A UK poetry submission schedule for Jan-Jun 2021

There's more uncertainty than usual about poetry magazines and pamphlet competitions. "Envoi" has gone and some other magazines are taking a breather. I'll update this list as I find out more.

• January
  • Kent and Sussex poetry competition - 1st Prize £1000, entry fee £5, deadline 31st Jan.
  • Stinging Fly - Submission window closes on Jan 16th
• February
  • Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine. 1st prize £1000. Fee £7. Deadline 14th Feb. See http://hippocrates-poetry.org/
  • Southword (deadline 28th Feb)
• March
  • Poetry Business pamphlet/book competition (deadline 1st March)
  • iOTA shot pamplet competition (deadline 22nd March. £20)
  • Ambit - Submission window opens on 1st (closes on 1st April)
  • Cinnamon's Poetry Pamphlet Prize. Fee £10, 2 pamphlets published. Deadline 31st March.
• April
  • Frogmore Papers - Submission window opens on the 1st
  • Snakeskin - deadline 5th April. Theme "Breathe"
  • Ware Poets Competition - Fee £4. 1st prize £600. Deadline 30th April
  • Ver Poets Competition - Fee £4. 1st prize £600. Deadline 30th April
• May
  • Under the radar - 1st-31st window for poetry. See https://www.ninearchespress.com/magazine.html
  • Interpreter's House - Submission window closes on 14th
  • Bridport - Competition deadline 31st May. See http://www.bridportprize.org.uk/
• June
  • Allegro window opens 1st June. Theme: Geography
  • Paperswans pamphlet competition (deadline 30th June)
  • High Window submissions open
  • The Alchemy Spoon theme: Body (deadline June 30th)
  • Poetry Birmingham (deadline June 30th)

A UK/Eire prose submission schedule for Jan-Jun 2021

As more magazines introduce submission windows, and competitions increase their significance, it's worth planning ahead. Details are more hazy this year - I'm unsure whether those below are correct - I'll update when I can. Some magazines are taking a break. Anyway, I shall try to submit to these (mostly UK) competitions and submission windows -

• January
  • Stinging Fly - Submission window closes on Jan 6th
  • Wigleaf - stories under a 1000 words. Submit during the last week in January - see http://wigleaf.com/about.htm
  • Pure Slush. Deadline 31st Jan? Theme: birth, new start. Max 1000 words
• February
  • Splonk 500 words. February window
  • Lost Balloon 1000 words. (1st-7th)
  • HU (deadline 7th Feb)
  • National Flash Fiction anthology. Theme: TA DA! MAGIC!. Max 500 words Deadline 15th Feb.
  • Ambit - Submission window opens on 1st. Closes on 1st March (you pay to submit)
  • Exeter - Competition deadline 28th Feb. Max 3000 words. Fee £7, 1st prize £700. See http://www.exeterwriters.org.uk/p/competition.html
• March
  • Popshot Theme - Growth (deadline 1st March). Short stories: 1,000 to 3,000 words. Flash fiction: 100 to 1,000 words
  • York Literary Review Theme - Time, Memory.
  • V Press flash pamphlet submissions (deadline 7th March)
  • Southword - fiction window (Deadline 31st March. Opens 1st Jan)
• April
  • Bath competition - deadline 15th April. Max 2,200 words. Fee £8, 1st prize £1200. See https://www.bathshortstoryaward.org/
  • Shooter. Theme: Escape. Deadline 25th April. 2k-6k words
  • QuietManDave Prize (Flash Fiction or Non-fiction). Deadline 17th April. 1st prize £1000 in each category. Fee £5.
• May
  • Bristol Competition - deadline 1st May. Max 4000 words. Fee £9, 1st prize £1000. There's an anthology too. See http://www.bristolprize.co.uk/
  • Interpreter's House - Submission window closes on 14th
  • Bridport - Competition deadline 31st May. Max 5000 words (Fee £9, 1st prize £5000) or 250 words (Fee £7, 1st prize £1000). See http://www.bridportprize.org.uk/
  • Frome story competition - Deadline 31st May. First prize £400. Entry fee £8. 1000-2200 words. See http://www.fromeshortstorycompetition.co.uk
  • Yeovil story competition - Deadline 31st May. Fee £7. 1st prize £500. Max 2000 words. See https://www.yeovilprize.co.uk
• June
  • VS Pritchett - (Fee £7.50, 1st prize £1000). See http://rsliterature.org/award/v-s-pritchett-memorial-prize/ Deadline 28th June.
  • Stinging Fly window opens.
  • Postbox story submissions close on 30th June.
  • Under the radar - 1st-30th window. See https://www.ninearchespress.com/magazine.html
  • Wells Festival Story Prize. Deadline 30th June. Fee £6. 1st prize £1000. 2000 words max
  • Tamarind - science-related prose (articles and stories). Deadline 30th June

