Competitions and Submissions

Deadline: Mon 13 Apr 2026
Location: London

Launched in 1981, the Verity Bargate Award is Soho Theatre’s flagship playwrighting competition, sponsored by Character 7. It is one of the longest-established playwrighting awards in the UK and the only award to guarantee the winning play a fully staged production in one of Soho Theatre’s stages in their central London venue.  Read more...

Deadline: Tue 14 Apr 2026
Location: UK

Headline and Curtis Brown Creative have teamed up to launch Modern Stories: It Must Be Love, a new romance novel-writing competition to find exciting new voices in romantic fiction from writers from Black, Asian, mixed heritage and/or multiple ethnic backgrounds. In association with Hachette UK’s The Future Bookshelf. Read more...

Deadline: Wed 15 Apr 2026
Location: London

The London Arts-Based Research Centre has announced that applications are now open for the 2026 LABRC Summer School in Arts-Based Research: Knowing through Image, Language, and Psyche. Read more...

Deadline: Thu 16 Apr 2026
Location: UK, Channel Islands

To celebrate its 50th anniversary, St Magnus International Festival are holding a poetry competition to celebrate the Festival’s rich literary heritage, inspired by one of its founders, George Mackay Brown. Read more...

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: 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: 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...