Competitions

First prize: £150      Second prize: £80     Third prize: £30

Closing date: 31st October 2020

DUE TO THE CURRENT ONGOING SITUATION WE STRONGLY ENCOURAGE ONLINE ENTRY, AVAILABLE HERE

Chief Judge: Professor Ailsa Cox

Ailsa Cox is the world’s first Professor of Short Fiction. Her own fiction is published in various magazines and anthologies, most recently The Mechanics’ Institute Review and Confingo. Her collection, The Real Louise, was published by Headland Press in 2009. She has taught Creative Writing for many years, most recently at Edge Hill University, where she founded the Edge Hill Prize for a published short-story collection. Her book Writing Short Stories has been used by new and experienced writers all over the world. She is also a short-story critic, with publications including her book Alice Munro, and studies of other writers from Katherine Mansfield to Malcolm Lowry and Jon McGregor. Born in the West Midlands, she has spent all her adult life in North West England.

Full Rules:

• Your entry should be an unpublished, original story on any theme of up to 2000 words (previous publication includes via internet or independent press).
• Do not put your name or any other identifying information on your story but do give it a suitable title. Titles should be both appropriate and interesting.
• There is no set theme or style for the competition, other than the above.
• Entries in English please (minor dialect allowable).
• You do not need an entry form. Send us a separate cover sheet  with each entry’s title, word count, your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address.
• For internet entries, put above details in body of email but also please include PayPal ref. number OR put the story(ies) names in the comments box when paying. Also please use basic formatting in any of .doc, .docx, rich text or .odf file types when attaching your entry file to the email. Any sidebars, headers, footers or unusual layouts may result in your electronic entry being rejected. Please do not use .pages files unless you have no other alternative.
• No individual correspondence will be entered into regarding receipt of works/payments. Please do not send any confirmational material or use Recorded Delivery.
• Once your entry has been submitted, any entrant contacting the judges for any reason deemed to be an attempt to circumvent the judging process is liable to be disqualified.
• If entering by post, please include an SAE if you wish to receive a print of the results/judges report (if available) when the competition is finished. For email entries, please note clearly in the body of the mail that you would like to receive the results.
• Winners will be informed in Dec 2020/ Jan 2021, results will be published on this site thereafter. There may be a delay publishing results and/or winning stories depending on circumstances and permissions, so please exercise patience.
• Winning stories may be published on this site for 12 months with permission of original author.

Optional – Paper saving single-spaced entries encouraged.

• The fee is £3.00 for each story, or £10 for 4.  You can pay by cheque or postal order made out to Southport Writers’ Circle. (E-entries have a processing fee.)

Send postal entries to:

60 Dinorwic Rd,

Southport,

Merseyside,

PR8 4DL

Online entries available HERE

Online entries CLICK HERE

First Prize: £150, Second Prize: £75, Third Prize: £25

(In addition: £25 Humour Prize)

THEME: CITY LIFE

Final date for entries – 30th April 2020

RULES: Please read carefully

• A maximum of 40 lines per poem is allowed.
• Poems should bear no identification of the poet. Humour entries should be marked with an ‘H’ in the top left of the page. Humour entrants are not disqualified from winning main prizes.
• Please enclose a separate A4 sheet of paper with your full contact details (address, email, phone number) and list of titles submitted. For online entries, this information is allowable in the body of the email.
• All entries must be typed on A4 paper (for postal entries) in English (dialects allowable), and must be the original, unpublished work of the entrant. Entries are encouraged to follow the theme.
• If, after entry, your work is published in any form, please let us know. In some cases this may disqualify your entry and entitle you to a refund.
• For internet entries, please include PayPal ref. number in body of email OR put the poem(s) names in the comments (information) box when paying. Also please use basic formatting in any of .doc, .docx, rich text (.rtf) or .odf file types when attaching your file to the email. Any .pdfs, sidebars, headers, footers or unusual layouts may result in your electronic entry being rejected without notice.
• Each entry should be accompanied by the appropriate fee of £3 per poem or four poems for £10. Cheques/Postal orders should be in sterling and payable to: SOUTHPORT WRITERS’ CIRCLE.
• The closing date for entries will be 30th April 2020. Winners will be informed in June, general availability of results thereafter. There may be a delay publishing results and/or winning poems depending on circumstances and permissions. Any excessive correspondence regarding results may cause your entry to be withdrawn.
• Please keep a copy of your poem(s) as manuscripts cannot be returned.
• The adjudicator’s decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into regarding receipt of individual entries or payments. Please do not contact us regarding bounced payments unless you are certain Paypal is not functional.
• Once your entry has been submitted, any entrant contacting the judges for any reason deemed an attempt to circumvent the judging process is liable to be disqualified.
• If you would like a copy of adjudicator’s report (if and when available), please include an SAE for paper entries, or for online entries please state you wish to have the results in the body of the email.
• No application form is required.

