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Life Writing

Mslexia Fiction & Memoir Competition 2020

Information

Closing date: 
21 September 2020
Entry: 
Open to women writers only from across the world with unpublished manuscripts (self-published work allowed) Entry fees - various
Prize: 
Various


Short Story

For complete short stories in any genre for adult /young adult women writers.
First Prize 3,000 plus optional week at an Arvon writing centre
Entry fee 310

Flash Fiction

Fr complete short fiction narratives in any genre for adults and/or young adult readers
First Prize £500
Entry fee £5

Children's & YA novel  Read more

The Spread the Word Life Writing Prize 2020

Information

Closing date: 
3 February 2020
Entry: 
Open to writers who have yet to publish a full-length work or have a literary agent, living in the UK and aged 18 or over. No entry fee
Prize: 
£1,500, an Arvon course, a writing mentor, two years' membership of the Royal Society of Literature

Kerry Hudson, Nell Stevens and Sathnam Sanghera are to judge Spread the Word

London organisation running creative writing workshops for writers at all stages, with a focus on new writing and live literature, and encouraging innovation and experimentation. www.spreadtheword.org.uk

's 2020 Life Writing Prize.  Read more

The Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize 2019

Information

Closing date: 
28 June 2019
Entry: 
All new writers of Fiction, Poetry and Life Writing Entry fee £6, 2 entries £10 and 3 entries £15
Prize: 
£1,000 for each category

The Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize 2019 is open for submissions in the categories of Fiction, Poetry, and Life Writing. The prize was launched ten years ago to support new writers, with no limits on age, gender, nationality or background. In this birthday year we are excited to announce that we are increasing each prize sum from £300 to £1,000.  Read more

The Spread the Word Life Writing Prize 2019

Information

Closing date: 
1 February 2019
Entry: 
Open to emerging writers living in the UK aged 18 or over No entry fee
Prize: 
£1,500 and other prizes

The Spread the Word

London organisation running creative writing workshops for writers at all stages, with a focus on new writing and live literature, and encouraging innovation and experimentation. www.spreadtheword.org.uk

Life Writing Prize in association with Goldsmiths Writers' Centre was established in 2016.

Open to emerging writers living in the UK aged 18 or over, the Prize was established to celebrate and develop life writing in the UK thanks to a generous donation from Joanna Munro.

Blake Morrison is Patron of the Prize.  Read more

Winchester Writers Festival Competitions 2017

Information

Closing date: 
15 May 2017
Entry: 
Open to all writers across the UK and around the world regardless of whether or not you attend the Festival Entry fees mostly £6
Prize: 
Various

The Festival's ten writing competitions are now open for submissions!

The competitions are open to all writers across the UK and around the world regardless of whether or not you attend the Festival in June.

Closing date: 15 May 2017. All entries must be submitted online. Winners will be announced at the Festival and on our website on Saturday 17 June.  Read more

Wasafiri New Writing 2011

Information

Closing date: 
29 July 2011
Entry: 
£6 entry fee Wasafiri is looking for creative submissions (3000 words max) in one of three categories: Poetry, Fiction or Life Writing.
Prize: 
£300 in each category, winning entries to be featured in Wasafiri

Wasafiri New Writing

Deadline: Fri 29 Jul 2011

£6 entry fee

Prizes: £300 in each category, winning entries to be featured in Wasafiri   Read more

Wasafiri New Writing Prize 2016

Information

Closing date: 
15 July 2016
Entry: 
Open to writers of any nationality and any age group with work which has not been previously published Entry fee £6
Prize: 
Winners in each category will receive £300 and their entries will be published in Wasafiri.

The New Writing Prize 2016 is now open for entries!

Submissions are welcome in three categories: Poetry, Fiction and Life Writing. Ensure that you submit your entry/entries by the deadline: 5pm BST on 15 July 2016. Winners will receive £300 and their entries will be published in Wasafiri.  Read more

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4 January 2021 - What's new

January 2021
  • ‘The thing I like about novels is that they are a more forgiving form. You can make missteps. It's harder to write a really good short story - I'm more aware of the flaws in my short stories.
  Read more

The 2021 International Book and Pamphlet Competition

Information

Closing date: 
1 March 2021
Entry: 
Open internationally. Entry fee £28, £25 to subscribers to The North
Prize: 
Publication by Smith|Doorstop Books; a share of £2,000 cash; a launch reading; publication in the North magazine; book vouchers from Inpress Books

The 2021 International Book & Pamphlet Competition is now open for entries

Judged by Daljit Nagra & Pascale Petit

DEADLINE: last post on Monday 1st March 2021, or midnight on Monday 1st March 2021 for online entrants.

ENTRY FEE: £28, or £25 for North subscribers, Friends of the Poetry Business and members of the Poetry Society.  Read more

'People have many cruel expectations from writers. People expect novelists to live on a hill with three kids and a spouse, people expect children's story writers to never have sex, and people expect all great poets to be dead. And these are all very difficult expectations to fulfill, I think.'

— C. JoyBell C.

'I have to know where I'm going'

4 January 2021

‘When I'm putting together a novel, I leave all the doors and windows open so the characters can come in and just as easily leave. I don't take notes. Once I start writing things down, I feel like I'm nailing the story in place. When I rely on my faulty memory, the pieces are free to move.  Read more

28 December 2020 - What's new

December 2020
  • ‘No one reads your book as closely as a translator does, which is something you learn very quickly. I'm in such awe of them. They also read beneath it and around it. They make me consider things I thought I knew the meaning of because I use those words in everyday dialect and that's how the characters express themselves.
  Read more