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

Closing date: 31st October 2017

Online entries CLICK HERE

Chief Judge: Jo Reardon

Jo’s fiction has been published in magazines and anthologies including The London Magazine and Mafia and she was runner up in the Cinnamon Short Story Prize 2014.  In collaboration with artist Iain Andrews her short story, ‘My Mind’s Eye’, was published at the Warrington Arts Festival (2012) and ‘Still Life with Blackbirds’ at the Corinium Museum, Cirencester with artist Richard Kenton Webb in 2016.  She also writes for radio where she was a Producer for many years at BBC Radio Drama.  Jo studied Creative Writing at UEA and Lancaster University and is now a Lecturer in Creative Writing at the Open University. Passionate about the short story, she is looking forward to reading the shortlisted entries hoping to find something that will surprise, delight, maybe even shock but above all, hold the reader in its hand from start to finish.

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• Your entry should be an unpublished, original story on any theme of up to 2000 words (previous publication includes via internet or independent press).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 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, please include PayPal ref. number in body of the email 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, so please do not send any confirmational material or use Recorded Delivery.
• 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 in the body of the mail that you would like to receive the results.
• Winners will be informed in Dec/Jan, general availability of results will be available on this site thereafter. There may be a delay publishing results 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. Note – E-Entries have a processing fee.

Send postal entries to:

Short Story Competition

60 Dinorwic Rd,

Southport,

Merseyside, PR8 4DL

 

Online entries CLICK HERE

Online entries CLICK HERE

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

(In addition: £25 Humour Prize)

Chief Judge: CAROLE BALDOCK

Carole Baldock is proud owner of 3 children (all in good working order); 2 cats (need slight attention); a BA Hons; a pamphlet, BITCHING, and a collection, Give Me Where to Stand (Headland). Books also include Writing Reviews and How To Raise Confident Children. She has contributed theatre reviews to The Stage, Whatsonstage etc, and is Editor of Orbis, a renowned international literary journal of over 40 years’ standing, which now incorporates her other magazine: Kudos (‘for people who prize writing’)

RULES: Please read carefully

1. Poems should bear no identification of the poet.  Humour entries should be marked with an ‘H’. Humour entrants are not disqualified from winning main prizes.

2. Please enclose a separate A4 sheet of paper with your full contact details and list of titles submitted.

3. All entries must be typed on A4 paper, in English (dialects allowable), and must be the original, unpublished work of the entrant.

4. For internet entries, please include PayPal ref. number in body of email 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 file to the email. Any .pdfs, sidebars, headers, footers or unusual layouts may result in your electronic entry being rejected.

5. 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.

6. A maximum of 40 lines per poem is allowed.
7. The closing date for entries will be 30th April 2017. Winners will be informed in June, general availability of results thereafter.
8. Please keep a copy of your poem(s) as manuscripts cannot be returned.
9. The adjudicator’s decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into regarding receipt of individual entries or payments. Entrants who enclose an S.A.E will receive a copy of the adjudicator’s report (if available). No application form is required.

Envelopes should be sent to:-

Southport Writers’ Circle Poetry Competition

3 Hereford Road,

Southport,
Merseyside,
PR9 7DX

 Please DO NOT send entries by recorded delivery or send any other conformational material such as return postcards.

Online entries CLICK HERE

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

Closing date: 31st October 2016

Online entries CLICK HERE

Chief Judge: Robert Scott-Norton is a successful indie author famed for his ongoing intricate sci-fi series ‘The Tombs Legacy’. He is a resident of Southport and has concluded that the ordinary seaside town is the perfect setting for all the horrors he can throw at it. He enjoys a variety of fiction, but is drawn to the works of Stephen King and all things Doctor Who. He is, however, looking forward to the range of genres that this annual competition will bring.

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 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, please include PayPal ref. number in body of email 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 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, so please do not send any confirmational material or use Recorded Delivery.
• 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 in the body of the mail that you would like to receive the results.
• Winners will be informed in December, general availability of results will be available on this site thereafter. There may be a delay publishing results 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.

Send postal entries to:

Short Story Competition

3 Hereford Road

Southport
Merseyside
PR9 7DX

 

Online entries CLICK HERE