Competitions
International Competitions
Poetry, prose and Prizes
Spring into action if you want to enter the 2026 International Competitions hosted by Wells Festival of Literature, now an eagerly contested annual event.
We have the judges – you have the words. Just decide which of the quartet of competitions suits your style of writing and you could be one of the winners to walk away with both kudos and cash. Prizes totalling £5,000 will be awarded to the winning entries in the competition’s four sections: Open Poetry, Short Story, Book for Children, and Young Poets.
Entries are invited from 1 April 2026 until 30 June 2026 in the categories Open Poetry, Short Stories and Book for Children.
There is a longer entry period for Young Poets from 1 April 2026 until 31 July 2026.
All the judges, one for each category, are well-respected experts in their own field so entrants can be confident of the final judgements.
Winners will be announced at a celebratory event at 2pm on 19 October 2026 at Cedars Hall, the Festival venue in Wells. The achievements of all entrants will be publicly recognised at a poetry reading and a prize-giving ceremony where the winners will receive prizes totalling £5,000 between them. There are also special prizes for local winners.
Click on each of the four categories below for full details.
You can now also follow our new Competitions Instagram account: wellsfestivalcompetitions
Poetry Reading and Prize Giving 2025 Galleries
Competition Archive
-
2023 Prize Winners Announced
In 2023 our winning entrants walked away with a magnificent £4825 between them. Perhaps even more importantly they were rewarded with the confidence that their submissions had been read and approved by well-known and highly respected judges, amongst the finest in their fields. This level of recognition is not easily won; entrants submit to Wells…
-
2022 Young Poets Results
Congratulations to our young poet Joe Wright winning this year’s competition. Day Break in Tarbert The har is deep and dark at dawn.Cutters cling to the crests of cliffs,Turn to Tarbert,Pick paths through shallow alliesWith bounties from the Sound. Cold fish spill in silver slicksOn wet concrete. Custard-yellow fishermenTramp toward the day’s first Scotch. Mackay…
-
2022 Book for Children Results
2022 Winners Our thanks go to the shortlist team, to Lucy Cuthew our 2022 Book for Children Judge and to all those entrants who made the competition so tough for the team. Lucy Cuthew is the author of more than 30 books for children. Her debut novel Blood Moon (Walker Books), a YA verse novel, was nominated…
-
2022 Short Story Results
2022 Winners Our thanks go to the shortlist team, to Lucy Jago, our 2022 Short Story Judge and to all those entrants who made the competition so tough for the team. The winning entries can be downloaded and enjoyed from the above table. Lucy Jago is an award-winning writer of fiction and non-fiction, and a…