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Writing Opportunities 2022

The Moth Poetry Prize 2022

Information
Closing date: 
31 December 2022
Entry: 
Open to all poets over 16 for an unpublished poem. Entry fee €15 per poem
Prize: 
1st prize €6,000, plus three runner-up prizes of €1,000 and eight commended poets will each receive €250

The Moth Poetry Prize is one of the biggest prizes in the world for a single unpublished poem. The prize is open to anyone, as long as the poem is previously unpublished, and each year it attracts thousands of entries from new and established poets from over 50 countries worldwide.The prize is for an unpublished poem, and entrants (over 16) are welcome from anywhere in the world.

The four shortlisted poems will be published in the spring 2023 issue of The Moth and the overall winner will be announced at a special award ceremony at Poetry IrelandThe website of the Irish National Poetry Organisation, offering a resource centre, introductions and readings from new and emerging poets resident in Ireland. www.poetryireland.ie in the spring.

There is an entry fee of €15 per poem.

The shortlist will be announced in March 2023 and the four shortlisted poems will appear in the spring 2023 issue of The Moth. The overall winner of €6,000 will be announced at a special award ceremony at Poetry Ireland in Dublin in the spring of 2023.

This year's judge is Louise Gluck, winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize for Literature

Closing 31 December 2022.

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Daily Mail First Novel Competition 2022

Information
Closing date: 
1 November 2022
Entry: 
Open to anyone aged 16 or over who is a resident of the UK or Republic of Ireland and has not had a book published before No entry fee
Prize: 
A £20,000 advance and publishing contract with Little Brown's Sphere imprin and the services of top literary agency LBA

Today, the Mail and one of the world's biggest and most respected publishers launch a search for the UK's brightest literary talent. For the winner, the prize will be life-changing - their book will be published by Little, Brown's Sphere imprint. Our chosen author will also get a £20,000 advance and be taken on by top literary agency LBA.

By entering, your opening chapters and synopsis will be read by publishing professionals. If you win, an editor will help you shape and polish your first work of fiction, tackling plot problems, character development and scene setting.

Although entrants must be aged 18 or over, there's no upper age limit - after all, experience feeds imagination. Even if you don't scoop the first prize, it's possible your book may be chosen for publication anyway if the judges decide it has potential. This has been the case with several runners-up in the past.

Your entry must be written for an adult audience, can be in any genre except Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror and can be contemporary, historical, funny or tragic, dark or delightful, so long as it has an original voice, compelling characters and a driven plot.

The contest is for first-time authors who have not had any work of fiction published before.

It doesn't need to be complete - just send 3,000 words, plus a 600-word synopsis (including spoilers) to show where you plan to take your plot and characters.

See the website for the terms and conditions - but make sure you read the full set online and agree to them before entering.

Our judges are bestselling novelist Clare Mackintosh; Ed Wood, Sphere publishing director; Darcy Nicholson, Sphere editorial director; Luigi Bonomi, founder of the LBA agency; and Hannah Schofield, a leading agent at LBA. Completing the judges' line-up is Sandra Parsons, Daily Mail literary editor.

So what are you waiting for? Read on - and start writing!

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The National Poetry Competition 2022

Information
Closing date: 
31 October 2022
Entry: 
Open to anyone 18 or over from all over the world to enter an unpublished poem of up to 40 lines. Entry fee £7 for first entry, £5 for unlimited subsequent entries
Prize: 
First Prize: £5,000, Second Prize £2,000 and Third Prize £1,000, Commendations £200

The National Poetry CompetitionAnnual poetry prize run by the UK-based Poetry Society established in 1978; accepts entries from all over the world; over 10,000 poems submitted each year

The 2022 National Poetry Competition is one of the world's most prestigious prizes for an unpublished poem of up to 40 lines, open to anyone internationally who is 18 or over. It is judged anonymously and has been won by celebrated poets and by newcomers.

Ten Prizes

First Prize: £5000
Second Prize: £2000
Third Prize: £1000
Commendations: £200

Judges

Greta Stoddart, Jason Allen-Paisant and Michael Symmons Roberts

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The Bridport Prize 2022

Information
Closing date: 
30 September 2022
Entry: 
Eligibility please check on the individual category on their website for entry and fees for Poetry, Short Story, Novel, Memoir and Flash Fiction. Entry fees various, please check on their website
Prize: 
Various - please check on their website

The Bridport Prize has five sections: Poetry, Short Story, Flash Fiction, Novel Award and a new Memoir section.

