Tag Archives: prizes

Submit to 2020 Shooter Short Story Competition

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Shooter Literary Magazine’s 2020 Short Story Competition is now open to stories of any style, subject or genre, up to a max of 5,000 words. The contest spotlights the best emerging literary talent, with £500 in cash prizes and publication both in the magazine and online.

Shooter seeks imaginative, absorbing and beautifully written work that brings characters to life and elicits an emotional response from the reader. In short, we want well written tales that appeal to both the head and the heart.

In return for the £7 entry fee (or £10 for two), all entrants receive an e-copy of Shooter’s winter 2021 issue, which will feature the winning story.

  • The winner of the 2020 Shooter Short Story Competition will receive £400, publication in the winter issue and on the website, and promotion on Shooter’s social media.
  • The runner-up will receive £100, publication on Shooter’s website, and promotion on social media.
  • All entrants will receive an e-copy of Shooter’s winter issue.
  • Stories may be any theme or genre, up to a max of 5,000 words.
  • The competition is open to entries through May 31st, 2020.
  • Winners will be announced in July 2020
  • All proceeds from entry fees go toward prizes, contributor payments and Shooter’s production costs, supporting our mission to promote the best new writing and encourage the principle of paying writers for their work.

To enter, please email your story (as a Word or PDF file) to competition.shooterlitmag@gmail.com by the deadline of May 31st, 2020. Include your name, title of story and word count in the body of the email, with no identifying information on the story itself. Multiple entries are accepted. Payment can be made via Shooter’s website at https://shooterlitmag.com/competition.

Other information can be found at https://shooterlitmag.com. We look forward to reading your work – good luck!

Creative Future Writers’ Award 2020

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The 2020 Creative Future Writers’ Award is now open for submissions.

Founded in 2013, the Creative Future Writers’ Award is the UK’s only national writing competition and development programme for under-represented writers. They showcase talented writers who lack opportunities due to mental health issues, disability, identity or other social circumstance.

Prizes are awarded for both poetry and short fiction, including cash and professional writing development opportunities, publication in an anthology, and a high profile awards ceremony at the Southbank Centre in London as part of London Literature Festival (TBC).

2020 judges are Kerry Hudson, Anthony Anaxagorou, Aki Schilz of The Literary Consultancy, and the CFWA 2020 Writer In Residence (TBA).

This year’s theme is ‘Tomorrow‘.  Submissions are open for:

  • Poetry (one poem up to 42 lines)
  • Short fiction (up to 2,000 words)

Deadline is 31 May 2020.

For more information and how to submit, please click here.

The A3 Review’s New Contest Themes

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issue_11_cover_grandeThe A3 Review has recently launched Issue 11. We’ve also just posted new themes for our monthly contests. Publication and cash prizes for winners. To enter and for more details, please visit our Submittable page by clicking here. The next few themes will be included in our “T” issue, so we’re looking for short stories (as well as poems and artwork) about : Tablets, Transformations, and Thanatos.

The two winning entries from September 2019 to February 2020 will make up the list of contributors to Issue 12 (The “T” Issue). From this list, three overall winners will receive cash prizes: 1st = £250, 2nd = £150, 3rd = £75. Issue 12 will appear in April 2020.

The word limit is 150 words, so we’d particularly like to see flash fiction and mini essays. Our $5 (approx £3.50) submission fee helps us cover admin and printing costs and makes sure we can keep offering cash prizes.

Visit The A3 Review’s website to see some back issues. The A3 Press also publishes chapbooks and is open for submissions until December the 10th.

Submissions open for Shooter #11: Supernatural

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Shooter Literary Magazine has reopened to submissions for its upcoming winter issue, themed Supernatural, as well as the 2019 Poetry Competition.

Submissions for Issue #11 should revolve around anything to do with the occult. Psychological spookiness, eerie suspense, weird mysteries and unexplained phenomena are welcome elements, as well as the more obvious demons, angels, witches and ghosts. Religious themes are also relevant. Writing must be of a literary standard, not genre fare trading on shocks or gore. The deadline is November 17th. Please visit Shooter’s Submissions page for further guidelines.

