building contributed to the enduring popularity of the Oz series. In the realm of fairy tales, ‘The Tale of Tales’ by Giambattista Basile , originally published in Italy in 1634–36, was translated into English in 1904 by John Edward Taylor . This collection of fairy tales, often referred to as the first comprehensive compilation of European folk tales, provided a rich source of inspiration for later authors and storytellers. While not a traditional children's book, Kenneth Grahame's ‘The Wind in the Willows’ was first published in 1908 but began serialisation in 1904. The charming adventures of Mole, Rat, Toad, and Badger in the idyllic English countryside have since become a staple of children's literature. Grahame's work captured the essence of friendship, adventure, and the natural world, resonating with readers of all ages. As the early 1900s unfolded, children's literature continued to evolve, reflecting the cultural shifts and values of the time. These foundational works from 1904 paved the way for the diverse and expansive landscape of children's books we enjoy today. Why not explore these stories in the classroom as your pupils work on their creative writing entries for the Time to Write competition.

How can Scanning pens reader 2 support creative writing?

Five tips on using your Reader 2 from Time to Write competition sponsor, Scanning Pens Ltd. Start with inspirational reading Use your C-Pen to explore a piece of writing from an author that you admire. By using append mode, you can scan as much text as you wish. You can toggle the blue highlighter around the screen and follow as you play back the scanned words. Hold the centre button down to enlarge new words and listen again. You can play back the word, a sentence or the whole paragraph as many times as you wish. Immerse yourself in the inspirational writing that you chose. Analyse the punctuation Now, let's look at the construction of the sentences that you have scanned. You can explore how punctuation creates clarity or impact. The pen has a punctuation pause to help you to see it and understand its purpose. Decoding new vocabulary Did you find new words that you like the sound of? Use the dictionary function to find a quick definition of a new word. Finding word definitions quickly will give you more thinking time. Why not try using these words in your own creative writing! Listening for devices Through your headphones, tune in to patterns in your inspirational reading piece, listen and look for devices like alliteration, rhythm and rhyme. Did you find a repeating element or motif? Could you use these or other devices that you have found in your writing? Find your word bank All the words that you enlarged and looked up can be found in a word bank called practice mode. You can also find the words you looked up in the dictionary history. You have a ready-made word list to use in your creative writing. Now, it's Time to Write! When you are feeling inspired, you are ready to start writing.

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A glossary of creative writing terms for your class

Plot: The sequence of events that make up a story, including the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. Characterisation: The process of creating and developing characters in a story, including their traits, motivations, and behaviours. Setting: The time and place in which a story takes place, including the physical environment and historical context. Theme: The central idea or message of a story, often exploring universal truths or human experiences. Point of View (POV): The perspective from which a story is told, such as first-person, second-person, or third-person. Dialogue: The conversation between characters in a story, used to reveal their personalities, advance the plot, and provide exposition. Conflict: A problem or challenge that drives the plot forward, often involving a struggle between opposing forces. Foreshadowing: Hints or clues about future events in a story, used to create suspense or build anticipation. Symbolism: The use of symbols or objects to represent deeper meanings or themes within a story. Imagery: Vivid descriptions that appeal to the senses, helping to create a mental picture for the reader. Metaphor: A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, often highlighting similarities in a creative or imaginative way. Simile: A figure of speech that compares two unlike things using 'like' or 'as,' often for descriptive or expressive purposes. Irony: A literary device in which there is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen and what actually occurs, often for humorous or dramatic effect. Tone: The author's attitude or emotional perspective toward the subject matter or audience of a story, conveyed through language and style. Style: The distinctive manner in which a writer uses language, including word choice, sentence structure, and tone, to convey meaning and create an artistic effect. Flashback: A narrative technique that interrupts the chronological sequence of events to depict an earlier scene or event. Fiction: Literary works that are imagined or invented, as opposed to factual or non-fictional writing. Non-Fiction: Literary works that are based on facts, real events, and real people, as opposed to imagined or invented stories. Protagonist: The main character or central figure in a story, often the one who drives the plot forward and undergoes significant development. Antagonist: The character or force that opposes the protagonist, creating conflict and obstacles for them to overcome. We hope these terms are useful as your class dreams up their creative stories for the Time to Write competition.

