The competition is run by the Bridport Arts Centre in Bridport,  England. The competition is open to anyone aged 16 and over.

Founded in 1973, the Bridport Prize is the Arts Centre’s flagship project. Attracting many thousands of entries from across the world each year, it has grown to become one of the most widely respected creative writing competitions in the English language.

The competition has four categories:

• Poems: 42 lines max. No minimum.
• Short stories: 5000 words max. No minimum.
• Flash fiction: 250 words max. No minimum.
• Novel: 8,000 words max. 5,000 words minimum taken from opening chapters PLUS 300 word synopsis.

Please note: The Novel Award is now open to writers aged 16 and over living in Britain and Ireland and British writers living overseas.

Entries must be in English.

Entries must not have been published, self-published, published on any website, blog or online forum, broadcast, have won or been placed (2nd, 3rd, runner up etc) in any other competition.

We are keen to encourage quality submissions, 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.