The Yeovil Literary Prize international writing competition opens on 1st January 2023, and some changes are taking place. Our closing date remains 31st May 2023. Winners will be informed by September 15th 2023.
We also have new entry fees and increased prizes, in short, our competition has grown and matured; it is now recognised by writers and publishers as prestigious in the international literary world.
To enter, you click on our Competition tab, where you’ll find the five categories. Click on your chosen category and you’ll see the Rules for you to check before entering. They have different emphasis for each category, and they will guide you before entering.
Imagine! Literary Agents seeing your work…
Let your curiosity loose and start exploring with those two little words… What if?
We actively encourage all forms of writing by offering you five categories to enter. You can enter as many as you wish each having its own entry form. Fees can be combined in one payment to make it easier for you.
The Novel for a long time was not catered for in writing competitions but the Yeovil Literary Prize was one of the earliest to offer an opportunity to submit a synopsis and first 10,000 words (in total) for judging. Winning or rising high in this competition has spurred writers on to sending their work to literary agents. We also know that many of you have been published and have had Successes with further books. Our judge for Novels this year is Victoria Howard. So, start editing your work to make it the best possible for judging.
The Short Story is a fascinating piece of writing and a craft worth mastering. Contriving a plot, a setting and time into a short story driven by believable characters with something meaningful to say and ending with a satisfying dénouement is rewarding. Not all short stories have ‘happy-ever-after’ conclusions so use your imagination to write an enjoyable story. Our judge is Steven Kay.
Our Poetry judge is Jesssica Mookherjee. She is a poet of Bengali heritage. Her book ‘Tigress’ was shortlisted in the Ledbury Munthe Prize in 2021.
A poem can be read often with small nuances being revealed each time given further enjoyment.
The category Children’s/Young Adult Novel has historically been unrepresented on the writing competition scene. We look forward to your entries. The Judge is Hannah Gold who specialises in developing and delivering socially engaged initiatives for children and young people.
Our Writing Without Restrictions category needs someone extraordinary as a judge as it attracts such a wide range of writing. We believe that if you have written it and are proud of your words, then it is our pleasure to read it. Our judge this year is Sarah Bayley. She has written and published three very successful books. Her writing has been described as quirky so you can definitely enter something special. See the Rules for guidelines.
Last year some excellent work was eliminated from the short list judging as it exceeded the word count, so please check the Rules for each category. Even if you end your novel entry in mid-sentence, that will be better than not being judged properly.
There are two ways to enter, by using the postal system, or online using PayPal, BACS or IBAN. We look forward to your entries when our writing contest opens on 1st January 2023. The last date for entries is 31st May 2023, so enter as soon as you are ready without waiting for the final week.