Tag Archives: creative opportunities

The Fiction Desk seeks ghost stories

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Arnoa Vale Cemetery cr Judy DarleyGot a spooky tale to share? In these early days of the year with so many hours to each dark night, The Fiction Desk invites you to seek a home for your spooky scribblings by submitting an entry to their annual call for ghost stories of 1,000 to 10,000 words.

The deadline for entries is 31st January 2024.

The editors encourage you to have a play to discover your own definition of ‘ghost story.’

They say: “It can mean a lot of different things, from an encounter with an actual phantom in the style of classic ghost stories, to more unusual supernatural phenomena and unexplained events. All types of story are welcome, so feel free to experiment: if you stray too far from the supernatural, we’ll still read it as a general submission. Keep in mind that our readership (and by extension our editor) may be more likely to respond well to psychological chills and unexplained mysteries than in-your-face gore.”

They pay £25 per thousand words for stories they publish (eg £100 for a 4,000 word story, or £150 for a 6,000 word story). Contributors also receive two complimentary paperback copies. The stories they publish are also eligible to enter the Writer’s Award, a cash prize of £100 for the best story in each volume, as judged by the contributors.

Rules of this call for submissions

Entries should be between 1,000 and 10,000 words in length. Most of the stories they publish are between about 2,000 and 7,000 words.

To cover admin costs, submission fees are £4 per story. Stories should be submitted online.

You might find it helpful to take a look at their previous ghost story anthologies.

Find full details of how to submit your ghost stories here.

Got an event, challenge, competition, new venture or call for submissions you’d like to draw my attention to? Send me an email at judydarley (at) iCloud (dot) com.

New Light Art Prize calls for entries

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New Light Winners montage

Got northern soul? Now’s the perfect time to show it off as the New Light Art Prize is open for entries until 30th April 2023.

To be eligible for the biennial open prize exhibition, you need to be an artist who was born in, lives in or has studied in one of the historic counties of the North of England – Cumbria, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Yorkshire and – for the first time – Cheshire.

If that fits, you can submit your work online via www.newlight-art.org. Entry into the competition costs £20 for the first two pieces of artwork and £10 for any subsequent entries.

Awards up for grabs include:

  • The £10,000 New Light Valeria Sykes Award – open to all artists over 18 with a connection to the North of England, whether through birth, degree level study or residence
  • The £2,500 New Light Patron’s Choice Award – presented on the night of the private view where all exhibited works are considered
  • The New Light Emerging Artists Prize sponsored by The Saul Hay Gallery – offering mentoring, professional advice and exhibition opportunities including a solo show
  • The New Light Printmakers’ Prize sponsored by Zillah Bell Gallery – all forms of original printmaking are eligible; the winner will be offered a solo exhibition at the Zillah Bell gallery in North Yorkshire, host to some of the UK’s very best printmakers’ shows
  • The New Light Visitors’ Choice Award – visitors are asked to vote for their favourite work at each venue
  • New Light Purchase Prize – the winner’s work is purchased by the charity to add to its Collection

Some of the UK’s most renowned art experts will select the shortlisted entries, with judges including Curator of The Whitworth Gallery Olivia Heron, Director of Panter and Hall, London, Matthew Hall, renowned figurative artist Mark Demsteader and Development Director of New Light Art Rebekah Tadd.

Prize winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in September 2023 at The Williamson Art Gallery and Museum in Birkenhead, where the winning artwork will feature in a prestigious launch exhibition before embarking on the Prize’s biggest ever tour to Bankside Gallery, London, Rheged Arts Centre, Penrith, The Biscuit Factory, Newcastle, Northumberland and finishing at The Mercer Gallery in Harrogate on 31st December 2024.

Rebekah Tadd, Development Director at New Light says: “This is a wonderful opportunity for new and established artists to get their work seen by thousands of people in some of the finest galleries in the UK. Those shortlisted will exhibit their work across the UK, from Cheshire to Yorkshire, Northumberland, Cumbria and London.”

She adds: “At this time of financial uncertainty, it’s more important than ever to support artists by providing opportunities to exhibit their work. We are delighted to be working with The Williamson Art Gallery and Museum to create a fabulous launch and awards ceremony and the following tour is our biggest yet, spanning 14 months.”

