Competitions and Submissions

Deadline: Fri 17 Apr 2026
Location: International

The Programme offers 15 writers two years of sustained engagement and the opportunity to work towards completion of a project, whether in poetry, non-fiction or fiction. Read more...

Deadline: Fri 17 Apr 2026
Location: Falmouth, Cornwall

The Inaugural International Women’s Writing Association Conference takes place at Falmouth University from Wednesday 17th to Friday 19th June 2026.The call for papers is open until 17th April 2026. Read more...

Deadline: Fri 17 Apr 2026
Location: UK

A golden opportunity for young writers! We are asking 7-11-year-olds to write a story about Gold using no more than 500-words. Free to enter. Read more...

Deadline: Sun 19 Apr 2026
Location: International

The Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize is an international prize that supports and celebrates the adventure writing of today, recognising outstanding storytelling that engages and inspires readers. We work with published, unpublished and young writers of any nationality, writing in English. Deadlines from 19 April. Read more...

Deadline: Wed 22 Apr 2026
Location: International

St John’s College, Cambridge, invites applications for the Harper-Wood Creative Writing & Travel Award for English Poetry and Literature.  Read more...

Deadline: Sat 25 Apr 2026
Location: London

Scratch Books are now open to submissions for the Scratch A4 1000 word short story competition until 25th April 2026. Read more...

Deadline: Mon 27 Apr 2026
Location: England

Word’s A Stage 2026 is Apples and Snakes’ performance poetry development programme for poets aged 21–30 based in England. This course is specifically geared towards improving both your writing and performance skills for poetry. Read more...

Deadline: Thu 30 Apr 2026
Location: International

100 words or less per entry. Any genre. No theme. All writers welcome. All ages. All genders. All nationalities. Prizes: 1st place: $1,000 USD. Total value of all prizes: over $15,000 USD. Read more...

Deadline: Thu 30 Apr 2026
Location: International

Are you ready to be published? Goldendark is looking for astounding short fiction for the forthcoming anthology of thrutopian fiction.So, not bland utopias or predictable dystopias, but stories that offer a ‘way through’ the multiple challenges we face (what has been called the ‘Age of Polycrisis’). Read more...

Deadline: Thu 30 Apr 2026
Location: International

The aim of the Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize is both to celebrate the best of new short fiction under 2000 words and to give winners the most visibility possible for their writing. Deadline extended to 30 April. Read more...