The 2019 Poetry Competition is also open to entries, with no restriction on theme or style. Poems can be up to 100 lines long and multiple entries are allowed. The winning poet will receive £150 and publication both in the winter issue of Shooter and online, while the runner-up wins £50 and online publication. All entrants receive an e-copy of the winter magazine, featuring the winning poem. For guidelines on how to enter, please visit Shooter’s Competition page.

Writers who are familiar with the type of work that we publish are often more successful; past and current issues of Shooter are available to order via the Subscriptions page. We look forward to reading your work – good luck!

Creative Future Writers’ Awards

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Founded in 2013, the Creative Future Writers’ Award is the UK’s only national writing competition and high profile awards ceremony for under-represented writers. We showcase talented writers who lack opportunities due to mental health issues, disability, identity or other social circumstance. Prizes are awarded for both poetry and short fiction, including cash & professional writing development opportunities. Winners are selected by a panel of industry experts. Alongside our competition, we hold a high profile awards ceremony–in 2018 this was held at the Southbank Centre in London as part of London Literature Festival.

This year’s theme is HOME.  We seek:

Poetry (one poem up to 300 words)

Short fiction (up to 2,000 words)

Deadline is Sunday 2 June 2019.

For more information and how to submit, please click here.

Twisted tales of love

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Need an antidote to the saccharin-fest of Valentine’s?

Then come on down to Hand of Doom’s twisted tales of love and lust on Friday, February 15 from 8pm at Juncion 13, 1B Town Walk, Folkestone, CT20 2AD.

Fabulous poundshop prizes are also up for grabs in our usual competition.

Tickets cost £5 and are available from the venue or from https://bit.ly/2SahbTt. Come early to get a good seat.

Twisted love 2019

That Killer First page, Dublin, Oct 13

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That Killer First Page, Oct 13

Venue: Brooks Hotel, 62 Drury Street, Dublin 2.

Date: Oct 13    Time: 10.30-4.30

Places are limited. This event sold out in Adelaide, Bali, Bath, Belfast, Cork, Galway, Kuala Lumpur, Lancaster, London, Melbourne & Singapore.  

You’ll find out what competition judges and journal editors look for in a short story and how to avoid the rejection pile. You’ll write a short piece and get feedback on that crucial story opening. In a form where every word counts, get tips on staying focused on your story and where to start the action. You’ll also look at submission opportunities; how to find them and where you should be sending your stories.

Focus:
How to get the attention of competition judges and editors
Writing fiction with emotional impact
Writing that killer first page
How to edit your story
Where to send your work

Paul McVeigh’s short fiction has been published in anthologies and journals inc. The Stinging Fly and Faber’s ‘Modern Irish Writing’. Stories have been commissioned by BBC Radio 3, 4 & 5 and Sky Arts TV. He was shortlisted for Irish Short Story of the Year 2017 at the Irish Book Awards. His short story blog shares writing opportunities and advice and gets 40,000 hits a month and has had over 2 million views. He’s interviewed short story masters like Kevin Barry, Elizabeth McCracken and George Saunders for The Irish Times. Paul co-founded the London Short Story Festival and is Associate Director at Word Factory, the UK’s national centre for excellence in the short story. He is a judge for national and international short story competitions including, in 2018, the Sean O’Faolain Prize, the Edge Hill Prize and the International Dylan Thomas Prize. He is also the current fiction editor at Southword Journal where he recently commissioned Kit de Waal and twice Booker shortlisted Deborah Levy.                                                                                   

“I emerged from the sleepy hamlet of my writing infancy last Saturday and was sky-rocketed, hurricaned, tsunamied, autobahned and g-forced out of my head by Paul McVeigh’s “That Killer First Page” Masterclass at Waterstones, Piccadilly. He’s on top of his game, gives instinctive, constructive criticism and in a few short hours, had conveyed the essence of how to make a story compelling and unputdownable from the first few lines. Get on one of his courses if you can.”