Poetry in 2020

• More of the magazines that I've subscribed to have disappeared, and I've not renewed subscriptions to some others (e.g Rialto, Stand) because I understand far too few of their poems - I think they've changed more than I have.
• My successes have been limited in number though I'm glad I got in The High Window and Fenland Journal
• I've written 6 poems this year. I wish their scarcity meant they were good.
• I didn't enter any poetry competitions except for the Magma pamphlet competition.
• I've given up thinking I can ever get in Poetry Review, PN Review, Poetry London, etc.
• I've read quite a few poetry books. As usual I didn't choose just the books I thought I'd like. I understood very little of "Wade in the water" (Tracey K Smith) and "The Prince of Wails" (Stephen Knight). I thought "Fleche" (Mary Jean Chan) was far longer than it needed to be - it would have been better as a single-topic pamphlet. I liked Happenstance pamphlets by Edwards and Buckley.
• From my (very limited) viewpoint, I feel that the poetry community is expanding in terms of styles and ethnic origins, even if the statistics don't yet show it. There's more fusion and vitality.
• I didn't replace my attempts at physical networking by virtual networking. I miss the small-press book fairs.

Prose in 2020

• This was the year of my blitz on story competitions. A complete failure. Few successes in magazines either.
• I've written more prose than usual. Nothing show-stopping. I like a 3000 word piece and a 250 word piece that I've written. Neither have been accepted yet.
• Because of covid I've been listening to audio books for the first time - a life-style change. I was unsure whether I could maintain attention intensely enough. I can handle "The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle" (Stuart Turton) without having to make too many notes, so I reckon I'm going to be ok. I listened to several Booker long-listed novels that I wouldn't normally have read, and liked them more than I expected.
• I attended the Zoom launch of Postbox, issue 4 - the only virtual launch I've attended.
• I worked my way through my reading list of books old and new - "Asymmetry", "Regeneration", "The Prime of Miss Brodie" etc. My favourite books were the Bath Short Story Award anthologies.
• I noticed that the Edge Hill University Short Story Prize (worth £10,000 - the only UK based award to recognise excellence in a single authored short story collection) had a longlist of 12 authors, all female. I conclude that I must try harder.
• I ended the year by reading Zadie Smith's "Grand Union", a story collection which should give hope to budding short story writers. She famously got her first book contract while a Cambridge student, and still is a highly regarded writer. The pieces are in several styles (SF, essay, etc), some rather derivative - Cusk, Le Guin, etc. I guess it's good that she's experimenting. 5 were in New Yorker, 2 in Paris Review and 1 from Granta. The rest are unpublished. To me, Parents' Morning Epiphany is a dud - not even good of its type. Some of the others look dodgy too. Reviewers, even her fans, have doubts -
  • "At least eight of the 19 stories in Grand Union aren’t very good."
  • "an uneven grab bag of picked-up pieces and experiments — some of which, from an unknown or less-celebrated writer, might have stayed in a drawer"
  • "you’d think that this collection would be a banger of a book, but for me, unfortunately, it felt more like a wet squib – and needless to say I was hugely disappointed."