UK Writing Competitions List

Listed below are a number of writing competition based in the UK. Entering short story and poetry competitions can be a good way to get your work noticed, and may help when it comes time to approach editors about publishing a book. Book prizes, meanwhile, can boost sales, especially for debut authors; youll notice that several of the prizes below are for first books or first collections. Some (indeed, most) competitions charge an entry or reading fee. Is is their nature that every entrant pays, but only a few are rewarded. Its worth looking at the costs involved and weighing them against the potential benefits before you decide that entering competitions is the right move for you. It can be discouraging too that only a few winners emerge from all the entries submitted. Some competitions draw up longlists and shortlists before deciding on the final winners, and appearing on one of these can be valuable even if you dont win outright. Visit http://www.neonmagazine.co.uk/?page_id=1709 for the frequently-updated online version of this list, or to make a suggestion for a competition that should be included. *

Authors Club First Novel Award

Top Prize: 2500 | Categories: Novel Awarded to the most promising novel issued by a British publisher in the previous year. This prize is administered by the Authors Club. From its inception in 1954, the award has gone to writers who have subsequently enjoyed distinguished careers, including Brian Moore for The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, Alan Sillitoe for Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and Paul Bailey for At the Jerusalem. *

Ballymaloe International Poetry Prize

Top Prize: 10000 | Categories: Poem This international prize is open to everyone, and awards large sums for the three best unpublished poem submitted each year. It is run by The Moth Magazine, with winners published in the magazine and invited to special prize-giving event at the Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food & Wine. *

Bath Short Story Award

Top Prize: 500 | Categories: Short Story

A relatively new international short story competition, open to published and unpublished writers. The award is administered by Pulteney Street Writers, and shortlisted entries are read and judged by the Cornerstones Literary Consultancy. *

BBC Short Story Prize

Top Prize: 15000 | Categories: Short Story One of the most significant short story competitions in the UK, this prize is awarded yearly by the BBC. Entrants must have a record of previously published work in the UK. The ambition of both the Award and Booktrusts short story content is to expand opportunities for British writers, readers and publishers of the short story. *

Betty Trask Prize And Awards

Top Prize: Up to 20000 | Categories: Novel Given to writers under the age of 35, for a first novel in the traditional or romantic genres. The prize varies year by year, and must be used for foriegn travel. Betty Trask left a bequest to the Society of Authors in 1983 to fund a prize for first novels written by authors under the age of 35 in a romantic or traditional, but not experimental, style. *

Bridport Prize
Top Prize: 5000 | Categories: Short Story / Flash / Poem Prestigous annual competition with different strands for short stories, flash fiction and poetry. As well as the first place prize money there are several supplementary awards, including one for writers based in Dorset. *

Bristol Short Story Prize

Top Prize: 1000 | Categories: Short Story An international short story competition opened to published and unpublished writers anywhere in the world. Winners are published in an annual anthology in addition to receiving prize money. The Bristol Short Story Prize aims to publish great short stories and promote the stories and writers as much as possible. *

Charles Pick Fellowship

Top Prize: 10000 and Residency | Categories: Fiction / Non-Fiction An annual award for an unpublished writer of fiction or non-fiction. The prize is a stipend of 10000 and a six-month residency at the University Of East Anglia in Norwich. The UEA is famous for its Creative Writing MA programme. *

Chicken House
Top Prize: Publication | Categories: Novel This energetic childrens publisher runs a yearly competition for new writers. Manuscripts must be aimed at the 7-18 age range, and should be sent in full. The competition is sponsored by The Times newspaper. *

Cinammon Press
Top Prize: 1000 | Categories: Novel / Short Story / Poem / Collection This small publisher based in Wales runs yearly competitions to find work in a variety of different genres worth publishing. Most competitions are restricted to previously-unpublished writers, and require payment of an entry fee. *

Commonwealth Prizes
Top Prize: 10000 | Categories: Novel / Short Story Two competitions run by Commonwealth Writers, designed to reward and promote the best new writing from across the Commonwealth. There is an award for short stories and a seperate award for books. In addition to the top prize in each category, further regional prizes are also awarded. *

Costa Awards
Top Prize: 30000 | Categories: Novel / Short Story A series of book awards for authors from the UK and Ireland (previously known as the Whitbread Book Awards). One of the only UK awards open to childrens books as well as adult. Costa also run a short story competition.

Eric Gregory Awards

Top Prize: 24000 | Categories: Collection This annual award for poets under the age of thirty has prize money totalling 24000, which is split among the recipients. It is given for submitted poetry collections either published or unpublished. The Eric Gregory Awards, for a collection by poets under the age of 30, were founded in 1960 by the late Dr Eric Gregory for the encouragement of young poets. *

Encore Award
Top Prize: 10000 | Categories: Second Novel A 10000 prize for the best second novel published in the UK. The award fills a niche in the catalogue of literary prizes by celebrating the achievement of outstanding second novels, often neglected in comparison to the attention given to promising first books. *

Fish Publishing Contests

Top Prize: 3000 | Categories: Short Story / Flash / Poem / Memoir These yearly competitions have been run by Fish Publishing since 1994. They are open to writers of any nationality writing in English. The best ten pieces in each category are published in an anthology. Entry fees for each category are significant, and there is a critique service available. *

Forward Poetry Prize

Top Prize: 10000 | Categories: Collection / First Collection / Poem The largest annual poetry competition in the UK, this prize rewards the best collection, best first collection, and best single poem in the UK each year. All works put forward for the prize will also be considered for publication in The Forward Book Of Poetry, a yearly anthology. Entries must be published works, and individual poets cannot enter their own work. *