HOW TO THINK CREATIVELY

By Dr Ellen Spencer, competition judge, and Senior Researcher at the Centre for Real World Learning at the University of Winchester

Taking part in a creative writing competition is an exciting adventure that invites you to stretch your imagination, challenge yourself, and grow your creative thinking habits . Creativity isn't about waiting for inspiration or making things out of thin air. Anyone can be creative , because it involves using thinking habits that are useful whenever you need to think creatively. A story built on the creative habits of being inquisitive , imaginative , persistent , disciplined , and collaborative is like a castle constructed brick by brick with your ideas and effort. While good writing can seem like a magic art, creativity is a process you can use in many situations in life, and it happens like this: first you explore, then you come up with your own ideas, then you produce your work (in this case, a story), then evaluate your efforts and make changes if you need to. Everyone can learn creativity – it’s a skill like any other. Let's look at how can you practise and use your creative habits as you write your story: - Being inquisitive involves wondering and questioning. Imagine your story is a mystery box, and your curiosity is the key. Ask yourself, 'What if?' as you explore different worlds and ideas to find that one spark that lights up your story. Don’t rely on what’s already in your head though. If I wanted to write about wolves, or the ice age, I would look at how other people have written about them. I’d spend time reading all about them. The details you bring to light through being inquisitive will give your story authenticity and authority. - Creative thinking involves being imaginative . But how do you do this? Play with possibilities, let your imagination run wild! Think of the most extraordinary places, characters, and events. What might your story look like if it were science fiction? How would it be different if it involved magic? These imaginative leaps make your story truly unique. - Now to turn these imaginative thoughts into a coherent story. Thinking about what happens next, and how your ideas fit together, isn't always easy. Remember, every author faces these challenges. Being persistent involves sticking with difficulty. If you get stuck, take a deep breath, and try again. Maybe you need to re-think a character, or even change something drastic. Don’t give up though, because your persistence will help your story grow from the seed of an idea, into a towering tree you’re proud of. - How can you polish the story and make it shine? Thinking creatively involves being disciplined . For a writer this means choosing your words carefully, reading through to check all your characters are convincing, and that your story doesn’t have an overly detailed beginning, rushed middle and loose ends! Taking the time to review and improve it will make your story the best it can be. - Lastly, nobody is creative all by themselves. Being a creative thinker involves being collaborative . Share your story ideas with friends, family, or even your pet! Talking about your story can spark new ideas and help you see your story from different perspectives, making it better and more engaging.

Creative Habits of Mind (image: CCE. Framework developed at the Centre for Real-World Learning at the University of Winchester)

Use these five habits to guide you, but run with your ideas. Every writer's 'voice' is unique , just like every zebra's stripe pattern is one-of-a-kind. To be human is to be creative, and your creativity has no limits, so go ahead and write the story that only you can tell!

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EMCC STUDENTS PLACE IN STATEWIDE CREATIVE WRITING CONTEST

April 30, 2024

Two East Mississippi Community College students placed in the 2023-24 Mississippi Community College Creative Writing Association’s (MCCWA) annual workshop and contest.

Students from community colleges across Mississippi competed in categories that included Creative Nonfiction, Dramatic Writing, Literary Essay, Poetry and Short Fiction.

EMCC student Elizabythe McBeth took second place in the Short Fiction category for her piece titled “Faded Footprints.”

“It’s like me walking back through my grandparents’ house,” McBeth said. “I would stay with them, along with my two cousins. It was kind of reminiscing about that.”

Arin Franks poem, “Creating for You” earned second place in the Poetry category.

McBeth is a Columbus native who is taking general studies on EMCC’s Golden Triangle campus. She plans to enroll in the Mississippi University for Women’s Department of Baccalaureate Nursing once she graduates from EMCC.

