Competitions and Submissions

Deadline: Thu 1 Oct 2026
Location: International

The Frame is an independent mental health magazine publishing writing, art, poetry and lived experience. Our fifth issue launches on 1 November 2026 and explores artificial intelligence: how it is changing our relationships, creativity, work, therapy, mental health and understanding of what it means to be human. Read more...

Deadline: Thu 1 Oct 2026
Location: International

Entries of published or unpublished work invited. All styles and themes. $12,000 in prizes. Special award for verse that rhymes or has a traditional style. Read more...

Deadline: Fri 2 Oct 2026
Location: UK

Applications for the 2027 IASH/Traverse Creative Fellowship are now open for playwrights and theatre makers for a £12,000 commission with the University of Edinburgh and the Traverse Theatre. Read more...

Deadline: Fri 2 Oct 2026
Location: International

Just Poetry, a collective featuring climate justice through verse, invites entries of unpublished poems in any language of no more than 40 lines on the theme of Rest. Open to entrants all over the world. Read more...

Deadline: Fri 2 Oct 2026
Location: Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man

The Oppenheim-John Downes Memorial Trust provides small scale grants, typically ranging from £250-£1,000, to British artists, designers, writers and performers over the age of 30 who are experiencing financial difficulties in the pursuit of their careers. Read more...

Deadline: Sun 4 Oct 2026
Location: International

The Bath Flash Fiction Award is an international rolling flash fiction competition. The current round closes on Midnight GMT, 4 October 2026. Read more...

Deadline: Fri 9 Oct 2026
Location: International

Freedom From Torture has announced the return of its biennial poetry competition. This year's competition theme is Worlds into Words, inspired by the journeys people carry within them - across countries, across cultures, and across the landscapes of memory and identity. Judges: Alan Hollinghurst and Rachael Allen. Read more...

Deadline: Sat 10 Oct 2026
Location: UK

The Solstice Nature Prize is a national, annual writing competition for young writers run by Writing East Midlands. Read more...

Deadline: Wed 14 Oct 2026
Location: International

Story Unlikely is an online and print publication, looking for great stories regardless of genre or author pedigree. Our focus is on the quality of the writing and the ability of the writer to craft an engaging story. Read more...

Deadline: Thu 15 Oct 2026
Location: International

Edinburgh-based, international writing competition for unpublished and self-published novelists, in all genres for adults and YA. Open to writers over the age of eighteen of any nationality and resident in any country. Read more...