March Newsletter
News, events and publication opportunities for March
Hi all,
I hope you’re enjoying the start of Spring and that your writing is going well. I’m typing this newsletter to the sound of builders demolishing the concrete roof of my utility room. My house is a 1930’s semi with a bomb shelter on the side (hence the concrete roof). As much as I’ll be pleased to have a proper room to put the washing machine in, I can’t help feeling slightly sad to lose this bit of the house’s history. My grandma had an Anderson Shelter in her garden that my grandad had dug up and repurposed as a tool shed – I expect that’s long gone too. It reminded me of one of my favourite writing prompts which I’ll share with you too. It’s to write about something unusual or interesting you’ve found in a house you’ve lived in. You can use this prompt to write memoir or fiction – or perhaps a mix of the two.
Events:
The next Gather Online Writing Group session is tonight (6 March) between 6.30pm-8.30pm and there are still places available if you’d like to join us. If not, then Gather meets on the first Thursday of every month. It’s £10 per session – email me to book.
I’ve got two upcoming workshops at the Biscuit Factory Gallery. Character Creation is on 16 March and A Sense of Place is on 18 May. These are longer masterclass style workshops but they’re still suitable for beginners or anyone else who’d like to spend a Sunday developing their writing skills.
My Time to Write writing group at Koru Pizza continues to be popular. It’s a smaller group (limited to eight people) and there are a few places left for our next session on 30 March (11am-1pm). It’s £20 per session – email me to book.
Publication Opportunities:
Paper Swans Press would like poetry/flash fiction submissions for The Generation Game - an anthology on generational memories of youth and The Darkest Side of Love – for an expanded edition of their first anthology about how love went wrong. Poetry should be no more than 24 lines and flash fiction no more than 200 words. No fee. Deadline: 30 April 2025.
The Oxford/42 New Writing Prize is looking for talented new voices in fiction. To enter, submit a synopsis (up to 300 words) and an elevator pitch of no more than two sentences for a work of fiction, along with one of the following:
Novel (first 10,000 to 15,000 words)
Stage or radio play (complete script of between 30 and 90 pages)
Screenplay (script of between 30 and 60 pages for episode one of a TV show or complete feature-length film script of 90 pages).
No fee. Deadline: 30 April 2025.
Enter flash fiction of up to 150 words to the Wildfire Words FF150 Competition. Entry fee: £4 per story or £10 for three. Deadline: 31 March 2025.
Original unpublished poems of up to 40 lines and on any theme are invited for the Binsted Prize. Fee: £5 for first poem and £4 thereafter. Deadline: 31 March 2025.
Win a sponsored place at The Swanwick Writers’ Summer School 2025 by submitting fiction (up to 1,000 words), poetry (up to 40 lines) or writing for children (up to 1,000 words) to the Writing Magazine Swanwick 2025 Competition. Writing should be on the theme of horizons and you can interpret the theme in any way. Fee: £7.50 (£6 for subscribers). Deadline: 31 March 2025.
The BBC National Short Story Award is for stories of up to 8,000 words from previously published writers. Free to enter. Deadline: 17 March 2025.
The International Dark Poets Prize: Edition III celebrates the art of poetry that delves into the shadows, exploring themes of darkness, depth and the human condition. 250 words maximum. Fee: £5 per poem | £8 for 3 poems | £10 for 5 poems. Deadline: 31 March 2025.
Finally, don’t forget it’s Submission Window 3 for the Northern Writers’ Awards for writers in the North of England. Deadline: 20 March 2025.
Happy writing!
Amanda