competitions

Terms & Conditions

Terms and Conditions applicable to all Competitions

  • Entry into any Competition is subject to these Competition Terms and Conditions and to the extent not inconsistent, to the General Terms and Conditions.
  • The Open Poetry, Short Story and Book for Children Competitions are open for entries from 1 April 2026 until [00:00:] 30 June 2026 BST.
  • Entrants outside the United Kingdom must enter online. Entries must be in English.
  • The Young Poets Competition is open for entries from 1 April 2026 until [00:00:] 31 July 2026 BST.
  • Entrants outside the United Kingdom must enter online. Entries must be in English.
  • Each of the four Competitions has separate rules (Rules) stipulated which apply to that Competition.
  • All entries must be the exclusive and original work of the entrant. Entrants to the Young Poets Competition must be aged 16 to 22 inclusive, at the closing submission date on 31 July 2026. Entrants to all other competitions who are under the age of 16 at the closing submission date on 30 June 2026 must have permission from their parent or guardian, to whom any prize will be paid on the Entrant’s behalf.
  • Entrants to the Young Poets Competition may submit up to three entries. Entrants to the Open Poetry, A Book for Children and Short Story may enter as many times as they wish. Each entry requires a separate fee, stipulated in the Rules for each Competition.
  • At the time of entry, the work submitted must not have been entered into any other Competition and must not have been published in any format or location. All Competition entrants agree that once a work has been entered in any one of the Competitions, it must not subsequently be entered into any other competition or published until either (a) it has been determined that it has not won a prize or (b) after the prize winners have been revealed.
  • Entries which exceed the stated length will be disqualified.
  • Please save your work simply as its Title, as a PDF. Any deviations from this format will be disqualified.
  • The entries for each competition will be shortlisted by our experienced shortlisting panels.  The lists will then be sent to the advertised judges.  In case of necessity, the Wells Festival of Literature reserves the right to change a judge or judges without notice.
  • ONLY shortlisted entries will be notified, and their names may be published by WFL in any format and in any medium. The list will be posted on the WFL website no later than 30 September 2026.
  • By entering a competition, all entrants grant permission and appropriate rights to WFL to publish their entries for any purpose of the Competition, including on the WFL website, and in any booklet published by WFL.
  • The judges’ decisions are final. No correspondence will be entered into.

Open Poetry

  • You have read, understood and agreed to the WFL Competition Terms and Conditions.
  • The fee for each separate entry is £8. Competitors may submit any number of entries.
  • All entries must be anonymous. Do not include your name or contact details in the file title. Your name and contact details are recorded via a form.
  • Type your entry 1.5 or double-spaced text.
  • Put the title and page number on each page of each entry.
  • Poems may be on any subject.
  • Poems must not exceed 40 lines of text in length.
  • Add the line count to the top right of the first page.
  • Save the file as a PDF.
  • The file name should be the title of the poem only, typed exactly the same as the document, for example: I wandered Lonely as a Cloud
  • Do not put Wells Entry, my Poetry entry etc in the file title.
  • For untitled pieces, save the document with the first line of the poem.

Short Story

  • You have read, understood and agreed to the WFL Competition Terms and Conditions.
  • The fee for each separate entry is £8. Competitors may submit any number of entries.
  • All entries must be anonymous. Do not put your name or contact details in the file title. Your name and contact details are recorded via a form.
  • Type your entry 1.5 or double-spaced text.
  • Put the title and page number on each page of each entry.
  • Stories may be on any subject.
  • Stories should be between 1,000 and 2,000 words in length.
  • Record the word count on the first page.
  • Save the file as a PDF.
  • The file name should be the title of your story, typed exactly the same as for the document.
  • Do not put Wells Entry, my Short Story entry etc in the file title.

Book for Children

  • You have read, understood and agreed to the WFL Competition Terms and Conditions.
  • The fee for each separate entry is £8. Competitors may submit any number of entries.
  • All entries must be anonymous. Do not put your name or contact details in the file title. Your name and contact details are recorded via a form.
  • Type your entry 1.5 or double-spaced text.
  • Put the title and page number on each page of each entry.
  • The competition will judge writing for children, age 7 and up.  This includes writing for young adults
  • Entrants must stipulate the age range of their book.
  • We require either the first three chapters or first thirty pages, whichever is the shortest, together with the synopsis of up to two pages.
  • Both the synopsis and the story should be saved in the same document for online entries.
  • Save the file as a PDF.
  • NB: Shortlisted authors may be asked to send in their complete manuscript.

Young Poets

  • You have read, understood and agreed to the WFL Competition Terms and Conditions.
  • The fee for each separate entry is £3. Competitors may submit three entries and must be aged 16 to 22 inclusive, at the closing submission date on 31 July 2026.
  • All entries must be anonymous. Do not put your name or contact details in the file title.  Your name and contact details are recorded via a form.
  • Unless specific to the layout, please submit poems with single line spacing.
  • Put the title and page number on each page of your entry.
  • Poems may be on any subject.
  • Poems must not exceed 40 lines of text in length.
  • Add the line count to the top right of the first page
  • Save the file as a PDF.
  • The file name should be the title of the poem only, typed exactly the same as the document, for example: I wandered Lonely as a Cloud
  • Do not put Wells Entry, my Poetry entry etc in the file title
  • For untitled pieces, save the document with the first line of the poem