Franks is a Springville, Alabama native who resides in Columbus. She graduated from EMCC last year with majors in political science and English. She is enrolled at Mississippi State University where she is studying pre-law, with an eye towards enrolling at a law school. The MCCWA contest includes entries written in 2023 and early 2024.

Submissions by McBeth and Franks were written while taking EMCC humanities instructor Marilyn Ford’s Creative Writing class.

“Arin is an absolute wonderful poet,” Ford said. “She is a very introspective young lady and her poems are oftentimes about the evolution of self and that transitory time when we begin to try to figure out who we are in our teens.

Works by Franks and McBeth were also featured in EMCC’s magazine of creativity titled “Syzygy.”

The magazine highlights the works of EMCC students in categories that include Ceramics, Creative Nonfiction, Design, Short Fiction, Drawing and Poetry. Faculty advisors and judges choose the winning entries to be included in the magazine.

Franks earned first place in Poetry in the 2023-24 edition of “Syzygy,” while McBeth took top honors in the Short Fiction category. McBeth was also named the recipient of the Betty Killebrew Literary Award, which recognizes the top submission amongst all entries.

Other winners include Haidi Salihaj, who earned first place in the Design category, and Breelyn Smith, who took top honors in the Drawing Category. The winners were honored April 23 during Awards Day on the Golden Triangle campus when instructors recognized their “outstanding students” for the past year. McBeth was also recognized as the “Outstanding Creative Writing Student.”

“I am always pleasantly surprised by the quality of the submissions to our ‘Syzygy’ magazine each year,” Ford said. “This year was no different. We have some very talented students and I am proud of what they have accomplished.”

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"East Mississippi Community College has the nicest instructors that have helped me to grow and become a better student. Going to EMCC has brought me many opportunities to excel within the college.  I have made an incredible number of close friends here and an infinite amount of memoires that at East that I will bring with me when I transfer to a four year college."

"East Mississippi Community College has been an incredible launching pad for my future! The professors here have truly cared about me and have gone above and beyond to make sure I succeeded. From the Ambassadors program to PTK to student government, EMCC offered a supportive environment for me to get involved and hone skills I will use in the future.  My favorite aspects of EMCC have been my teachers' easily accessible office hours and the writing center.  These made a huge difference in my confidence and prepared me for the challenges of a four-year university. I'm so grateful for the knowledge and experiences I've gained here!"

“I chose EMCC because it gave me the best opportunities coming out of high school. I got plenty of scholarships because the school offered so many. I would not have been able to do half of the things that I have done if i didn’t come here. First generation students are already at a disadvantage. If you are able to you should get an education to break the generational curse and create generational wealth for your family. Education is the most powerful tool.”

"EMCC isn't just a place to learn, it's home. From the vibrant festivals to the passionate instructors, every corner offered an opportunity to grow. Public speaking not only honed my interview skills but also instilled the confidence to think on my feet. Most importantly, the time at EMCC flew by because it was filled with friendships, challenges overcome, and memories made. To anyone stepping onto campus for the first time, embrace every moment, make connections, and remember - there's a whole community invested in your success."

“EMCC has truly become my home!  From the scholarships offered, to the faculty & staff, and friends I have made, I am so thankful I chose to continue my education here!”

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2022-2023 Creative Writing Competition

We are hoping to be even bigger and better this year. Are you a teacher or author who would like to help us judge these talented entries? Please contact Carrie .

15th Annual Creative Writing Competition deadline Friday, December 2, 2022, midnight.

Open to passionate writers in grades 4th —12th.

Open to cisd students and students outside cisd cga membership required only if student does not attend cisd schools., deadline: december 2, 2022 at midnight, click here for:  rules and faqs (includes link for online entry form).

Each entry will be judged based on its artistic expression; however, technical merit will also be a factor. Finalists (evaluated by student grade and category) will be announced in Spring 2023. The winning entries will be published in a book that will be available in the spring. Students need not be identified gifted to participate.