Past New Light shortlisted artists who’ve had success with exhibitions across the UK and further afield include Norman Ackroyd CBE RA, Anne Desmet RA, Maxwell Doig, Mark Demsteader, Christopher Cook, Mandy Payne, James Naughton and Jo Taylor.

Sheffield-based artist Joanna Whittle, who won the Valeria Sykes Award in 2020 for her oil-on-copper painting ‘Sorrowing Cloth’, says: “It has been fantastic to be involved with the New Light Prize Exhibition and the support has been amazing. Winning the Valeria Sykes Award allowed me time and space to reflect on and develop my practice which has been invaluable and allowed me to take new and enriching steps in my work.”

For more info, visit www.newlight-art.org.uk

Image captions clockwise from left: Across Borge Bay by Ian Brooks (Winner Printmakers’ Prize), Sorrowing Cloth by Joanna Whittle (Winner Valeria Sykes Prize 2020), Forlorn by Vic Harris (Winner Patron’s Choice Award), Seen by Linnet Panashe Rubaya (Winner Emerging Artist Prize), Tree Sparrow by Christian Alexander Baily (Winner New Light Purchase Prize).

Got an event, challenge, competition or call for submissions you’d like to draw my attention to? Send me an email at JudyDarley (@) iCloud (dot) com.

The RWA Photo Open Exhibition wants your snaps…

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Realm by Judy Darley

Submissions are open for the RWA Photo Open Exhibition. To be in with a chance of showing your photographic work in the RWA’s beautiful galleries, submit your digital images online by Monday 5th December 2022.

Entry is open to emerging talents, passionate amateurs, established artists and professional photographers alike. If you use photography to inform your sculpture, installation, architecture or other artistic practice, you are also encouraged to enter.

All you need is vision, and the courage to send in your finest photos.

A selection panel including internationally acclaimed artists will review every entry.

If selected, your work will be shown in the RWA’s galleries alongside some of today’s leading photographic artists and seen by thousands of visitors and potential buyers, as well as being available for a global audience to buy online.

An assortment of prizes are up for grabs too, including:

  • Teresa Knowles Bursary Award – £1,500 towards a photography trip to Italy PLUS  the opportunity to exhibit the resulting work at the RWA
  • MPB Sponsor Awards – £1000 voucher to spend on photographic kit; plus two runner up awards of £500 vouchers
  • Niche Frames Award – cash prize of £250 plus voucher of £250 towards printing or framing
  • Student Award – £250 cash prize for best work by a student, sponsored by the Friends of the RWA

Entries can be any size and can be single images or make up a limited series. They can be simple photographs or artworks that include a photographic element, including 3-D works. They can be any size.

Find the full submission criteria and submit your work here.

Got an event, challenge, competition or call for creative submissions you’d like to draw attention to? Send an email to judydarley (at) iCloud (dot) com.

Become a woodland writer in residence

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Arnos Vale light in the canopy. Photo by Judy Darley

Forestry Commission England is seeking two writers to share the stories of our country’s woodlands.

They ask: “What do forests mean to you? If you’re a writer with a passion for nature, we want to hear from you.”

The successful applicants of the Writers in the Forest opportunity will be invited to observe the Commission’s expert foresters, wildlife rangers and world-class scientists at work in a bid to understand the trees that make up the forests that still sprawl across sections of England. The works created in response to these experiences will form part of the centenary year celebrations of the Forestry Commission.

You will receive unique access to England’s forests, promotional support and a platform on which to share your work, development opportunities and £2,500.

The submission deadline is midnight GMT on 14th January 2019.

To apply, you need to send your CV and a pitch outlining your interest in the opportunity and how you might respond creatively to our nation’s forests, whether that’s through poetry, short story or something else entirely, providing it is rooted in words.

Pitches can take the form of up to 750 written words, a video of maximum three minutes durations via YouTube or via Dropbox/WeTransfer, or up to three minutes of audio via SoundCloud.

They say: “We’re looking for innovation and imagination, and welcome all forms of storytelling.”

Find full details here: www.forestryengland.uk.