Seen and Done

A selection of writing competitions that I might enter, with deadlines in September.

• The John McGivering prize is run by the Kipling Society and entries must have some kind of link to Kipling. This year they must also be about food and drink and can be up to 2,500 words long. It costs £8 to enter and you could win £350, but time is short as the deadline is 1 September.
• Terrain will take up to 5,000 words: entry is $20 and the top prize $1,000. You have until 2 September.
• If you missed last month’s early deadline for Aesthetica, you can still catch the late entry deadline of 8 September, but will pay a little more – £24. The word limit is 2,000 and you can win £2,500
• The Royal Society of Literature’s V.S.Pritchett prize is back, with a maximum word count of 4,000. It costs £8 to enter and the top prize is £1,000. Enter by 13 September.
• Ink of Ages is looking for historical or mythological stories (no time machines, please). The word limit is 2,000: it’s free to enter and there’s no cash prize but the winner will get a whole lot of stuff apart from seeing the story published. They will send a consignment of books and various items or merchandise, and they will also produce for you a custom piece of art which might be a map, a family tree, or some other graphic. Enter by 15 September.
• The Dinesh Alirajah contest this year is on the theme ‘The Unspoken’. Again, it’s free. Stories must be between 2,000 and 7,500 words and you can win £500. The deadline is 22 September.
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All the rest have a deadline of 30 September.

• Louise Walters is again running her quirky ‘Page 100’ contest in which you submit exactly that page from your manuscript. It costs £10 and you win a book club subscription plus some extra feedback on your work.
• Hammond House has the theme ‘Time’ this year. 1,000 to 5,000 words, £10 to enter, and a prize of £1,000 (plus a mention on the local arts TV channel and a place of honour in the annual anthology).
• The regular Henshaw contest, now run by Hobeck Books, looks for up to 2,000 words. £6 to enter and £200 to be won.
• Christmas already? Crowvus have launched their annual Christmas Ghost story competition. Up to 4,000 words, £3 to enter, win £100.
• The Iowa and John Simmons competition is for a collection of short stories running to at least 150 pages. It’s free, but there’s no prize beside publication.
• Maybe you prefer money? Also for a collection, Juniper wants 55,000 to 75,000 words. $30 to enter and a prize of $1,000
• 6,000 words of the Best in Rural Writing could win you $500, for a $5 entry fee.
• Finally if travel is your thing, you can win $500 for a story of 500+ words about ‘My Greatest Journey’. And it’s free to enter!

If you get anywhere with any of these, please do let me know.