Looking to hone your craft? These short story and poetry competitions are still open for submissions.
With hundreds of thousands of people in Ireland now looking for a way to occupy themselves during this difficult time, one such way is through writing short stories and brushing off their writing skills.
Many creative people have a penchant for writing and thankfully though we are living in strange times there are still short story competitions and awards that are taking submissions. It’s worth getting your creative hat on.
All Ireland Scholarships Alumni Association Creative Writing Competition [7th January 2022]
“Open to all members of the Alumni Association, the competition will feature a Creative Writing Workshop presented by some of Ireland’s leading authors as well as a prize offering of €1,000 for the winning entry and €500 to the three runners-up.”
More information here.
Bright Film ‘Story To Screen’ [1st February 2022]
“Bright Film are calling on prose writers to come up with original material or send in their best shorts for the ‘Story To Screen’ project, deadline Feb 1st 2022. Interested writers should submit self-contained stories of a maximum of 3000 words that would translate well to screen. Bright Film will select the most promising story and award the writer $5000 plus two Hudson Passes to the TriBeCa Festival in June 2022..”
Check out the website for more information.
The Bournemouth Writing Prize 2022 [16th January 2022]
“Short Story: Up to 3,000 words maximum. It can be about any topic and in any style. We are looking for real storytellers who create great characters to tell us something fresh, and surprise or touch us.
Poetry: Up to 42 lines. We are looking for poetry that is fresh and unexpected. Again, this can be about anything that you wish. You may have been inspired by the personal impact of recent world events or you may want to offer a story of hope for the future, the choice is yours.”
Find out more here.
The Lucy Cavendish College Fiction Prize [11th February 2022]
“The Fiction Prize is for a novel by a woman over the age of 18 that marries literary merit with unputdownability. The work can be on any subject at all. We welcome submissions of literary fiction and genre fiction equally. Novels for young adults or children are acceptable if they are mainly word-based; picture books are excluded..”
See here for the full details and how to apply.
The Minds Shine Bright Writing Competition [28 February 2022]
“The theme is confidence. After a couple of topsy turvy years exploring confidence through fiction will provide a creative focus”.
Further details here.
Searchlight Awards – Best Short Story for Children or Young Adults [1st March]
“Short stories must be 1000 words or less and be suitable for a child or young adult. The ten shortlisted stories will feature in an electronic pitch book called The Winners’ Collection and be sent to numerous literary agents/publishers who have requested it. These stories will also be published in an annual printed anthology. First prize also includes a cash award of £500”
Find out more about this award here.
Looking for other things to browse? Check out our list of top Irish podcasts to listen to here or Irish short films to watch here.
Hi I have wonderful stories to tell but I’m not a wonderful writer. Are you a ghost writer.?
No I’m not Maggie – best of luck with your writing and your search!
seeking short story writing contests with Irish themes
I have an idea for a story. I’ve done a couple of rough drafts. I think it’s quite good. It’s partly truth and partly fiction. Do I lost copyright if I submit it and it’s rejucted but not returned. This is assuming a publisher wants hard copy or an on-line method.