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Writing Competitions
Entering writing competitions can be a great way to challenge yourself and you may even be one of the lucky ones to take home a prize!
Here are just a few of the writing competitions which take place in the UK; some are for children’s fiction others are more general:
Bridport Prize
Prizes are awarded during the Bridport Literary festival held in October/November each year.
2010 prizes:
SHORT STORIES: 1st prize £5000 (approx. 7460 US$, 5590 € )
POEMS: 1st Prize £5000 (approx. 7460 US$, 5590 €)
FLASH FICTION: 1st Prize £1000 (approx. 1490 US$, 1118 €)
2010 Judges: Zoe Heller, Michael Laskey
Patron of Bridport Prize: Fay Weldon
Check out their website for more information.
The Global Short Story Competition
This monthly competition is backed by internationally renowned author Bill Bryson OBE. The competition runs every month with £100 for the winner and £25 for the runner-up. It is open to writers from across the world.
See their website for further information.
Meridian Writing
Short story writing competitions. They will accept stories of up to 3,000 words. The competition is open to both published and unpublished writers.
First Prize £100
Second Prize £50
Third Prize £25
In addition to the prize money, all winning authors receive a firstwriter.com voucher worth $15/£10/€15, allowing them to take out a free subscription to firstwriter.com, providing access to details of hundreds of publishers, literary agents, writing competitions, and magazines.
See their website for further information.
Biscuit International Flash Fiction* Prize
Founded in 2001, Biscuit's annual writing competitions traditionally receive around 400 - 500 entries and, according to their website, ‘attracts the crème de la crème of writers.’
First Prize £1000; (approximately $1,500 US dollars; €1,100 Euros)or your own collection or novella published plus £350 (and 75 copies of your book) - the choice is yours!
Second Prize £250
Third Prize £100
Seven runners-up £25 each
This contest welcomes writers from around the world, but all entries must be in English. The top ten flash fictions will be published in the Winners' anthology, and each author will receive three copies.
See their website for further information.
* Flash Fiction is another name for a short story. When entering writing compeitions you may also hear of micro-fiction and mini-tale but they all mean a very short story with a given word count – often between 250 and 750 words.
The Fish Short Story Prize
Fish Publishing runs three annual writing competitions - the Fish Short Story Prize, the Fish One-Page Prize and the Fish Poetry Prize. Judged by authors and poets, the final shortlist of stories and poems from the three writing competitions are then published in the annual Fish Anthology. The anthology is launched during the West Cork Literary Festival.
The aim of the writing competitions is to get new authors and poets into print. Fish has published over 300 new authors since starting the first Fish writing competitions in 1994.
See their website for further information.
Write a Story for Children Competition – The Academy of Children’s Writers
The competition is open to all amateur writers over the age of 18. There are cash prizes of £2,000 for the best story submitted, £300 for second prize and £200 for the third placed story.
Independent judges will read the entries. They will consider how the story will appeal to children as well as looking for originality, imagination and flair.
See their website for further information.
Industry Awards
There are a number of prestigious awards in the industry and it’s worth following these for research, inspiration and, of course, fun! Who knows, maybe you’ll be one of the future winners!
Carnegie Medal
Awarded annually to the writer of an outstanding book for children.
See website for further information.
The Branford Boase Award
Set up to reward the most promising new writers and their editors, as well as to reward excellence in writing and in publishing. The Award is made annually to the most promising book for seven year-olds and upwards by a first time novelist.
See website for further information.
The Eleanor Farjeon Award
An annual prize of a minimum of £750 may be given to a librarian, teacher, author, artist, publisher, reviewer, TV producer or any other person working with or for children through books. Instituted in 1965 by the Children’s Book Circle for distinguished services to children’s books and named after the much-loved children’s writer.
See website for further information.
BBC National Short Story Award
One of the most prestigious awards for a single short story. The winning author receives £15,000, the runner up receives £3,000 and three further shortlisted authors, £500 each.
See website for further information.
The Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize
Running since 1967, it is the only children's book award judged by children's authors. Previous winners include Meg Rosoff, Ted Hughes and Jacqueline Wilson.
See website for further information.
Book Trust Teenage Prize
A national book prize that recognises and celebrates the best in contemporary writing for teenagers.
See website for further information.
Orange Prize for Fiction
‘The UK’s most prestigious annual book award for fiction written by a woman, celebrating excellence, innovation and accessibility and the best of outstanding international fiction in women’s writing.'
To celebrate and promote international fiction by women which was set up in 1996. Any woman writing in English – whatever her nationality, country of residence, age or subject matter – is eligible.
The winner is awarded £30,000 and a limited edition bronze figurine known as a ‘Bessie’.
See website for further information.
Orange Award for New Writers
Celebrating potential and emerging female literary talent throughout the world. All first works of fiction - including novels, short story collections and novellas, written by women of any age or nationality and published as a book in the UK between specific dates which are given each year - are eligible. The emphasis of the award is on emerging talent and the evidence of future potential.
See website for further information.
Costa Coffee Book Awards
These awards recognise some of the most enjoyable books of the year by writers based in the UK and Ireland and are one of the most prestigious and popular literary prizes in the UK.
There are five categories: First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book. It is the only prize which places children's books alongside adult books in this way.
Recent winners include Beowulf by Seamus Heaney, The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon and Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson.
See website for further information.
The Red House Children’s Book Award
These awards take place annually and there are three categories. They are judged entirely by children from shortlist to final overall winner. The top 50 titles each year are published as the Pick of the Year list.
See website for further information.
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