READ Foundation Writing Competition 2018 Closing date: 10th October 2018. Prizes: The winning entry will be displayed in hundreds of READ Foundation schools to inspire today’s students. It will also be published on READ Foundation’s website. The winner and two runners up will also receive feedback on their work from Ms Shahraz. Entry fee: Free. Looking for: A poem, short story or first person essay on the theme of “My education helped me….”. 500 words max. Further info: Writers must be 18+ and living in the UK. Poems & short stories accepted. Website: https://readfoundation.org.uk/writing-competition- 2018/ Bath Flash Fiction Award Closing date: 14th October 2018. Prizes: £1,000, £300, £100. Entry fee: £9. Further info: Thrice-yearly competition for flash fiction up to 300 words. http://bathflashfictionaward.com Observer/Jonathan Cape/Comica Graphic Short Story Prize Graphic short stories Closing date: 14th October 2018. Prizes: £1,000 plus publication; £250 plus online publication. Free entry. Email: aoneill@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk Website: https://writ.rs/graphicshortstoryprize Eyelands Book Awards 2018 Closing date: 20th October 2018. Prizes: Grand Prize for published books - Five-day holiday in Athens plus a special handmade ceramic; Grand Prize for unpublished books - publication from Strange Days Books; Plus six more prizes. Entry fee: $30.00. Looking for: Poetry, novellas, short story collections. novels. Website: www.eyelandsawards.com Troubadour International Poetry Prize  Closing date: 22nd October 2018. Prizes: £2,000, £1,000, £500; smaller prizes. Entry fee: £6, €7, $7.50 for the first poem, £4, €5, $5 for any subsequent poems. Looking for: Poems, up to 45 lines Email: CoffPoetry@aol.com  Website: www.coffeehousepoetry.org  Dinesh Allirajah Prize for Short Fiction Closing date: 26th October 2018. Prizes: £500. Free entry. Looking for: Short fiction between 2,000 and 6,000 words on the theme of 'scent' Email: commaprizes@gmail.com  Website: http://commapress.co.uk/resources/prizes/  Retreat West Themed Flash Fiction Prize Closing date: 28th October 2018. Prizes: 1st Prize £350, 2nd Prize £200, 3rd Prize £100, Shortlisted £15. All winning and shortlisted stories published in the annual anthology. Entry fee: £8 per story. Looking for: Short fiction up to 500 words on quarterly set themes. Website: http://www.retreatwest.co.uk/the-rw-flash-fiction- prize/ Retreat West Short Story Prize Closing date: 28th October 2018. Prizes: 1st Prize £400; 2nd Prize £250; 3rd Prize £150; Shortlisted £20. All winning and shortlisted stories published in the annual anthology. Entry fee: £10 for 1 story – enter as many times as you like but all entries must be made separately and the entry fee paid each time. Looking for: Short stories between 1500 – 5000 words (title not included). Further details: Judge: Paul McVeigh Website: http://www.retreatwest.co.uk/the-rw-short-story- prize/ Retreat West Flash Fiction Prize Closing date: 28th October 2018. Prizes: £350, £200, £100, £15. Entry fee: £8. Looking for: 500-word fiction. Website: www.retreatwest.co.uk The 14th Elmbridge Literary Competition 2018 Closing date: 29th October 2018 (5pm). Prizes: The winners will receive book tokens. Sampson Low will also publish the winning entries as a chapbook. For full details on age categories and prizes, check out their website. Entry fee: Free to enter. Looking for: Your frightening short stories and poems to help commemorate the bicentenary of the publication of Mary Shelley's masterpiece. Further info: Age categories, from 5-7 up to 19+. Website: https://www.creativewritingink.co.uk/ Tom Gallon Trust Awards Closing date: 31st October 2018. Prize: £1,000. Free entry. Looking for: Short story (maximum length 5,000 words). Further info: The winner must have had at least one short story accepted for publication. The submission should be traditional, not experimental, in character. See