The Bedford Competition is a not for profit organisation, based in the United Kingdom, which runs international writing competitions that should appeal to anyone with an interest in creative writing.
All the entries we receive are entered in the main story and poetry competitions which have prizes of £500 first place, £150 second and £100 third. In the past it has not been unusual for overseas entrants to be amongst the prize winners.
We recognise that it is important to encourage young people to exercise their literary talents and in addition to the above prizes we give what it referred to as our Young Writers’ Award for the best poem and short story received from a person in the age group 17 to 25, inclusive.
The stories or poems may be something completely new, or something that has been worked on already. There are no theme or genre restrictions but it must be original, unpublished fiction. An entrant may submit more than one story or poem.
Inspired by the affects of the current covid-19 pandemic which is affecting every country throughout the world, there is, for this year only, a special Rainbow Prize for short story entrants aged 70 or over. We have chosen this age group for this one-off prize as they are not only deemed to be the most vulnerable, but are most likely to be suffering lockdown blues as they have been prevented from pursuing social activities and interacting with their children and grandchildren.
The twelve shortlisted stories and poems plus the prizewinners of the Young Writers’ Award and the Rainbow Prize will all be published in a paperback and electronic anthology, providing an opportunity to send their work into the outside world.
More detail and how to enter can be found on our website The Bedford Competition