Reviews for his short stories:
“Beautiful and very moving.” Booker shortlisted Alison Moore
“How moving and stunning that story is. It’s so raw and incredibly human.” Costa shortlisted Jess Richards
“(one of) Ireland’s most exciting and talented writers.  Incredibly moving; poignant but utterly real, funny and beautifully observant.” BBC Radio 4
“Paul McVeigh’s story stands out. Funny, moving, poignant. Brilliant.” Metro Newspaper

Paul’s debut novel The Good Son’ won 2 awards and was shortlisted for a further 5.

‘A work of genius…’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Robert Olen Butler

“Both dancing and disquieting, complex and vivid, I devoured it in a day, but I’ve thought about it for many, many more.” Bailey Prize-winner Lisa McInerney The Glorious Heresies                                       ‘

‘A triumph of storytelling. An absolute gem.’ Donal Ryan

Places are limited to 15

FOR CONCESSIONS PLEASE EMAIL: paulmcveighwriter@live.co.uk

Brooks are offering a special lunch deal – two tapas plus a glass of house wine at €18.50 per person.

PaulMcVeigh short story

Thieves and New Contest Themes

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new themes 2 copyOur next contest deadline is July the 28th, and we also have new monthly themes for other A3 Review contests till November. We’re looking for short fiction, mini essays, poetry and artwork on the theme of Ears, Hats and Triangles, for example.

Visit our Submittable page for all the details.

The next theme is Thieves. Hearts, heists, identities, or apricots from a neighbour’s tree. We like work that feels immediate and edgy, so check out the prompts and start creating now! We welcome submissions from around the world.

Three winners per issue receive cash prizes, and all monthly winners receive contributor copies, back issues and Writing Maps. All the details are here.

You can read some of the work that we feature in The A3 Review on our Instagram page.

Any questions, please do write to us at a3 [at] writingmaps.com

The Gilded Lily & Gold Lamé Shorts

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The prompt for this month’s A3 Review contest is: Gold Things. We suggest writing about all that gliters and is gold. Submit flash fiction, brief essays and poems about lost wedding rings, edible gold leaf and hidden gold bullion. Tell the story of a heist in 150 words, or write a poem about a heist gone wrong. Tell the story of a day in the life of a detectorist. Write the story behind the gold medal you won, or almost won, or wish you’d won.

You could explore different idioms with “gold” in them: a heart of gold, good as gold, silence is golden. Write about rainbows and what’s at the end of them. You could write a non-fiction piece about the brutal reality of gold mines. Tell the story of a person looking back at the golden age of their life, or make it your story.

Be inspired by Rachel Hadas’ poem “Green and Gold” and Sandra M. Gilbert’s “Gold Tooth” – then write about your own golden fruit and gold tooth.

Some suggestions for opening words… start with “Gold is the colour of…” or “When I think of gold…”

This month’s contest is inspired by The Description Writing Map.

As always, The A3 Review welcomes short stories, flash fiction, poetry, comics, graphic stories, a snippet of memoir, photographs, illustrations, and any combination of the above. The only restriction is a word-limit of 150 and images should fit well into an A6 panel.

Come say hi on Twitter @TheA3Review

Spooky stories for grown-ups

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Fearless folks of Faversham and Folkestone!

Prepare to be scared by some spine-tingling stories and ghoulish (PoundUniverse) prizes this Halloween.

We’ll once again be gathering around the fireplace in the opulent Drawing Room of Folkestone’s famous Grand Hotel to hear spooky tales written especially for Hand of Doom Productions on Friday, October 27 from 8pm. Drinks available from the bar.

Then, on Saturday, October 28, we’ll be chilling The Faversham Society & Fleur de Lis Heritage Centre at 13 Preston Street, ME13 8NS Faversham, Kent from 8pm where you can bring your own bottle of something to steady your nerves.

 

Both events cost £6. For more details for Folkestone, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/359715527786531/?ref=br_rs and for Faversham, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/404655723282887/

Agatha Christie in the Bath and Two Online Courses

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The A3 Review hosts a monthly writing contest, and this month’s theme is Naked and Nude. We read here that Agatha Christie wrote in the bath while eating apples. We googled for images, but there weren’t any, so we’re wondering: Who’ll write the story of the bathing novelist who said she specialised in “murders of quiet, domestic interest”? We like a good title, so how about: “Agatha Christie in the Bath”? Click here for more naked inspiration.