Envelopes should be sent to:-

Southport Writers’ Circle Poetry Competition

60 Dinorwic Rd,

Southport,

Merseyside,

PR8 4DL

• Please DO NOT send entries by recorded delivery or send any other material such as return/receipt postcards as this will be disregarded.

Online entries CLICK HERE

Chief Judge: Dr Anna Maddison.

First prize: £150      Second prize: £80     Third prize: £30

Closing date: 31st October 2019

Online entries available HERE

Dr. Anna Maddison is an art historian who lectures on both the History of Art and English Literature, specialising in the Pre-Raphaelites and the Victorian era.

Anna received a BA (Hons) in English Language and Literature from Leeds University and an MA (with distinction) from Liverpool University in Victorian Literature. Her PhD thesis on Pre-Raphaelite poet-painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti presented new analyses of his poetry, painting and design work within the context of Victorian spiritualism and Swedenborgianism.

In addition to university lecturing, Anna has taught across a number of Merseyside art galleries, including the Walker, Tate Liverpool, and the Atkinson, Southport (where she co-curated an exhibition in 2009). She is currently researching a book on Liverpool shipping magnate and art patron Frederick Leyland.

In addition to academic writing, Anna also writes poetry and she was, for a number of years, a book seller and new books buyer at Broadhursts Bookshop in Southport.

Full Rules:

• Your entry should be an unpublished, original story on any theme of up to 2000 words (previous publication includes via internet or independent press).
• Do not put your name or any other identifying information on your story but do give it a suitable title. Titles should be both appropriate and interesting.
• There is no set theme or style for the competition, other than the above.
• You do not need an entry form. Send us a separate cover sheet  with each entry’s title, word count, your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address.
• For internet entries, put above details in body of email but also please include PayPal ref. number OR put the story(ies) names in the comments box when paying. Also please use basic formatting in any of .doc, .docx, rich text or .odf file types when attaching your entry file to the email. Any sidebars, headers, footers or unusual layouts may result in your electronic entry being rejected.
• No individual correspondence will be entered into regarding receipt of works/payments. Please do not send any confirmational material or use Recorded Delivery.
• Once your entry has been submitted, any entrant contacting the judges for any reason deemed an attempt to circumvent the judging process is liable to be disqualified.
• Please include an SAE if you wish to receive a print of the results/judges report (if available) when the competition is finished. For email entries, please note clearly in the body of the mail that you would like to receive the results.
• Winners will be informed in Dec 2019/ Jan 2020, results will be published on this site thereafter. There may be a delay publishing results and/or winning stories depending on circumstances and permissions.
• Entries in English please (minor dialect allowable).
• Winning stories may be published on this site for 12 months with permission of original author.

Optional – Paper saving single-spaced entries encouraged.

• The fee is £3.00 for each story, or £10 for 4.  You can pay by cheque or postal order made out to Southport Writers’ Circle. (E-entries have a processing fee.)

Send postal entries to:

Short Story Competition

5 Carrwood Park

Southport PR8 5FA

Online entries available HERE