March Deadline Writing Competitions

competitions 677265Taken from this blog’s Competitions page, below are competitions closing next month. Below that are the regularly-held ones and other competition-related sites. I will be adding more to the Competitions page in the next few weeks so that’s always the best place to check but for now this is correct and plenty for you to be getting on with. Do let me know how you get on if you enter any of them (and / or if any of the details are incorrect)…

March deadline writing competitions
  • Children’s: Academy of Children’s Writers, Crystal Magazine.
  • Flash Fiction: Indies Unlimited hosts a weekly 250-word max. prompt competition – see Indies Unlimited. Also see ‘Short stories’ below.
  • Flash Fiction: Weekly challenge on theironwriter.com.
  • Flash Fiction: Each month the Scottish Book Trust provides a prompt to get you started, but where the <50-word story goes from there is entirely up to you. Their favourite story will be published on their page and the writer will receive a lovely Novel Poster from The Literary Gift Company. You can submit your story in the body of an email or as an attachment and remember to include your full name with your entry. They also welcome entries in Gaelic or Scots.
  • Flash Fiction: Flashbang is now open to entries: flashbangcontest.wordpress.com. Sponsored by CrimeFest. £2 entry fee. 150 words maximum. Deadline 1st March. First prize is two passes to CrimeFest. Shortlisted and winning stories published online. Full details are here.
  • Flash Fiction: Erewash has a free flash fiction competition. Deadline noon (UK time) 21st March. Full details here.
  • Flash Fiction: The Berkhampstead Writing Competition has a 31st March deadline.
  • Flash Fiction: The Flash 500 Fiction Competition, established 2009, is a quarterly open-themed competition for fiction up to 500 words has closing dates of 31st March, 30th June, 30th September and 31st December. Entry fee: £5 for one story, £8 for two stories. Prizes: £300 plus publication in Words with JAM, £100 and £50.
  • Flash Fiction: The NLG Flash Fiction Competition (that I am Head Judge of) is now open – see ‘June’ for full details.
  • Mixed: Winchester Writers’ Conference has opened their 17(!) mixed writing competitions (deadline 24th May). Details in their competitions brochure. £7 per entry if attending, £9 if not.
  • Mixed: Words for the Wounded (W4W) is a new charity that raises money via writing prizes and donations for the rehabilitation of wounded servicemen and women. All proceeds will be passed to projects such as Battle Back, funded by Help for Heroes, which uses sports rehabilitation to help wounded service personnel gain independence and confidence. W4W is launching its first writing prize on Armistice Day, November 11, and is calling for all non-writers, aspiring, and experienced writers to enter. Entries can be up to 400 words, written in poetry or prose, fiction or life story tale. Winners will receive a small cash prize and their entries will be published in the monthly writers’ magazine Writers’ Forum (writers-forum/com). Entry costs £4.50 and the deadline is March 11, winners will be announced on 6 June (D Day). Prizes £250, £100, £50. Oscar-winning screen writer and author Julian Fellowes and his wife Emma are among W4W’s patrons. Julian says: “Emma and I feel strongly that we must never forget the debt we all owe to these brave men and women. We are honoured to be involved in this wonderful charity.” Other patrons include Rt Hon Lord Ashdown, Lt. Col J. Dryburgh, authors Katie Fforde, Katherine McMahon, Louis de Bernieres, Sarah Challis and Mark Hodgson, Daisy Goodwin, paralympian Ann Wild OBE, Taryn Lee QC, artist Rowena Hampton, extreme sportsman  Hugh Williams Preece, Lt Ian Thornson and Founder/Director of the Winchester Writers’ Conference Barbara Large. For more information, see wordsforthewounded.co.uk or follow us on Twitter @Words_4_Wounded.
  • Mixed: Christian magazine ‘Pockets‘ has a different theme per month.
  • Mixed: helenwhittaker.net/phpBB2 (shorts & poetry).
  • Mixed (novels & short story collections): iWriteReadRate and Cornerstones Literary Consultancy (voteformyebook.com) are offering a monthly social competition to members of the community – see ‘Monthly’ towards the end of this page.
