Writing opportunities – July 2020

Published: Jun 28, 2020
By: Original Life

We’ve brought together July’s best competitions and opportunities, open to writers of novels, short stories, poetry and more.

All the competitions listed should be open to writers across the UK and most are open internationally too. We share details of prizes, requirements, eligibility, entry fees (some are free) and deadlines to help you choose the right ones for you.

The Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Awards

The annual, Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Awards, aim to inspire poets to explore and share positive visions of peace and the human spirit. They’re open to writers worldwide. Entries must be original, unpublished and written in English.

• Prizes – Adult: $1,000 / 13 to 18 years: $200 / Under-12s: $200
• Deadline – 1st July
• Entry fee – Adult: $15 / 13-8 $5 / under-12: FREE
• Full details – Visit the Peace Contests website

HarperCollins Diverse Voices

HarperCollins believes in sharing powerful, thought-provoking and entertaining stories that offer inclusive perspectives of the world. The Diverse Voices Open Inbox contest is an opportunity for writers from diverse backgrounds in the Unites States to submit their work. 

The publisher is current inviting submissions of literature for middle grade audiences (ages 8-12) in any genre or format. A typical middle grade novel is 30,000 to 75,000 words and a typical middle grade graphic novel is no more than 250 pages.

• Prize – $1,000, editorial feedback from a panel of HarperCollins editors, a phone consultation and consideration for publication 
• Deadline – 1st July
• Entry fee – FREE
• Full details – Visit the HarperCollins website

The Novel Award

Fitzcarraldo Editions, Giramondo and New Directions have launched a new, biennial award for a book-length work of literary fiction written in English by published or unpublished writers around the world. The judges are seeking innovative and imaginative novels that explore and expand the possibilities of the form. Entries must be a minimum of 30,000 words.

• Prize – $1,000 advance and publication.
• Deadline – 1st July
• Entry fee – FREE
• Full details – Visit the Fitzcarraldo Editions website

V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize

The Royal Society of Literature is running the twenty-first V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize which is designed to find the best unpublished short story of the year. It is open to stories between 2,000 and 4,000 words from writers resident in the UK, Republic of Ireland or the Commonwealth.

• Prize – £1,000 plus publication in Prospect online and the RSL Review
• Deadline – 3rd July
• Entry fee – £7.50
• Full details – Visit the Royal Society of Literature website

Curtis Brown Creative Write from Home Scholarship 

This new scholarship, offered by Curtis Brown Creative, will offer a talented writer of limited means, based anywhere in the world, a fully-paid place on one of its three-month online writing courses worth £1,600. The course will run from 13 July to 19 October 2020.

• Deadline – 5th July
• Entry fee – FREE
• Full details – Visit the Curtis Brown Creative website

HG Wells Short Story Competition 

The annual HG Wells Short Story Competition is open to fiction between 1,500 and 5,000 words on the theme of ‘vision’. It has two categories: the Margaret and Reg Turnill Competition for young writers of 21 years and a competition for the over 21s. All shortlisted entries will be published in a paperback anthology. 

• Prize – Over 21s: £500 / Under-21s: £1,000 plus publication
• Deadline – 6th July
• Entry fee – Over 21s: £10 / Students: £5 / Under-21s: FREE
• Full details – Visit the HG Wells Competition website

Write by the Sea Competition 

The Write by the Sea Literary Festival, based in Kilmore Quay in Ireland, is inviting entries into its latest writing competition. In keeping with Kilmore Quay’s maritime location and traditions, the organisers are looking for short stories (up to 3,000 words), memoirs (up to 3,000 words) and poetry (up to 40 lines) on the theme of ‘waves’.

• Prize – First prize: €500 / Two category winners: €250
• Deadline – 10th July
• Entry fee – €10 for one entry, €25 for three (in any category)
• Full details – Visit the Write by the Sea website

Globe Soup Short Story Competition 

Globe Soup is an online space for travellers, adventurers and explorers which is also a place for budding travel writers. The organisation’s short story competition is open to fiction of up to 5,000 words set in a country that is revealed when you enter. Submissions can be in any genre or style. 

• Prize – £1,000
• Deadline – 12th July
• Entry fee – £8
• Full details – Visit the Globe Soup website

Bellevue Literary Review Prizes 

Bellevue Literary Review is a journal of humanity and human experience. It is published by NYU Langone Medical Center as part of the Department of Medicine’s thriving Division of Medical Humanities. The prizes award outstanding writing related to health, healing, illness, mind and body. Enter fiction (up to 5,000 words), creative nonfiction (up to 5,000 words) and poetry (up to 3 poems).

