Overview

Celebrating Manchester as an international city of writers, finding diverse new voices, and creating opportunities for writer development.

The Manchester Writing Competition offers the UK’s biggest literary awards for unpublished work, offered by the country’s most successful writing school. The Competition was established in 2008 by Carol Ann Duffy (UK Poet Laureate 2009-19) and has awarded more than £220,000 to writers. Each year two £10,000* prizes are awarded: the Manchester Poetry Prize for best portfolio of poems and the Manchester Fiction Prize for best short story. Designed to encourage and celebrate new writing across the globe, the competition is open internationally to new and established writers.

For news and updates about the Competition join our mailing list or follow us on Twitter @McrWritingSchl.

To find out more about the UK’s biggest and most successful postgraduate literary community, and our events, courses and competitions, visit the Manchester Writing School website or contact writingschool@mmu.ac.uk.

*Terms and conditions apply