Ian Pindar (second prize, National Poetry Competition 2009), has been shortlisted for the Forward Prize 2010 for Best Single Poem. Helen Oswald (commended, National Poetry Competition 2008) is shortlisted for Best First Collection.

Who will the 2010 National Poetry Competition bring to light? With previous winners such as Carol Ann Duffy and Philip Gross winning relatively early in their careers, here at the Poetry Society we can’t wait to find out.

The judges of the 2010 competition are poets George Szirtes, Deryn Rees-Jones and Sinéad Morrissey. Prizes are £5,000 for the overall winner, £2,000 for the second, £1,000 for the third, with seven commendations of £100. The deadline is 31 October.

Entrants can submit their poems online, or download an entry form: http://poetrysociety.org.uk/content/competitions/npc/

Pomegranate Theatre is currently seeking submissions for their New Playwriting Competition. Shortlisted pieces will be performed as rehearsed readings in front of an audience and invited judges during the New Playwriting Festival in March 2011. The audience will then decide which pieces will go through to the final at the end of the week.

The prize for the winning piece will be £500 and a possible commission for a new full-length piece of work. Scripts can be in any style, be fact-based or fictional, and should be between 30 and 45 minutes in length. All pieces should be designed to be performed at The Pomegranate Theatre in a studio-style setting. Scripts should be for no more than 4 professional actors.

Closing date 30th September 2010.
There is a £5 fee for entering. Successful entrants will be notified by 30th October 2010.

For further information and an application form please contact Carole Copeland at the theatre on 01246 345215 or email carole.copeland@chesterfield.gov.uk

Sony UK has announced that it will sponsor a newly created category in this year’s Dylan Thomas Prize – the Sony Reader Award for Unpublished Writers.

Sony UK has announced that it will sponsor a newly created category in this year’s Dylan Thomas Prize – the Sony Reader Award for Unpublished Writers.

The Dylan Thomas Prize is the world’s largest literary award for young writers. The prize was established to recognise the international work of Dylan Thomas, whose first book of poetry was published when he was just 21, and it supports the work of newly published authors.

The new Sony Reader Award category has been created specifically to support unpublished British novel writers under the age of 30 using electronic book formats for the entire process, from submission of the entries through to judging and then publication. The winner will receive a cash prize of £5,000, and their book will be published in eBook format and made available for download from the Sony UK website in time for the Christmas season.

eBook entries will need to be submitted in PDF, Word or EPUB format via the Reader website at www.sony.co.uk/reader between Thursday 1 July and Tuesday 31 August, and the shortlisted writers will be notified in September. The winner of the award will be announced at the Dylan Thomas Prize Award Ceremony on Wednesday 1 December 2010.

The 25th Year International Playwriting Festival 2010 competition accepts entries from all over the world, and is judged by a panel of distinguished theatre practitioners.

The 25th Year International Playwriting Festival 2010 competition accepts entries from all over the world, and is judged by a panel of distinguished theatre practioners. The best selected plays will be showcased at the Festival weekend, held in March 2010, with a view to further production.

For further information, visit www.warehousetheatre.co.uk/ipf10.html or email Ted Craig at ted@warehousetheatre.co.uk

Details of the Mslexia women’s poetry competition 2010 have now been announced.

First prize £1,000, second £500, third £250 and 22 other finalists will receive £25 each.

All winning poems will be published in Mslexia. Judge: Vicki Feaver.

Entry fee: £5 for up to three poems.

Online entry now available. For full details visit:

www.mslexia.co.uk/whatson/msbusiness/pcomp_rules.php

Closing date: 26 July 2010

The ever-popular H.E. Bates Short Story Competition is back but with a few changes. From this year, the competition will be run independently by Northampton Writers’ Group (NWG), with the support of Northamptonshire County Council (NCC). NCC wish to give their sincere thanks to NWG for their great work on the competition over that last few years.

For more information, rules and details on how to enter, see http://www.hebatescompetition.org.uk/.

Now in its 33rd year, the Poetry Society’s National Poetry Competition is one of the world’s biggest and most prestigious poetry competitions. Winners include both established and emerging poets and for many the prize has proved an important milestone in their professional careers. Add your name to a roll-call of winners that includes Carol Ann Duffy, Ian Duhig, Philip Gross, and Jo Shapcott – and have your work published in the Poetry Society’s leading international journal, Poetry Review. The judges this year are poets George Szirtes, Deryn Rees-Jones and Sinéad Morrissey. The prizes are: £5,000 for the overall winner, £2,000 for the second, £1,000 for the third and seven commendations of £100. The deadline is 31 October. Enter online or download an entry form at www.poetrysociety.org.uk

The Poetry Business is now inviting entries for its 24th Book & Pamphlet Competition. And this year, we’re delighted to be sponsored by NAWE (The National Association for Writers in Education).

The Poetry Business is now inviting entries for its 24th Book & Pamphlet Competition. And this year, we’re delighted to be sponsored by NAWE (The National Association for Writers in Education), their support allowing us to raise the prize money to £2,000 — see the bottom of this email for more information.

