YCAA Writing Competitions
Yeovil Literary Prize
Run between January and May each year, the Yeovil Literary Prize (YLP) is open to writers around the world. The YLP started in 2002 and has become an established fixture of the international writing competition calendar. There are five categories:
- Novel.
- Short Story.
- Poetry.
- Children and Young Adult’s Novel.
- Writing Without Restriction.
The aims of the YLP are to promote creative writing, provide a genuine opportunity for aspiring writers everywhere, and to raise funds for the YCAA. All profits from this competition are used within the community to sponsor local young people who are studying the arts, to support various art projects, and to host cultural events. For full details of this year’s competition, as well as information about previous winners, prizes and more, please visit the Yeovil Literary Prize website.
| Requirement: | Synopsis and Opening Chapters (combined maximum 10,000 words) |
| Professional Judge: | A.J.West |
| Prizes: | 1st £1250 2nd £500 3rd £125 |
| Entry Fee: | £14.50 |
| Requirement: | Maximum 2,000 words |
| Professional Judge: | Julie Goodall |
| Prizes: | 1st £600 2nd £250 3rd £125 |
| Entry Fee: | £8 |
| Requirement: | Maximum of 40 Lines |
| Professional Judge: | Michael Glover |
| Prizes: | 1st £600 2nd £250 3rd £125 |
| Entry Fee: | £5 |
| Requirement: | First 3000 words plus a 500 word synopsis |
| Professional Judge: | Kiran Millward Hargrave |
| Prizes: | 1st £600 2nd £250 3rd £125 |
| Entry Fee: | £12.50 |
| Requirement: | You write it – we’ll read it. |
| Professional Judge: | Jennie Godfrey |
| Prizes: | 1st £250 2nd £125 3rd £75 |
| Entry Fee: | £6 |
| Requirement: | for a short-listed entry by author living in Western Gazette distribution area. |
| Professional Judge: | The Yeovil Community Arts Association committee |
| Prizes: | £100 |
The Young Writers' Prize 2023 … Courage
Our annual writing competition for children takes place at the start of each calendar year. In 2023, we are making some exciting changes to encourage even wider participation from keen young writers with creative talent. In 2023, the competition is open to all young people who live in Somerset and/or attend a Somerset school and whose age corresponds to Year Groups 3 – 8.
Entries are warmly invited from schools or individuals submitting a short story, play script scene or poem making reference to the theme of ‘COURAGE’. This year we are also suggesting two sides of A4 rather than a strict word count and we welcome handwritten or word-processed work. All entries must be original and previously unpublished work of course.
The competition is free to enter and there are book token prizes for the overall winner as well as the winners in each age category of Years 3/4; Years 5/6; and Years 7/8. Where the overall winner comes from a school submitting a minimum of ten entries, we are delighted to also offer the school £250 in book tokens or school resources.
The competition is open to receive entries from Friday 6th January and will close on Friday 24th February 2023. We will contact the winners, their schools or guardians by telephone and email by 10th March and look forward to hosting a Winners’ Presentation at Yeovil Library towards the end of March.
We are delighted to confirm that The Yeovil Community Sports Trust will be supporting The Young Writers’ Prize once again and will be offering the winner and their class something special before the end of the season!
It takes ‘COURAGE’ to enter especially if this is your first time participating in a county wide writing competition but nothing ventured, nothing gained – you are warmly invited to send in your best efforts and we look forward to reading and judging your work.
For full details of the 2023 competition, rules, timeline and entry forms, please see the links below:
YCAA Young Writers’ Prize 2023 – Poster
YCAA Young Writers’ Prize 2023 – Timeline
YCAA Young Writers’ Prize 2023 – Terms & Conditions
YCAA Young Writers’ Prize 2023 – Schools Entry Form – For schools submitting entries on behalf of more than one pupil.
YCAA Young Writers’ Prize 2023 – Parents and Guardians Entry Form – For parents/guardians/teachers submitting an entry on behalf of one pupil.
If you have any queries, please email youngwritersprize2023@yeovilarts.co.uk.
Mini-Saga Competition
The YCAA and Western Gazette newspaper’s Mini-Saga competition starts in late November each year and runs for a month. Ideal for flash fiction writers or those who like a creative challenge, entries must be 50 words long, have a 17-word title, and relate to a specified theme. Previous themes have included ‘Stir’ and ‘Hope’. Details of how to enter are published in the Western Gazette alongside an entry form which must accompany each story. There is no entry fee, but winning writers receive book tokens and their work is printed in the newspaper in early January. Look out for news of the next Mini-Saga competition on our Twitter and Facebook pages towards the end of the year.