The Mslexia Fiction Competitions are open for entries.
There are threecategories this year: Novel for Adults, Short Story, and Flash Fiction. The deadline for each is 18th September 2023.
Submit the first 5,000 words of your novel for adult, or young adult, readers; a complete short story of up to 3,000 words; and a flash fiction no more than 300 words.
Prizes include manuscript feedback and agent introductions, plus publication.
Mslexia Novel for Adults competition – everything you need to know
- Judged by author Sophie Hannah, Natasha Onwuemezi of the Bookseller) and Sophie Lambert, literary agent and MD of the C&W Literary Agency, will choose the winner. This competition is open to women who are not yet published as novelist – self-published authors are eligible providing you’ve had fewer than 500 sales.
- Submit first 5,000 words only in the first instance. Longlisted entrants will be asked to submit finished manuscripts later in the judging process
- Your novel must be at least 50,000 words long
- Entry fee: £26
- 1st prize £5,000.
- Finalists receive manuscript feedback from The Literary Consultancy and personal introductions to literary agents arranged in partnership with New Writing North.
- Previous winners and finalists include Imogen Hermes Gower with The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock, Polly Clark with Larchfield, Frances Perkins with The Seven Imperfect Rules of Elvira Carr, Laura McVeigh with Under the Almond Tree, and many more.
- Read an extract from the 2021 winning novel, Taint, here.
Mslexia Short Story competition 2023 – everything you need to know
- Judged by Deborah Moggach, this competition is for unpublished complete short fiction of up to 3,000 words in any genre and on any theme.
- The entry fee is £12.
- 1st prize £3,000.
- Three additional finalists will each receive £100
- The winning entry and three finalists will be published in Mslexia.
- The winning entry and finalists will be published in Issue 100 of Mslexia, with eight additional finalists, along with the four winners, appearing in Mslexia’s ebook anthology Best Women’s Fiction 2023.
- Find out how 2022 winner Mónica Ibarra Parle did it here
Mslexia Flash Fiction Competition 2023 – everything you need to know
- Judged by Tania Hershman, this competition is for unpublished complete short fiction of up to 300 words in any genre and on any theme
- Entry fee: £6
- 1st prize £500
- Three additional finalists each receive £50
- All four winning entries will be published in Issue 100 of Mslexia
- Winning entries plus eight more shortlisted entries will be published in Mslexia’s ebook anthology Best Women’s Short Fiction 2023.
- Find out how 2022 winner Karen Arnold did it here
Visit Mslexia’s entry instructions for a more comprehensive guide on how to enter.
Find full details at www.mslexia.co.uk. Good luck!
Got an event, challenge, competition or call for submissions you’d like to draw attention to? Send an email to judydarley (at) iCloud (dot) com.
If you subscribe to Mslexia magazine, you may be aware that in addition to the print magazine, subscribers receive a regular e-newsletter titled Little Ms. This includes news, inspirations, story prompts and opportunities to submit ideas and fiction.