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This page was updated September 11, 2022

Interested in what happened in previous competitions?

2021-22 cga creative writing competition.

• Click HERE to see results from the 2021-22 Competition.

2020-21 CGA Creative Writing Competition

• Click HERE to see results from the 2020-21 Competition.

2019-20 CGA Creative Writing Competition

• Click HERE to see results from the 2019-20 Competition.

2018-19 CGA Creative Writing Competition

• Click HERE to see results from the 2018-19 Competition.

2017-18 CGA Creative Writing Competition

• Click HERE to see results from the 2017-18 Competition.

2016-17 CGA Creative Writing Competition

• Click HERE to see results from the 2016-17 Competition.

2015-16 CGA Creative Writing Competition

• Click HERE to see results from the 2015-16 Competition.

2014-15 CGA Creative Writing Competition

• Results are available by clicking here:  RESULTS AVAILABLE HERE.

2013-14 CGA Creative Writing Competition

• Results are available by clicking here: RESULTS AVAILABLE HERE.
• Click here for more information about the book orders and book release party: Books & Party , Party Pics.

2012-13 CGA Creative Writing Competition.

• Results are available by clicking here:  FINAL RESULTS .
• Click here for more information on Book Orders and the Book Release Party:  Book Orders  and  Book Release Party .

2011-2012 CGA Creative Writing Competition

• Click here for Creative Writing Competition RESULTS.
• Click here for Book orders and Book release party

2010-2011 CGA Creative Writing Competition

• For information on the  CGA Book Relase Party  on April 7, 2011 (or the link to pre-order the book), please click  HERE .
• For final results,  CLICK HERE .

. 2009-2010 Creative Writing Competition

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• January 19th – Creative Writing Competition Entry Deadline

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Fil d'Ariane > fil

Creative Writing Competition: Sport

It won’t have escaped your notice that this is an Olympic year. To get into the swing of things, we’d like to take sport as the theme of our annual creative-writing competition. We’d like pupils to use their imagination to write a story about sport in any way they want.

They can write about loving sport or hating it. A super popular sport or an obscure one, or one they make up. It can be about winning or losing, participating or supporting. It can be in any style they like: romance, science-fiction, a thriller, a detective story, funny or sad. You may want to impose a theme such as Olympic sport, sports that are typical of or popular in English-speaking countries, or fair play.

To give them some ideas and work on sports vocabulary, you could have them work on these short stories at A2 or B1 levels . We’ve provided reading comprehension and written expression activities.

Rules This competition is open to pupils at A2, B1 and B2 levels. Entries can be individual or group efforts. The texts must be in English and approximately 150 words long for A2 and 250 words for the higher levels.

If you are having a whole class or classes participate, it would be very helpful if you could send the entries collected by class, by post or e-mail.

Each entry should  have the pupil's/pupils' name(s), age(s) and class level, teacher's name and school address. Please note: Pupils' surnames will in no circumstances be used on the site and we will contact teachers whose pupils' work is chosen for publication to ascertain how to identify pupils (or not if they or their families wish them to appear anonymously.)

Entries must reach us by Wednesday 10 April 2024 .

Send entries to: Speakeasy News Sports Story Competition Nathan Secteur Langues 92 avenue de France CS 91464 75702 PARIS CEDEX 13 France

Or by e-mail . (If you send an e-mail, please send .doc, .docx or .pdf documents ONLY. If you are sending for a whole class, it helps us immensely if you send them in a single file, or at least all together.)

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Tag(s) : --> "creative writing" --> "fair play" --> "Olympics" --> "Paris 2024" --> "sport"

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Conformément à la Loi Informatique et Liberté n°78-17 du 6 janvier 1978 modifiée, au Règlement (UE) 2016/679 et à la Loi pour une République numérique du 7 octobre 2016, vous disposez du droit d'accès, de rectification, de limitation, d'opposition, de suppression, du droit à la portabilité de vos données, de transmettre des directives sur leur sort en cas de décès.

