Sorry We're Prosed: 50+ places to send writing in 2024
Let's set some new year's writing resolutions
Hello again,
First an apology: I never quite managed a newsletter in December, and the month got away from me a little quickly.
To make up for it, I decided to do a bumper edition today that I hope will help you with making some goals for the year.
So here are the contests, journals and programmes I have my eye on for 2024. As usual, not all are paid, and some do have entry fees. Happy new writing!
Writing competitions
Welsh nationals, you have until 15 February to enter the Rhys Davies Short Story Competition. It costs £8 per story and the top prize is £1,000.
You know I’m a big fan of free competitions, and every year the Writers & Artists’ Short Story Competition is one I look out for. This year the theme is ‘Risk’ and the the contest is open to anyone until 12 February, though the top prize is a UK-based residential course.
And another amazing free one is The Alpine Fellowship, with this year’s theme being ‘Language’. First place comes with a £3,000 prize, and entries can be stories, non-fiction, or even academic essays. Deadline is 1 March.
Last year I managed to write a story that fit the themes of both W&A and Alpine, but I’ve not come up with anything for this year yet. Anyone else fancy a try? A story about both ‘risk’ and ‘language’?
For US-based writers of literary non-fiction, The Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize offers a $20,000 advance and publication for a promising project by someone not yet established in the genre. Submissions will be open for the month of February – which this year is a day longer than usual!
Young UK-based writers aged between 16 and 25 with an interest in political opinion writing should check out the Hugo Young Award, which will open for entries on 15 January. I expect this one to close mid-February but double-check once submissions open.
Entries are still open for the Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition until 29 February. It costs £18 and has a top prize of £500, along with tickets for CrimeFest.
I always like to include the Desperate Literature Short Story Prize even though it’s expensive at €20 per entry, because it has a very good range of prizes including cash, a residency in Italy, and various events to promote the shortlisted writers. Timings for this year’s contest should be revealed soon.
No word yet on the BBC National Short Story Award for this year, but last year it closed in March. This is for British citizens or residents who have published at least one piece of creative writing in the UK. It is free, usually with a huge prize (last year it was £15,000). Keep an eye out here.
Ditto the Fitzcarraldo Editions/Mahler & Lewitt Studios Essay Prize. Last year submissions closed in mid-March and the winner received £3,000 and publication for a non-fiction project.
Fitzcarraldo also has a biennial novel prize which should run this year. Last time the deadline was in June.
Last year the Evening Standard stories competition, open to UK residents, closed in April. There will likely be another theme announced if it’s going ahead again this year.
The Bath Short Story Award is already open for entries, with a deadline of 15 April. It costs £9 and the top prize is £1,200. This one is open globally.
And just up the A4 there’s also the Bristol Short Story Prize, which is £9 as well and has a £1,000 grand prize. Usually it has an April deadline.
Look out for the Brick Lane Bookshop Short Story Prize, which is due to open this month, with exact dates TBC. It costs £10 to enter and has a £1,000 top prize.
With a range of categories to enter including novel, short story, children’s writing and a local writer award, the Yeovil Literary Prize is already open for entries. The novel prize costs £14.50 to enter and has a £1,250 reward for the winner. Other categories have their own prices and winnings. It closes at the end of May.
From the beginning of May, I would expect the Drue Heinz Literature Prize to be open. This is run by the University of Pittsburgh Press and awards $15,000 and publication for an unpublished short story collection.
The Bridport Prize is already open, with a deadline of 31 May. It is open globally and costs between £11 and £24 depending on the category, and top prizes between £1,000 and £5,000.
If you are a crime writer from the North East of England, or someone whose work celebrates that area, you should consider entering the Lindisfarne Prize for Crime Fiction. Submissions usually open at the end of this month with a deadline of 30 June. The top prize is £2,500 and it’s free to enter.
This year’s Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize is likely to open soon, with a deadline of June. Entries usually cost £10 with a top prize of £1,000 plus mentoring, and there are a few categories including fiction and life writing.
Also coming at the end of June will be the likely deadline for the Moth Short Story Prize. The international prize generally costs €15 per entry and winners get €3,000. The same organisation also runs a nature writing prize.
The London Magazine’s short story competition usually opens in May and closes in August, with a £10 entry fee and £500 top prize.
The Society of Authors runs the Tom-Gallon Trust Award is for a short story that can be either published or unpublished. Writers need to be UK or Ireland residents and the deadline is usually 31 October with a £2,000 prize.
