Aurora Prize for Writing 2025

The Aurora Prize for Writing is a national writing competition, seeking outstanding new writing in short fiction and poetry. This is a national writing competition open to everyone. International entries are also welcome.

This year’s judges include T.S. Eliot Prize winner Joelle Taylor, reading poetry, and multi-award-winning author Irenosen Okojie, judging prose.

The winners of the writing competition, in each category, will receive a cash prize of £500, feedback on a piece of work of their choice from a leading literary agent (or Editor as appropriate) and a years free membership to the Society of Authors, which includes access to advice and resources on all aspects of the business of writing.

The best 25 submissions in each category make it to a published longlist and the best 10 in each category on published shortlists. The writing competition also offers prizes for second and third places in each category, plus prizes for the best work from the East Midlands region.

Is this competition legit?YES! – Based on our research this event is legitimate and the organizer is well established. However, as with any event, please remember to do your own research before submitting your work.

FAQ
If you are curious how writing competitions work, or it’s your first time entering one, we recommend reading our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page first.

ProWritingAid
We are keen to encourage quality, so suggest writers to check their stories before submitting using Prowritingaid. They have free and paid versions and are the best writing software we know to help improve grammar, readability and check for repetition, ‘sticky’ sentences and suggest alternatives. Visit their website and try ProWritingAid for free.