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Competitions, Submissions & Opportunities

The latest writing competitions and submissions windows for writers., deadline: 3rd may 2024.

gorse is published twice a year.  We are interested in the potential of literature, in literature where lines between fiction, memoir and history blur (Sebald, Cendrars, Bolaño, Joyce), in experimental  writing, in fiction in translation, in the unconventional and the under recognised, in the  personal essay (Sontag, Dyer). We are a literary journal equally interested in the arts (fine art, photography, architecture, film, music), in culture, in politics. We’re looking for smart writing, not academic.

More Information here:

Deadline: 5th may 2024.

Submissions for Issue Eight of Tolka are open from 17 April until 5 May. They publish all forms of non-fiction: personal essay, memoir, reportage, travel writing, auto-fiction, and “the writing that falls in between.” They have published exciting new work from some of the best writers in Ireland and they also pay their contributors a flat fee of €500.

Deadline: 6th May 2024

Associate membership support scheme 2024.

With support from Dublin City Council, we are delighted to offer 20 subsidised associate memberships for writers who are living in the Dublin City Council area. This opportunity is for writers from backgrounds that are typically underrepresented in the arts in Ireland.

• These schemes are open only to beginner and emerging writers aged eighteen or over who are based in the Dublin City Council area.
• This scheme is specifically for writers from backgrounds typically underrepresented in the arts in Ireland. This scheme is specifically for writers who identify as one or more of the following communities/backgrounds/identities: Black or Person of Colour, Disabled, LGBTQIA+, Member of the Travelling Community, Roma, Unwaged/low income.
• Applicants can apply for multiple support schemes as long as they are eligible under each individual scheme.
• Applicants do not need to have had prior engagement with the Irish Writers Centre to be eligible.
• Applications will be evaluated by an external selection panel, with reference to the case made in your application.

Deadline: 8th May 2024

Sparánachtaí cúrsaí do scríbhneoirí gaeilge 2024.

Tá áthas ar Áras Scríbhneoirí na hÉireann a fhógairt go bhfuil sparánachtaí nua dá gcúrsaí ar fáil do scríbhneoirí Gaeilge, agus iad á maoiniú ag Foras na Gaeilge.

Tá 8 sparánachtaí ar fáil sa bhabhta seo. Cuirfidh na sparánachtaí seo ar chumasscríbhneoirí a gcuid scileanna a fhorbairt agus iad ag freastal ar chúrsaí sa scríbhneoireacht chruthaitheach agus cúrsaí forbartha gairme ó Áras Scríbhneoirí na hÉireann. Cabhróidh fordheontas do na cúrsaí seo le daoine nach mbeadh ar a gcumas freastal orthu gan an maoiniú sin. Gheobhaidh scríbhneoirí creidmheas an chúrsa ar luach €165 le freastal ar chúrsa de chuid ÁSÉ.

Irish Writers Centre: Course Bursaries 2024

The Irish Writers Centre is pleased to announce a new round of course bursaries for writers living on the island of Ireland, made possible with support from the Arts Council of Ireland. These bursaries will enable writers to develop their skills through funded places at Irish Writers Centre creative writing courses, and create access by subsidising costs to individuals who may not otherwise be able to take a course.

15 bursaries will be awarded to writers from backgrounds typically underrepresented in Irish Literature. Bursary recipients will receive course credit worth €165 towards a course at the IWC.

Applications will be evaluated by an external selection panel, with reference to the case made in your statement.

• These schemes are open only to writers aged eighteen or over who are living on the island of Ireland and are a part of an underrepresented background / community in the arts*.
• Applicants can apply for more than one support scheme as long as they are eligible under each individual scheme.
• If you have benefitted from this scheme in the last three years you are ineligible to apply. This is in the interest of benefitting as many Irish writers as possible.

