Writing Competitions

Short Story Competition

Our short story competition has a different theme each year, decided at the AGM in the spring. You can interpret the chosen theme in any way you choose, just make sure it’s linked in some way.

You can submit your entry at any time until the closing date the following January, so there’s plenty of time to work on your story. Entry is free, and is open only to members of Cambridge Writers.

The word limit is 2500, not including the title.

We use an external judge, and have had professionals in the fields of publishing, writing or education adjudicate previously.

There is a fantastic £100 available to the winner, £70 for second, and £50 for third place.

There’s also the added bonus that, subject to your agreement, you will see your entry published in one of our beautiful short story competition anthologies.

To get an idea of the types of entries that do well in our contests, have a read of some of the winning stories from previous years here.

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Flash Fiction Competition

Our flash fiction contest runs in September each year. Entry is free, and is open only to members of Cambridge Writers.

Entries are brought along on results night and read out by a selected reader in order that authors remain anonymous.

All members attending the results evening then vote on their favourite entries. The top three entries win £30, £20, and £10, as well as the glory.

The definition of ‘flash fiction’ often varies significantly. We keep the word count pretty tight at 250 (not including the title, thank goodness!). There is no set theme, so you can write your flash piece on any subject, and in any genre you like.

All members can attend the results evening, you don’t have to have entered the competition, and we encourage all members to come – it’s a lot of fun. But if you have entered, you cannot vote for your own entry!

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Remember you have to be a member to enter our writing competitions, so find out more about joining Cambridge Writers here.