Deadline is 23rd September. 150 words max, or if you’re sending us artwork, it should fit nicely into an A6-sized panel. Click here to see all the new themes for Issue 8, The Gold Issue.

In the meantime, Issue 7 is almost here. The Silver Issue. We have 12 contributors, plus a story from flash fiction writer extraordinaire, Kathy Fish. There’s a maritime theme running through the new issue. Flowing through it! Whales and shrimp, to be precise. As well as stories and poems about a nun who steals a cross, a boy scout who’s unprepared, a teacher who learns, and some people who revel in their own dirt! From the depths of the ocean to the moon and space, with some complicated earthly relationships in between. If you haven’t pre-ordered already, you can do that by clicking here.

Some details about the two online courses… New dates are up for The A3 Review editor, Shaun Levin’s How to Map Your Book online course. The current one filled up pretty quickly, so you might want to grab a place for the course starting in November. If you’re eager to join a course now, there are still a few places on the Write Around Town online course that starts next week. Both courses are practical and focused on your own writing. It’s a great chance to get detailed feedback on your work, too. Check out both courses by clicking here.

Any questions about the courses or The A3 Review, please contact maps [at] writingmaps [dot] com

Silver, Gold, and Some Hard Cash

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gold thingsWe’ve got a silver-themed contest with a looming deadline; six new themes for Issue 8: The Gold Issue; and an increase in our cash prizes.

There’s still one last chance to be part of The A3 Review‘s Issue 7, The Silver Issue. This month’s theme is SILVER THINGS, so make sure to get your sparkly work in by Saturday the 26th August. Click here for glittery inspiration and to submit. The issue will also include a story by guest flash-fiction writer Kathy Fish alongside the winners of the last 5 months of contests, and this month’s winners, too.

In other news… The A3 Review‘s founding editor, Shaun Levin, is launching a new online writing course, How to Map Your Book. The course is suitable for writers at all stages of a book project, so if you’re putting together a collection of short stories, you might want to check out the details here.  There’s an early-bird rate for bookings up until the 20th August.

Do please spread the word about our new themes for Issue 8: The Gold Issue. Naked and Nude, Windows, and Betrayal are just some of the dramatic themes coming up! And, because our submission numbers are up, we’re able to increase the prize money from this issue. Click here for inspiration and more details.

Ruth Rendell Short Story Competition 2017

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Tuesday 1st August 2017 sees the launch of the sixth biennial Ruth Rendell Short Story Competition hosted by the award-winning charity InterAct Stroke Support.

The short story competition was first launched in 2008 and the challenge remains the same: writers are requested to write a piece, in any genre, in no more than 1000 words. The winner of the competition will write four further stories for InterAct Stroke Support over the course of one year and will receive £1000.

The closing date for submissions is Friday 22nd December 2017 and first place will be awarded at the winner’s ceremony in 2018 (date and venue to be confirmed).

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Baroness Ruth Rendell, a beloved patron, judge and friend of InterAct put her name to the award after the first short story competition in 2008 and sadly passed away in 2015. The competition continues to inspire writers in her honour.

 

InterAct Stroke Support is the only UK charity dedicated to supporting stroke recovery by using professional actors to deliver hospital readings and community projects. InterAct specialises in delivering stimulating and inspiring short stories specially selected to suit the needs of stroke patients.  The readings are designed to assist recovery by improving mood, stimulating the brain and providing a much-needed creative outlet.

Stories of any genre can be submitted by email or post and the submission fee is £15.00 per story. Please find more details and terms and conditions of entry on the InterAct Stroke Support website: www.interactstrokesupport.org/news

 

Vote Now and Help The A3 Review Decide

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This month’s contest theme over at The A3 Review is inspired by The Raw Soul Food Map and Writing the Love Writing Map. Dates and Dating, respectively!

