Competitions, submissions and other opportunities
The latest writing competitions and submissions windows for writers.
Deadline: 14 January 2025
Centre Culturel Irlandais Residencies 2025/2026 (Paris)
The annual residency programme for artists of all disciplines is now open at Centre Culturel Irlandais (CCI) in Paris. This is an important means of showcasing Ireland’s dynamic contemporary culture on an international stage. Receive a month long residency at CCI (Paris). Applicants must be Irish citizens or normally resident on the island of Ireland, with professional involvement in a creative practice.
Accepted forms: The residency is open to practitioners in all art forms
What do you receive: The award covers travel and accommodation in the Centre Culturel Irlandais.Each resident artist will receive a stipend of €800 per month.
More Information here:
www.centreculturelirlandais.comDeadline: 15 January 2024
The Bournemouth Writing Prize
The Bournemouth Writing Prize is an annual international short story and poetry competition. Winners of this writing contest receive personal feedback from industry professionals and there is a cash prize for each category.
Accepted forms: Short story and poetry
Competition prizes: Short Story £500 cash prize, plus an hour-long consultation with our short story judge, Greene and Heaton agent, Laura Williams. Poetry; £500 cash prize, plus an hour-long consultation and feedback session with our poetry judges, indie publisher Dithering Chaps.
Entry fee: £10
More Information here:
thebournemouthjournal.comDeadline: 19 January 2025
Drawn to the Light Press, Poetry Competition for St. Brigid’s Day
Drawn to the Light Press is pleased to announce the second Little Fires of Brigid Poetry Competition in honour St. Brigid’s Day in Ireland, Lá Fhéile Bríde.
Accepted forms: poetry
Competition prize: First Prize is €250 and their poem will be published in Issue 14 of Drawn to the Light Press. A runner-up will also have their poem published in this February Issue.
Entry fee: €10 for a single poem entry.
More Information here:
drawntothelightpress.comDeadline: 25 January 2024
The Nine Dots Prize
The Nine Dots Prize is a writing prize which seeks to reward original thinking in response to contemporary societal issues. It is judged anonymously and seeks submissions from both established writers and emerging talent. Entrants must respond with 3,000 words.
Accepted forms: Non-fiction
Competition Prize: The winner receives $100,000, editorial support and their book published by Cambridge University Press, plus the opportunity to spend a term at the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) at Cambridge University.
Entry fee: free
More Information here:
ninedotsprize.orgDeadline: 28 January 2025
The Calibre Essay Prize (Australian Book Review)
The Calibre Essay Prize is one of the world’s leading prizes for a new essay. It is open to all essayists writing in English. They seek essays of between 2,000 and 5,000 words on any subject and welcome essays of all kinds: personal or political, literary or speculative, traditional or experimental. Judges: Georgina Arnott, Theodore Ell, and Geordie Williamson.
Accepted forms: Fiction and Non-fiction
Competition Prize: $10,000
Entry fee: current ABR subscribers: $20. Standard/non subscribers: $30
More Information here:
www.australianbookreview.com.auDeadline: 31 January 2025
Sunspot Lit Geminga Contest 2025
Sunspot Lit’s Geminga contest honors the power of micro poetry, prose, and art. Word limit is 100 for fiction and nonfiction. Micropoetry is limited to 140 characters. Graphic novels should be 4 pages or less. Submissions may be excerpts from longer works.
Accepted forms: poetry, prose, and art
Entry fee: $5.
Prize: $100 cash and publication, publication offered to runners-up and finalists.
More Information here:
sunspotlit.submittable.comDeadline: 31 January 2025
The Strokestown International Poetry Competition 2025
Established in 1999, former winners include Vona Groarke, Paddy Bushe, Maureen Boyle and Jane Robinson. This year’s competition will be judged by the award-winning poet, Jane Clarke.
Accepted forms: Fiction and Non-fiction
Competition Prize: €2000
Entry fee: €10
More Information here:
strokestownpoetryfest.ieDeadline: 31 January 2025
Southword New International Writing (Journal)
Southword: New International Writing is a print literary journal published twice a year by the Munster Literature Centre. They welcome submissions of up to four poems per submission period. If your work has been published in Southword before, they ask that you please don’t submit again for at least one year after publication. The poetry editor is Patrick Cotter.