This year’s judge is Simon Armitage, and the deadline is last posting on the 29th of November 2010 (or the 1st of December for online entries).

Entrants are invited to submit a collection of 20-24 pages of poems for the chance to win

* publication by Smith/Doorstop Books*
* a share of £2,000 cash
* publication in The North magazine
* and a poetry reading hosted by The Poetry Business.

*Three first-stage winners will receive pamphlet publication and an overall winner will receive book publication.

The entry fee is £25, or £20 for North subscribers and Friends of the Poetry Business. A £1 surcharge is applied for online entries.

For full details and an entry form (or to enter online), go to www.poetrybusiness.co.uk or send a SAE to The Competition Administrator, The Poetry Business, Bank Street Arts, 32-40 Bank Street, Sheffield S1 2DS.

Art and culture magazine, Aesthetica, is inviting all artists, writers and poets to submit their work for the Aesthetica Creative Works Competition 2010.

Now in its third year, the Creative Works Competition is dedicated to celebrating and championing creative talent across three disciplines: ‘Artwork & Photography’, ‘Poetry’ and ‘Fiction’.

Three winners, one from each category, will each receive £500 prize money and the winners and finalists will be published in the Creative Works Annual. Other prizes will also be available.

Closing date: 31 August 2010.

For more information, visit www.aestheticamagazine.com/submission_guide.htm

Write us a short story on the subject of your choice.

2000 words maximum.

1st Prize £150
2nd Prize £100
3rd Prize £50
Best story by a Northamptonshire writer
(if not already a prize-winner) £50
Best story by a writer who is under 18 years old
on the closing date for entries £50

Closing date for entries Monday 4th October 2010.

Entry fee £4 for each story –
or £1 for each story by an Under 18 writer.

The judging panel will comprise members of the Northampton Writers Group.

The Head Judge is Sue Moorcroft,
author of Starting Over, All That Mullarkey,
Love Writing – How To Make Money
Writing Romantic or Erotic Fiction, and much else.

Her website is www.suemoorcroft.com

Now in its 33rd year, the Poetry Society’s National Poetry Competition is one of the world’s biggest and most prestigious poetry competitions. Winners include both established and emerging poets and for many the prize has proved an important milestone in their professional careers. Add your name to a roll-call of winners that includes Carol Ann Duffy, Ian Duhig, Philip Gross, and Jo Shapcott – and have your work published in the Poetry Society’s leading international journal, Poetry Review. The judges this year are poets George Szirtes, Deryn Rees-Jones and Sinéad Morrissey. The prizes are: £5,000 for the overall winner, £2,000 for the second, £1,000 for the third and seven commendations of £100. The deadline is 31 October. Enter online or download an entry form at www.poetrysociety.org.uk

The Asian Writer is inviting writers to contribute new writing on the theme ‘Celebration’ for a collection. We’re happy for you to flaunt your talent and send us your poems, haikus, short stories, flash fiction and novel extracts for consideration.

If features are more your thing, we’re also looking for writers to comment on their fave book/ most inspiring author for a separate section in the collection.
We’re happy for you to send us your videos and audio for the online edition.
The collection will celebrate Asian literature and three years of The Asian Writer – which offers new and emerging Asian writers a platform to showcase their work.

The collection will also feature the very best of The Asian Writer and writing by published authors.

Your entry needs to be under 1000 words and should include a short biography with web links (if any). A photo in high res is optional.
Email your entry to: editor@theasianwriter.co.uk with Writing Competition in the subject heading.

Entries close: July 31st 2010

They say everyone has a good story in them. Why not write one and enter the LOROS Short Story Competition. The competition was officially launched on Wednesday 24th March by best selling author and competition co-judge Jane Wenham-Jones at her ‘After Dinner’ speaker evening at Loughborough College.

Winning Story £100, Runner Up £50 and 3rd Place £25.

This could be one for you. Just write a short fictional story in English of up to 2000 words on any subject. For rules and entry forms, visit the website. Closing date is Friday 14 May 2010, so get writing.

Entry Fee £5 for your first entry and £3 for each additional entry.

1.A fictional story written in English of up to 2,000 words on any subject.

2. Entries must be typed, double spaced, page numbered and printed in black ink on white A4 paper with the story’s title on each page.

3. The author’s name should not appear on any page in the manuscript.

4. Please do not fold or staple your entry.

5. The entry must be the original work of the author and be previously unpublished.

6. A Cover sheet giving the author’s name, address, telephone number, e-mail address if possible and story title with word count should accompany each entry.

7. Keep a copy of your entry as manuscripts cannot be returned.

8. If you require a copy of the results please enclose a SAE marked ‘Results’. The winning entry titles will also be posted in the Schools, Colleges, Universities section in the Fundraising pages on the LOROS website.

Entry Fee (payable to LOROS) and Entries to: “LOROS Short Story” Competition

c/o Nancy Taylor,
LOROS Fundraising Department,
LOROS,
Groby Road,
Leicester,
LE3 9QE