Submitting your work to a competition, whether you scoop the first prize or not, can boost your writing confidence. Competitions can push us to hone our work, give us a newfound focus, and add structure to our writing.

Arts Journalism Competitions

The International Anthony Burgess Foundation runs a yearly Arts Journalism Prize in Partnership with The Observer. The competition opens in October and closes in February. Standard entry is £15, although subsidised entry fees are available for those on a low income. The shortlist is usually announced in Spring.

Children’s illustration and writing competitions

The Children’s Books North Network Prize will alternate each year between picture book illustrators and writers. We know that class and geography create serious obstacles for authors and illustrators seeking publication and the further away they are from the London hub, the more hurdles there are to overcome and this prize will also play an important role in highlighting the wider Northern literary ecology particularly for Children’s books.

Fiction and Non-Fiction Competitions

The Portico Prize is a £10,000 biennial award for the book that best evokes the spirit of the North of England, open to new works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. To be eligible for entry, a book should have a central theme or subject that engages with some aspect of the North, whether, for example, through place, character, or sensibility.

Playwriting Competitions

Manchester is home to the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, the largest playwriting competition in Europe. The prize is based at the Royal Exchange Theatre, and is open for anyone aged 16+ to enter. Having just celebrated the 20th anniversary of the prize in 2025, the prize runs every 3 years so keep an eye out for those submission guidelines again in 2028.

Poetry Competitions

The Centre for New Writing runs an annual Micropoetry Competition challenging entrants to create work up to 280 characters only for a £500 prize. The competition is free to enter and usually runs during the summer months.

Manchester Cathedral runs an annual Cathedral Poetry Competition that usually opens in August for submissions by end of October. There’s a winning prize of £200, with runners up prizes, too. Winners also get the chance to published on our website.

Competitions for Young Writers

There are 3 elements that make up the Sadie Massey Awards: The Art of the Book Award which is open to Pupil Referral Units & schools and departments with Special Educational Needs in Greater Manchester ages 7-19; a Short Story Competition and a Book Review Competition. The awards open in October and close in March.

Mother Tongue Other Tongue is a multilingual poetry project, created as a Laureate Education Project by Professor Carol Ann Duffy to celebrate cultural diversity and the many languages spoken in schools in the UK. Mother Tongue Other Tongue began as a North West pilot and still runs in the North West as an annual competition for 8-18 year olds, co-ordinated by the Manchester Poetry Library at Manchester Metropolitan University. The project usually runs February to May.

The Lowry runs a Creative Writing Challenge for young people aged 7-11 living in Greater Manchester. The challenge is a great opportunity for children to express themselves by entering a piece of work they have made in hopes of performing their work on the Iconic Quays Stage. Children can enter: Poetry including spoken word, limericks & rap; a Script/Play text including solo or group performance, plays for stage & radio or Short Stories.

Currently on Hiatus…

The Manchester Writing Competition last ran in 2023 and offered the UK’s biggest literary awards for unpublished work, offered by the country’s most successful writing school. The Competition was established in 2008 by Carol Ann Duffy (UK Poet Laureate 2009-19) and has awarded more than £240,000 to writers. The Manchester Writing Competition previously awarded two £10,000 prizes: the Manchester Poetry Prize for best portfolio of poems and the Manchester Fiction Prize for best short story. Designed to encourage and celebrate new writing across the globe, the competition was historically open internationally to new and established writers.

Poets & Players, who are known for their programming of poets and musicians at the Anthony Burgess Foundation, hosted a yearly poetry competition until 2023, with past judges including Jackie Kay, Pascale Petit, and Jacob Polley. The winner of the competition receives a cash reward and the chance to read their poem at a Poets & Players event.

For flash fiction writers keep an eye on the QuietManDave Prize which last ran in 2024 through Manchester Writing School in memory of Dave Murray, a much-loved local writer.