• Prize – $1,000 in each genre and publication in the Spring 2020 issue / Honourable mentions will receive $250 and publication.
• Deadline – 15th July
• Entry fee – $20
• Full details – Visit the Bellevue Literary Review website

Nowhere Travel Writing Prize

Award-winning literary travel magazine Nowhere is inviting submissions into its latest travel writing prize. It is open to writers of all levels of experience who write fiction, nonfiction, poetry or essays that have a powerful sense of people, place and time. Submissions should be between 800 and 5,000 words.

• Prize – $1,000 and publication in Nowhere
• Deadline – 15th July
• Entry fee – $15
• Full details – Visit the Nowhere website

Rattle Poetry Prize

Rattle’s mission is to promote the practice of poetry. ‘At Rattle, anything always goes. If a poem is accessible, interesting, moving, and memorable, if it makes you laugh or cry,’ then it’s Rattle’s kind of poem. The prize is open to writers worldwide and there is no line limit.

• Prize – First prize $15,000 / Ten finalists: $500 plus publication in Rattle
• Deadline – 15th July
• Entry fee – One-year subscription to Rattle ($25)
• Full details – Visit the Rattle website

Ledbury Poetry Festival Competition

The Ledbury Poetry Festival Poetry Competition has been an important first step in many poets’ careers for nearly quarter of a century. Enter poems of up to 40 lines. The categories are Adults (18+) Young People (12-­17 years) and Children (11 and under).

• Prize – £1,000 and a residential course at Ty Newydd Writing Centre
• Deadline – 16th July
• Entry fee – Adults: £5.75 for the first poem, £3.50 for each additional one / Children/young people: First poem free, £1.75 for additional poems.
• Full details – Visit the Ledbury Poetry Festival website

The Stephen Spender Prize for Poetry in Translation

If you can translate into English any poem from any language, you could enter it into The Stephen Spender Prize, run in conjunction with The Guardian, which has an Open Category for adults and a Youth Prize for young people. The poem you translate can be from any language, ancient or modern, as the prize celebrates poetry in all its forms and genres

The Stephen Spender Prize also includes a Polish Spotlight this year, a special strand challenging writers to translate one Polish poem from a curated selection into English. It is open to UK and Irish citizens or residents.

• Prize – Open Category: First prize: £1,000, Second prize: £750, Third prize: £500 / Youth Prize: First prizes between £75 and £200 depending on age / Spotlight Prize: £100 in each category
• Deadline – 17th July
• Entry fee – Open category: £8 / Youth Prize: FREE
• Full details – Visit the Stephen Spender Trust website

Hawk Mountain Short Story Collection Award

This international competition seeks original collections of short stories. 

• Prize – $1,000 and publication by Hidden River Press
• Deadline – 30th July
• Entry fee – $20
• Full details – Visit the Hidden River Arts website

Poetry London Mentoring Scheme

In its third year, Poetry London’s mentoring scheme offers the chance for three talented poets to receive a year of one-to-one mentoring from Vahni Capildeo, Wayne Holloway-Smith and Mimi Khalvati. To apply, you will need to submit a sample of three poems and respond to a number of questions about your experiences and artistic development. Writers who secure a place will also receive a £500 travel bursary.

• Deadline – 31st July
• Entry fee – FREE
• Full details – Visit the Poetry London website

Robert Graves Poetry Prize

The Robert Graves Poetry prize is a collaboration between the Roehampton Poetry Centre and Wimbledon BookFest. It offers an opportunity for emerging and established poets writing in any genre and based anywhere in the world. You can submit up to four poems of up to 40 lines. 

• Prize – First prize: £1,000 / Two runners up: £100 / Under 19s prize: £150
• Deadline – 31st July
• Entry fee – £5 
• Full details – Visit the Wimbledon BookFest website

Winchester Poetry Prize

The Winchester Poetry Prize is open to poems up to 40 lines. There is an open competition and an additional prize for the best Hampshire-based poet. 

• Prize – First prize: £1,000 / Second prize £500 / Third prize: £250
• Deadline – 31st July
• Entry fee –  First poem: £5, additional poems: £4
• Full details – Visit the Winchester Poetry Festival website