Accepted forms: Poetry
Writer’s fee: €50 per poem
More Information here:
munsterlit.ieDeadline: 31 January 2025
Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize 2025
Founded in 2010, and now going into its 15th year, the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize is renowned for championing and launching the careers of exceptional women and non-binary writers. The prize attracts a wealth of literary talent and is actively seeking submissions that seamlessly blend literary merit with captivating storytelling – the “unputdownable” novel. The Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize has gone from strength to strength with many shortlisted and winning authors securing publishing deals and furthering their writing.
Accepted forms: Fiction (unpublished novel)
Prize: £1,500 and all shortlisted authors will benefit from a one-on-one consultation with a literary agent at prize sponsor WME, including editorial feedback and invaluable publishing advice.
Entry fee is £12.
More Information here:
www.lucy.cam.ac.ukDeadline: Friday 31 January 2025
The Cúirt New Writing Prize 2025
The Cúirt New Writing Prize, kindly sponsored by Tigh Neachtain in memory of Lena McGuire, is now open for submissions. This year Wendy Erskine is the short fiction judge, Victoria Kennefick is the poetry judge, and Liam Carson is the Irish language poetry and short fiction judge. Poetry entries must consist of three poems under 50 lines each. Short stories should be no longer than 2,000 words.
Accepted forms: poetry, short fiction, and short fiction and poetry in Irish.
Prize: The winner in each category will be awarded a €500 cash prize and the opportunity to read at the 40th annual Cúirt International Festival of Literature which will take place in Galway between 8th – 13th April 2025.
Entry fee €10
More Information here:
www.cuirt.ieDeadline: 31 January 2025
Druid’s annual New Writing Script
Founded in 1975, Druid is a touring theatre company, anchored in the West of Ireland and looking to the world, led by Tony Award-winning director Garry Hynes. The aim of the New Writing process in Druid is to find new writers and voices based in and working in Ireland that can be nourished rather than a finished polished piece of work. Scripts can only be accepted from playwrights based on the island of Ireland.
Accepted forms: play
Prize: Each summer, the Druid Debut series features a number of new plays which have been submitted through our New Writing submission window.
Entry fee: free
More Information here:
www.druid.ieDeadline: 31 Janurary 2025
New Writers Flash Fiction Competition 2025
The New Writers Flash Fiction Competition 2025 is open to writers from around the world. This year’s head judge is Shreya Sen-Handley (Author, Columnist, Playwright and Illustrator). The three winning entries will be published on the NewWriters.org.uk website and in a future New Writers Anthology. the word limit: 300 (excluding title and line spaces)
Accepted forms: Flash fiction
Prizes: 1st Place: £1,100; 2nd Place: £300; 3rd Place: £200
Entry Fee: £10 (one entry), £19 (two entries), £27 (three entries) and £1.00 from each entry will be donated to First Story (England’s leading creative writing charity for young people).
More Information here:
newwriters.org.ukDeadline: 31 January 2025
2025 International One-Act Playwriting Competition
The Carlow Little Theatre Society 2025 International One-Act Playwriting Competition is now open. In addition to the final three shortlisted scripts, there will be a separate category and a monetary prize for the ‘Best Irish Play’. The competition is open to all writers over 18 years old, both members and non-members, local and international. The play submitted must be in English and be an original work of the entrant that has not yet been published, nor performed on stage previously, nor received any awards previously. The script length / duration of the play should be between 20 and 40 minutes.
Accepted forms: Play
Prizes: €500 for 1st place, €300 for 2nd place, €200 for 3rd place and €300 for Best Irish Play. The winning play will potentially be performed to an audience later in 2025, depending on circumstance.
Entry fee of €15
More Information here:
www.carlowlittletheatre.comDeadline: 31 January 2025
The 2025 Bristol Short Story Prize
The 2025 Bristol Short Story Prize is open to all published and unpublished writers. There is no geographical restriction on entry–the 2025 Bristol Short Story Prize is open to everyone, whether they are based in the UK or outside the UK. The maximum length of submissions is 4,000 words (not including the title); there is no minimum length. Stories can be on any theme or subject and are welcome in any style including graphic, verse or genre-based (e.g. Crime, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Historical, Horror, Romance, Children’s, etc.).
Accepted forms: Short story
Prize: 1st prize is £1,000, 2nd prize is £500, 3rd prize is £250. 12 further prizes of £50 will be presented to the remaining shortlisted writers. All shortlisted writers will receive a free copy of the anthology.
Entry fee: £12 per story. There are 250 free online entries available to those for whom the entry fee is a barrier to submission – for instance, those on low income or without paid employment.
