Short story competitions June-December 2023

[Updated 10/12] Here you go,regular readers, an updated UK/Ireland short story competition list that should see you through to the end of the year (and slightly beyond). It’s already a pretty lengthy list, which I will update regularly as further dates are announced. As ever, do check out the small print for yourself before entering. And please let me know if you place in any of them – it’s always a joy to hear about peoples’ successes!

This kind of wild?
  • WestWord Prize for Short Stories
  • Closing date: June 25
  • Prizes: 1st place £300, 2nd place £200, 3rd place £100. All winning, shortlisted and longlisted stories will be published in the online anthology WestWord, a new literary journal published by Retreat West
  • Judges: WestWord editorial team
  • Word limit: 1,000-2,500 words
  • Theme: ‘Wild’
  • Entry fee: £10 per entry, multiple entries permitted. There’s also an option to get feedback for £40 per entry. Open internationally
  • The Moth Short Story Prize 2023
  • Closing date: June 30
  • Prizes: 1st place €3,000, 2nd place a week at Circle of Misse writing retreat in France plus a travel stipend, 3rd place €1,000. Note: the competition continues even though the magazine is no longer. The winning story will be printed as part of the summer fiction series in the Irish Times, while the 2nd and 3rd-prize-winning stories will be published in the Irish Times online
  • Judge: writer Otessa Mosfegh
  • Word limit: 3,000 words
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee:  €15 per entry, multiple entries permitted. Open internationally
  • The Henshaw Press Short Story Competition
  • Closing date: June 30 (this competition runs quarterly and has just been taken over by Hobeck Books)
  • Prizes: 1st place £200 and publication in an anthology and on the website, 2nd place £100, 3rd place £50
  • Judges: doesn’t say
  • Word limit: 2,000 words
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee: £6 per entry with the option of a critique for an extra £14, with proceeds donated to Medecins sans Frontiers. Open internationally
  • To Hull and Back Humorous Short Story Competition 2023
  • Closing date: June 30
  • Prizes: 1st place £1,200 and a motorbike ride (yes, you are reading that correctly, check out the website as it’s too odd to explain here), 2nd place £600, 3rd place £300. Three Highly Commended stories will win £150, fourteen shortlisted will win £75. Twenty longlisted writers will win a free early-bird entry to the next competition (scheduled for 2025, worth £13). The winners and shortlisted entries will be published in the To Hull And Back Short Story Anthology, both as a print edition and ebook
  • Judge: writer Christopher Fielden
  • Word limit: 2,500 words
  • Theme: no set theme, but stories must have some element of humour
  • Entry fee: £15 for one entry, £24 for two, £30 for three. Open internationally
  • The Dorothy Dunnett Society / HWA Short Story Award 2023
  • Closing date: July 1
  • Prizes: 1st place £500, mentoring sessions with an author and an agent, as well as publication in Whispering Gallery magazine published by the Dorothy Dunnett Society, and on the Historia magazine website. Two Highly Commended writers will also be offered mentoring. Six shortlisted writers will have their stories published as an ebook / print-on-demand edition by the HWA (Historical Writers’ Association) and Dorothy Dunnett Society via Amazon. Each shortlisted author will receive two print copies and a £25 author payment
  • Judges: doesn’t say
  • Word limit: 3,500 words
  • Theme: none, but stories must be set at least 35 years in the past. The organisers would particularly welcome stories set  the 11th, 15th and 16th centuries, the periods in which Dorothy Dunnett set her stories, as 2023 is her centenary year
  • Entry fee: £5 per entry, one entry only. Some free spots available on enquiry. Open internationally
  • The Leicester Writes Short Story Prize 2023
  • Closing date: July 2
  • Prizes: 1st place £175, 2nd place £75, 3rd place £50. The longlist of up to twenty stories will be published in an anthology by indie press Dahlia Books. All finalists will be invited to a prize-giving ceremony in Leicester in the autumn
  • Judges: writers Joe Bedford and Mona Dash
  • Word limit: 3,500 words
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee:  £7 per entry, up to three entries permitted. Open internationally
So many ways to interpret this one
  • HG Wells Short Story Competition 2023
  • Closing date: July 10 (11pm)
  • Prizes: 1st place £500 for the Senior category (aged 22 or above) and £1,000 for the Junior prize (aged up to 21). All shortlisted entries will be published in an anthology in paperback and on Kindle
