January 31
Fish Publishing Memoir Prize
Judge: Sean Lusk
Word Limit: 4,000
Closes: 31 January 2023
Results: 1 April 2022; Anthology published: July 2023
Entry Fees: €18 (€11, subsequent entries)
Prizes: Best 10 memoirs published in the FISH ANTHOLOGY 2023
1st: €1000
2nd: Writing Course (online) + €300; 3rd: €300
Online writing courses in short story, flash fiction, poetry and memoir;
and full range of editorial services for writers
info@fishpublishing.com www.fishpublishing.com
Kent & Sussex Poetry Society, Open Poetry Competition, 2024
Judge: Kathryn Gray
Deadline 31 January
1st Prize: £1000
2nd Prize: £300; 3rd Prize: £100; 4th Prize x 4: £50 each.
Poems in English, unpublished, own work, 40 lines or fewer. Minimum age 16 years.
Entry by email. Payment through Paypal via our website.
£5 per poem; or £4 each for 3 or more poems.
Further details: www.kentandsussexpoetry.com
Orbis 207, Spring 2024
Front cover artwork : ‘Bird House Mosaic ‘ by Sharon Cummings;
Back cover, detail from image: https://sharoncummingsart.pixels.com/
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What a beautiful looking edition ! Must get this.
Congratulations on the magazine’s longevity and high standards
(Anna Saunders, Director at Cheltenham Poetry Festival)
Orbis 200: ‘All the best to you, and to Orbis!’
(Glyn Maxwell; shortlisted for Best Collection in the Forward Prize)
‘Best wishes for the journal – and congratulations on such a successful magazine over the years’ (Joy Harjo, United States Poet Laureate)
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Single issue: £6.00 (Overseas: £12/€14/$16); Subs: £20/4 pa (Overseas: £45/€50/$60)
Associate Editor (Book Reviews): Maria Isakova-Bennett
Reviews by: Reviews by: Philip Dunkerley; David Harmer; Jenny Hockey
D.A.Prince; Pauline Rowe; Theresa Sowerby; Pam Thompson
Please note with new collections, press release in first instance – not review copies.
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You know what they say, never judge a book by its cover:
same goes for this issue because it should of course be Spring, not Summer…
It’s enough to make you Howl, isn’t it, Rosie (Adamson-Clark),
and not as if it were a question of being Undecided, like Edward Lee,
or worse still, a matter of Indifference (Niels Hammer). No,
the magazine may lack Andrew Barnes’s Eight thousand layers of in-yun
but it should be what Özge Lena calls a A Thing of Beauty.
After all, plenty to fascinate readers, as Tina Cole explains
How to Reconstruct Female Ancestors, Barry Smith serves up a
description of The Wild Garlic At Shorwell, and Sarah Sibley
relates the tale about Barbara Bryde, The First To Get Satellite.
And you’re sure to want to know more from Marcia Gamsu:
When I was a child I asked why I asked why.
And at least Orbis 207 is actually full of the joys of Spring…
Featured Writer
Tanya Nightingale: The Terror; The Baby Carriage; Life Grew For Grandpa;
Volcanology; Entropy; Echo and Narcissus
Poems from Özge Lena (Mussels); Emmaline O’Dowd (The daily round);
Francesca Pridham (He came to them, walking on the water);
Gareth Roberts (John Ever-Afraid); Luke Sawczak (Spring Haiku);
Sam Smith (Low shouting); Martha Stainsby (What The Metaphysician Said)
Prose from Charlotte Gringras (An Element of Surprise);
Denise McSheehy (Parallel Lives);
David McVey (When The No. 25 Didn’t Turn Up)
Translation Stephen Capus, A Fragment by Miklós Radnóti
Past Master: Lindy Newns on Amy Lowell
Orbis 207 Contributors also include
David Ball; Fred Beake; Stephen Bett; Cindy Botha;
Lorraine Caputo; Laura A. Ciraolo; Nick Conrad; Nigel Crisp;
Gail Dendy; Malc Fritchley; Alice Harrison; Graham High; Sean Howard;
Jenny King; Craig Kurtz; Patricia Leighton; Paul Murphy; Patrick Osada;
Geoffrey Winch; Susan Wismer; Mary Anne Woolf
TEIGNMOUTH POETRY FESTIVAL OPEN POETRY COMPETITION 2024
Any subject, 40 lines maximum
Prizes: 1st – £600, 2nd – £300, 3rd – £200
An additional £25 will be awarded to the top 3 commended poems
Judge: Malika Booker
Postal Entries £5.00 for one poem; £3.00 each for additional poems
Poetry Teignmouth , C/O Virginia Griem, 12 Little Hayes, Kingsteignton TQ12 3YP
Online Entries – £5.50 for one poem; £3.50 each for additional poems
Closing date: 31st January 2024
www.poetryteignmouth.com
Café Writers Open Poetry Competition 2023
Open for entries until November 30th
Martin Figura: sole judge; no sifting.