More Information here:
bssp.blogs.bristol.ac.ukDeadline: 31 January 2025
New Writers Flash Fiction Competition 2025
The New Writers Flash Fiction Competition 2025 welcomes entries of up to 300 words on any theme and from anywhere in the world. The head judge is Shreya Sen-Handley, an award-winning author, columnist, playwright and illustrator.
Accepted forms: Flash fiction
Prize: The winner will receive £1,100, with £300 for second place and £200 for third. The three winning entries will be published on the New Writers site and in a future New Writers Anthology.
Entry fee: Entry fee is £10 with £1 from each entry donated to First Story, a creative writing charity for young people.
More Information here:
newwriters.org.ukDeadline: 31 January 2024
The 4th Dolors Alberola International Poetry Prize
The 4th Dolors Alberola International Poetry Prize aims to promote poetry reading from around the world. Poets may enter the competition with an unpublished collection of poems (500-800 lines). Poems may be on any subject and in any form or style. The jury of honor will include Dolors Alberola, a renowned Spanish poet.
Accepted forms: unpublished poetry collections
Prize: Translation into another European language. Publication of the collection (bilingual edition) plus 50 copies of the book with royalties on the publisher’s edition and subsidiary rights. Finalists: Publication of the collection (Spanish edition) and 10 copies of the book with royalties on the publisher’s edition and subsidiary rights.
Entry fee: Entry is FREE, but limited to one collection per entrant.
More Information here:
edalya.comDeadline: 3 Feb 2025
Ragaire Literary Magazine
Ragaire is a literary magazine based in Galway. They are accepting poetry, short stories and creative non-fiction for possible inclusion in Issue 3 (or until our maximum number of submissions have been met.)
Writer’s fee: They are not in a position to pay at the moment, however all contributors receive a complimentary copy of the issue in which they are published.
More Information here:
ragairemagazine.comDeadline: 4 Feburary 2025
Phelim Donlon Playwright’s Bursary & Residency 2025
In association with the Irish Theatre Institute and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, this opportunity provides a playwright with time and resources towards writing a new play. Named in honour of Phelim Donlon- an independent theatre producer for many years, he was committed to the arts and was a passionate advocate for new and emerging talent. This award, now in its 10th year, is an acknowledgement of his valued contribution to Irish theatre. The recipient will be announced in late March.
Award: a bursary of €2,000 and a 2 weeks’ fully resourced residency in Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annaghmakerrig.
More Information here:
www.irishtheatreinstitute.ieDeadline; 10 February 2025
Unapologetic magazine
Unapologetic magazine is a multidisciplinary, literary, cultural, and artistic response to the social issues and creative opportunities in contemporary Ireland. They centralise academics, creatives and activists from marginalized communities. Founded in 2020, they have just released the call for contributors for our fourth issue. The theme is “What is a Home.” They are looking for poetry, prose and visual arts.
Accepted forms: Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction, Academic Essays
Writer’s fee: The Unapologetic team is working hard to secure funding to pay you for your work. As soon as we secure funding, you will be paid for your work.
More Information here:
www.unapologeticmag.netDeadline: 19 Februrary 2025
Winter Papers
Winter Papers is Ireland’s annual arts anthology. Edited by Kevin Barry and Olivia Smith. The submission window for the next volume of Winter Papers will be open during the period Wednesday 5th February 2025 to Wednesday 19th February 2025.
Accepted forms: short stories, non-fiction, photography, and visual art.
Writer’s fee: €500 – €600 depending on length.
More Information here:
winterpapers.comDeadline: 19 February 2025
Five Lamps Arts Festival Flash Fiction Competition
This spring, the Five Lamps Arts Festival is inviting writers based in Ireland to submit their flash fiction stories of up to 500 words. Poet and fiction-writer Mary O’Donnell and poet Sara Ribeiro will be the judges of the competition. We’re looking for a well-written, self-contained fictional story with a beginning, middle, and end. We’re not looking for any particular theme or genre, we just want to find ourselves momentarily mesmerised in no more than 500 words. Each winner will have the opportunity to read at a prize giving ceremony which will take place during the Five Lamps Arts Festival in Dublin’s North East Inner City on 30th March.
Accepted forms: Flash fiction (500 words maximum)
Competition prize: €250 (1st place) , €150 (2nd) and €100 (3rd). Plus, mentoring package to an entrant who represents a New Irish voice, a writer who has chosen to make Ireland their home and is at an early- or emerging-stage in their writing career
No entry fee
More Information here:
docs.google.comDeadline: 28 February 2025
Southword: New International Writing Journal
Southword: New International Writing is a print literary journal published twice a year by the Munster Literature Centre. They welcome submissions of one short story (of up to 5000 words) per submission period. If your work has been published in Southword before, they ask that you please don’t submit again for at least one year after publication. The poetry editor is Patrick Cotter.
