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
Due to the current situation in Wales regarding the Coronavirus, we suggest that anyone interested in taking part contacts the organisers directly for the most up-to-date information.
Funding Opportunities
The Authors’ Emergency Fund – rolling
Applications are open to all professional authors who are resident in the UK or British subjects – including all types of writers, illustrators, literary translators, scriptwriters, poets, journalists and others – for whom author-related activities make up a substantial amount of their annual income.
For further information, click here.
The White Pube Writers Grants – rolling monthly
The White Pube Writers Grant is £500 given out monthly to a working class writer based in the UK. This grant has been set up to support writers of all ages who are early in their careers and would benefit from this no-strings attached financial support to help them in whatever they like – be that money to cover time to write, books, web hosting, printing, subscriptions, research, development, travel, or even just money to fund life expenses and rent.
For further information, click here.
Call-outs
Ffolio – 12 March
Ffilm Cymru Wales, BBC Arts, BBC Cymru Wales and the Arts Council of Wales have announced that their latest round of Ffolio is now open for applications, and is this time looking for audio projects.
Whether you’re a dancer, blogger, musician, writer, photographer, graffiti artist, games designer, puppeteer, circus performer or animator, Ffolio is a new chance to celebrate your creativity.
Dicover more here.
Cipher Press Call for Submissions – 31 May
Queer indie publisher Cipher Press have opened up submissions for trans and gender non-conforming writers, writers of colour, and working-class writers who identify as LGBTQI+.
Full submission guidelines here: https://www.cipherpress.co.uk/submissions
Black Bee Call for Submissions
Newly launched 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.
We 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
Competitions
The 2021 International Book & Pamphlet Competition – 1 March
Judges: Daljit Nagra & Pascale Petit
Entry: 20 pages of poetry
Prizes: Publication by Smith|Doorstop Books; a share of £2,000 cash; a launch reading; publication in the North magazine; book vouchers from Inpress Books and more.
For further information, visit their website.
The 2021 International Book & Pamphlet Competition – 1 March
Judges: Kim Moore
Entry: 12 pages of poetry
Prizes: Pamphlet publication under the New Poets List imprint; a masterclass with the competition judge; a launch reading; publication in the North magazine; a place on an Arvon residential in 2021/22 for two of the winners and more.
For further information, visit their website.
Wilbur & Niso Smith Adventure Writing Prize – 7 March
The Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize is an international prize that supports and celebrates the best adventure writing today. This award is open to aspiring, emerging, and also self-published writers anywhere in the world. First prize is a publishing deal with Bonnier Books UK with an advance of £15,000, and up to six shortlisted writers will be offered manuscript development from a top literary consultant.
For further information, visit their website.
2021 New Welsh Writing Awards: Rheidol Prize – 16 March
This year, the New Welsh Writing Awards champion works of 5,000 – 30,000 words in one category, the Rheidol Prize for Prose with a Welsh Theme or Setting, for writers from the UK and Ireland as well as those who have been educated in Wales for over six months. For the first time this year Gwen Davies will also consider one entry by a writer aged 18 – 25 for publication by New Welsh Review in print or online.
1st prize is £1,000 as an advance against e-publication plus a positive critique by Cathryn Summerhayes, literary agent at Curtis Brown.
2nd prize is a four-night stay at Literature Wales’ Nant writers’ retreat cottage within the grounds of Tŷ Newydd Writing Centre in Llanystumdwy, Gwynedd.
3rd prize is a two-day writing retreat at Gladstone’s Library in Flintshire.
For further information, click here.
The Rhys Davies Short Story Competition – 22 March
The Rhys Davies Short Story Competition recognises the very best unpublished short stories in English in any style and on any subject up to a maximum of 5,000 words by writers in / from Wales.
1st Prize – £1,000 sterling and publication in a short story anthology to be published by Parthian Books in 2021.
10 x Runners-up Prizes – £100 each and publication in a short story anthology to be published by Parthian Books in 2021.
Full details are available here.
Namibia-Wales ‘Stories for Children’ Competition – 30 April
Cardiff University & the University of Namibia are asking up-and-coming as well as experienced authors to submit short stories, written in English, suitable for children aged between 7 and 15 years.
For further information, click here.
2021 Bristol Short Story Prize – 5 May
The 2021 Bristol Short Story Prize is open for entries and is open to all writers around the world whether published or unpublished. 20 stories will be shortlisted and published in Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology Volume 14. The winner and 2 runners up will be selected from the shortlist and announced at an awards ceremony in October 2021. 1st prize is £1,000, 2nd prize is £500, 3rd prize is £250. 17 further prizes of £100 will be presented to the remaining shortlisted writers.
Discover more here.