Please indulge me for another brief blog post as I tell you that my short story ‘A Guide to Keeping Birds’ has come joint second in the Bournemouth Writing Prize. The report from the judges, United Agents literary agent Sophie Scard, Picador Commissioning Editor Ansa Khan Khattak and Fresher Publishing Editorial Director Emma Scattergood, said:… Read More Bournemouth Writing Prize, a final update
Greetings, fellow scribblers. I hope you’ve all had your jabs or are at least nearing the time for an appointment. I’ve been working away on a new project that I’d like to explain a bit more about at a later date because I think it will be of interest to other writers. In the meantime,… Read More Bournemouth Writing Prize 2021 shortlist
Please forgive a little trumpet blowing. It’s been quite a while since I’ve entered any competitions, and even longer since one of my entries placed, so it was a very nice surprise this evening to stumble across the longlist for the Bournemouth Writing Prize for Short Story 2021, only to discover a story of mine… Read More Bournemouth Writing Prize 2021 longlist
[UPDATED 25/8/2021] It really does feel like we’re emerging from a collective hibernation, doesn’t it? Armed with a Covid vaccination, or at least the promise of one in the near future. For many people, writing has been on the back burner – it certainly has been here at Wordherding Towers. But I have set a… Read More Short story competitions April-December 2021
[UPDATED 2/3/21] It may feel a bit soon to be looking towards next year’s UK and Ireland short story awards, but there are quite a few currently open and waiting for your wonderful words. Of course, the Covid crisis has played havoc in terms of planning 2021 arts festivals, so there aren’t as many accompanying… Read More 2021 short story competition guide
I am deeply immersed in novel edits at the moment, but I had to put down my quill and open the door of my artist’s garret for a moment to yell out a bit of good writing news. A story of mine has made the longlist of this year’s Cambridge Short Story Prize (list is… Read More Cambridge Short Story Prize longlist
[UPDATED 9/11] I generally update my competition listings as I see new opportunities pop up, but I thought I’d do a new post because the last one was a while back. Quite a few competions have extended their deadlines or amended their prizes due to the Covid-19 crisis, so there may be a few things… Read More Short story competitions April-December
[Updated 10/4/20 – please note that some deadlines have been extended due to the Covid-19 crisis] Can you believe we’re casually referring to 2020 as something imminent and not the setting for a sci-fi series where everyone dresses in tin foil smocks? How on earth did that happen? In this bold new world, there will… Read More Your 2020 short story competition guide
[Updated 13/11/19] The last time I did a short story round-up, the year was just beginning and the days were short – though the month was looong. Now here we are, already halfway through 2019, and some of us are in the middle of unprecedented heatwaves. Good times. Here’s a brand new list of opportunities… Read More Short story competitions July-December 2019
[Updated 16/9/19] Writing is a funny old game that you can easily spend more money on than you earn from it. To make progress, you need to get your work out into the world and hopefully build a reputation as a writer. But regularly entering competitions is costly, and you can run up quite a… Read More Free-to-enter writing competitions