website for full details. Email: info@societyofauthors.org Website: https://www.societyofauthors.org/ Earlyworks Press Short Story Closing date: 31st October 2018. Prizes: £200, anthology publication for shortlisted entries. Entry fee: £5 up to 4,000 words, £10 if 4,000-8,000 words. Looking for: Short stories, up to 8,000 words. Email: services@earlyworkspress.co.uk  Website: www.earlyworkspress.co.uk  Southport Writers' Circle International Short Story Competition Closing date: 31st October 2018. Prizes: £150, £80, £25, humour £30. Entry fee: £3 or £10 for four. Looking for: short stories up to 2,000 words. Website: www.swconline.co.uk Bare Fiction Prize 2018 - Flash Fiction Closing date: 31st October 2018. Prizes: 1st Prize: £500; 2nd Prize: £200; 3rd Prize: £100; 2 x Highly Commended Award: £25. 1st, 2nd & 3rd prize winners will be published in the Spring 2019 issue of Bare Fiction Magazine and on their website. Entry fee: £6.00. Website: http://www.barefictionmagazine.co.uk/ Bare Fiction Prize 2018 - Short Story Closing date: 31st October 2018. Prizes: 1st Prize: £500; 2nd Prize: £200; 3rd Prize: £100; 2 x Highly Commended Award: £25. 1st, 2nd & 3rd prize winners will be published in the Spring 2019 issue of Bare Fiction Magazine and on their website. Entry fee: £8.00. Website: http://www.barefictionmagazine.co.uk/ NAWG Short Story Competition Closing date: 31st October 2018. Prizes: 1st - £200; 2nd - £100; 3rd - £50. Entry fee: £5 per entry. Looking for: Stories from 500 to a 2,000 words maximum. Further info: Optional critiques: £5 each. See website for further details on how to enter. Website: http://www.nawg.co.uk/5658/ Benjamin Franklin House Literary Prize Closing date: 31st October 2018. Prizes: £750, £500, web publication. Free entry. Looking for: Fiction and non-fiction interpretations, 1,000- 1,500 words, by young writers aged 18-25, of a Benjamin Franklin quote (see website). Email: info@benjaminfranklinhouse.org Website: www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org Commonwealth Short Story Prize Closing date: 1st November 2018. Prizes: £2,500 for winner from each region, £5,000 for overall winner. Free entry. Looking for: Original, unpublished short stories, 2,000-5,000 words, by writers from Commonwealth countries in Africa, Asia, Canada and Enrope, the Caribbean and Pacific. Website: http://www.commonwealthwriters.org/our- projects/the-short-story/ Scribble Annual Short Story Competition  Closing date: 1st November 2018. Prizes: £100, £50, £25, publication in Scribble. Entry fee: £4. Looking for: Stories up to 3,000 words on the theme of 'Neighbours'. Email: parkpub14@hotmail.com  Website: http://www.parkpublications.co.uk/ Arkbound Short Story Competition Closing date: 1st November 2018. Prizes: £100, £50, £25, 3 x £10 Entry fee: £3. Arkbound will sponsor entries from disadvantaged people. Looking for: Short stories between 500 and 1,000 words on the theme of 'Hope'. Email: competitions@arkbound.com Website: http://arkbound.com/writing-competition/ New Media Writing Prize Closing date: 30th November 2018. Prizes: £1,000, student prize of paid internship or £500, £500 Dot Award, Interactive fiction or non-fiction written specifically for digital delivery. £750 journalism prize. Free entry. Website: http://newmediawritingprize.co.uk/ Fish Short Story Competition Closing date: 30th November 2018. 1st: €3,000 plus 5 day Short Story Workshop at the West Cork Literary Festival; 2nd: A week at Anam Cara Writers' Retreat and €300; 3rd: €300.  