Lit Works First Page Writing Prize

Delighted to be involved in this:

We're accepting submissions! 

We’re accepting entries for the Literature Works First Page Writing Prize. We are seeking superb opening pages of unpublished novels (and a 150 word synopsis) from promising writers around the country. We’re looking for openings of a novel that make us want to read on, for that compelling first page of a novel that captures the imagination! Proceeds will support our Grassroots Literature fund, providing small grants for reading and writing activity across South West England. Please read our competition documents for submission guidelines and rules.

The Prizes
1st Prize – £1500 and a free reading of the first three chapters of the entry by a literary agent, who will provide an A4 single-page feedback on the submission
 2nd Prize – £350

 3rd Prize – £150

To Enter
Please read our guidelines sheet carefully. All entries should be accompanied by a completed cover sheet.

 Please send entries to: Literature Works First Page Writing Prize, Peninsula Arts, Plymouth University, Roland Levinsky Building, Drake’s Circus, PLYMOUTH, PL4 8AA The entry fee is £5, payable in pounds sterling, for first entry; £3 thereafter for subsequent entries. The closing date for the competition is 30 September 2013.

The Judges

Sarah Duncan is a novelist and screenwriter whose most recent novel, Kissing Mr Wrong, was shortlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year. Her novels are published in fourteen countries around the world including the USA, France and Germany. Sarah is the Royal Literary Fund fellow at the University of Bath and has taught the Fiction Writing Workshop for the University of Bristol for the past eight years. Find out more at www.sarahduncan.co.uk

 Tania Hershman likes it short, very short. Her new collection, My Mother Was An Upright Piano (Tangent Books, 2012) contains 56 tiny fictions, and her work has been published widely in print and online and broadcast on BBC Radio. She is writer-in-residence in the Science Faculty at Bristol University and editor of The Short Review. Find out more at www.taniahershman.com

Christopher Wakling’s six acclaimed novels include What I Did, The Devil’s Mask, and On Cape Three Points. Born in 1970, he read English at Oxford, then worked as a farm hand, teacher and lawyer, before turning to writing full time in 2001. As well as writing fiction, Christopher is a travel writer for The Independent. He is also the Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Bristol University and has tutored many creative writing courses for The Arvon Foundation, The Faber Academy, and Curtis Brown Creative.

The Agent

Clare Wallace joined the Darley Anderson Agency in January 2011. As the Head of Rights, she negotiates deals for translation rights all around the world for all the Agency’s authors. Clare represents authors both in the UK and the US including Kim Slater, Polly Ho-Yen, Adam Perrott and illustrators Jon Holder, Loretta Schauer and Pete Williamson. Clare graduated with a first from a BA in Creative Writing and Cultural Studies at Bath Spa University and went on to gain a distinction on the MA in Creative Writing.

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