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External Opportunities for Writers

Beyond the Art: Facilitation Skills for Creative Practitioners (course)

Beyond the Art five-week online programme to design and lead creative workshops that are engaging, inclusive, and memorable. Artists are often highly skilled at what they do - yet many receive little training in the craft of facilitating groups. This is a practical, reflective programme for creative practitioners who lead workshops and participatory experiences, and want to do it with more confidence, consistency, and care for the people in the room. Across five weekly online sessions, you'll build your facilitation practice through discussion, live practice, feedback, and peer learning - testing ideas out with fellow practitioners, not just hearing about them.

Oxford Poetry Prize 2026

The prize is awarded annually by Oxford Poetry for a single unpublished poem of no more than 60 lines and is open to poets writing in English around the world age 18 or over. This year there is £3,500 in prizes and our guest judge is Rowan Ricardo Phillips. The winner of the 2026 Oxford Poetry Prize will receive £2,000, the runner-up £1,000, and the second runner-up £500. All prize-winning poets are also offered publication in the print magazine Oxford Poetry.

Apply for an Artists’ Residency at Lumb Bank

Arvon is offering six funded residencies at Lumb Bank from 21-24 September 2026, inviting writers, artists and creative practitioners living and working in the north of England to respond to the heritage of Lumb Bank through their chosen medium. Arvon is interested in all artforms, interdisciplinary, cross-platform, hybrid and digital. The outputs of the residency will be shared at an event at Lumb Bank in 2027.

Itchy Feet Productions

Itchy Feet Productions is looking for a max 3-minute (no minimum) monologue, poem, or short story for the 40th episode this coming Halloween. Must be all your own original work; AI-generated entries are not eligible. And open to writers 18+ only. Closing date is Midday on Friday 11th September.

INK Festival | Short Play Submissions

INK Theatre has an annual Festival where they produce 70 short plays over one four-day weekend - a chance for selected writers to see their work produced live and an exciting springboard to bigger opportunities. Each year, eight writers are selected prized opportunities - a real route from first draft to national platforms - all through one FREE submission. Deadline: 30th September 2026

The Elizabeth Buccleuch Prize 2026

The £2,000 Elizabeth Buccleuch Prize supports uncommissioned first-time writers working on a biography. They are asking for proposals of no more than 20 pages (unbound), including synopsis, 10-page sample chapter (double-spaced, numbered pages), CV and note on the market for the book and competing literature. Deadline: Friday 16 October 2026.

Worlds into Words : Poetry Competition 2026

This year's competition theme is Worlds into Words, inspired by the journeys people carry within them - across countries, across cultures, and across the landscapes of memory and identity. It also reflects the experiences of survivors of torture, whose journeys are not only physical but deeply psychological, shaped by resilience, loss, and the search for belonging. Your poem might explore what it means to leave home, to begin again, or to carry multiple worlds within you. It could reflect on displacement or belonging, silence or expression, trauma or hope. As always, the theme is open to interpretation - your entry should reflect what Worlds into Words means to you. Entry costs just £5 (or £1 for under 18s) and is free for anyone with lived experience as a refugee. Competition closes Friday 9th October at 5pm

The Moth Nature Writing Prize

The Moth Nature Writing Prize is an international prize. It aims to encourage and celebrate the art of nature writing and is awarded annually to unpublished pieces of prose or poetry which best combine exceptional literary merit with an exploration of the writers’ relationship with the natural world. Closing date 30 September.