7 Honourable Mentions €200 each.Entry fee: €20 for the first, €10 thereafter. Looking for: Short stories up to 5,000 words. Email: info@fishpublishing.com  Website: www.fishpublishing.com  Aeon Award Closing date: 30th November 2018. Prizes: €1,000, €200, €100 Entry fee: €8.50 Looking for: Short stories up to 10,000 in any spec fie genre Email: fraslaw@yahoo.co.uk Website: http://www.albedo1.com/aeon-award/aeon-award- 2017/ Somerset Maugham Awards Closing date: 30th November 2018. Prizes: Total prize fund of £10,000, to be used for foreign travel Free entry. Looking for: Published work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry by an author under 35 Email: pjohnson@societyofauthors.org  Website: www.societyofauthors.org  1000 word challenge Closing date: 30th November 2018 Entry fee: £5 to enter or £15 with feedback from the judges. Prize: 1st - £150, 2nd - £75, 3rd - £50. Winners published on our website. Looking for: Stories up to 1000 words. Must include the spoken words 'Here we go again'. Email: contact@1000wordchallenge.com Website: www.1000wordchallenge.com Writers Bureau Flash Fiction Competition Closing date: 30th November 2018. Prizes: £300, £200, £100 plus Writers Bureau course worth over £374. Entry fee: £5.00/$7.00/€6 per entry or three entries for £10/$14/€12. Looking for: Stories up to 500 words on an open theme. Further info: Winners will be announced by 15th January 2019. Email: studentservices@writersbureau.com  Website: www.wbcompetition.com Ink Tears Short Story Competition Closing date: 30th November 2018. Prizes: £1,000, £100, 4 x £25 Highly Commended. Entry fee: £7.50. Looking for: Short stories between 1,000 and 3,500 words. Further info: Winners will be notified by 28th Feb 2019 (full results published by 30th Mar 2019). Website: http://www.inktears.com/ssentry International Aeon Award Short Fiction Contest, 2018 Closing date: 30th November 2018. English.Prizes: The Grand Prize is €1000 and publication in Albedo One. Second and third place prizes are €200 and €100 and publication in Albedo One. Entry fee: €8.50. Looking for: Stories of up to 10,000 words long, that are previously unpublished in science fiction, fantasy, horror or anything unclassifiable or in-between. Email: fraslaw@yahoo.co.uk Website: http://www.albedo1.com/aeon-award-2018/ HE Bates Short Story Competition Closing date: 3rd December 2018. Prizes: £500, £200, £100 plus £100 for best short story by a Northampton writer not winning another prize. Entry fee: £6, £10 for two. Looking for: Short stories up to 2,000 words. Further info on how to submit on website. Email: hebatescomp@gmail.com Website: www.hebatescompetition.org.uk Wild Words Winter Solstice Writing Competition Closing date: 21st December 2018. Prizes: Overall winner: A Wild Words one-hour 1-1 mentoring session, online publication.  Two other shortlisted entries may also be published on the Wild Words website. Entry fee: £7.00. Looking for: Prose or poetry up to 1,000 words with a new theme each solstice. Email: hello@wildwords.org  Website: http://www.wildwords.org/competition  ChipLitFest Short Story Competition Closing date: 7th February 2019. Prizes: Top Prize:  £500; Other Prizes: £100, £50. Top 3 stories will be read by a professional at a ChipLitFest event over the festival weekend in April 2019. Entry fee:  £5 up to 3,000 words, £8 up to 5,000 words. Looking for: Short stories up to 5,000 words. Further info: Stories of any genre accepted. Website: https://www.chiplitfest.com/ The To Hull And Back Humorous Short Story Competition Closing date: 31st July 2019. Prizes: 1st £1,000, your head on the cover of a book and the opportunity to star in the winner's video, riding a Harley Davidson to Hull; 2nd £500; 3rd £250; 3 x Highly Commended £100; 14 x Shortlisted £50. Entry fee: Early bird until 30th April 2019: £11 for one story, £18 for two stories and £22 for three stories. Then, until 31st July 2019: £13 for one story, £21 for two stories and £26 for three stories. Looking for: Short stories, 2,500 words max. No limitation on style or genre, but must contain some element of humour. Further info: Entries accepted from anywhere in the world. All short listed and winning writers published in the To Hull And Back Anthology, released on Hulloween (31st October). Website: https://www.christopherfielden.com/short-story- competition/