  • Novels: Novel Rocket runs an annual Launch Pad Contest: Boosting You Out of the Slush Pile. Entries will be accepted in all genres beginning mid-January. The deadline for submission is different for genre categories according to the following schedule. In each case, entries must be received by 11:59 PM EST on the 10th day of the month (April to September) listed on novelrocket.com/p/launch-pad-contest.html. They also post a new writing-related article seven days a week, from author interviews to marketing discussions to articles about the craft of writing. NB. The entry fee is $45 so give this very careful consideration.
  • Novels: other March-deadline competitions include Dundee International Book Prize and The Next Big Author.
  • Playwriting: Windsor Fringe Kenneth Branagh Award for New Drama. and sohotheatre.com (Verity Bargate Award).
  • Playwriting: Cambridge Theatre Challenge: Would you like to write a one act play for the stage and enter it in a competition where short listed plays are given full performance, judged by the audience, considered for publication and given a written assessment by a publishing company? The winning playwright will also receive a cash prize of £200. Every play will be read in its entirety by a minimum of two judges and entrants will receive two lots of feedback on request, at no extra charge! A shortlist of up to ten plays will be drawn up and posted on the Sky Blue website.  Local actors and a production team will be assembled by professional directors to rehearse the plays for performance at the Junction Theatre in Cambridge early July where the audience will vote for the winner. Closing date for submissions is 30th March. Plays must be submitted on line and full details can be found on our website skybluetheatre.com/newplaywriting.php.
  • Poetry: The Writers’ Forum Poetry Competition is a monthly contest for poems of up to 40 lines. Closing: Monthly. Entries arriving too late (after the 15th) for one month go forward to the next. Prizes: 1st: £100. Runners-up: A Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Entry Fee: £5 each, £3 each thereafter. Includes a critique (sae required if entering by post). Comp Page: writers-forum.com/poetrycomp.html.
  • Poetry: The Flash 500 Humour Verse Competition, established in 2010, welcomes any form of humour verse will be accepted, from a limerick to a poem of 32 lines. This is also a quarterly competition with closing dates of 31st March, 30th June, 30th September and 31st December. Entry fee: £3 for the first poem, £2.50 for each poem thereafter. Prizes: £150 plus publication in Words with JAM, £100 and £50.
  • Poetry: other poetry competitions include Cardiff International, Fish Prize for Poetry, Literature Wales, MAG, Michael Marks (pamphlets), Northern Writers’ Awards, Writing Magazine (WM: open to all theme: creative acrostic mini), davidburlandpoetryprize.com, treehousepress.co.uk (Three-in-One), towerpoetry.org.uk, firebirdpoetry.com, scottishbooktrust.com/familylegends.
  • Screenwriting: Canada-based Wildsound run monthly screenwriting competitions.
  • Scripts: euroscript.co.uk.
  • Short stories: The Writers’ Forum Short Story Competition is a monthly no-theme contest for stories between 1,000 and 3,000 words. Closing: Monthly. Entries arriving too late (after the 15th) for one month go forward to the next. Prizes: £350, £150, £100 and publication in Writers’ Forum magazine (and possible anthology). Entry Fee: £3 per story for subscribers, £6 each non-subscribers. £5 extra for a critique (sae required if entering by post). Comp Page: http://writers-forum.com/storycomp.html.
  • Short stories: Mslexia Women’s Short Story Competition. 1st prize £2,000. Closing date 18th March. mslexia.co.uk/whatson/msbusiness/scomp_active.php.
  • Short stories: Graffiti Magazine Short Story Competition Rules: *For crime stories* 1. Closing date March 16th; 2. Entries must be in English and be the writer’s own unpublished work. They must not be on offer for publication or entered in any other current competition; 3. Maximum length 1,500 words; 4. Each piece of work, with its title, must be in clear type on one side of A4 sheet(s). Details of the writer must not appear on this sheet; 5. The name and address of the writer and the titles of all entries should be typed on a separate sheet of A4 paper; 6. The prize-winner will be notified by post, if SAE provided, or by email if email address is provided; 7. Entries are only accepted by post. Please keep a copy of your work, as entries will not be returned; 8. The fee is £3 per story. Cheques / Postal Orders in sterling only, should be made payable to ‘Catchword Writing Group’; 9. All entries that arrive on time will be considered by the adjudicator, whose decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into concerning the result; 10. Competitors wishing to be informed of the results should enclose an SAE marked ‘Results’ or provide an email address. Send entries to: Graffiti Magazine Writing Competition, c/o 33 Sandford Leaze, Avening, Glos. GL8 8PB (UK). Prize: £25 The winning entry and up to five of the short listed stories will be published in Graffiti. For more information: graffiti.magazine@yahoo.co.uk.