Read the Rules carefully, as they have different prizes, rules, entry fees and closing dates.

The Memoir section closes on 30 September.

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The Moth Nature Writing Prize 2022

Information
Closing date: 
15 September 2022
Entry: 
Open to anyone over the age of 16 with an unpublished piece of nature writing. Entry fee €15 per entry
Prize: 
€1,000 and a week-long stay at The Moth Retreat in rural Ireland.

THE MOTH NATURE WRITING PRIZE

Judge Max Porter

Max Porter's Sunday Times bestseller Lanny was longlisted for the Booker Prize and the Wainwright Prize and shortlisted for the Waterstones and Foyles Book of the Year. His first novel, Grief is the Thing with Feathers, won the Sunday Times/Peter, Fraser + Dunlop Young Writer of the Year and the Dylan Thomas Prize, and was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Goldsmiths Prize. A theatre production, directed by Enda Walsh and starring Cillian Murphy was performed in Dublin, London and New York.

The Prize will be awarded to an unpublished piece of writing - prose fiction, non-fiction or poetry - which best combines exceptional literary merit with an exploration of the writer's relationship with the natural world. The word limit is 4,000 words.

The prize is open to anyone over the age of sixteen, as long as the work is original and previously unpublished. The winning piece will be published in the winter issue of The Moth, and the winner will receive €1,000 and a week-long stay at The Moth Retreat in rural Ireland. Closing date 15 September 2022.


1st prize €1,000 plus a week at The Moth Retreat in rural Ireland. The Moth Nature Writing Prize is open to anyone (over 16) as long as their piece is previously unpublished. The word limit is 4,000 and there is an entry fee of €15. Closing 15 September 2020.

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The Imagined Futures

Information
Closing date: 
9 September 2022
Entry: 
YA writers resident in the UK or Ireland. No entry fee
Prize: 
The first prize is a worldwide publishing contract with Faber and a £15,000 advance, while the second and third prizes also receive publishing contracts with advances of £8,000 and £5,000 respectively.

Faber has launched The Imagined Futures, a new YA science fiction prize aimed at finding stories that 'offer hope and spark the imagination in this period of incredible global and environmental change'. It is looking for fiction that shines a spotlight on the power and value of the natural world and explores the potential outcomes for our collective future.

The prize closes on 9 September 2022. The entry criteria is a young adult novel or collection of short stories that can be (loosely) defined as science fiction, comprising the first 10,000 words and a full synopsis of the novel in 500 words, or a full manuscript and 500 word synopsis. Potential themes include:

  • A radical reimagining of a world in which all life has equal importance
  • Humankind playing second fiddle to Plantkind molecular explosion that completely reconfigures our world and us too
  • Space habitation
  • Waste not want not - truly, literally living alongside all our debris
  • Technological innovation that eliminates all waste, erosion and inbuilt obsolescence
  • Human/world compatibility reaches new levels of extraordinary . . .
  • Extraterrestrial life is real, and so is their desire to 'improve' us

The first prize is a worldwide publishing contract with Faber and a £15,000 advance, while the second and third prizes also receive publishing contracts with advances of £8,000 and £5,000 respectively. Winners will also receive a tour of the Faber Archive to see first editions of Faber's science fiction. Agented and unagented writers resident in the UK are eligible.

Publisher Leah Thaxton said: "Some of the most imaginative, immersive fiction I have read has been science fiction, but there isn't enough of it! Particularly now when young adults need great escapism that offers hope and that sense of wonder often associated with this genre. So, that is what we're looking for in launching this prize. We want to leave an inspiring legacy of books that thrill and empower young adults and show them that their behaviour and thinking is enormously important. We want to encourage them to go on to invent and build the solutions that will transform our existence. This is a call for literary environmental action, to refuel hearts and minds!"

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Aesthetica Creative Writing Award 2022

Information
Closing date: 
31 August 2022
Entry: 
Open to all. Entry fee Poetry entries £12 | Short Fiction entries £18
Prize: 
£2,500 awarded to both the Poetry and Short Fiction winners and publication in the Aesthetica Creative Writing Anthology, which is awarded to 60 writers, shortlisted by the judging panel.

The Aesthetica Creative Writing Award is an international literary prize that is a hotbed for new talent in Poetry and Short Fiction. Now in its 16th year, the Prize supports both emerging and established writers. By entering, writers can showcase their work to key industry figures and organisations including The Poetry SocietyLively and well-presented UK site supporting poetry with 4,000 members internationally and some thoughtful content. www.poetrysociety.org.uk, Granta, VINTAGE and more.