We’re looking for flash fiction, poems and artwork about sweet fleshy things. Dates! And yes, about dating, too. Sweet fleshy moments of love, potential love, and times when the sugar’s just not there! Write about a couple on a date in a noisy bar. Turn a Tinder, Findhrr or Grindr profile into a poem. Compose a praise song to the perfect dating partner, or an elegy to the date that went wrong!

Deadline is the 24th of June. The only restriction is a word-limit of 150 and images should fit well into an A6 panel. Visit our Submittable page for more details and to enter. Follow us on Twitter, too. There’s publication, Writing Maps and cash prizes for the winners.

Choose contest themes for The A3 ReviewNow, we need your help… Have your say in the new themes for our next issue, The Gold Issue. If you click here, you’ll be taken to the poll. As a thank-you, we’ll pick three winners from all respondents to receive a full set of The A3 Review (Issues 1 to 6).

Happy writing, and we look forward to reading your work.

PS. There are still three places left on the Write Around Town online course with The A3 Review‘s editor, Shaun Levin. Six weeks of inspiration, writing, feedback, and community. Check out all the details here.

 

Behave Yourself and Submit!

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Sit up straight, face the front, and no chewing in class! Yes, all you well-behaved andschool naughty people, this month’s A3 Review contest is on the theme of Teachers.

Inspired by the Write Through School Writing Map, we’re looking for short fiction, poetry and artwork on tutors, instructors, professors, mentors, personal trainers… any type of teacher. We’ve all had them and many of us are them!

Write about a memorable moment with a memorable teacher. Frustrated teachers, inspirational teachers, nervous newbies or those who’ve seen it all. Create something that delves into the heart of the teacher/student relationship. Explore different setting where teaching takes place: a farmer passing on knowledge to a child; an experienced soldier guiding a raw recruit; a chance meeting in a remote, dusty town that results in a lesson learned.

The only restriction is a word-limit of 150 and images should fit well into an A6 panel. To find out more about what kind of work we like at The A3 Review, check out the latest issue here, and see our submission guidelines here. This month’s deadline is Saturday, the 27th of May. Send us your work. It’s not compulsory, but it is for your own good!

Good luck and keep writing!

Having a Lovely Time in The A3 Review

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wish-you-were-hereYes, the theme for our February Contest is: Postcards. This month’s contest is your last chance to be part of The A3 Review‘s Issue 6, so don’t be left feeling “Wish I was there!”

Deadline is February 25th.

Write about postcards you’ve written and ones you’ve received, that particular postcard you’ve kept since the 80s. Tell the story of a postcard you wish you’d written, or one (from your gran?) that you wish you’d saved. Write about a character who communicates through postcards. What would their last postcard sound like? For inspiration, read Charles Simic’s “The Lost Art of Postcard Writing.”

Read here about the language of stamps, and how they were positioned on postcards to convey a secret message. Write about stamps. Read Craig Raine’s “A Martian Sends A Postcard Home”, then write your own version, updated for the 21st Century.

Think about postcards from the edge. Postcards from the future. Postcards as propaganda and protest. Postcards which say one thing but mean another. Study a picture postcard and use the image to inspire a story.

For more inspiration, visit our Submittable page and follow us on Twitter at @TheA3Review. You can also get special offers and news by signing up to our newsletter.

For full contest details click here. Each month we choose two winning pieces for publication (The A3 Review is published twice a year). All winning entries receive Writing Maps and contributor copies, while three overall winners in each issue receive cash prizes: 1st = £150, 2nd = £75, 3rd = £50 (approx $190, $95, $65).

The new themes for Issue 7 (The Silver Issue) are now up on our page, so click here to see all six themes.

Happy writing! We look forward ro reading your work.

Shooter Story Competition is open

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The 2017 Shooter Short Story Competition seeks stories of any style, subject, genre and length (up to 5,000 words). The contest spotlights the best and brightest upcoming literary talent, with cash prizes and publication in the magazine and online.

We’re looking for imaginative, surprising, absorbing and beautifully written stories that bring characters to life and elicit an emotional response from the reader. In short, well written tales that appeal to both the head and the heart.