  • Short stories: Hayley Sherman runs a monthly short story competition for submissions on any subject up to 2,000 words. The winners are published on the website, promoted online and receive a £10 First Writer voucher. All entrants are also considered for publication in The New Short Story Annual at the end of the year. Deadline 25th of the month. Heather Marie Schuldt runs a similar contest, although 500-750 words max., but with the same deadline.
  • Short stories: Thresholds International Short Story Forum Feature Writing Competition. Free to enter, international, max 1500 words, 1st prize £500, closing date 27 March.
  • Short stories: The Bath Short Story Award opened for entries in October. This new international competition welcomes stories of up to 2,200 words on any theme or subject from published or unpublished writers. Prizes are as follows: 1st £500, 2nd £100, 3rd £50, and a local prize of £50. The competition closes March 30th. For further details see bathshortstoryaward.co.uk.
  • Short stories: Writers’ Village runs a quarterly short story competition which attracts entrants worldwide. Click here for the rules… and every entrant receives invaluable critique! Their spring deadline is 31st March.
  • Short stories: The Yellow Room Spring Short Story Competition has a max 1,000 words, any theme, first prize £100, closing date 31 March.
  • Short stories: Stringybark Erotic Short Fiction Award. International, max 1800 words. Closing date 31 March. Find out more about the award here.
  • Short stories: Lightship One-page Short Story Competition. Max 300 words. Closing date 31 March.
  • Short stories: Exeter Writers Short Story Competition. The first prize is £500, 2nd and 3rd are £250 and £100. There is also an additional prize of £100 for a writer living in Devon. Stories can be in any genre except for children, they can be up to 3,000 words and the entry fee is £5 per story. The closing date is 31st March.  Rules/entry form: exeterwriters.org.uk or you can send a stamped self-addressed envelope (SAE) to Competition, 4 Albion Place, Exeter EX4 6LH.
  • Short stories: Short Fiction, The Visual Literary Journal. Annual Short Story Competition
    1st prize £500 plus publication, max 5,000 words. Closing date 31 March.
  • Short stories: The Moth Magazine Short Story Prize. Judge Martina Evans, 1st prize €1,000 + publication, closing date 31 March.
  • Short stories: One of the UK’s largest and oldest writing groups, West Sussex Writers, is running its second national short story competition. With an open theme, generous word count and final judge, Pam Weaver. West Sussex Writers hopes to attract the cream of the UK’s short story writers. Max 3000 words. Closing date 31 March. 1st prize £200; 2nd prize £75; 3rd prize £50.
  • Short stories: Five Stop Story runs a quarterly short story competition (end March / June / September / December). Membership to the site is £25 but you get to enter up to five stories in each competition. Further details at fivestopstory.com/write.
  • Short stories: Other March short story competitions include Calderdale, Chapter One Romantic, Dark Tales, Exeter Writers, Fish Prize for Flash Fiction, Glimmer Train (different category each month), Meridian Writing, Mslexia, Northern Writers’ Awards, Rider Haggard, Writing Magazine (WM: open to all open: 750-words max / subscriber-only theme: last line ‘Out she walked with a spring in her step.’), and Wyvern.
WEEKLY
  • Flash Fiction: Indies Unlimited hosts a weekly 250-word max. prompt competition – see Indies Unlimited. Co-run by interviewee Kat ‘K.S.’ Brooks. Also see ‘Short stories’ below.
