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Writing Opportunities 2024

The Bridport Prize Memoir Award 2024

Information
Closing date: 
30 September 2024
Entry: 
The Bridport Prize Memoir Award open to unpublished work from any writer writing in English over 16. Entry fee: £24 per entry
Prize: 
Memoir Award 1st Prize £1,500 + a year's mentoring, Runner-up £750 and Highly Commended 3 awards £150.


Your own story
In your own words

We all have a story to tell about ourselves, the good, the bad and the how did I end up there? Celebrate a snapshot of your life, a fragment in time or rear view mirror look at what was and now is.

We initially need 5,000 to 8,000 words plus a 300 word overview. If you're long listed we'll ask for a total of 15,000 words, including your original word count. Shortlisted? Then we need a total 30,000 words, again including your original entry and long listed word count.

It's your moment of truth.

Write what you know is great advice, what better than by writing a memoir. Don't think you're too ordinary - there are no ordinary lives - and don't think you're too inexperienced. Write from the heart and tell me who you are. I can't wait to read.

Kit de Waal, best selling author of Without Warning & Only Sometimes and our memoir judge.

Please read the Rules carefully.

Closing 30 September

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The Moth Nature Writing Prize 2024

Information
Closing date: 
30 September 2024
Entry: 
Open to anyone over the age of 16 with an unpublished piece of nature writing, which can be poetry or prose. Entry fee €15 per entry
Prize: 
First Prize €1,000 and a week-long stay at The Circle of Misse in France, Second Prize €500 and Third Prize €250

The Moth Nature Writing Prize

‘What a great competition to be running.' Robert Macfarlane


The Prize will be awarded to three unpublished pieces of prose or poetry which best combine exceptional literary merit with an exploration of the writer's relationship with the natural world.

The prize is open to anyone over the age of sixteen, as long as the work is original and previously unpublished.

1st prize €1000 plus a week at Circle of Misse in France
2nd prize €500
3rd prize €250

The winning pieces will be published in the Irish Times online 

Closing date 30 September 2024

The Judge

Cal Flyn's first book, Thicker Than Water, was a Times book of the year. Her second book, Islands of Abandonment ‒ about the ecology and psychology of abandoned places ‒ was shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize, the British Academy Book Prize, the Ondaatje Prize and the Baillie Gifford Prize, among others.

The Moth Nature Writing Prize is open to anyone (over 16) as long as their piece (poetry or prose) is previously unpublished. The word limit for prose is 4,000 and there is an entry fee of €15. Closing 30 September 2024.

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Mslexia Women's Fiction Competitions 2024

Information
Closing date: 
23 September 2024
Entry: 
All women are eligible. Entry fee for Short Story £12, Flash Fiction £6 and Novel (Young Adult and Children) £26
Prize: 
Various

Over the years MslexiaStylish and lively site for quarterly UK literary magazine read by 12,000 'committed' women writers. Good range of quality writing, information and advice with news, reviews, competitions and interviews, all presented in a friendly fashion. Praised by Helen Dunmore as 'astute, invigorating and above all an excellent read.' www.mslexia.co.uk has developed a portfolio of highly respected competitions that have propelled many women’s writing careers to the next level. Winners, and finalists have discovered that being placed in a Mslexia competition can make a huge difference to how their work is perceived. Our finalists have signed multi-book deals, been awarded grants, achieved agent representation and had their entries broadcast on national radio. Just mentioning a Mslexia longlisting in a cover letter will make the recipient sit up and take notice.

As well as generous cheques, the prizes we offer include publication, career mentoring, manuscript feedback, pitching workshops, and personal introductions to agents and editors. For many the results have been life-changing.

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The V S Pritchett Short Story Prize 2025

Information
Closing date: 
13 September 2024
Entry: 
Entry fee £8 Entrants must be citizens of the UK,the Republic of Ireland or the Commonwealth. Stories entered for the competition must not have been published previously. Any story submitted should be between 2,000 and 4,000 words in length. Entries should be in English.
Prize: 
£1,000

The V S Pritchett Memorial Prize 2025

Prize: £1,000

Deadline: 13 September 2024

Entry fee £8

The VS Pritchett Memorial Prize of £1,000 is for an unpublished short story. It is awarded by the Royal Society of LiteratureThis British site may seem rather formal (stated aim ‘to sustain and encourage all that is perceived as best whether traditional or experimental in English letters, and to strive for a Catholic appreciation of literature’), but has a lively series of lectures and discussions involving distinguished authors. Also administers literary prizes. http://www.rslit.org/index1.html. The winning entry will also be published in Prospect magazine online and by the RSL Review.

This prize commemorates an author who is widely regarded as the finest English short-story writer of the 20th century.

Entrants must be citizens of the UK, the Republic of Ireland or the Commonwealth. Stories entered for the competition must not have been published previously and any story submitted should be between 2,000 and 4,000 words in length. Entries should be in English.

The judges are Tash Aw, Tania Herschman and Fiona Mozley.

The entry fee is £8 but low-income writers may apply before 30 August to get a free entry.

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