Accepted forms: short story
Writer’s fee: €300 per short story
More Information here:
munsterlit.ieDeadline: 28 February 2025
Dingle Lit Short Story Competition
The short story entered must be unpublished and not scheduled for publication in print or online. This includes personal blogs and self-published collections. The award is open to all writers who are resident on the island of Ireland at the time of submission.
Accepted forms: short story
Prize: 1st Prize – €500. Runner-up – €250. Highly Commended – €100. In addition, winners, runners-up, and highly commended stories will be published on the Dingle Lit website, and the winners will also be invited to the 2025 Dingle Literary Festival to read from their work.
Entry fee €15
More Information here:
dinglelit.ieDeadline: 28 February 2025
Maria Edgeworth Poetry and Short Story Competition
The competition is open to anyone (18+), as long as the entries are previously unpublished and in English. The prizes are judged anonymously. This year’s judges are Lani O’Hanlon for the poems and Triona Walsh for the short stories.
Accepted forms: poetry and short story
Prize: for each category are 1st prize €500, 2nd prize €200, 3rd prize €100. Winners will be invited to attend the official prize presentation at the Maria Edgeworth Festival of Literature & Arts in May.
Entry fee: €5
More Information here:
mariaedgeworthcenter.comDeadline: 28 Februrary 2025
Poetry Ireland Review
Poetry Ireland Review is published three times annually. Poetry Ireland welcome unsolicited submissions of poems, and proposals for articles and reviews, from Ireland and abroad, in Irish or English. Submittable will open on 1 January 2025, when their next editor is appointed, and will remain open from 1 January to 28 February for issue 145.
Cuireann Éigse Éireann fáilte roimh iarratais i nGaeilge. Is féidir iad a sheoladh go díreach chuig pir@poetryireland.ie i gceangaltán Word.
Deadline: 28 February 2025
Edinburgh Short Story Award
Entries open now for writers worldwide and stories on any topic up to 2,000 words. Additional awards for unpublished writers and most amusing/bizarre story. Publication for top twenty stories in The Edinburgh Anthology. The Scottish Arts Trust honors writers globally with its prestigious Edinburgh Awards for short stories, flash fiction, true flash, young adult fiction and essays.
Accepted forms: short story
Prize: £3,000. Other prizes include: The First Write Award for the top story entered in the short story competition by an unpublished writer living anywhere in the world. The Isobel Lodge Award for the top story entered by an unpublished writer living in Scotland. The Write Mango Short Story Award for the most amusing, bizarre story.
Entry fee: £11.
More Information here:
www.scottishartstrust.orgDeadline: 1 April 2025
Nature and Place Poetry competition 2025
The RSPB and The Rialto are additionally working with BirdLife International, the Cambridge Conservation Initiative and the University of Leeds Poetry Centre. There’s a fantastic range of prizes on offer and prizewinners will be invited to read their poems at an event with Helen Mort at CCI in summer 2025. As well as offering poets the chance to win considerable cash prizes and publication of their poems, the competition supports conservation and poetry.
Accepted forms: Poetry
Prizes: 1st PRIZE £1000, 2nd PRIZE £500, 3rd PRIZE £250
Entry fee: is £7 for the first poem and £4 for each subsequent poem.
More Information here:
www.therialto.co.ukDeadline: 1 April 2025
Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest
This is a contest for humor poems, not serious poems. Serious poems will not be judged. The poem you submit should be in English. No fee to enter. Judge: Jendi Reiter, assisted by Lauren Singer. One poem only, please. Length limit: 250 lines maximum. No restriction on age of author. Both unpublished and previously published work accepted.
Accepted forms: humorous poems
Prize: First Prize: $2,000 plus a two-year gift certificate from our co-sponsor, Duotrope (a $100 value). Second Prize: $500. Third Prize: $250. Honorable Mentions: 10 awards of $100 each. Top 13 entries published online
No Entry fee
More Information here:
winningwriters.comDeadline: 31 July 2025
Anthology Short Story Competition
The Anthology Short Story Competition is now open for submissions of original and previously unpublished short stories in the English language by a writer of any nationality, living anywhere in the world. There is no restriction on theme or style. Stories submitted must not exceed the maximum of 1,500 words. Writers can submit as many entries as they wish.
