Applications are open for Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize 2021. Candidates can enter two manuscripts to the prize (£10 for one entry, £16 for double entry), either in the same or different categories. They may also complete the form more than once if you wish to submit more than two entries.

Prizes

• The winners of each category received a £1,000 cash prize and will be published by Wasafiri in print.
• Shortlisted writers will have their work published on the Wasafiri website.
• All fifteen shortlistees and winners will also be offered the Chapter and Verse or Free Reads mentoring scheme in partnership with The Literary Consultancy (dependent on eligibility), and a conversation with Nikesh Shukla of The Good Literary Agency to discuss their career progression.

Eligibility

• Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize is open to anyone who has not published a book-length work of fiction, life writing, or poetry, except for self-published works or poetry chapbooks.
• Entries must not have been previously published in any form (excluding live performances or shares on personal blogs or on social media).
• If entries are published, or accepted for publication, elsewhere between submission and shortlisting, they will no longer be eligible. You must inform us immediately if work submitted to the prize is then accepted for publication elsewhere by emailing [email protected]
• The competition is not open to members of the Wasafiri Board or Wasafiri staff, or any individual involved in the administration of the prize, or their families.
• Entries must be completed through the submissions form no later than 5 pm BST on Monday 31 May 2021.
• Failure to meet the conditions of entry will mean that submission is automatically disqualified from the competition. The entry fee will not be refunded.

Format of Entries

• No entry may exceed 3,000 words.
• All prizes are for short works, not for novel/memoir extracts. While extracts from longer works are not excluded, they must stand alone as complete works in their own right.
• A single poetry entry can include up to three poems, which together total no more than 3,000 words, and which must each be submitted as a separate document.
• Do not write your name or provide any other form of identification on your manuscript or in the document title. All submissions will be considered anonymously.
• Work must be typed, in a legible font, font size 12, double-spaced, A4, and submitted as a .doc file or similar (no PDFs).
• Manuscripts cannot be altered after submission.

Read the full Terms and Conditions and enter the prize here.