Irish Writers Centre: Course Bursaries for LGBTQIA+ Writers 2024

The Irish Writers Centre is pleased to announce a new round of course bursaries for LGBTQIA+ writers living on the island of Ireland, made possible with support from the Arts Council of Ireland. This round of bursaries will be awarded to LGBTQIA+ writers as part of Pride month in June 2024. Bursary recipients will receive course credit worth €165 towards a course at the IWC.

Deadline: 15th May 2024

Ache magazine, ache is excited to announce the opening of submissions for our new anthology fit notes: feminist writing on illness and work which will explore the intersections of illness, bodies and work, to be published in 2024. for this book-length anthology, we are seeking writing submissions to fill ten slots. we are accepting submissions of: fiction (2,500 words max) creative non-fiction (2,500 words max) poetry (3 poems max). contributors will be paid a flat fee of £60 for work published, inclusive of each piece of prose or set of poems., sean dunne poetry award 2024.

The Seán Dunne Poetry Award has been established to honor the work of the late Waterford poet Seán Dunne and his literary legacy. This Inaugural Seán Dunne Poetry Award, 2024, commemorates the 10th anniversary of the commencement of the Lafcadio Hearn Japanese Gardens in Tramore and will form part of the Seán Dunne Literary Weekend at the Gardens from the 28th – 30th June 2024.

There is no set theme for this competition.  Competition is open to poets, born in the island of Ireland, or of Irish nationality, or resident in Ireland.  FIRST PRIZE: €1,500, SECOND PRIZE: €750, THIRD PRIZE: €350,  5 Highly Commended Prizes of €50 each,  5 Commended Prizes of €25 each.

Irish Writers Centre: Foundation Programme 2024

The Irish Writers Centre in association with Dublin Book Festival is delighted to invite applications to the Foundation Programme, a collaborative programme designed for six emerging writers who are resident in the Dublin City Council area and who are also from a background typically underrepresented in the arts in Ireland.

This programme includes:

• A one-to-one session with the programme writer-mentor.
• A place on an Irish Writers Centre creative writing course.
• Foundation Day: An in-person day of talks by industry professionals at the Irish Writers Centre.
• A performance opportunity at Dublin Book Festival in November 2024

Irish Writers Centre International Lamplight Residency 2024 (Online)

Co-presented by the Irish Writers Centre and Varuna, The National Writers’ House, Australia, this online programme is a two-week residency opportunity for fiction writers to enjoy the combined warmth and support of both organisations.

This two week online residency includes:

• Two one-to-one consultations with Mary Anne Butler and Conor Kostick to discuss your current work.
• Q&A session with a multi-award winning Irish writer TBC*
• Q&A session with bestselling and award-winning Australian author Charlotte Wood.
• Daily writing opportunities together as a group.
• Group workshops with your peers throughout the week, including the opportunity to share work, talk about the writing process, and to receive feedback.

All sessions will take place online: Participants will need a reliable internet connection, and a computer or mobile phone with a camera and microphone.

Programme dates: Monday the 8th of July to Friday the 19th of July.

Deadline 31st May 2024

Abridged 0-101 ‘Rebecca’ invites poetry and/or art submissions on the conflicting themes of haunting, convention, repression and resistance. You may submit up to three poems to [email protected] which must be in a Word or PDF format. Unusually formatted poems we prefer in an PDF format, material that is more straightforward in Word. Art should be in JPEG or similar format and at least 300dpi. Please note that this issue is A5 landscape shaped. Please also send a short bio and put your name and address on the email or it might get lost in the Spam folder. We can’t send proofs so please send the final version of your poem.

Deadline: 31st May 2024

The bridport prize.

With categories in Poetry, Short Story, Flash Fiction and the Novel as well as a list of previous winners that includes Kit de Waal and Kate Atkinson, the Bridport Prize is one of the most exciting creative writing competitions you could submit to right now. This year Wendy Erskine will judge the short story category, Liz Berry will judge Poetry, Jasmine Sawers judges Flash Fiction and Ross Raisin will judge the Novel. Applications close on the 31st of May so make sure to check out their website for rules and instructions on how to apply.

