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Opportunities

The Bridport Prize, Poetry Prize – closing 31 May

Eligible to published or unpublished authors for a previously unpublished poem of no more than 42 lines. The winner will receive £5000; a runner up receives £1000 and third place will win £500. Additionally, 10 highly commended poems will win £100. All of these will be featured in the Bridport Prize anthology. The entry fee is £10 per poem, and entries close on 31 May at 23:59.

The Bridport Prize, Flash Fiction Prize – closing 31 May

Eligible to published or unpublished authors for a previously unpublished story of no more than 250 words. The winner will receive £1000; a runner up receives £500 and third place will win £250. Additionally, 3 highly commended stories will win £100. All of these will be featured in the Bridport Prize anthology. The entry fee is £9 per story, and entries close on 31 May at 23:59.

The Bridport Prize, Short Story Prize – closing May 31

Eligible to published or unpublished authors for a previously unpublished story of no more than 5000 words. The winner will receive £5000; a runner up receives £1000 and third place will win £500. Additionally, 10 highly commended stories will win £100. All of these will be featured in the Bridport Prize anthology. The entry fee is £12 per story, and entries close on 31 May at 23:59.

The Bridport Prize, Peggy Chapman Andrews First Novel award – closing 31 May

For a novel by an unpublished novelist. The manuscript does not necessarily have to be finished. Submit your first 5,000 to 8,000 words plus a 300 word synopsis. A winner will receive £1,500 as well as mentoring by The Literary Consultancy and consultation with literary agent AM Heath and publisher Tinder Press. A runner up receives £750 Manuscript assessment and editorial advice from The Literary Consultancy, and three more outstanding entries will win £150. All long-listed authors will be published in the Bridport Prize anthology. The entry fee is £20 and entries close on 31 May at 23:59.

The Bath Novel Award – closing 31 May

This award is for unpublished, self-published and independently published writers. Submit the first 5000 words of a completed manuscript, along with a one page synopsis of your novel for adults or young adults. The Winner will receive £3000 and all shortlisted authors will receive manuscript feedback and literary agent introductions. Additionally, the writer of the most promising long-listed manuscript will receive an online place worth £1,800 on Edit Your Novel the Professional Way from Cornerstones Literary Consultancy. The entry fee is £28 with sponsored places available for low-income writers. Submissions close on 31 May at 23:59.

The Bricklane Bookshop Short Story Prize – closing 15 May

An award for a story of 1000 to 5000 words. There is a £1000 first prize, a £250 second prize and a £100 third prize. The winners and long-listed entrants' stories will be published in the Brick Lane Bookshop Short Story Prize anthology in October 2020. The entrant may have had other work published but the story itself must be unpublished. The entry fee is £10 per story, and submissions close on 15 May at 17:00.

The Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition – closing 4 May

For an unpublished author of children's fiction. Submit your full, complete manuscript (Chicken House recommend between 30,000 and 80,000 words) alongside a page-long covering letter as well as a page-long synopsis of your story. First prize is a worldwide publishing contract with Chicken House with a £10,000 advance (subject to contract), the winner will also receive an offer of representation from Kate Shaw of the Shaw Agency. An additional "Chairman's choice" prize is awarded to to an author hand-picked by Chicken House Publisher and Chairman of the judging panel, Barry Cunningham. The prize is a worldwide publishing contract with Chicken House with a £7,500 advance (subject to contract) and an offer of representation by Kate Shaw of the Shaw Agency. The winning entry will have outstanding potential but may require more development than the Overall Winner. All long listed entrants will receive a reader’s report of their work. The entry fee is £18 and the competition closes on 4 May at midnight.

The Nick Darke Award – closing 4 May

Submit a full stage play script (minimum of 45 minutes in length, no maximum) and a one-page synopsis about the play in PDF format. The winner will receive a cash prize of £6,000. The competition is not open to collaborations and scripts must not have previously been produced or won other competitions. The competition is free to enter, and closes at 17:00 on 4 May.

The Rialto’s Nature and Place Poetry Competition – closing 1 May

Judged by Pascale Petit, this award is for any poem that deals with the themes of nature and place. First prize is £1000; second prize is £500 and third prize is £250. You can submit up to six poems in one batch, the entry fee for the first poem is £7 and includes an administration fee, the fee for each subsequent poem in the batch is £4. The competition closes on 1 May at midnight.