The Short Fiction and Poetry winners have gone to achieve widespread acclaim, including nominations for the T. S. Eliot Prize and Forward Prize. The prize attracts thousands of entries each year from across the world and is an outstanding resource to discover the best new voices in creative writing.

Winners are selected for both categories and awarded £2,500 in prize money. Publication in the Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual, Full membership of The Poetry Society (Poetry Winner), a free 10-week Online Course from  the Poetry School (Poetry Winner), Consultation with Redhammer Management

Specialises in works with international potential.

Unpublished authors must be professional in their approach and have major international potential, ideally book, film and/or TV.

Submissions via agents website

Children's clients include Donna Ballman, Peggy Brusseau, Gary Bushell, Brian Clegg, Maria (MG) Harris, Lucy Johnson, Amanda Lees, Michelle Paver, Kellie Santin, David Yelland.

(Fiction Winner), a selection of books from Vintage and a one year print subscription to Granta.

Aesthetica is proud to champion new writing talent and supports its writing alumni beyond the Prize, offering print and digital publicity and continued exposure across our channels.

Poetry entries £12 | Short Fiction entries £18

Submissions close 31 August 2022

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The Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2022

Information
Closing date: 
31 July 2022
Entry: 
Poets from anywhere in the world aged 11-17 years No entry fee
Prize: 
Top 15 winners get publication in the Foyle Young Poets 2022 Anthology

The Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award is one of the biggest and most established prizes for young people aged 11 - 17 in the world. If you're an aspiring writer, enter your poems to the competition at foyleyoungpoets.org by 31 July 2022. It's totally free to enter and entrants can submit as many poems of any length as they like, on any theme. 100 young people will win prizes including publication in a widely-distributed anthology, poetry books, Youth Membership of The Poetry SocietyLively and well-presented UK site supporting poetry with 4,000 members internationally and some thoughtful content. www.poetrysociety.org.uk, mentoring, paid opportunities to write and onward support with their writing development and career.

This year's award will be judged by Anthony Anaxagorou and Mona Arshi. The Patron of the 2022 Award is Savannah Brown.

Last year, we received 14,408 poems from over 6,775 poets aged 11-17 from across the UK and around the world. Writers from 109 different countries entered the competition from as far afield as South Africa, China, Ethiopia and Georgia, as well as the four corners of the UK.Do you dream of starring in next year's anthology? Enter the 2022 award, and as well as publication you could receive mentoring opportunities from The Poetry Society including a weeklong writing retreat for the Top 15 winners; extended engagement with the poetry community through complimentary Youth Membership of The Poetry Society; quarterly copies of Poetry News; and lots of prizes such as poetry books, chocolate, and other goodies.

The Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award is the biggest poetry competition for 11-17 year olds in the world. Since it began 24 years ago, the Award has kick-started the career of some of today's most exciting new voices. Past winners include Jay Bernard, Sarah Howe, Helen Mort, Phoebe Power, Caroline Bird, Mukahang Limbu, Richard O'Brien and many more incredible poets.

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The Moth Short Story Prize 2022

Information
Closing date: 
30 June 2022
Entry: 
Open to all writers over 16. Entry fee €15 per story
Prize: 
1st prize €3,000, 2nd prize week-long writing retreat at Circle of Misse in France plus €250 travel stipend, 3rd prize €1,000

The Moth Short Story Prize is an important date on the literary calendar. Every year, a single judge is asked to choose three winning stories to feature in the autumn issue of The Moth.

This year's judge is Sarah Hall, the prizewinning author of three short story collections and six novels, her most recent being Burntcoat. She is a recipient of the American Academy of Arts and Letters E. M. Forster Award and Edge Hill Short Story Prize, among others, and the only person ever to have won the BBC National Short Story Award twice. As well as teaching creative writing, Sarah has judged a number of prestigious literary awards, including the Man Booker Prize and the Sunday Times (EFG/Audible).

1st prize €3,000
2nd prize week-long writing retreat at Circle of Misse in France plus €250 travel stipend
3rd prize €1,000

The Prize is open to anyone (over 16) as long as the work is original and previously unpublished. There is a word limit of 4,000.

The entry fee is €15 per story. Closing 30 June 2022.

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2022 Times/Chicken House writing competition

Information
Closing date: 
1 June 2022
Entry: 
fee Open to unpublished, unagented children’s writers based anywhere in the world. Entry fee £20
Prize: 
First Prize a publishing contract with Chicken House with an advance of £10,000, plus the offer of representation from literary agent Louise Lamont at LBA Books, Second Prize a £7,500 publishing contract plus an offer of representation

Now the biggest children's writing competition in the UK, the Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition has been running for 12 years and has kickstarted the careers of many of the most established writers for both children and adults in the UK - including Jasbinder Bilan (Costa-winning author of Asha & the Spirit Bird), SJ Bennett (The Windsor Knot) and Nicki Thornton (The Last Chance Hotel series). Since the competition's inception, 62% of shortlistees have gone on to be published, including winners.

The competition is open to unpublished, unagented writers based anywhere in the world. We accept entries aimed at readers from age 7 all the way up to age 18 (Young Adult).

The top prize is a publishing contract with Chicken House with an advance of £10,000, plus the offer of representation from literary agent Louise Lamont at LBA Books, who will also be on this year's judging panel.

A second prize, the Chairman's Choice Award - awarded to the manuscript which shows the most potential - will win a £7,500 publishing contract plus an offer of representation.

Chicken House publisher Barry Cunningham said: "I'm thrilled with how this special competition just grows and grows, welcoming new talent from around the world - and how it always manages to surprise and amaze the judges with fresh new writing!"

This year's competition will be judged by a panel of industry experts, including Barry Cunningham, The Times Arts Editor Alex O'Connell, YA Book Prize-winning author Patrice Lawrence, author and booktuber Lucy Powrie, LBA Books literary agent Louise Lamont, bookseller Sanchita Basu de Sarkar from Children's Bookshop Muswell Hill, and literary scout Rosalind Ramsay.

The competition costs £20 to enter and is open to writers from all over the world, as long as they write in English, are unagented and have not had a children's book published before.

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The Novel Prize 2022

Information
Closing date: 
1 June 2022
Entry: 
Open to a book-length work of literary fiction written in English by published and unpublished writers from round the world. No entry fee
Prize: 
$10,000 to the winner and publication of their novel by Fitzcarraldo Editions in the UK and Ireland, Giramondo in Australia and New Zealand, and New Directions in North America

Fitzcarraldo Editions, Giramondo Publishing and New Directions have announced the biennial Novel Prize for a book-length work of literary fiction of at least 30,000 words written in English by published and unpublished writers from round the world, recognising 'works which explore and expand the possibilities of the form, and are innovative and imaginative in style'.

It offers $10,000 to the winner and publication of their novel by Fitzcarraldo Editions in the UK and Ireland, Giramondo in Australia and New Zealand, and New Directions in North America.

Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au was the inaugural winner, selected from more than 1,500 entries. It was published in February 2022, and rights have sold in 20 territories. Au said: "The Novel Prize has been an incredible experience - to have had the opportunity to work with publishers of the calibre of Fitzcarraldo Editions, Giramondo Publishing and New Directions, and for Cold Enough for Snow to be translated internationally from there, is something I will continue to be both amazed by and grateful for."

Entries will be open until 1 June, with Fitzcarraldo Editions reading submissions from Africa and Europe, Giramondo from Asia and Australasia, and New Directions from the Americas. The shortlist will be released in December, the winner announced in February 2023, and the winning novel published in early 2024.

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The 2022 Page Turner Awards

Information
Closing date: 
31 May 2022
Entry: 
Open to all writers over 18. Entry fees
Prize: 
£35,000 prize fund

New Writing and Book Awards Aims to Change Writing Careers

The Page Turner Awards were created to change writing careers with success stories from the most impressive first 10 pages submitted.

Five different awards aim to help writers and authors to get discovered with possible literary agency representation and potentially taking a published book from page to film.

The Page Turner Writing Award offers writers and authors the chance to enter the first 10 pages of a completed, unpublished fiction or non-fiction manuscript, where a group of literary agents will read the work with a chance to get it published. Submissions are open until 31 May.

The Five awards include:

The Writing Award

Young Writer Award

Screenplay Award

Writing Mentorship

Book Award

The award welcomes both emerging writers and all genres for fiction and non-fiction from any English-speaking country across the world.

The prestigious judging panel, made up of successful award-winning authors, literary agents and publishers, is looking for vivid, cinematic writing with captivating characters and unique voices.

Winners of the Writing Award may receive representation by a literary agent.

The £35K prize fund includes a wide range  of prizes.

For more details