OPPORTUNITIES

AUGUST

• Harvill Secker-Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Award open to entries for writers of colour – deadline 4th August
• For 24 hours, United Agents Books Department will be holding an Open House submissions window to encourage submissions from under-represented groups – 9th August to 10th August – 10am to 10am
• Bad Form Magazine are looking for submissions from BLACK, ASIAN, AND RACIALISED COMMUNITY WRITERS IN THE UK – PAID. Deadline 18th August 2021
•  Morley Prize for Unpublished Writers of Colour – deadline 22nd August 2021
• Southbank Centre’s New Poets Collective programme free bursary places and travel stipends are available. They especially welcome applications from Black, Asian and Ethnically Diverse poets, LGBTQI+ poets, disabled or neuro-diverse poets and working-class poets. Deadline 29th August 2021
• Jericho Prize Celebrating Black-British new writing for children opens 2nd August deadline 2 September 2021
• Streetcake Prize is aimed at writers based in the UK and EU who are responding creatively & experimenting with we seek to identify and develop writers’ careers in the genres of short fiction and poetry – deadline 20th Sept 2021
• Sunspot Literary Journal call for submissions (international, paid) – deadline October 2021
• HQ Creative Inclusion Lab. Created with a mission to increase representation and inclusivity, and led by June Sarpong OBE, our purpose is to discover and nurture debut authors from underrepresented communities – ongoing
• The Black Ballad X Influx First Novel Award will be open in September for Black British women writers who have completed their first (unpublished) novel. (We’ll inlcude links once available)

SEPTEMEBER

• Riptide literary journal is calling for short story submissions 15 September
• Morland African Writing Scholarships 2021 Scholarships are open to anyone writing in the English language who was born in Africa, or both of whose parents were born in Africa 18 September
• Mslexia Women’s Fiction Competition 2021 – Novel for Adults 20 September
• JOFFE BOOKS PRIZE FOR CRIME FICTION WRITERS OF COLOUR 30 September
• Nan Shepherd Prize A biennial literary prize for underrepresented voices in nature writing – 6 AUGUST–6 OCTOBER
• Guts Publishing We accept submissions in these genres: memoir, creative nonfiction, autobiography and adult literary fiction – ongoing
• Scotland’s Creators’ Fund are now live. The fund aims to provide practical funding opportunities for Black and POC artists and creatives across Scotland – ongoing
• Peggy Ramsay Foundation We give money to theatre writers giving them the time and the space to write – ongoing
• The John Byrne Award is a creative competition, open to anyone living or studying in Scotland

OCTOBER

• The Women’s Prize Trust, Audible, Curtis Brown Literary Agency and Curtis Brown Creative Writing School are delighted to launch Discoveries 2022, searching for the most talented and original new female writing voices in the UK and Ireland 17th January 2022
• The 2022 Lancaster Playwriting Prize is now open to anyone from the North West of England who identifies as LGBTQAI+ aged 16 and up to and including the age of 30  25th October
• 404 INK WILL BE OPEN FOR PITCHES TO OUR INKLINGS NON-FICTION SERIES ACROSS OCTOBER 2021
• APPLICATIONS FOR LONDON WRITERS AWARDS 2022 31 October 2021
• The Betty Trask Prize and The Betty Trask Awards 30 November 2021
• The Eric Gregory Awards, for a collection by poets under the age of 30 31 October 2021
• The McKitterick Prize is given annually to an author over the age of 40 for a first novel, published or unpublished 31 October 2021
• Mslexia Women’s Poetry Competition 2021  December 2021
• THE BATH CHILDREN’S NOVEL AWARD 2021  30th November 2021 
• US – NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre 1st November 2021
• US – WRITERS’ COLONY AT DAIRY HOLLOW FELLOWSHIP 29th November 2021
• US – TADPOLE PRESS 100 WORD WRITING CONTEST  30th November 2021

NOVEMBER & DECEMBER

• Literary Agent Julia Silk is currently open to submissions imminent
• Willenfield Literary Agency is open for nonfiction and visual narrative submissions imminent
• Spread the Word has partnered with Wellcome Collection to launch an ambitious project aiming to find and support  writers from underrepresented groups, who have a big idea for a non-fiction book for general readers, that engages with health and being human. 22nd November
• Searchlight Awards – Best Novel Opening for Children or Young Adults is open to anyone over the age of 16. 22nd November 2021
• The Shooter Literary Magazine’s Poetry Competition is open for poetry entries in any style or genre, until November 28th.
•  Love Letters to London. We want you to tell us why you love this city. Write us up to 500 words around the theme of “recovery and resilience”. 30 November 2021
• Broken Sleep Books Seeking submissions of poetry pamphlets 30th November 2021
• Undiscovered Gems  Seeking short story versions of unpublished books 1st December 2021
• PFD are running a Queer Fiction Prize for new LGBTQIA+ writers applications open December 2021
• Lyric Theatre Seeking scripts 5th December 2021
• The RSL Christopher Bland Prize is an annual award of £10,000 to a debut novelist or non-fiction writer first published aged 50 or over. 10th December 2021
• Talawa Free Script Reading Service Open to Black writers 15th December 2021
• VISIBLE Seeking submissions of poetry and prose from writers living with invisible disability 20th December 2021
• Landmark Prize for Fiction 1st January 2021
• Unleash Press £1,000 advance and standard contract for one winning manuscript. Novels, short story collections, and creative nonfiction manuscripts are accepted. 5th January 2022
• The Parracombe Prize 2022 is open for short story entries until 31st January 2022. 
• The Lucy Cavendish College Fiction Prize 2022 is now open Feb 2022
• The Guernsey International Poetry Competition is open for entries until February 15th, 2022.
• The 2022 International Rubery Book Award is now open for self-published and independently published books, from all writers, until 31st March 2022.

• US ServiceScape Short Story Award 30 November 2021
• US The J.F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction 30 November 2021
• US Narrative Fall 2021 Story Contest 30 November 2021
• US The Masters Review is hosting its first Novel Excerpt Contest 30 November 2021
• US Writers from North Carolina and its border states — Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia — are invited to enter their work in four categories: poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and flash. 1st December 2021
• US QUANTUM SHORTS 2021 FLASH FICTION CONTEST 16th December 2021
• Hurston/Wright Legacy Award Submissions 17th December 2021
• 2022 Jacob Zilber Prize for Short Fiction – Black Entry 20th December 2021
• US ‘Awake’ Submission (A Digital Zine for Black Authors) 12th January 2022
• US – The 2022 DISQUIET Prize is now open for submissions in fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. January 2022
• US We are looking for previously unpublished, CHARACTER-DRIVEN fictional short stories written by Black women writers. 31st January 2022
• US Waxing and Waning The Blackout Edition 30th January 2022