  • Flash Fiction: Each month the Scottish Book Trust provides a prompt to get you started, but where the <50-word story goes from there is entirely up to you. Their favourite story will be published on their page and the writer will receive a lovely Novel Poster from The Literary Gift Company. You can submit your story in the body of an email or as an attachment and remember to include your full name with your entry. They also welcome entries in Gaelic or Scots.
  • Flash Fiction: Each week on theironwriter.com, four writers agree to compose a five hundred word story involving the same four elements. Please remember to give your story a title. The stories can be in any genre except erotica. The writers will not know what the four elements are prior to committing to the challenge. There is a four day time limit to complete the story. I email the elements early Thursday morning, my time. The story is due at midnight, Sunday, your time. Each author retains full and complete copyright of their story submitted to The Iron Writer for this competition. However, it is understood each story will remain on this website indefinitely. The Iron Writer will not publish any submission outside this website without express permission from the author. So, if you are up to the challenge, please email me at HERE and we can schedule when you are willing to participate. Please include your main blog or website. I will link your story to your site. You may participate as often as you want.
  • Mixed: Needle in the Hay runs weekly and monthly competitions (“awards”). See needleinthehay.net/submission-guidelines for their guidelines. Thanks to Jason Fink for pointing me in that direction.
  • Poetry: Buxton’s Word Wizards slam poetry competition runs in the coffee lounge at the Grove Hotel, Buxton, Derbyshire, UK at 7:30pm on the last Tuesday of every month. Entry is £2.50. More info can be obtained by e-mailing Rob at: poetryslamUK@aol.com.
  • Poetry: Well Versed is the weekly poetry column of daily UK newspaper the Morning Star, published every Thursday, in print and online. Poetry editor Jody Porter. Under the stewardship of the late and esteemed John Rety, Well Versed developed into a widely-read forum for new and established writers. Send submissions, with biographical information, to: wveditor@gmail.com. Poems need not be overtly political, but space is limited so they must be short to medium in length.
  • Short stories: Flash Fiction Online occasionally closes to submissions (I guess because they’re overwhelmed), but they are currently open.
  • NB. Don’t forget to check out the ongoing competition websites listed at the end of this page.
MONTHLY
  • Flash Fiction: Writer Austin Briggs runs a monthly 55-word competition (different theme each month). It’s free to enter and you can win $55 (of his own money!). This looks like it’s on hold for now (November 2013), I will keep checking. 
  • Flash Fiction: Empirical Magazine runs a monthly flash fiction (<1000-word) competition.
  • Mixed: iWriteReadRate and Cornerstones Literary Consultancy (voteformyebook.com) are offering a monthly social competition to members of the community; it’s a great opportunity to receive professional feedback as well as contribute to developing your profile and platform. The prize is a fantastic Cornerstones masterclass mini-critique on the winning writer’s first pages of their story, up to 2000 words. This is designed to give the writer a professional critique on how to improve the opening as well as hints to consider throughout their writing. Simply upload an ebook (novels or collections of short stories) to iWriteReadRate. Every month we’ll select five to take part in the competition. All the writer needs to do is promote it with their networks and aim to get as many votes for their ebook as possible. At the end of each month the ebook with the most votes wins the prize.
  • Mixed: Needle in the Hay runs weekly and monthly competitions (“awards”). See needleinthehay.net/submission-guidelines for their guidelines. Thanks to Jason Fink for pointing me in that direction.
  • Mixed: Pockets and Creative Print Publishing (both have different themes each month), Opening Editions (free) and NUS Literary Society has competitions for poetry, prose and plays.
  • Novels: novelrocket.com/p/launch-pad-contest.html has monthly competitions (April-Sept) with a different genre each month.
  • Screenwriting: Canada-based Wildsound run monthly screenwriting competitions.
  • Scriptwriting: Scripped has a variety of script contests including a monthly one.
  • Short stories: Hayley Sherman has a monthly short story competition.
  • Short stories: Brighton COW (currently on hiatus), Coast to Coast, Glimmer Train (different category each month), Writing / Writers’ News magazines and Opening Editions.
  • Short stories: Bound Off now take submissions via Submishmash.
  • Short stories: Darker Times Fiction is a monthly short story competition for stories of 3,000 words and less in the horror genre or on the subject of ‘darker times’. It’s open to UK and international writers and ends on the last day of each month and costs £5 / $8 a time.
