Win a £10,000 Writing Bursary!

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED

Entries for “The People’s Friend” 155th anniversary fiction writing competition are open from January 8, 2024. Submit your romance, thriller, or comedy short story for your chance to win a £10K writing bursary!

As “The People’s Friend” celebrates 155 years of creativity, we are also looking forward to discovering a new voice in fiction.

“The People’s Friend” has championed reading and the best stories right back since its inception in 1869. That’s 155 years of commitment to wonderful writing and those who put pen to paper to create it. Here at the “Friend”, we are determined to keep bringing you the most fabulous stories from exceptional writers. To illustrate our ongoing commitment, we are launching a very special fiction competition, to find a new writer, a new voice and a new source of entertainment for our readers.

As we celebrate our 155th anniversary, we would like to give one new writer a helping hand by paying them a bursary of £10K which includes a contribution from the Olwen Richards Memorial Fund to help fund their writing journey as well as being published in the “Friend”.

Could this be you?

Writing competition brief

Entries are invited from across the UK for those aged 18 and over.

Entrants must be amateur, unpublished writers. They should submit a never-before published story that can be printed across DC Thomson titles without restriction. Copyright for the original stories remains with the authors at all times.

Submissions must have a word count of 2,000 with no more than 10% over or under that number.

Accepted categories are Romance, Thriller and Comedy, with each category having an under 30 age group and over 30 age group subcategory (based on age at date of short story submission). Entrants can submit one short story per genre category (Romance, Thriller and Comedy), totalling a maximum of 3 entries. We would appreciate if each story was emailed separately.

Entries should be typed and emailed as a Word document to 155@thepeoplesfriend.co.uk and include a synopsis (100 words), the short story and a personal bio on the author. Please add your name, the age category you are entering and the genre (Romance, Thriller or Comedy) on the cover page of your story.

Entries should arrive no later than Monday February 5, 2024 at 23:59pm.

“The People’s Friend” 155th Year Bursary Competition FAQs

How do I enter the writing competition?

Submissions to “The People’s Friend” 155th Year Bursary Competition are open from January 8, 2024 at 09.00am via email. Send your entry to 155@thepeoplesfriend.co.uk.

When is the submission deadline?

Entry deadline is Monday February 5, 2024 at 23:59pm.

Who are the judges?

The entries will be judged by a panel of judges, which are selected by DCT and include DCT editorial staff and an independent judge. Once the entries have been judged and the winner selected, the overall winner will be announced in “The Peoples Friend” Magazine, on thepeoplesfriend.co.uk and related Social Media channels (Facebook, Instagram and X/formerly Twitter). Category winners and runners-up will be announced on thepeoplesfriend.co.uk and related Social Media channels (Facebook, Instagram and X/formerly Twitter).

When will the winners be announced?

The overall winner will be announced in “The Peoples Friend” Magazine, on thepeoplesfriend.co.uk and related Social Media channels. Category winners and runners-up will be announced on thepeoplesfriend.co.uk and related Social Media channels (Facebook, Instagram and X/formerly Twitter).

What are the prizes and how do I claim my prize?

The prizes available to win are as follows:

1 Winner prize

• The winner will be announced in “The People’s Friend” magazine, as well as on thepeoplesfriend.co.uk and related social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, X/formerly Twitter)
• £10,000 writing bursary
• Publication of winning short story within a future issue of “The People’s Friend” or brand extensions

3 Category winners (one each from Romance, Thriller and Comedy)

• The Category winners will be announced on thepeoplesfriend.co.uk and related social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, X/formerly Twitter)
• Each winner will be awarded £500

6 Runners-up

• The runners-up, two per category, one under 30 age group and one over 30 age group will be announced on thepeoplesfriend.co.uk and related social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, X/formerly Twitter)
• Each winner will be awarded £200

All prize-winners will be contacted by telephone or email to confirm that they have won a prize and to provide further information on how to claim their prize. Prizes are provided in cash and will be transferred to the prize-winner’s bank account.

“The People’s Friend” 155th Year Bursary Terms and Conditions

For full terms and conditions of this competition, go to “The People’s Friend” 155 Bursary Competition Terms and Conditions page.

Tips to help with your submission

If you’re unsure where to begin, why not check out these writing tips from “The People’s Friend” fiction team?

• How To Use The Five Senses In Writing

• The Seven Elements Of A Successful Story

• How To Avoid Writing Clichés

• How To Write Suspense In Stories

• How To Write A Cosy Crime Story

• How To Plot Your Short Story

• How To Write Emotive Stories

• How To Find Inspiration To Write Your Story