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

Tŷ Newydd Creative Writing Courses

We have a range of creative writing courses and retreats available at Tŷ Newydd – the National Writing Centre of Wales. Why not have a look and discover what’s on offer.

Browse through our programme.

Work Opportunities

Theatr Clwyd: Creative Associate (Fixed Term) – 19 March 

To develop and lead high quality and engaging Communities initiatives, with a specific focus on Early Years Provision (0-10 years-old). Salary: £28,611 (pro rata)

What you’ll deliver:-

• Interactive Storytelling Telling Workshops – Stori Fach each Tuesday, 9:00am-11:30am
• Drama and Creativity Workshops for Key Stage 1 and 2 each Saturday, 9:00am-12:00pm

Creative Associate (Fixed Term) | Theatr Clwyd

Theatr Iolo: Marketing and Communications Manager – 20 March

Theatr Iolo’s vision is for a society in which all children can feel empowered and inspired. We are looking for a Marketing & Communications Manager to be responsible for devising and implementing all marketing, audience development and engagement strategies and campaigns for all aspects of the company’s work to deepen engagement and diversify our audience. Marketing & Communications Manager | Arts Council of Wales

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

New Croton Review – Rolling

While the New Croton Review seeks poetry, fiction and non-fiction in English, we welcome the submission of translations of work written in other languages (as long as, if the author of the translated work is still entitled to copyright, the author has given permission for the translation). Those who submit English translation of their own work in Welsh may also submit the original Welsh version and should indicate whether they prefer that, if the translation is accepted for publication, the original version be included.

There are no geographical or age limitations. Click here to read the submission guidelines on our website. If your work is accepted, we’ll ask you to grant us the right to publish it, but you retain the copyright and the right to publish it elsewhere.

M2M Books: Open Call for Poetry & Prose Submissions: 2026 Anthology – 13 March

Margin to Margin Books is excited to announce an open call for submissions for our second multi-community anthology. Provisionally titled Margin to Margin, this collection seeks to amplify a range of voices from the literary periphery.

For this second volume, we are expanding our horizons. While poetry remains at the heart of the project, we are also opening the door to prose. We invite submissions that speak to Marginalised Communities in the following categories:

• Poetry: Bold, beautiful, unfiltered.
• Short Stories: Narrative fiction exploring the complexities of identity and place.
• Essays: Personal reflections, social critiques, and lived experiences.

Open Call for Poetry & Prose Submissions: 2026 Anthology – Margin to Margin Books

(un)common magazine – 31 March

We welcome submissions in English and Welsh from writers who are historically under-represented in the publishing industry because of race, religion, sexuality, gender identity, disability, class, caring responsibilities, or socio-economic status.

We only accept submissions from writers who have not had a full-length work published under their own name. If, however, you have had stories, poems or articles published in anthologies or in magazines you are welcome to submit a new piece of work to us. We are not a paying market, although we hope to be in the future.

Our first issue will be on the theme of social class, whether that be our own class system in the UK or a speculative fiction take on what social class might look like in the future. We would particularly like to read intersectional writing on class, and works of, or incorporating, dialect.

Short stories and non-fiction from 1,000 to 3,000 words. Up to three pieces of flash fiction from 300 to 1,000 words. Up to three poems with a maximum of 40 lines (including spacing). Submit – (un)common magazine

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 2026 Forward Prizes for Poetry – 15 March (11:59pm)

Whether you’re a publisher championing brilliant new voices, an editor celebrating outstanding single poems, or a performance poet ready to share your work – we want to hear from you.

Four categories, £17, 000 in prizes:

Best Collection (£10,000)

Best First Collection (£5,000)

Best Single Poem – Written (£1,000)

Best Single Poem – Performed (£1,000)

Forward Prizes for Poetry – Forward Arts Foundation

BBC Young Writers’ Award 2026 – 23 March

The BBC Young Writers’ Award with Cambridge University gives people in the UK aged between 14 -18 years the opportunity to submit short stories of up to 1,000 words.

There are amazing prizes and opportunities to be won. The five shortlisted writers will:

• have their story printed in an anthology
• have their story recorded by a professional actor, and available to listen to on BBC Sounds.
• receive experience days at Cambridge University and at BBC Broadcasting House including workshops with published authors.
• attend the award ceremony at the BBC’s Radio Theatre in London, where the overall winner of the 2026 BBC Young Writers Award and the 2026 BBC National Short Story Award will be announced live on Radio 4
• the winner of the 2026 BBC Young Writers’ Award will also receive one-to-one writing support from one of the judges and have the chance to pitch a short story idea to a BBC radio producer.

You can find out more information on the YWA Website www.bbc.co.uk/ywa and find lots of great tips and hints here www.bbc.co.uk/teach/articles/z8phm39

Royal Mint Museum Short Story Competition – 17 April

The Royal Mint Museum are passionate about increasing accessibility to our collection, promoting literacy and supporting community and they run a short story competition every year for 7- to 11-year-old children in the UK. Their next competition is opening soon and stories can be submitted between 16 February – 17 April 2026. 

The first-place winner will receive a gold coin, £5,000 for their school or local library, and their story illustrated by an artist, and there are more prizes to be won! You can view all the latest information here: https://www.royalmintmuseum.org.uk/learning/short-story-competition/

Wilbur & Niso Smith Foundation: New Voices Award – 30 April

A mentoring programme for unpublished writers. Each year we select five aspiring authors to receive one-to-one mentoring and editorial guidance as they develop their adventure novel from an early idea into a completed first draft. The programme also includes feedback from publishers and advice from a literary agent, offering writers a rare opportunity to develop their work with industry support. Fee waivers are available for those who need them. New Voices Award | Wilbur & Niso Smith Foundation

Bridport Prize – 31 May

The Bridport Prize is one of the most  prestigious awards in the literary world, so you’re in good company. Whether you’re writing poetry, a short story, flash fiction, novel or a memoir, we can’t wait to read your words. Home – Bridport Prize

Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize – 30 June

The seventeenth edition of the prize is now open for original entries and entries in translation across Fiction, Life Writing, and Poetry.

Representing more of the globe than any other prize of its kind, the prize supports writers who have not published book-length works, with no limits on age, gender, nationality, or background. The winners of each category will receive a £1,000 cash prize and publication in Wasafiri. All winners and shortlisted writers will be offered the Chapter and Verse or Free Reads mentoring scheme in partnership with The Literary Consultancy (dependent on eligibility), and a one-year print subscription to Wasafiri.

Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize