Sorry We're Prosed: Competitions special
Another 30+ places to send your short stories, memoir, novels, and essays
Hello again, and welcome to any new subscribers who have signed up since the last issue. I hope all of you are safe, well, and inspired.
This is my latest round-up of opportunities for prose writers of all kinds, and as ever it is totally subjective.
It also includes an overview of the many writing contests that are open for entries at the moment. Putting this section together got me mulling over a question: Should we be writing with competitions in mind?
By that I mean two things. First, should we be thinking about competitions at all while writing, or does it muddy the creative process? And secondly, should we ever produce new work with the specific intention of sending it to a certain prize?
I plan to send a newsletter on this topic later this month, and if you have any thoughts on the topic, I’d love to hear them. You can reply to this email, comment on this post, or message me on Twitter.
Competitions to enter right now
It’s competition season, baby. With lots of big prizes open for entries right now, I thought we could put the spotlight on some of them.
A quick note on pricing before we begin. Generally, I prefer to include as many free opportunities in this newsletter as possible, and when competitions have an entry price, I am reluctant to go much higher than £12 (about €14.30 or US$16.20).
For this edition though, I will include a few that are more expensive. In each case, this is due to the value of the top prize, the calibre of previous winners and what it’s done for their careers, the opportunities available for shortlistees, or a combination of the above. There are also, for balance, seven completely free contests.
OK, let’s get to it.
First, a reminder for women writers that the Lucy Cavendish College Fiction Prize closes next Wednesday. This one is for novels, though they don’t have to be finished.
One of my favourite competitions to enter - because it’s free! - is the annual Artists & Writers’ Short Story Competition. You have just over a week left if you want to submit.
The free Bardsy romance anthology and contest closes in a week. Free to enter, with a top prize of $399.
I like the ‘enigma’ theme and the reasonable £5 entry fee of the Elmbridge Literary Competition. Winners of the adult short story contest get £250 cash and chapbook publication. Get your entries in by 28 February.
Litro Magazine has a free-to-enter essay contest running until 28 February, with a bundle of books and online publication up for grabs. And if I may slip in a semi-related personal plug, I have a new story coming out on Litro’s website next Sunday - follow me on Twitter if you want to catch it when it’s out.
I have some thoughts about the Harper’s Bazaar Short Story Competition which I plan to share in my next email. For now, I’ll just say that the theme is ‘Treasure’, the deadline is 13 March, and you should read the terms and conditions in full. It’s free to enter.
A whopping £15,000 is on offer from the BBC National Short Story Award. You must have a record of publishing creative writing in the UK to enter, but the criteria for that is quite broad. Check the full terms and conditions if you’re unsure. The deadline is 21 March.
For Welsh writers (both nationals and residents), the Ryhs Davies Short Story Competition will close on 22 March. There’s £1,000 for the winner and £100 apiece for the rest of the finalists, plus anthology publication.
The Alpine Fellowship Literary Prize, which I mentioned in last month’s newsletter, is still open. It’s free to enter and the theme is ‘freedom’. I’ve submitted for this one! There’s still time until 1 April to get something finished and sent in.
Open for your entries until 11 April, the Bath Short Story Award is judged by Paul McVeigh this year. It awards £1,200 to the winner and costs £9.
The Desperate Literature Prize has a claim to having one of the most comprehensive top prizes. The winner gets €1,500, an agent meeting, a week in Italy, AND a manuscript consultation. Runners-up also get various prizes and opportunities. Entries cost €20 and are open until 15 April. Previous entrants, check your emails as you should have a discount code for entry. I received mine on 22 January.
Cash prizes and publication in an anthology are on offer for longlistees in the Brick Lane Bookshop Short Story Prize. The price to enter is £10 and it closes on 19 April.
The early bird entry price of €10 for the Anthology Short Story Award is available until 30 April, after which it will cost €5 more. The winner gets €500 cash and publication.
Fix, part of online magazine Grist, is running its Climate Fiction Writing Contest for a second year. It has a really good prize for a free competition, with the winner receiving $3,000 and more cash prizes for runners-up.
Finally, the Bridport Prize is still open until the end of May. One short story entry costs £12, while flash fiction is £9 and novels are £20.
Closing soon
And now, on with our usual programming. Here are a few opportunities that you still have just enough time to submit to.
The deadline for the next issue of En Bloc is coming up. This beautifully illustrated magazine is open for fiction and pays £35 per page. To be in the running for the next issue, submit by 1 March.
The London Library’s Emerging Writers Programme is open again. The scheme offers masterclasses, networking, and a free membership to the library. They are looking for writers who have yet had their work professionally published or produced. You must be able to attend monthly sessions at the library. Applications close on 2 March - do note the 11am cut-off.
Women who write speculative fiction of all kinds, the next deadline over at Luna Station Quarterly is 15 February. Writers get $5 and a lifetime subscription to the eBook version of the magazine.
Following a shake-up of its submissions and publication processes, Structo is now open for short stories until 28 February, and is now able to pay writers £25, plus a contributor copy.
Open now
If you have an idea which might fit the theme ‘Devotion’ then have a look at Hecate Magazine’s summer anthology. The magazine prioritises submissions from women writers, and accepts all kinds of prose. Deadline is 2 April.
Crow & Cross Keys is open again for flash fiction and short stories with a speculative edge.
Printer of single short stories One Story is currently open for submissions.
Stripe Press, a publishing imprint run by payments giant Stripe, has appointed a new team of editors. They have helpfully put together a list of topics on which they’d like to see book proposals, which could be of interest to quite a few non-fiction writers.
I love what they’re doing over at Wrongdoing Magazine, a gothic vibe and cool design going hand in hand. The next theme is ‘petals’, though they say not to take it literally - I understood a little better when I listened to their curated Spotify playlist for the theme. Get work in by 31 March for this one.
And in one of the most casual callouts I’ve ever seen, Cemetery Gates Media is asking for submissions for an anthology titled Picnic in the Graveyard. Check their general submissions guidelines before sending something in.
Opening soon
The next submissions period for AGNI Magazine begins on 15 February.
And the same goes for speculative fiction magazine Apparition Lit, which opens on 15 February and closes 28 February. The theme for this window is ‘wanderlust’.
The same day again, 15 February, should mark the opening of two competitions from Passages North. One is a creative non-fiction prize with a $15 entry fee and $1,000 prize.
Always open
Prestigious magazine The Sun is always open, though it discourages simultaneous submissions. This is a well-paying market, offering between $300 and $2,000 for both personal essays and fiction.
The Lumiere Review accepts submissions year-round and publishes its online issues four times a year. No pay from this nonprofit literary enterprise, but the writing is nicely presented and they have a useful page of submissions tips for those new to the whole business of sending out work.
And if you are looking to breathe a bit of fresh life into a piece that has previously been published elsewhere, have a look at Fresh Ink. They pay for fiction reprints.