Deadline: 21st June 2024

Write by the sea writing competition.

Part of the Write By the Sea literature festival this lovely competition has been running for years.

There are four competition categories: Fiction Short Story (maximum 2,500 words) Flash Fiction (maximum 700 words) Poetry (maximum 40 lines) Memoir/Personal Essay (maximum 1,000 words).

The winner of each category will receive a cash prize of €500 and a free weekend pass to Write By The Sea festival 2024. All four winning pieces will be published on the Write By The Sea website. The runners-up in each category will receive €300 and third place will receive €200.

Entrants can submit as many entries as they wish at €10 per entry, or enter 3 pieces, in the same or different genres, for €25.

Deadline: 30th June 2024

The moth short story prize.

The Moth Short Story Prize is an international prize, open to anyone from anywhere in the world, as long as their story is original and previously unpublished. The winners are chosen by a single judge each year, who reads the stories anonymously.

Previous judges include Ottessa Moshfegh, Kevin Barry, Mark Haddon, Ali Smith and Sarah Hall and this years judge is Louise Kennedy.

1st prize €3,000

2nd prize a week at Circle of Misse plus open travel stipend

3rd prize €1,000

Deadline: 1st July 2024

The queen mary wasafiri new writing prize.

This prize supports writers who have not yet published a book-length work, with no limits on age, gender, nationality, or background. The winners of each category will receive a £1,000 cash prize and publication in Wasafiri magazine. All winners and shortlisted writers will be offered the Chapter and Verse or Free Reads mentoring scheme in partnership with The Literary Consultancy (dependent on eligibility), and a conversation with The Good Literary Agency to discuss their career progression.

There are three categories: Life Writing, Poetry and Fiction.

No entry may exceed 3,000 words.

It costs £12 per entry.

Deadline: ongoing

Guernica / a magazine of art & politics.

Founded online in 2004, Guernica is an award-winning 501(c)3 non-profit magazine focused on the intersection of arts and politics. A home for incisive ideas and necessary questions, Guernica publish memoir, reporting, interviews, commentary, poetry, fiction, and multimedia journalism exploring identity, conflict, culture, justice, science, and beyond. They offer honoraria of $50 for poetry, $100 for original essays, and $150 for original fiction and for reportage/journalism.

Deadline: Ongoing

PN Review considers submissions in hard copy form only (unless you are an individual subscriber to the magazine, in which case electronic submissions, word files rather than PDFs, will be considered). Writers wishing to send work should familiarise themselves with PN Review. Submissions should generally not exceed fifteen double-spaced pages of work (prose) or four poems/five pages (verse in English or translation). Copies of the original texts should accompany translations where possible. We discourage simultaneous submissions. Writers wishing to propose projects should send a synopsis and covering letter, with sample pages, having first ascertained from the website that the kind of proposal is suitable for PN Review.

We publish no short stories, children’s prose/poetry and very little non-poetry related work (academic, biography etc.) at the current time. We are not considering fiction in English or in translation at this time.

Poetry Ireland Review

Poetry Ireland Review is published three times annually. Poetry Ireland welcome unsolicited submissions of poems, and proposals for articles and reviews, from Ireland and abroad, in Irish or English.

Cuireann Éigse Éireann fáilte roimh iarratais i nGaeilge. Is féidir iad a sheoladh go díreach chuig [email protected] i gceangaltán Word.

The Poetry Review

The Poetry Review, founded in 1912, is the magazine of the Poetry Society, UK, and has a long-standing policy of publishing the very best work by new, up and coming poets, and established poets. All submissions are read by the editor and considered on an equal basis. Unfortunately, due to the volume of submissions we receive, we cannot offer any individual criticism. Our aim is to accept or reject work within three months – but please read, and follow, the submission guidelines below, in order to facilitate our response.

The Dublin Review

The Dublin Review welcomes submissions of fiction and non-fiction previously unpublished in the English language. We do not accept poetry submissions. We especially encourage submissions from members of groups traditionally underrepresented in literary magazines and other cultural forums.