1st Prize: £1000
2nd £300; 3rd £200
Five Commended Prizes of £50
Norfolk Prize £100
Best poem from a permanent resident not winning another prize.
Zoom Prizewinning event: @ Café Writers on 11th March, 2024
Fee: £4; £10/3, then £2 per poem.
Free entry, 1 poem, to any UK resident
for whom the cost of entering would be prohibitive
Length: 40 lines
Café Writers, 85, Gertrude Rd, Norwich, NR3 4SG
Check website for full rules: www.cafewriters.co.uk
Fish Publishing Short Story Prize
Judge: Sarah Hall
Word Limit: 5000
Closes: 30 November
Results: 1 April 2024; anthology published: July 2024
Entry Fees: €20 (€12 subsequent entries)
Prizes:
1st: €3000 + 5 day Short Story Workshop at the West Cork Literary Festival
2nd: and3rd: €300
7 Honourable Mentions: €200 each
Top Ten 10 stories published in the FISH ANTHOLOGY 2024
Online writing courses in short story, flash fiction, poetry and memoir;
and full range of editorial services for writers
info@fishpublishing.com www.fishpublishing.com
January 5
@ Bradt Travel Guides & The Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards
50th Anniversary
Unpublished writers
Three finalists invited to attend the prize-giving in London in early 2024
where the winner will be crowned New Travel Writer of the Year.
1st prize: five nights’ all-inclusive at Calabash Cove Resort & Spa on St Lucia.
The winner also receives a paid commission to write about their trip for Traveller magazine.
2 runners-ups: three Bradt guides of their choice.
All shortlisted pieces published on the Bradt website.
Fee: £15 Length: no mention
Theme: ‘Taking the risk’
Judges: Hilary Bradt, founder of Bradt Guides; Adrian Phillips, MD of Bradt Guides;
Hugh Brune, Commercial Director of Bradt Guides; Amy Sohanpaul, editor of Traveller Magazine; Jonathan Lorie, travel-writing trainer and author of The Travel Writer’s Way.
Travel Writing Competition, Bradt Guides, 31A High Street, Chesham, Bucks HP5 1BW
www.bradtguides.com/product/ntwoty-2024/
Flash 500 Flash Fiction Competition
This quarterly open-themed competition for fiction up to 500 words:
closing dates of 31st March, 30th June, 30th September and 31st December.
Entry fee: £5 for one story, £8 for two stories
Prizes: £300, £200 and £100
Email: entry@flash500.com
Website: www.flash500.com
Flash 500 Novel Opening Chapter & Synopsis Competition
Annual competition closes 31st October 2023.
Entry fee: £10 for one novel, £18 for two novels, £26 for three novels
Prizes: £500 first prize, plus a runner’s up prize of £200
Email: entry@flash500.com
Website: www.flash500.com
Café Writers Open Poetry Competitionn 2023
Open for entries until November 30th
Martin Figura: sole judge; no sifting.
1st Prize: £1000
2nd £300; 3rd £200
Five Commended Prizes of £50
Norfolk Prize £100
Best poem from a permanent resident not winning another prize.
Zoom Prizewinning event: @ Café Writers on 11th March, 2024
Fee: £4; £10/3, then £2 per poem.
Free entry, 1 poem, to any UK resident
for whom the cost of entering would be prohibitive
Length: 40 lines
Café Writers, 85, Gertrude Rd, Norwich, NR3 4SG
Check website for full rules: www.cafewriters.co.uk
SWC Annual Open Short Story Competition 2023
Deadline: 31st October 2023
Chief Judge: John Maguire
No theme, original unpublished work only.
First Prize: £200, Second Prize: £100, Third Prize: £50
2000 words maximum
Entry fee is £3 per story or four stories for £10
Online and Postal entry available
5 Carrwood Park Southport, Merseyside,PR8 5FA
Full details and online entry at http://www.swconline.co.uk