  • Judges: doesn’t say
  • Word limit: 1,500-5,000 words
  • Theme: ‘Motion’
  • Entry fee: £10 per entry for the Senior category or £5 for those with student ID. The Junior category is free. Open internationally
  • The Wreckin Writers Doris Gooderson Short Story Competition 2023
  • Closing date: July 12
  • Prizes: 1st place £200, 2nd place £100, 3rd place £50. The winning entries may be published in the next Wrekin Writers anthology and on the Wrekin Writers website
  • Judges: doesn’t say
  • Word limit: 1,200 words
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee: £5 per story, multiple entries permitted (at least 50% of the profits are donated to the Severn Hospice). Open internationally
  • Hastings Book Festival Short Story Competition
  • Closing date: July 14 (10pm)
  • Prizes: 1st place £250, 2nd place £100, 3rd place £50. Prizes will be presented at the Hastings Book Festival (September 15-24)
  • Word limit: 2,500 words
  • Judge: author VG Lee
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee: £7.50 for one entry, £13 for two, £20 for three. Some free entries are available, on request. Open internationally
  • Aurora Prize for Writing 2023
  • Closing date: July 19
  • Prizes: 1st place £500, feedback on a piece of work from a literary agent (or editor as appropriate) and a year’s free membership to the Society of Authors. Winners will also receive a session with Society of Authors staff, including an introduction to how the Society can support them in their careers as professional authors. 2nd place £150. 3rd place a one-day course of your choice from Writing School East Midlands. The longlist of 25 will be published online (writers can choose whether they want full story or just the title to appear) and the shortlist of 10 will be offered a place on an online masterclasses with the judge
  • Judge: author Joanna Cannon
  • Word limit: 2,000 words
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee: £9 for one story, £7 for any subsequent entries. Open internationally
  • Olga Sinclair Prize 2023
  • Closing date: July 31
  • Prizes: 1st place £500, 2nd place £250, 3rd place £100. The winners and seven shortlisted stories will be published in the Norwich Writers’ Circle annual anthology
  • Word limit: 2,000 words
  • Judge: writer Susan K Burton
  • Theme: ‘The Sea’
  • Entry fee: £9 per entry, multiple entries permitted. Open internationally
  • Aspects of History Short Story Competition
  • Closing date:  August 1
  • Prizes: 1st place £250. The winner and nine other entries will be published in an anthology, which will be available in paperback and on Kindle
  • Judges: editor of Aspects of History magazine Oliver Webb-Carter, and historical novelists Antonia Senior and Richard Foreman
  • Word limit:  2,000-6,000 words
  • Theme: none, but the story must be set in any period up to 1980, and can be any genre under the umbrella of historical fiction
  • Entry fee: £10 per story, multiple stories permitted. Open internationally
  • Hysteria Short Story Competition 2023
  • Closing date: August 31
  • Prizes: 1st place £300. The winner and nine additional entries will be included in the Hysteria 10 anthology, to be published in December
  • Judges: readers’ panel here
  • Word limit:  1,000 words
  • Theme: ‘Magic’
  • Entry fee: £3 per story, multiple entries permitted. Open internationally
  • Anthology Magazine Short Story Competition 2023
  • Closing date: August 31
  • Prizes: 1st place €1,000, publication in Anthology magazine and a one-year subscription. 2nd place €250, 3rd place €150
  • Judges: doesn’t say
  • Word limit: 1,500 words
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee: €18 per story, multiple entries permitted. Open internationally
  • Aesthetica Creative Writing Award 2023
  • Closing date: August 31
  • Prizes: 1st place £2,500, publication in the Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual, a five-day course with Arvon, a consultation with Redhammer Management, and a one-year print subscription to Granta magazine and digital subscription to Mslexia. The twenty shortlisted writers will be published in the annual anthology
  • Judges: quite a long list of writers and agents here
  • Word limit: 2,000 words
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee: £18 per entry, multiple entries permitted. Open internationally
  • Manchester Fiction Prize 2023
  • Closing date: September 1 (5pm)
  • Prize: 1st place £10,000
  • Judges: chair of judges is writer Adam O’Riordan
  • Word limit: 2,500 words
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee: £18 per entry, 100 reduced fee entries (£10) available. Open internationally
Too soon for a countdown?