Bristol Short Story Prize – closing 30 April

For an unpublished story of no more than 4000 words. 20 stories will be shortlisted and published in their 13th anthology. 1st prize for is £1,000, 2nd prize is £500 and 3rd prize is £250. 17 further prizes of £100 will be presented to the remaining shortlisted writers. The Sansom Award will be presented to the highest placed story by a Bristol writer. The entry fee is £9 and the competition closes on 30 April at midnight.

The Mairtín Crawford Awards – closing 29 April

The awards are aimed at writers working towards their first full collection of poetry, short stories, or a novel. Both published and unpublished writers are invited to submit between 3-5 poems for the poetry award, and a short story of up to 2,500 words for the short story award, with the only stipulation being that they have not yet published a full collection of poetry, short stories, or a novel. The winner of each award will receive a cash prize of £500 and the prize winners will also be invited to read at the award ceremony at the Belfast Book Festival 2020. Further prizes to be announced shortly. The entry fee is £6 and the deadline for submission is 29 April.

Bath Short Story Award – closing 20 April

For an unpublished short story of no more than 2200 words. There is a first prize of £1200; a second prize of £300 and a third prize £100. Additionally an unpublished writer will receive the £100 The Acorn Award and £50 in book tokens from Mr B’s Emporium of Books, Bath. The entry fee is £8 per story, and the competition closes on 20 April at midnight.

The Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize – closing 1 April

An award for an unpublished piece of writing of no more than 2500 words. The winner receives a £10,000 cash prize and is presented with the award by the poet John Burnside. A £3,000 cash prize will go to the second place, and £2,000 to the third place runner up. The winner and two runners up are invited to attend the Fjällnäs symposium in Fjällnäs, Sweden. The deadline is 1 April.

The Alpine Theatre Prize – closing 1 April

This fellowship will be awarded for the best playwriting response theme of the 2020 Alpine Fellowship: Forgiveness and Retribution. The final piece must be no more than 45 minutes in length and require no more than four actors. This prize is free to enter, but requires an application including the following: a treatment of your idea in response to the theme of no more than 500 words; a sample of previous work of at least 10 pages; a 3-4 sample pages of your proposed script or a 1-2 detailed page synopsis of your story. A winner will receive £3000 plus a rehearsed reading at the Fellowship’s annual Symposium in Fjällnäs, Sweden to which the winner will be invited to attend. Runners up will also be invited to attend the Fjällnäs symposium to exhibit their work, all food and accommodation covered. Travel expenses will be reimbursed up to a total of £500. Applications close on 1 April.

The Caterpillar Poetry Prize – closing 31 March

The prize is for a single unpublished poem written by an adult for children (aged 7–11), on any subject and at any length. The winner receives €1,000 plus publication in the summer issue of The Caterpillar. The entry fee is €14 per poem. Enter before 31 March.

Fish Poetry Prize – closing 31 March

Submit a poem of up to 300 words to be considered for the €1,000 prize. A runner-up will receive a week in residence at the Anam Cara Writers' retreat and third prize receives €200. The ten best poems will be included in an anthology published in July 2020. Pay €14 for your first entry, and €8 for any subsequent entries. The deadline for entries is 31 March.

Fiction Factory Short Story Competition – closing 31 March

Enter with a story of 3000 words or less for a chance to win the £150 first prize. A runner-up will receive £50 and third prize receives £25. Winning stories will also be published on Fiction Factory's website, and in a planned anthology. The entry fee is £6, or £10 for a personalised critique alongside your submission. Enter by 31 March.

Grindstone International Novel Prize – Closing 28 March

This award is for an unpublished, complete manuscript of 50,000 works or more. Submit the first 3000 words of your MS alongside a 300 word synopsis. £1000 for a winner, £500 for a runner-up and four awards of £50 for the rest of the shortlist. Shortlisted writers will also see their first 3000 words published in an anthology. Enter for £16 by 23:59 on 28 March.

SI Leeds Literary Prize

If you've got a novel sitting in a drawer then dust it off and send it to SI Leeds Literary Prize. The national award for unpublished fiction celebrates work by by Black and Asian women. You have until April 30th to enter.