Opportunities
Welcome to Literature Wales’ opportunities page where we share internal and external literary opportunities, from competitions to residencies, from Wales and beyond. If you have any opportunities you’d like us to feature, please email us on: post@literaturewales.org
Literature Wales Opportunities
Job Vacancy: Tŷ Newydd Writing Centre Manager – 3 July (midday)
Full time (37 hours per week), 10-month fixed-term contract (adoption leave). To start as soon as possible.
Salary: £35,000 pro rata
Location: Tŷ Newydd Writing Centre, Llanystumdwy, LL52 0LW
The Llenyddiaeth Cymru | Literature Wales team works collaboratively across Wales, with offices in Llanystumdwy and Cardiff. The ability to work unsociable hours, including the occasional weekend, bank holiday and one evening per week is essential due to the nature of this role. There will be occasional opportunities to work from home.
Please note, we are open to discussing joint proposals to share this role. More: Current Vacancies and Opportunities – Literature Wales
Work Opportunities
Join Ffilm Cymru Wales’ Board – 27 June
Ffilm Cymru Wales are looking for new Board Members to help shape the next phase of their work. You don’t need to come from the film industry, they’re keen to hear from people with different skills, life experiences, and perspectives. What matters most is your commitment to building a Welsh film culture that’s ambitious, accessible, and representative of everyone who calls this place home. Join Ffilm Cymru Wales’ Board | Ffilm Cymru
Call-outs
Black Bee Call for Submissions – Rolling
Black Bee Books is currently open for submissions from under-represented voices in Wales. As a new publishing house based in West Wales, the company want to be reflective of a wide variety of experiences and are actively seeking those who are under-served by the industry.
They are looking to publish both adult and young adult fiction and non-fiction, but not children’s books.
For submission guidelines please see: www.blackbeebooks.wales/contact
Hack Publishing – Rolling
Hack Publishing are looking for 10 writers to join us an exciting project that will explore work now and imagine working culture in the future. This will be a collection of essays with 10 different perspectives, although writers are encouraged to experiment with genre.
In addition, they are also looking for writers to contribute to their upcoming magazine. The first issue’s theme is: resilience. Writers can submit any genre of up to 3,500 words. It is a chance for new writers to see their work published alongside one another.
Find the full details on their website.
Folding Rock – Rolling
Folding Rock is always on the hunt for the best new creative fiction and non-fiction in, from and connected to Wales. We accept work by writers at any stage and age, and we pay for every piece we publish. Submissions are always open but specific themed call-outs for each issue will be made three times a year. We also take pitches for translations, visual essays and multi-media work – check out our website for more details: https://foldingrock.com/submit-your-work/
If you’re an author or publisher with a book out that’s connected to Wales, tell us about it here: https://foldingrock.com/tell-us-about-a-book/
The Genesis JLF Emerging Writers Programme – 30 June
The Genesis JLF Emerging Writers Programme is open to emerging writers in Poetry, Fiction and Non-fiction, and offers bursaries, one-on-one mentoring, peer support, workshops and industry meetings. Mentors for the year include Thomas Harding, author of Hans and Rudolf, and multiple slam-winner and creative producer of The Nest, Adam Kammerling.
The programme is open to emerging writers of any background, over 18 years of age and living in the UK with no more than three years’ experience of being published, who feel they would benefit from the support and insight of a more established writer, peer support sessions and opportunities to meet with industry professionals.
Applicants should be working, or planning to work, on a specific project, with the aim of publication, and should be committed to participating fully in all sessions offered by the programme.
The programme offers the following benefits:
- One-on-one mentorship with an established writing mentor
- A bursary of up to £1,500 to support the completion of research, residential writing time, childcare or other costs related to completing the writing project
- Scheduled peer support sessions
- Group seminars run by writing experts
- Meetings with agents, publishers and other industry professionals
- A speaking opportunity at Jewish Book Week 2026, held at Kings Place, London
The Programme runs from 1 September 2025 to 31 July 2026. Grants will be made to successful applications on receipt of bank details. The programme of mentorship is designed to take place online and/or in person, depending on the preference of the selected writer and their mentor. Group sessions are designed to take place online so that the programme is accessible to all.
Beacons: Short Film Funding – 27 June (12pm)
Under their BFI NETWORK WALES offer, Ffilm Cymru funds world-class live-action, documentary and animated short films. Beacons provides funding as well as creative and practical support, training and mentoring opportunities to help filmmakers advance their careers. Beacons short films have achieved success at festivals and won numerous awards.
They accept applications from:
- Writer, director (or writer-director) and producer teams
- Writer and director teams (or lone writer-directors) where no producer is currently attached
Beacons: Short Film Funding | Ffilm Cymru
International Literature Exchange 2025–26 – Call for Participants – 1 July (9am)
The International Literature Exchange (ILX), led by the National Centre for Writing and British Council, is now open for expressions of interest!
Running from September 2025 to January 2026, this fully digital programme brings together literary professionals from Indonesia, Ireland, South Korea, Ukraine, and the UK to connect, collaborate, and explore key issues shaping the literary landscape today.