In return for the £7 entry fee, all entrants receive an e-copy of Shooter’s summer 2017 issue, which will feature the winning story.

  • The winner of the 2017 Shooter Short Story Competition will receive £250, publication in the summer issue and on the website, and promotion on Shooter’s social media.
  • The runner-up will receive £50, publication on Shooter’s website, and promotion on social media.
  • All entrants will receive an e-copy of Shooter’s summer issue.
  • Stories may be any theme or genre, and any length up to 5,000 words.
  • The competition is open to entries through April 16th, 2017.
  • All proceeds from entry fees go toward prizes, contributor payments and Shooter’s production costs, supporting our mission to promote the best new writing and encourage the principle of paying writers for their work.

To enter, please email your story (as a .doc, .docx, .rtf or .pdf file) to competition.shooterlitmag@gmail.com by the deadline of April 16th, 2017. Include your name, title of story and word count in the body of the email, with no identifying information on the story itself. Multiple entries are accepted. Payment can be made via Shooter’s website at https://shooterlitmag.com/competition.

Other information can be found at https://shooterlitmag.com. We look forward to reading your work – good luck!

Crediton Short Story Competition 2017

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Entries now being accepted for the third Crediton Short Story Competition:

  • The topic is Echoes.
  • Entries to be in by Sunday 30 April 2017
  • Winners announced on 24 June 2017
  • Max word 3,000 (1,000 for young adults)
  • Entrance fee £5 adults / £3 young adults
  • First prize £75, publication in Riptide and night at Lamb Inn, Sandford, Devon (£30 young adults plus Riptide volume)

Full details on the CredFest website

Inspire us with your true travel tales

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Travel, Indien, India

Here we go!  Launching the 2016 Ouen Press Short Story Competition

Ouen Press are pleased to extend an invitation for writers to submit an original short story in line with this year’s theme – ‘The Journey’. Winning authors will receive cash prizes and be published in an anthology early in the New Year. This follows on from the success of last year’s competition and subsequent publication of the winning entries in Last Call & other short stories.

The short story must be true, but can be about a journey in any setting, of any distance, or at any time. The judges will be particularly interested in well-written pieces about encounters that have profoundly thrilled, possibly terrified or provided humour. The ideal submission will elicit a strong emotional response conveying travel experiences where the writer’s life has been transformed or enlightened as a result.

Deadline for entries is 31st October 2016 – full information and rules of the competition, which is open to writers worldwide, can be found at www.ouenpress.com

For updates on our activities – come follow us on Twitter @OuenP

NEW for 2016 – We’d be thrilled if you Like our Facebook page

TubeFlash Quizzes

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The Casket of Fictional Delights current series of TubeFlash flash fiction stories finished at the end of 2014 with the story ‘All’s Well that Ends Badly’.  We hope to be able to bring TubeFlash back for one last time later in 2015.  But for those of you suffering withdrawal symptoms why not try one of our TubeFlash quizzes.

All’s Well that Ends Badly – contained in the last TubeFlash story ‘All’s Well that Ends Badly’ I have incorporated references to 25 of the 78 TubeFlash stories. Clues are in the form of names or items from stories, stations or brooches, visual references, colours etc.  How many can you find and identify? To enter Click Here

For those who would like something a little more frivolous why not try our visual quiz.

Christmas Tree Brooches – Identify the 20 London Underground Stations  – here’s one to help you on your way

Casket_0115_1-052_20

Bond Street – To enter Click Here 

I do hope you all will have a go at one of the quizzes or both.  Spread the word, let your friends know, anyone can enter, there is no restriction to entry. Great TubeFlash inspired prizes to be won. Closing date end of February 2015.

GOOD LUCK

The Casket of Fictional Delights continues to accept submissions for Short Stories and Flash Fiction please refer to our submissions page for details.

To find out more visit The Casket of Fictional Delights website where you can subscribe to the mailing list to receive all Short Stories and Flash Fiction stories direct to your inbox SUBSCRIBE

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