The latest writing opportunities for September 2024.
If you would like your submissions call listed on our website, please contact us here.
Moth Nature Writing Prize 2024
Deadline: 15th September
The Prize is open to anyone (over 16). Entries must be entirely the work of the entrant and must never have been published, self-published, published online or broadcast. We will accept simultaneous submissions, but please do inform us if the work is accepted elsewhere. English translations of work originally written in another language are acceptable, as long as translator has permission, and author and translator agree to share prize money. You can enter as many poetry or prose pieces as you like, each with a €15 entry fee. There is a word limit of 4,000 (for poems or prose). The judge is Cal Flyn. The winning entries will be published in the Irish Times online.
Northern Gravy
Deadline: 15th September
Northern Gravy welcomes submissions from UK & Ireland writers of any background, including first-time writers. We welcome work from members of groups or communities typically under-represented within literature, whether or not the work addresses this. In order to submit to Northern Gravy, you must be a UK or Ireland writer. We believe in paying writers. Those we select for publication will be paid a fee of £100 for the use of their work, which we will partner with the writer to edit and prepare. We also believe in not charging for submissions. Submissions are FREE. We accept Fiction, Poetry and KidLit (writing for Middle Grade or Young Adult audiences, poetry or prose). If you choose to submit to more than one category, please send a separate email for each submission. Do not group submissions together.
Short Story Belgium 2024 Competition
Deadline: 15th September
Have an idea you’ve been meaning to put down on paper (or on .doc) or a short story already prepared, not published, that you know needs its rightful recognition? Please feel free to enter by emailing info@writefest.be. All entries will be considered. The top five entries will feature in a booklet produced following the festival. We run this annual competition with bookhelpine.co.uk and the winning entry will be included in the print edition of The Brussels Times. All inquiries at writefest.be. The first winning entry will be able to have a two-week writing retreat in Tante Gabys Writers Cottage in Surice, Belgium.
The Guardian and 4th Estate 4th Write Short Story Prize
Deadline: 22nd September
The Guardian and 4th Estate 4thWrite Short Story Prize is a competition open to Black, Asian and minority ethnic writers living in the UK or Ireland who are 18 and above. Short stories across any genre are welcome. The winner will receive £1,000, a one-day publishing workshop at 4th Estate and publication of their story on the Guardian website.
An Áitúil Anthology
Deadline: 29th September
It is with much bittersweetness with which we announce the third and final edition of An Áitúil, our long withstanding collaboration with The Martello Journal. You may submit 1-3 poems, up to 1,000 words of prose, and an unlimited number of art and photographs. You may submit to each category, but please ensure each category receives a separate email submission. You may not submit to the same category twice. All work must be centred around Ireland, as this is an anthology dedicated to such. Do not send us work which does not connect to this theme.
Granta
Deadline: 30th September
Granta is committed to championing new voices and is open to unsolicited submissions of fiction and non-fiction. We charge a fee of £3.50 for full-length prose submissions, equivalent to printing and postage. During every opening period, we offer 200 free submissions to authors on low incomes. We are committed to offering a home to writing by those who are marginalised or underrepresented. We welcome submissions by writers of colour; writers who are working class or on low incomes; writers who are queer, transgender, non-binary and gender-nonconforming; writers with disabilities; as well as any writer who feels that they or their story are underrepresented.
Novel Fair 2025
Deadline: 30th September
The Irish Writers Centre annual Novel Fair competition is now open for submissions. Described by The Irish Times as ‘A Dragons’ Den for writers,’ Novel Fair awards twelve unpublished (and unsigned) novelists the opportunity to pitch their novels to leading publishers and literary agents. This annual competition has been a career-changing opportunity for writers across the island of Ireland and worldwide. Since its inception in 2011, 36 Novel Fair winners have found a home for their debuts.
Ireland Own 2024 Writing Competitions
Deadline: 30th September
Ireland’s Own is pleased to announce details of their 2024 Writing Competitions. Entrants are invited to compete for €2,450 in gift-card prizes.
The Open Short Story section (2,000 words maximum) is open to all and carries a prize fund of €1,000 gift cards – a first prize of €600; second prize of €200 and two runners-up prizes of €100.
The Beginners’ Short Story section is restricted to those who have never had a short story published before. It carries a first prize of €300 and three runners-up prizes of €100. Entries for both short story sections should be of approx. 2,000 words, reflect the ethos of Ireland’s Own and be of a non-experimental nature.
For the Memories Section we are asking entrants to tell us of some special moment or event in not more than 800 words. It could be about school, holidays, falling in love, getting married, emigrating, a special person you have known, etc. This section carries a first prize of €200 and four runners-up prizes of €100.
The Frank McDonald Prize; In memory of Frank McDonald (12/4/1932 to 04/05/2020).
Kenyon Review, Visitation
Deadline: 30th September
With VISITATION we are looking for writing which captures an impermanent experience of presence. A visitation might be a knock at the door, a funereal ritual, a brush with the otherworldly, a legal mandate, an act of wrath, a moment of union. Guest edited by Kenyon Review Fellow, Jennifer Galvão, this folio seeks to think about doors, borders, power, incarceration, and other institutions which divide or limit our time. We invite work that broadly interprets these themes . When you submit, you will have the option to identify your work for general submission or the themes. We do not charge a reading fee for general submissions. We consider previously unpublished: short fiction and essays (up to 7,500 words), flash fiction and essays (up to 3 pieces, up to 1,000 words each; please format and submit as a single document), poetry (up to 6 poems; please format and submit as a single document), excerpts (up to 30 pages double-spaced) from larger works.
Gutter
Deadline: 1st October
Gutter is a magazine of new Scottish and international writing. During our two annual submission windows, we accept poetry, fiction and essays from writers in Scotland and beyond. We look for work that challenges, re-imagines or undermines the status quo, work that pushes at the boundaries of form and function, work that is striking and beautiful. We believe that great writing transcends boundaries, and we reject any distinction between literary and genre, high art and popular culture. Successful contributors will be paid a flat fee of £30 for work published in the magazine, regardless of length or style. Published authors will also receive a complimentary copy of the issue. See website for full details.
Caledonia Novel Award 2025
Deadline: 15th October
The Caledonia Novel Award 2025 is an Edinburgh-based international writing competition for unpublished and self-published novelists, 18 years and over, writing in all genres for adults and YA. Entrants are asked to send their first 20 pages plus a 200-word synopsis. The entry fee is £28. We offer 1,500 top prize; £500 for Highly Commended novel; free place on a writing course at Moniack Mhor Creative Writing Centre for the writer of the best novel from the UK and Ireland. This year’s judge is Alice Lutyens, literary agent at Curtis Brown. Entries close at midnight GMT 15 October, 2024.
Creative Writing Ink Short Story Competition 2024
Deadline: 15th November
Creative Writing Ink Short Story Competition is now open to writers across the globe. Submissions do not need to follow any particular theme or genre, but must be written in English with a maximum word count of 3000 words.
Prizes:1st prize: £1000, plus a free creative writing course of the winner’s choice and publication on our site. 2 runners-up: £200 each.
The Dublin Review
Deadline: Ongoing.
The Dublin Review welcomes submissions of fiction and non-fiction previously unpublished in the English language. We do not accept poetry submissions. We especially encourage submissions from members of groups traditionally underrepresented in literary magazines and other cultural forums.
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