You have until 10 February to send in your entries to two competitions being organised as part of the Words by the Water Festival of Words and Ideas in Keswick this March.

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In collaboration with Edinburgh-based Maison Vee’s jewellery, Maryport-based The Journal and Original Plus Publications has announced the free-to-enter Silversmith Poetry Competition.

But not that free. All poems have to be about earrings. Read more>>

“There’s no recipe for a good short story – in fact, they need to be unexpected, surprising. The most familiar material can be surprising if it’s seen freshly.”

So says Mslexia competition judge Tessa Hadley. To see if you can surprise her, read more>>

Two competitions organised in association with Keswick’s Words by the Water festival – the Mirehouse Poetry Competition and the Notting Hill Editions Essay Writing Competition – are open for entries.

The closing date for both is 10 February, and linked events are included in the festival programme in March. Read more>>

The 2012 Anne Pierson Award for Young Writers in Cumbria is open for entries. Established in 2004, the Award is dedicated to encouraging and progressing young people’s interest and abilities in creative writing and to celebrating their achievements.

Anyone aged 15-18 on 31 December 2011 (the deadline for submissions) and living, studying or working in Cumbria is eligible to enter. Read more …

The deadline for the new Mslexia Women’s Novel Competition for previously unpublished novelists is approaching fast – entries need to be in by 30 September.

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Boldly go where a quite a few poets have gone before and enter the Maryport Litfest’s poetry competition, judged by Josephine Dickinson.

The theme of this year’s festival – 4 – 6 November at Senhouse Roman Museum – is Beyond the Frontiers, and likewise the competition takes ‘frontiers’ as its broad subject matter. Read more …

Mslexia, the excellent and award-winning magazine for women writers, are hoping to discover a fantastic new writer who has been overlooked by the usual submission process.

Mslexia’s inaugural Women’s Novel Competition was launched in April this year and has a closing date of 30 September 2011. The competition, which has a first prize of £5,000, is for unpublished novelists only and will be judged by an expert panel including literary agent Clare Alexander, broadcaster Jenni Murray and novelist Sarah Waters. Read more …

The deadline for the Mslexia Poetry Competition is coming up fast – 18 July – and in order to help people write poems to enter, they’ve provided a specially-commissioned series of Jane Holland poetry writing workshops on their website for free.

Invaluable for both experienced writers and those who have never written a poem before ( … read more)

That lively crowd of writers in lonely Mungrisdale have just announced that they’re running their first ever poetry competition.

The theme is ‘Looking Back’, and the winner can look forward to a cheque for £100. The runner-up gets £50, and there’s a £25 third prize. The judge is distinguished poet, author, Salsa fanatic and Lake District lover Grevel Lindop. Read more …