We’re looking for people working with books, words, and literature — from agents and educators to publishers, writers, and community leaders. Writers must also hold another role within the literature sector. To apply and find out more visit: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/writing-hub/apply-international-literature-exchange-25/
UK Young Academy – 23 July (3.00pm)
The UK Young Academy is an interdisciplinary network of early-career professionals and researchers from across the UK, dedicated to tackling pressing global and local challenges through collaboration, innovation, and leadership. Membership provides access to a dynamic community from diverse sectors, offering networks, leadership opportunities, and professional development to influence policy, lead projects, and drive positive societal change.
Who it’s for: The UK’s best early-career individuals (typically with 3–12 years’ experience) living in the UK who have demonstrated excellence in their respective field and a commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration and a passion for social impact. We’re particularly interested in getting the call out to those researching and working within the arts and humanities. Learn more here.
More info / apply: https://ukyoungacademy.org/membership/applying/
BookTrust Wales: Big Welsh Rhyme Time Commissions 2026 – 5 September (12pm)
BookTrust Wales are inviting authors, poets, writers, musicians, performers and children’s storytellers to help create some special new content for Big Welsh Rhyme Time 2026.
They are offering up to three commissions of £600 each. Big Welsh Rhyme Time will take place 2nd – 6th February 2026.
This year’s key message will be ‘Rhyming Fun for Everyone’. With this in mind, they are looking for different voices from Wales to help us create fun and engaging content that will encourage children to share and enjoy rhymes, poems and songs during Big Welsh Rhyme Time and beyond.
You can find out more and learn how to submit a proposal here: https://www.booktrust.org.uk/cy-gb/about-us/work-with-us
Competitions
Eisteddfodau Cymru – Ongoing
There are several literary competitions held by various Eisteddfod events across Wales annually.
All the closing dates can be found here. For further information, visit the Cymdeithas Eisteddfodau Cymru website.
The 2025 Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize - 30 June
The 2025 Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize which is now open for entries, and this is a very special year for Wasafiri as we open the prize to entries in translation for the first time in its fifteen year history.
The prize supports writers who have not yet published a book-length work, with no limits on age, gender, nationality, or background. The winners of each category (Fiction, Life Writing and Poetry) will receive a £1,000 cash prize and will be published in Wasafiri’s print magazine. The deadline for entries is 11.59pm BST on 30 June. Full details, including how to apply, can be found here.
Wells Festival of Literature – 30 June
This year’s winners stand to walk away with some £5,000 between them! There are four categories, Open Poetry, Short Stories, A Book for Children and Young Poets aged 16 -22 and all the information can be found on the website: Competitions | Wells Festival of Literature
Sustainable Story Award – 6 July
Submissions for the Sustainable Story Award are available to authors based in the UK at any stage of their careers, provided they have been published at least once before. As this is the inaugural year of the awards, the focus is on supporting authors who have already navigated the publishing process and are working on their next sustainability-focused book.
The prize consists of a mixture or financial and mentor support:
- £15,000 bursary for winner
- 2 x £5,000 bursaries for runner
- Mentorship from industry experts for winners, with a minimum of 2 x one hour sessions – subject to mentors’ discretion
The Stephen Spender Prize – 31 July
The Stephen Spender Prize is an annual competition for poetry in translation that celebrates the creativity of young people across the UK and Ireland – and their teachers! The Prize has categories for schools, teachers and individual young people, which welcome translations from all languages, as well as a special ‘Spotlight‘ strand that each year focuses on a different widely spoken language.
For 2025, the rules are simple: translate into English any poem from any language, or a Portuguese poem from the Spotlight booklet, and produce an accompanying creative response . . . for your chance to join the Stephen Spender Prize hall of eternal fame!
Teachers can now register here to involve their students, and more guidance can be found on our Guide for Teachers page. All those who register will receive regular resources to help them to integrate creative translation into their teaching. Stephen Spender Prize – Stephen Spender Trust
Amazon’s £20,000 Kindle Storyteller Award – 31 August
Entries for Amazon’s Kindle Storyteller Award are open now for 2025. Self-published authors both new and established in any genre can win a £20,000 prize fund.
The Kindle Storyteller Award is a literary award celebrating the best of self-published storytelling, championing independent writers across any genre, both new and established, with the winner receiving a £20,000 prize fund.
Previous winners have included Stateside by JD Kirk and King Of War by Peter Gibbons. Since winning the award in 2024, JD Kirk has gone on to write his first psychological thriller, which is due to be released later this year.
The competition is open to authors aged 18 or over writing in English in any genre, who publish their work through Kindle Direct Publishing between 1st May and 31st August. How to enter Amazon’s Kindle Storyteller Award
National Poetry Competition 2025 – 31 October
The 2025 National Poetry Competition is now open for entries!
This year’s judges are Denise Saul, Ian Duhig and Susannah Dickey. The National Poetry Competition is one of the world’s biggest prizes for a single poem, and all entries are judged via an anonymised process, so put your best poem forward! National Poetry Competition – from The Poetry Society
Next Generation Story Awards – February 26 2026
A not-for-profit awards program open to authors writing short stories worldwide is now accepting entries written in English.
Enter by February 26, 2026 to take advantage of this exciting opportunity to have your short story considered for cash prizes, awards, exposure, and recognition as one of the top short stories written this year! Next Generation Short Story Awards – Welcome