  • Retreat West Christmas Advent Competition 2023
  • Closing date: September 3
  • Prizes: twelve winning stories will be published in December and in true advent calendar style the prizes will be revealed when the story is published. They will all be Retreat West goodies so a mix of courses, memberships, books, feedback and mentoring
  • Judges: doesn’t say
  • Word limit: 1,000 words (no min)
  • Theme: festive in some way
  • Entry fee: £6 per entry, multiple entries permitted. Open internationally
  • Silver Apples Magazine Redemption 3: This Time It’s Personal Short Story Writing Competition
  • Closing date:  EXTENDED TO September 15
  • Prizes: 1st place €200, 2nd place €125, 3rd place €75. The winners and nine shortlisted stories will be published in a special issue of Silver Apples Magazine titled ‘Redemption III’
  • Judges: doesn’t say
  • Word limit: 1,500-4,000 words
  • Theme: none, but this competition is about ‘redemption’ for stories that have previously been rejected, so submissions must have been turned down by other magazines/ journals/ competitions
  • Entry fee:  €10 per story. Appears to be open internationally
  • Mslexia Women’s Fiction Competition – Short Story
  • Closing date: September 18
  • Prizes: 1st place £3,000. Three additional finalists will each receive £100. The four winning entries will be published in the December edition of Mslexia magazine. They and eight additional shortlisted stories will also appear in Mslexia’s ebook anthology, Best Women’s Short Fiction 2023 
  • Judge: novelist Deborah Moggach
  • Word limit: 3,000 words
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee: £12 per entry, multiple entries permitted. Open to women internationally
  • Shooter Literary Magazine 2023 Short Story Competition
  • Closing date: September 24
  • Prizes: 1st place £400, publication in the autumn issue of Shooter Literary Magazine and on the website. 2nd place £100 and publication on the website
  • Judges: doesn’t say
  • Word limit: 5,000 words
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee: £7 for one entry, £10 for two. Open internationally
  • Creative Writing Ink Short Story Competition 2023
  • Closing date: EXTENDED TO September 30 (4pm)
  • Prizes: 1st place £1,000, an online creative writing course with Creative Writing Ink, and publication on the CWI website. Two runners-up prizes of £200 each
  • Judge: author Lucie Brownlee
  • Word limit: 3,000 words (no min)
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee: £9 per entry, multiple entries permitted. Open internationally
  • Hammond House Publishing 2023 International Literary Prize
  • Closing date: September 30
  • Prizes: 1st place £1,000, 2nd place £100, 3rd place £50. The winners and shortlisted stories will be published in an anthology
  • Judges: doesn’t say
  • Word limit: 1,000-5,000 words
  • Theme: ‘Fate’
  • Entry fee: £10 per entry, with optional feedback for £10. Open internationally
  • Galley Beggar Press Short Story Prize 2023/2024
  • Closing date: September 30
  • Prizes: 1st place £2,500. Shortlisted entries will receive £200, longlisted entries will receive £50 in bookshop vouchers and a four-book subscription to Galley Beggar Press
  • Judges: journalist/broadcaster Alex Clark, novelist Chigozie Obioma, writer Tomiwa Owolade and gorse editor/writer Susan Tomaselli
  • Word limit: 6,000 words, no min requirement
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee: £10 per entry, multiple entries permitted, with 200 entries available for writers on a low income on application. Open internationally
  • The Henshaw Press Short Story Competition
  • Closing date: September 30 (quarterly competition)
  • Prizes: 1st place £200 plus publication in an anthology and on the website, 2nd place £100, 3rd place £50
  • Judges: doesn’t say
  • Word limit: 2,000 words
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee: £6 per entry, with an option to receive a critique for £14. Appears to be open internationally
  • The Bedford Short Story Competition 2023
  • Closing date: October 31
  • Prizes: 1st place £1,500, 2nd place £300, 3rd place £200. The winners and shortlisted stories will be published in an anthology
  • Judges: list here
  • Word limit: 3,000 words
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee: £7.50 per entry, multiple entries permitted. Open internationally
  • Michael McLaverty Short Story Award 2023
  • Closing date: October 31
  • Prizes: 1st place £2,000. Two runners-up will receive £250. The three winning stories will be published in a limited anthology
  • Judges: writer Bernie McGill and No Alibis Press editor Emma Warnock
  • Word limit: 3,000 words
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee: £10 per entry, one story only. Open to individuals who were born in, are citizens of, or resident in Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland
  • Fiction Factory Short Story Competition
  • Closing date: October 31
  • Prize: 1st place £500. Winners wil be published on the Fiction Factory website and in an anthology