Spellweaver

Spellweaver is a new Cork based online and print journal dedicated to supporting new and emerging writers, particularly in the Fantasy genre. We accept stories and poetry, anything with a hint of the unreal. Submissions are open year-round. Contributors will be paid.

See All Resources

The Irish Writers Centre aims to provide relevant information and resources to writers across a number of areas including publishing, marketing, copyright, social welfare and more.

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Where Words Meet Magic​

Unleash your writing skills and let your words make an impact., call for entries, submissions are open.

What's in it for you?

Hone Your Craft

IWP provides an ideal environment for you to refine your writing skills. By offering feedback from esteemed judges, writing prompts, and exposure to diverse writing styles, we'll guide you on your path to becoming a better wordsmith.

Spotlight on Talent

This is your stage! IWP's creative writing quest is a golden opportunity to showcase your creativity to an extensive audience, elevating your work from your desk to the limelight. Who knows? Literary agents or publishers could be your next fans!

Prize-Winning Words

Here at the India Writing Project, we honor your talent with an array of rewards including enticing cash prizes, invaluable feedback, and publishing opportunities. It’s not just a competition; it's an investment in your literary journey.

Craft Your Portfolio

This isn't a fleeting event; it's a stepping stone towards building an impressive portfolio. It's a chance to create new literary masterpieces and gather the confidence to seize other writing opportunities that come your way.

Forge Literary Bonds

Connect with like-minded individuals who share your passion for the written word. Engage in thoughtful exchanges, gather inspiration, and create a nurturing writer's community that fuels your creativity.

Dare to Excel

IWP is more than a competition; it's a personal challenge. Dare to stretch your creative muscles, delve into unknown genres, and pit your skills against other gifted writers. This quest will nurture your distinctive voice and style, aiding your growth in the literary world.

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What our participants say.

Have Doubts? Get In Touch

• +91 - 7669991724
• [email protected]

We are one of India’s leading platforms for online poetry and creative writing programmes. We award you cash prizes, certificates, and magazine publications.

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Result Announcement

Participants will start receiving their feedback and certificates from 20th April.

Student Life

2024 madhu chopra writing contest winners announced.

The Commerce School offers its thanks to the students for creatively sharing their experiences, and heartfelt gratitude to the Chopra family for making the contest possible and recognizing student writing at the School.

Emma Mei Andreas, Adriana Gao, John Honigmann, Copey "Marquis" Rice

Corey Mittenberg

Senior Content Writer

Affiliated Faculty:

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The McIntire School congratulates the winners of the 2024 Madhu Chopra Writing Contest.

First place in the contest is a tie between Emma Mei Andreas (McIntire ’24) for her poem, “Velvet Mary Jane Pumps,” and Copey “Marquis” Rice (McIntire ’24) for his video essay, “A Love Letter to McIntire” (watch the video below).

The second-place winner is Adriana Gao (McIntire ’24) for her work, “Write the Headline First” ; third place goes to John Honigmann (M.S. in Commerce ’24) for his poem, “Horizon.”

Entries were judged on originality, creativity, self-awareness, and use of language that reflects on business and/or specific experiences here at McIntire and UVA. The winners received cash prizes: first place, $600; second place, $500; and third place, $400.

Judges included faculty members Kiera Allison and Marcia Pentz , with staff members Ben Raske and Katy Smith .

The contest is in honor of Madhu Chopra (McIntire ’89), a dedicated, spiritual Commerce student tragically killed in the summer of 1988. Madhu’s parents annually sponsor the writing contest in her memory.

Many thanks to the McIntire students who creatively shared their experiences and to the Chopra family for making the contest possible and for honoring student writing at the Commerce School. The many essays, poems, and experimental writings received were of an exceptionally high quality.

Catch Up With Commerce

Find out about all the exciting things happening in the McIntire community. Visit our news page for the latest updates.

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