Competitions and Submissions

Deadline: Thu 12 Feb 2026
Location: International

The Next Generation Indie Book Awards, currently in its 19th year, is the largest international awards program for indie authors and independent publishers. Read more...

Deadline: Fri 13 Feb 2026
Location: Newcastle upon Tyne

ClassicsFest returns to the Lit & Phil in Newcastle from 14 to 16 May 2026 with Food & Feasting in Antiquity - and we’re launching an exciting new writing competition to mark the occasion. Read more...

Deadline: Fri 13 Feb 2026
Location: UK, Republic of Ireland

Footnote Press and Counterpoints Arts have once again partnered on the Footnote x Counterpoints Prize for writers from refugee and migrant backgrounds, with the 2026 prize focusing on fiction rather than non-fiction. Read more...

Deadline: Fri 13 Feb 2026
Location: International

Enter our free annual short story competition and be in with a chance of winning a place on an Arvon Residential Writing Week (worth £985) as well as seeing your story published on our site. We are looking for short stories (for adults) of no more than 2,000 words on the theme of 'play'. Read more...

Deadline: Sun 15 Feb 2026
Location: Yorkshire

Winning plays, stories and songs will receive a cash prize and will be performed at the Mini Arts Festival, Glaisdale, 29–31 May 2026, a beautiful community arts festival held in the North York Moors National Park. Read more...

Deadline: Mon 16 Feb 2026
Location: Wales

The Rhys Davies Short Story Competition recognises the very best unpublished short stories in English in any style and on any subject up to a maximum of 5,000 words by writers in and/or from Wales. Read more...

Deadline: Mon 16 Feb 2026
Location: International

This year's Wings of Hope Achievement Awards (WOHAA) are based on the theme "Equality and Acceptance". Participants are invited to submit a poem under 40 lines. First prize £50, second prize £30, plus many other prizes to be won as well! Read more...

Deadline: Thu 19 Feb 2026
Location: East Midlands

EM-SLAM is a partnership between Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham Trent and De Montfort Universities, offering 30 multi- and interdisciplinary fully-funded PhD scholarships with stipends over four years exploring the relationships between sustainability and mental health through storytelling. Read more...

Deadline: Fri 20 Feb 2026
Location: UK, Republic of Ireland

The Little Chick Emerging Writers Scheme is an exciting opportunity for emerging writers based in the UK and Ireland, in the early stages of their career, to develop their TV screenwriting. Read more...

Deadline: Fri 20 Feb 2026
Location: International

Applications are invited from underrepresented writers to The Bridport Prize bursary scheme offering free entry to The Bridport Prize competition in any category (short story, poetry, flash fiction, novel & memoir). Read more...