Have you got back to writing again, or perhaps didn't stop? I've committed to taking part in a mini crime litfest, submitted a womag story, an article, and competition entry – although I confess nearly all the actual writing of those was done in 2025.
Free entry writing competitions
Thanks to Aly Rhodes for sending me a link to this short story competition from Story Unlikely. There's $5,000 in prizes on offer, you have up to 7,000 words, and they say there are no restrictions on genre (but do mention sci-fi and fantasy).
A reminder about competitions which I (probably) mentioned before and are still open...
The W&AYB short story prize offers publication and a place on an Arvon residential course to the winner. There's still a month to go until it closes.
The Wergle Flomp humorous poetry competition offers cash prizes and publication to the best 13 entries. Top prize is $2,000. It closes on the 1st of April.
The Tree To My Door Valentine's poetry competition offers a £100 voucher as first prize. There's a month to go for that one too. At the time of writing this blog, I hadn't written any poetry all year, possibly all decade, but that could change.
The Parsec short story competition has a first prize of $200. That doesn't close until the end of March.
