Upcoming deadlines

It's been a while since I did one of my "writers' service announcement" blog posts with some upcoming deadlines, and I am feeling pretty congested today and not up to anything more thoughtful, so here are some places to send your very talented short stories (and the odd poem). Good luck!

Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine contest deadline Jan 31st.

£5000  1st prize , £1000  2nd prize, £ 500  3rd prize, 20 commended entries £50. "‘Medical’ is to be interpreted in the widest sense, including the nature of the body, and anatomy; the history, evolution, current and future state of medical science; the nature and experience of tests; the experience of doctors, nurses and other staff in hospitals and in the community; the experience of patients, families, friends and carers in these situations; the experiences of acute and long-term illness and dying, of birth, of cure and convalescence; the patient journey; the nature and experience of treatment with herbs, chemicals and devices used in medicine". Entry maximum of 50 lines not including title or blank lines. Entry fee £6, entry online or by post. Open to all. 

Orlando Prize contest deadline Jan 31st. (women only)

poetry (90 lines), creative non-fiction (4000words), short fiction (4000 words) & Flash fiction(1000 words). £1000 1st prize in each category .Entry fee $15. Women only. Online entry only. 

Readers' Digest 100 Word Story competition deadline Jan 31st

£5000 1st prize in each category. Entries should be an original, previously unpublished story of exactly 100 words (excluding title). There is no limit to the number of entries you can make. No entry fee. Online entry only. 

Lumen/Camden Poetry Competition deadline  feb 14th

£5000 1st prize in each category Poems up to 40 lines. £2.50 per poem, 6 poems £10. Poetry must not be previously published. Judge: Carol Ann Duffy, Poet Laureate. Proceeds to the Cold Weather Shelter. Pamphlet publication collection of winner's poems - 50 free copies plus a reading. 

Binnacle Ultra-Short Story deadline Feb 15th
"We are looking for prose works of 150 words or fewer and poetry of sixteen lines or fewer and fewer than 150 words. All works should have a narrative element to them.  Please include the work in the body of the email message, if possible. A minimum of $300 in cash prizes will be awarded, with a minimum prize of $50.  Please submit no more than two works total, prose and/or poetry." No entry fee. Online entry only. 

Vestal Review Ten Years in Flash Fiction contest deadline Feb 28th (extended)

£100  1st prize, 2nd prize £ 50. Guest judge Steve Almond will award the first prize of $100, the second prize of $50, and the third prize a signed copy of Mark Budman's novel “My Life at First Try” [I interviewed mark about his fabulous "novel-in-flash" here] and publication in Vestal Review. Results will be announced at Vestal Review website on or about March 1, 2011.Entry fee $4. Open to all. Online entry only.  

Redivider Journal First Annual Fiction Contest deadline March 1st
1st prize: $1000 +publication; 2nd prize: $250; 3rd prize: $100. Max word count 8000. Entry fee is $15 and includes a one year subscription to Redivider. Open to all. Online or postal entry.  

Fish Publishing One Page Story Prize deadline March 20th
1st prize:  €1000 +publication; 9 runners up published in anthology. Max word count 300.Entry fee is €14 online or  €16 postal entry. Open to all

Bristol Short Story Prize deadline March 31st [I am one of the judges] 
PRIZE MONEY HAS DOUBLED THIS YEAR! 1st prize: £1000 +£150 Waterstone's Gift Card: 2nd prize: £700 + £100 Waterstone's Gift Card; 3rd prize: £ 400 + £100 Waterstone's Gift Card; 17 finalists £100. Max word count 3000, no minimum. Entry fee £7. Open to all. Online or postal entry.  

The Collagist 2011 Chapbook Contest deadline April 15th

1st prize: publication by Dzanc Books, plus $250 and 25 author copies; 2 Honorable mentions, possible publication. Entries will be accepted in all genres, including short stories, flash fiction, novellas, poetry, and non-fiction. Manuscripts for all genres should be between 35 and 80 pages in length. Previously-published excerpts or individual pieces are acceptable as part of your entry, but the manuscript as a whole must be unpublished. Entry fees: $15:; $20: Includes contest entry fee plus a copy of the winning chapbook (only available to U.S. entrants) Includes contest entry fee only. Open to all except relatives, close friends, and former students of the judge, Matt Bell.

Addendum: A few more!
Treehouse Press Three-in-One Chapbook Contest deadline March 15th

First, second and third prize winners will each be published in a chapbook by Treehouse Press in September 2011. Winners will receive £100, £75 and £50 respectively, as well as 20 copies of their chapbook. Each entry must contain 3 short stories by the same author (between 10,000 and 15,000 words in total). Winning entries will each have their own chapbook published. Stories can be in any genre. We welcome experimental work, cross−genre work, work that combines text and image, graphic short stories (ie. comics). Treehouse Press will not select winning entries based on race, sex, gender identity, sexuality, religion, age, nationality, physical ability, or geographic location. Quality of work is what we're looking for, as well as work that reflect our ethos.. Entry fees: £10/$15. Open to all.


Short FICTION's short story competition, deadline is 30th April
First prize £500. Word limit is 6,000. Judge: Gerard Donovan. Here's the link. Open to writers at any stage of their career, so ones with books out too. Entry fee: 2 stories for £10, which includes copy of the journal's next issue (which costs £10).