Specsavers National Book Awards

Top Prize: Unknown | Categories: Novel / Book

A series of literary awards that covers a wide variety of genres. Previously known as the British Book Awards, then the Galaxy National Book Awards, the prizes are now supported by Specsavers. The National Book Awards showcases the best of British writing & publishing, whilst celebrating books with wide popular appeal, critical acclaim and commercial success. *

Hawthornden Prize
Top Prize: 10000 | Categories: Novel / Book Seeks to reward authors of imaginative literature. One of Britains oldest literary prizes, it is awarded annually, though there have been some years without an award in the past. There is no competition; books do not have to be, and in fact cannot be, submitted. A panel of judges decides the winner. *

James Tait Black Memorial Prize

Top Prize: 10000 | Categories: Book / Drama Awarded to the author of a work of fiction, biography or drama published in Britain during the past year. One of the most established prizes in the UK. They are the only awards of their kind to be presented by a university and have acquired an international reputation for recognising excellence. *

Kent & Sussex Poetry Society Open Competition

Top Prize: 1000 | Categories: Poem Run each year by the Kent & Sussex Poetry Society. A top prize of 1000 and several runnerup prizes. The judge for 2012 and 2013 was Daljit Nagra. Open to anyone aged sixteen and over, and seeking poems that are not published or due for publication anywhere. *

Lightship Competitions
Top Prize: 1000 | Categories: Short Story / Flash / Poem / Collection / Novel / Memoir Lightship Publishing run a series of competitions each year, including first chapter, first act and one page competitions. Winners receive prize money and publication in an annual paperback anthology. Judging is generally done by well-known literary figures. *

Man Booker Prize

Top Prize: 50000 | Categories: Novel A significant literary prize awarded each year. Winners usually enjoy a large increase in book sales. The prize, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2008 after launching in 1969, aims to promote the finest in fiction by rewarding the best novel of the year written by a citizen of the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. *

Manchester Writing Competition

Top Prize: 10000 | Categories: Short Story / Poem This competition previously alternated between fiction and poetry each year, but is now open to both. It is run by the Manchester Writing School, under the direction of Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy. The compeition was founded in 2008, and is open to anyone over the age of sixteen. *

Moth Short Story Prize

Top Prize: 1000 | Categories: Short Story This annual competition is run by The Moth Magazine, and in addition to the sizeable first prize boasts a second prize of a week-long retreat at Circle of Misse in France. Winning and specially commended entries usually appear in the magazine. *

Orwell Prize
Top Prize: 3000 | Categories: Journalism / Blog / Book An annual prize for political writing. There are awards each year for the blog, the piece of journalism and the book that most embody Orwells ambition to make political writing into an art. This prestigous competition is now entering its twentieth year. *

RSL Ondaatjee Prize

Top Prize: 10000 | Categories: Novel / Book / Collection An annual award administered by the Royal Society for Literature which goes to the work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry that judges feel best evokes the spirit of a place. All prize winners also receive a paperweight clock, which they are awarded at a celebratory dinner.

Sean O Faolain Short Story Competition

Top Prize: 1700 and Publication | Categories: Short Story Winners are published in Southword. Previous prizes have also included a week-long residency and an expenses-paid trip to the Cork International Short Fiction Festival. The Sean O Faolain Short Story Competition [...] is dedicated to one of Irelands most accomplished story writers and theorists, sponsored by the Munster Literature Centre. *

Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Award

Top Prize: 30000 | Categories: Short Story One of the most valuable short story prizes in the UK. The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Award honours the finest writers of short stories in the UK and Ireland. Worth 30,000 to the winning author, it is open to anyone with a previous record of publication in creative writing in the UK or Ireland. *

Terry Pratchett First Novel Award

Top Prize: 20000 and Publication | Categories: Novel With a theme of anywhere but here, anywhen but now this competitions seeks a full-length manuscript aimed at an adult audience. Entrants must be previously-unpublished, as the winning entrant is required to enter into a publising deal with Transworld Publishers. *

TS Eliot Prize
Top Prize: 15000 | Categories: Collection Awarded annually for the best collection of verse published in the UK or Ireland. One of the most prestigious British poetry prizes. This prize is administered by the Poetry Book Society and supported by the estate of reknowned poet TS Eliot, after whom it is named. *

VS Pritchett Memorial Prize

Top Prize: 1000 | Categories: Short Story

An annual prize administered by The Royal Society Of Literature for the best unpublished short story of the year. Winners are published in Prospect online and the RSL Review. The prize was founded to commemorate writer and critic Sir Victor Sawden Pritchett. *

Wasifiri New Writing Prize

Top Prize: 300 and Publication | Categories: Short Story / Poem / Memoir This newly-established prize (first run in 2009) is administered by British literary magazine Wasifiri, in which the winners of each category are published. The competition is open to anyone worldwide who has not published a complete book in their chosen category. *

Waverton Good Read Award

Top Prize: 1000 | Categories: Novel This award is judged collectively by the residents of a village in Cheshire, who read a number of debut novels by UK-based authors published in the previous year and decide which they like the most. The winners name is also engraved on a trophy, which remains in the village. *

Willesden Herald Short Story Competition

Top Prize: 300 and Publication and Mug | Categories: Short Story The winners and top ten shortlisted entries to this yearly prize will be published in an anthology. The overall winner also receives prize money and a one-of-a-kind limited-edition Willesden Herald mug. Now approaching its tenth year this is a popular and well-known writing competition. *

Womens Prize For Fiction

Top Prize: 30000 | Categories: Novel Awarded to the author of a work of fiction published in the United Kingdom during the past year. As the name would suggest, this prize considers only work written by writers who are female. Launched in 1996, the Prize is awarded annually and celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in womens writing from throughout the world.