  • Short stories: The Global Short Story Competition is a monthly event hosted by Inscribe Media. There is no theme or set genre. 2000 word maximum word count. Writers must be 16 years or over. Maximum 4 submissions per month. Closing Date: The last day of every month. Prize: Monthly first prize – £100, Monthly runner up – £25, Annual Grand Prize – £250. Entry Fee: £5 per story (up to 4 per month). Details from http://www.inscribemedia.co.uk/global-short-story-competition.html.
  • Short stories: Hayley Sherman runs a monthly short story competition for submissions on any subject up to 2,000 words. The winners are published on the website, promoted online and receive a £10 First Writer voucher. All entrants are also considered for publication in The New Short Story Annual at the end of the year. Deadline 25th of the month.
  • Short stories: Heather Marie Schuldt runs a short story contest, 500-750 words max., on her blog, with the same deadline (25th of the month).
  • Short stories: fivestopstory.com/write: competitions cost £4 per entry (2 for £7, 3 for £8, optional feedback £5) and have monthly prizes of £50. There is also a £150 prize for the overall winner of their yearly league table and you can become a member for £25 which entitles you to 3 free entries per month.
  • Short stories: LinkedIn’s Aspiring Writers Group runs a monthly short story competition. You do have to be a member of LinkedIn (free) and the writing group itself (a closed group but you can ask to join) to enter the competition.
  • NB. Don’t forget to check out the ongoing competition websites listed at the end of this page.
QUARTERLY
ONGOING
  • Children’s: Dal Burns‘ children’s writing competition ‘Write Across America‘.
  • Children’s: Little Star Writing is a site where you can “get published, enter competitions, win prizes, play games, improve literacy skills, receive certificates and HAVE FUN!”.
  • Flash fiction: One Forty Fiction and Wow Women on Writing.
  • Mixed: What The Dickens magazine lists “competitions and give-aways which are all free to enter”.
  • Mixed: sterlingmag and sundayat6mag.wordpress.com
  • Mixed: You can apply for a three-month residency on the Mslexia blog (women only).
  • Non-fiction: tales2inspire.com/HOME.html (free :))
  • Novels: Novel Rocket runs an annual Launch Pad Contest: Boosting You Out of the Slush Pile. Entries will be accepted in all genres beginning mid-January. The deadline for submission is different for genre categories according to the following schedule. In each case, entries must be received by 11:59 PM EST on the 10th day of the month (April to September) listed on novelrocket.com/p/launch-pad-contest.html. They also post a new writing-related article seven days a week, from author interviews to marketing discussions to articles about the craft of writing.
  • Poetry: Poetic Republic is an ongoing online poetry competition in which the entrants are also the judges.
  • Scriptwriting: bbc.co.uk/writersroom/links5.shtml.
  • Short stories: Creative Writers’ Circle competitions are open to all and are free.
  • Short stories: Flash Fiction Online is a 500-1000 word site that is free to subscribe / read, free to submit to. Payment is via donations with 60% going to the author and 40% going to the site so there’s no way of knowing how much (if anything) you’d earn but another opportunity perhaps.
  • Short stories: Author and columnist Lorraine Mace runs the Flash 500 flash fiction and humorous verse competitions.
  • Short stories: An on-going competition for submissions of 500 words or fewer on any theme. First prize is £100 plus publication on our website and promotion via our social media sites (twitter, google+ and facebook). Second prize is £75 and publication on the website, third prize is £50 and publication on the website. Entry is just £4. Launched June 1st, 2013. writingcompetition.org.uk Find us on Facebook: facebook.com/TheWritingCompetition?ref=hl Twitter: twitter.com/writing_comp.
  • Short stories: Short Funny Story wants humorous short stories or true-life events and pay $15 for every story published online with $25 extra for any story chosen for inclusion in their anthologies.
  • Short stories: Penny Dreadfuls 21 commissions short stories.
  • Short stories: Words Magazine short story competition guidelines.
COMPETITION WEBSITES

If you discover any broken links, closed competitions or know of ones that I haven’t listed here, please do email me with details.

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