Likely to close in November is the Stuart Hall Essay Prize, for UK-based writers aged 18 to 30.
Another one for UK-based young writers is the Benjamin Franklin House Literary Prize, for entrants between 18 and 25. The 2023 competition just closed, so the next one will likely open in the final quarter of this year.
Literary journals (themed)
Let’s start off with one that’s closing soon: The Hyacinth Review is looking for submissions on the theme ‘Night’ until 5 January. All kinds of writing are accepted.
I always seem to see the themes for film essay magazine Bright Wall/Dark Room too late, so this year I’m determined to be on top of what they’re looking for. The current theme is ‘Outer Space’, with a deadline of 13 January.
It’s good to see that Divinations Magazine is still going strong a year after launching. Submissions for their next issue on the theme ‘Siren’ open 5 January.
Quarterly feminist horror publication Last Girls Club has regular submission windows, the first for this year opening today and ending on 1 February. The theme for that one is ‘Poison’.
There are three themes set for this year at Amsterdam Quarterly. The first, ‘Generation’ is open now until the end of the month. Then there’s ‘Vibration’ in April and ‘Migration’ in July.
Another horror one you may like if you’re into the two above is The Quiet Ones. Keep an eye on their submissions page for themed callouts, which usually come with a small payment for accepted pieces.
Seaside Gothic, whose theme is self-explanatory, has four reading windows this year, the first opening for a few days from 8 January. There will then be short periods in April, July and October to send work.
The next theme from About Place Journal is ‘Strange Wests’. Fiction, essays and other prose all welcome.
Unpsychology Magazine picks themes and explores them from a variety of angles each issue. The next one is ‘Edges’. Read a bit more about what they’re after, including imaginative fiction and non-fiction, in the guidelines.
Apparition Lit has three themes announced for this year. First up is ‘Mercurial’ with a submissions period in February, then ‘Anachronism’ in May and ‘Harbinger’ in August. Get those speculative gears turning!
There are often interesting themes to respond to over at the époque press é-zine, with a new one set to be announced sometime in the early part of this year.
You can always count on Moonflake Press for a fun theme; their latest issue explored ‘Underworlds’. The next online and print themes are yet to be announced.
Literary journals (general)
The next reading period at the Baltimore Review will be between February and May this year. Payment is $50.
Electric Literature has two coveted slots, The Commuter and Recommended Reading. Both are closed right now but I expect at least one to open in February. Accepted pieces are paid between $100 and $300 depending on the slot.
A perennial fixture here, The Ghastling remains one of the best magazines for ghost stories and the macabre. Submissions are closed right now but last year they were open during January and June - check Twitter for updates.
Unsolicited prose submissions to The Paris Review open in February, June and October. Mark your calendars.
There should be another chance to submit to Scottish indie Gutter Magazine in the Spring. They pay £25 for accepted pieces.
Look alive for the next One Story window in the spring, as this one is popular and tends to close when they hit their submissions cap.
Also popular is Ireland’s famous publication The Stinging Fly, which is next opening in May.
Submissions are open on a rolling basis at Tamarind, which is dedicated to science-related fiction and non-fiction.
New Lines Magazine publishes essays and reportage on global political and cultural issues, with a focus on the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. Pitches are always open.
Another one that’s open on a rolling basis is Brooklyn-based Papers Publishing.
I mention TOLKA a lot in this newsletter because I like that it has a focus on non-fiction, and it pays a €500 flat fee for accepted pieces. Submissions are closed at present so keep an eye out for the next issue.
And don’t forget, you can always submit to The New Yorker. Go on, maybe this is the year.
Mentorships, residencies and development
Mentioned above, Unpsychology Magazine is running two workshops on 13 January with a nominal £5 fee. You can see more information over on their Substack.
The amazing Dear Damsels is shifting gears away from publishing new work to supporting women writers with workshops and events, and will be holding their first online writing hour on Sunday 21 January.
Applications for The London Library’s Emerging Writers Programme are open from 10 January until 28 February. You don’t have to be London-based for this but you do need to be able to attend monthly sessions.
Word Factory generally runs some mentorship schemes for UK-based writers. Last year submissions for these closed in May.
I don’t know if the Gladstone’s Library writer in residence scheme will return this year, but if you’ve already published one book or have a contract for one then that may be worth keeping an eye on. This one is in Wales.
That’s all for now! Please share this post with a friend, or subscribe if you haven’t already done so.