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Opportunities for writers
There are lots of opportunities for writers in Scotland. We've collected and listed the current crop below.
For more opportunities, you might also want to look into our resources for writers, and our writing programme; the New Writers Award, Ignite Fellowship and the Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship. If you're under 18, why not check out What's Your Story?
Please not that we curate this list but don't run the opportunities listed. You can find free guidance on copyright and other issues on the Society of Authors' (this will open in a new window)advice page.
Want to share an opportunity with us? Email andrew.blair@scottishbooktrust.com (this will open in a new window)
No Deadline
Primo Poetica
Looking for football poetry that will strike a chord across Europe due to the delayed Euro 2020 tournament.
Entry fee: None
Postcards from Malthusia
Looking for new and unpublished poems addressing issues related to the current situation.
Entry fee: None
Loud Coffee Press
April
Déraciné
Literary magazine looking for prose, flash fiction and poetry. Work should engage with feeling of displacement.
Deadline: Friday 03 April
Entry fee: None
The Unconventional Banana Zine
Looking specifically for art and essays connected to alternative food trade/unconventional bananas.
Deadline: Wednesday 15 April
Entry fee: None
Middleground
Looking for poetry, non-fiction, fiction and visual art from mixed raced people only.
Deadline: Sunday 19 April
Entry fee: None
Gutter Voices
Looking for poetry, flash fiction and short stories. Submissions instructions are on page 31 of issue one.
Deadline: Monday 20 April
Entry fee: None
Abridged
Looking for "poetry and/or art on these contagious times and the response to it".
Deadline: Sunday 26 April
Entry fee: None
Broken Sleep Books: Video Game Poems
Looking for poems that explore video games and video game consoles starting with the NES in 1985, through to the Dreamcast in 1998 - with all consoles and games in between.
Deadline: Thursday 30 April
Entry fee: None
Federation of Writers: Vernal Equinox 2020
Competition looking for poetry, short stories, flash fiction/mini-story, Gaelic (poems and/or flash fiction) and Scots (poems and/or flash fiction).
Deadline: Thursday 30 April
Entry fee: Various, see link below.
May
Dove Tales: Poetry of Peace
Looking for poetry, flash fiction and prose in response to photographs (see link below).
Deadline: Friday 01 May
Entry fee: None
Bad Betty Press
Looking for poetry on the theme of "Survival". Send up to three unpublished poems.
Deadline: Sunday 10 May
Entry fee: None
Poetry Lab Shanghai
Looking for poetry in English or Chinese translations. Send up to three unpublished poems by email.
Deadline: Friday 15 May
Entry fee: None
Dostoevsky Wannabe - Glasgow
Looking for experimental pieces created by two or more collaborators connected to Glasgow.
Deadline: Friday 15 May
Entry fee: None
Scottish Writers' Centre
Looking for poems and flash fiction on the theme "City, Town and Village".
Deadline: Sunday 24 May
Entry fee: One free entry (three for members)
Litro
Looking for poetry videos and flash fiction on the theme of isolation.
Deadline: Friday 22 May
Entry fee: None
Wigtown Poetry Prize
Looking for poems of 40 lines or under across English, Scots and Gaelic categories.
Deadline: Friday 29 May
Entry fee: For most categories, see website for details.
June
Fly on the Wall Press
Looking for poetry, art and photography "which embodies the spirit of Manchester" for their Mancunian Ways Anthology.
Deadline: Saturday 06 June
Entry fee: None
The Writers' Cafe
Looking for poetry and fiction on the theme of "Secrets".
Deadline: Sunday 07 June
Entry fee: None
Ringwood Publishing
Short story competition open to all writers aged 18-29 either based in Scotland, or who have previously resided in Scotland.
Deadline: Tuesday 30 June
Entry fee: £2
Ongoing Opportunities
Awards
The John Byrne award
The John Byrne Award is an online exhibition and competition exploring personal and societal values, open to anyone over 16 years old in Scotland. Creative writing and illustration welcomed. An award of £500 is offered quarterly, plus an annual award of £7,500. All entries are eligible for all prizes and all entries will be considered for posting on the John Byrne Award website and social media pages.
Entry fee: Free
The Zooker award
A new literary award that aims to encourage disadvantaged authors and reward works of social value. Single prize of £500, plus embossed certificate and featuring. Open to anyone who has published a book through Arkbound or any other publisher.
Entries can be made between 19th May and 10th October each year.
Entry Fee: £7.50 (concessions available)
Luna Press Publishing
Science Fiction, Fantasy, Dark Fantasy publisher who accept submissions on specific days each year.
Speculative Scotland (all writers born in Scotland): 25 January, 30 November Speculative Scottish Diversity (writers who identify as BAME (Black, Asian, minority ethnic), mixed-race or POC (people of colour) with a connection to Scotland either by birth or residency): 18 July, 02 October Speculative Novella: (all writers): 15 April
Entry Fee: None
Call for Submissions
Speculative Books
Speculative Books is currently accepting unsolicited submissions of poetry. Send in a maximum of two poems.
Entry fee: None
The Dark Horse
The Dark Horse Magazine is accepting unsolicited submissions of poetry by post only.
Entry fee: None
Glasgow Review of Books
Lallans
Lallans is published twice a year and is the journal of the Scots Language Society. It includes poetry, fiction, reviews and articles in Scots.
Entry fee: None
The New Shetlander
The New Shetlander is a bi-annual publication looking for contributions of prose and poetry with a Shetland interest: all will be considered for publication.
Entry fee: None
Product Magazine
Product Magazine is currently looking for fiction, art and photography.
Entry fee: None
Shoreline of Infinity
Shoreline of Infinity is looking for science-fiction poetry and book reviewers.
Entry fee: None
Thi Wurd
Thi Wurd is a fiction magazine based in Glasgow. Submissions of short fiction and illustrations are welcome.
Entry fee: None