Accepted forms: short story
Prize: First prize of €1,000 and the winning story published in Anthology magazine. Second prize: €250 and third prize: €150
Entry fee: €12.
More Information here:
anthology-magazine.comDeadline: 25 May 2025
Oxford / 42 New Writing Prize
The Faculty of English at the University of Oxford is delighted to announce the launch of a multi-disciplinary storytelling competition in conjunction with management and production company, 42. The Oxford/42 New Writing Prize is looking for talented new voices in storytelling. The competition is open to anyone over the age of 18 living, working or studying in the UK and Ireland at the closing date for submissions.
Accepted forms: aspiring novelists, playwrights, and screenwriters
Prize: £1500 along with professional representation by 42.
More Information here:
www.humanities.ox.ac.ukOpens Spring 2025
Royal Society of Literature Scriptorium Awards
The RSL is set to launch a new prize for writers founded and generously supported by its President Bernardine Evaristo. The RSL Scriptorium Awards will provide free writing residencies in a cottage in Ramsgate owned by Evaristo.
The residencies, which can be for up to a month at a time, will offer uninterrupted time for professionally active writers to focus on their projects.
More details coming in 2025. Opens Spring 2o25
More Information here:
rsliterature.orgDeadline: Ongoing
Guernica / a magazine of art & politics
Founded online in 2004, Guernica is an award-winning 501(c)3 non-profit magazine focused on the intersection of arts and politics. A home for incisive ideas and necessary questions, Guernica publish memoir, reporting, interviews, commentary, poetry, fiction, and multimedia journalism exploring identity, conflict, culture, justice, science, and beyond. They offer honoraria of $50 for poetry, $100 for original essays, and $150 for original fiction and for reportage/journalism.
More Information here:
www.guernicamag.comDeadline: Ongoing
PN Review
PN Review considers submissions in hard copy form only (unless you are an individual subscriber to the magazine, in which case electronic submissions, word files rather than PDFs, will be considered). Writers wishing to send work should familiarise themselves with PN Review. Submissions should generally not exceed fifteen double-spaced pages of work (prose) or four poems/five pages (verse in English or translation). Copies of the original texts should accompany translations where possible. We discourage simultaneous submissions. Writers wishing to propose projects should send a synopsis and covering letter, with sample pages, having first ascertained from the website that the kind of proposal is suitable for PN Review.
We publish no short stories, children’s prose/poetry and very little non-poetry related work (academic, biography etc.) at the current time. We are not considering fiction in English or in translation at this time.
More Information here:
www.pnreview.co.ukDeadline: Ongoing
The Poetry Review
The Poetry Review, founded in 1912, is the magazine of the Poetry Society, UK, and has a long-standing policy of publishing the very best work by new, up and coming poets, and established poets. All submissions are read by the editor and considered on an equal basis. Unfortunately, due to the volume of submissions we receive, we cannot offer any individual criticism. Our aim is to accept or reject work within three months – but please read, and follow, the submission guidelines below, in order to facilitate our response.
More Information here:
poetrysociety.org.ukDeadline: Ongoing
The Orphic Review
The Orphic Review (Orphic Press) formerly known as Crow of Minerva was created as a blog featuring monthly interviews with women artists. It was created in 2019 by the artist Roisin Ní Neachtain with the aim of supporting and promoting emerging women artists working in any medium. It closed temporarily in March 2023 and reopened January 2024. It is currently running as a poetry journal and micropress.
More Information here:
orphicpress.comDeadline: Ongoing
The Dublin Review
The Dublin Review welcomes submissions of fiction and non-fiction previously unpublished in the English language. We do not accept poetry submissions. We especially encourage submissions from members of groups traditionally underrepresented in literary magazines and other cultural forums.
More Information here:
thedublinreview.comOngoing
The 12th Ó Bhéal Five Words International Poetry Competition
Every Tuesday at 12pm (Irish time) from 9th April 2024 – 28th January 2025, five words are be posted on their competition page. Entrants have one week to compose and submit one or more poems which include all five words given for that week. The winners & shortlist are announced around the first week of March 2025.
More Information here:
www.obheal.ieDeadline: Ongoing
Spellweaver
Spellweaver is a new Cork based online and print journal dedicated to supporting new and emerging writers, particularly in the Fantasy genre. We accept stories and poetry, anything with a hint of the unreal. Submissions are open year-round. Contributors will be paid.