  • Judge: author Tim Symonds
  • Word limit: 3,000 words
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee: £7 for one story, £13 for two, £18 for three. Open internationally
  • ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award 2024
  • Closing date: October 31
  • Prize: 1st place £2,000, 2nd place £1,000. The shortlist of up to four authors will be awarded £500 each
  • Judge: doesn’t say atm
  • Word limit: 5,000 words
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee: free to enter, one entry only. Applicants must have had at least one short story accepted for publication. Open to writers resident in the UK, Commonwealth or Republic of Ireland
  • The Plaza Short Story Prize
  • Closing date: November 30
  • Prize: 1st place £1,000. 2nd place £300. 3rd £100. The 10 shortlisted entries will be published in The Plaza Prizes Anthology 2, which will be launched at the awards ceremony October 2024
  • Judge: writer, editor and publisher Rémy Ngamije
  • Word limit: 8,000 words
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee: £15 for one entry, £7.50 for subsequent entries. There are 100 free entry bursaries available, on application. Open internationally
  • Fish Short Story Prize
  • Closing date: November 30
  • Prizes: 1st place €3,000 plus a place on a five-day short story workshop at the West Cork Literary Festival in Bantry, Co Cork in July 2024. 2nd place €300 and a week at Anam Cara Writers’ Retreat, Co Cork. 3rd place €300. Seven Honourable Mentions will receive €200 each. The top ten stories will be published in the Fish Anthology 2024
  • Judge: author Sarah Hall
  • Word limit: 5,000 words
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee:  €20 for one story (wow), €12 for any subsequent entries. Open internationally
  • InterAct Stroke Support’s Ruth Rendell Short Story Competition
  • Closing date: December 21 (5pm)
  • Prize: 1st place £1,000 and a commission to write four more stories over the course of the year for InterAct Stroke Support UK
  • Judge: novelist Dame Margaret Drabble
  • Word limit: 1,000 words
  • Theme: none, but entries must be positive stories that can be read in a sensitive hospital environment
  • Entry fee: £15 per entry, multiple entries permitted. Open internationally
  • The Henshaw Press December Short Story Competition
  • Closing date: December 31 (quarterly competition)
  • Prizes: 1st place £200 plus publication in an anthology and on the website, 2nd place £100, 3rd place £50
  • Judges: doesn’t say
  • Word limit: 2,000 words
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee: £6 per entry, with an option to receive a critique for £14. Appears to be open internationally
  • Prolitzer Prize for Prose 2024
  • Closing date: January 21
  • Prize: 1st place £200. Two runners- up will receive £50. All three will be published in Issue 35 of Prole literary journal
  • Judge: writer and editor Dave Wakely
  • Word limit: 2,500 words
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee:  £5 for one entry, £3 for any subsequent entries. Open internationally
  • Bournemouth Writing Prize 2024
  • Closing date: January 22
  • Prize: 1st place £500, professional feedback on a sample of work (short story or short extract from a novel) from one of the judges and a professionally produced recording of the work. In previous year, all shortlistees have been published in anthologies by Bournemouth University’s onsite press Fresher Publishing, but they’re a bit hazy about it in this year’s T&Cs
  • Judges: editorial director Ansa Khan Khattak and agent Julia Silk
  • Word limit: 3,000 words (plus a 75-word bio)
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee: £10 for one entry, £17 for two, £21 for three. Open internationally
  • From the Well Short Story Competition 2024
  • Closing date: January 28 (5pm)
  • Prize: 1st place a place on West Cork Literary Festival’s three-day short story writing workshop in Bantry, Co Cork, which will be given by Jan Carson, and €250 toward accommodation. The winner and two others will feature in the 2024 festival (which runs 12-19 July) as part of the anthology launch event in Bantry Library. Twenty stories will be selected for inclusion in the 2024 From the Well Short Story Anthology
  • Judges: doesn’t say, but the head judge is usually writer Billy O’Callaghan
  • Word limit: 2,000 words
  • Theme: none
  • Entry fee:  free to enter, one entry only. Open to writers who are registered members of any library (though I’m never clear whether they mean in Ireland or internationally)

PS. If you’re new to writing and/or submitting, you might find a useful tip or two in my post 6 Things I’ve Learned About Entering Competitions

PPS. What’s that you say? You wish you could buy me a coffee in return for all this invaluable information? Funnily enough, there’s a way to do that now on my very popular Ko-fi page – link here

Images: Andi Breit/Pixabay; Ruth Archer/Pixabay; Pexels/Pixabay; Elias/Pixabay; Jill Wellington/Pixabay; Mozlase/Pixabay

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