The Bedford Short Story and Poetry Competition

THE BEDFORD COMPETITION, a nonprofit group, runs annual international short story and poetry competitions for anyone in the world over 17 years of age.

There are prizes totaling £5,600 and all winning and shortlisted stories and poems are published as an anthology. The competition has been running for 11 years, with the 2024 competition attracting over 1800 entries from 50 different countries. There are special prizes, sponsored by the University of Bedfordshire, for writers aged 17-25 yrs. In addition, there are prizes for local Bedford (UK) residents.

Entries can be from anywhere in the world

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.