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THE BEDFORD COMPETITION, a nonprofit group, runs annual international short story and poetry competitions for anyone in the world over 17 years of age.
There are prizes totalling £5,600 and all winning and shortlisted stories and poems are published as an anthology.
SHORT STORY & POETRY COMPETITION MAIN PRIZES – £2000
2nd PRIZES – £300
3rd PRIZES – £200
CYGNATURE SHORT STORY & POETRY PRIZES – £200
The International Cygnature Competition Prizes are open to young writers worldwide aged 17-25 yrs. Sponsored by the Univerisity of Bedfordshire
BEDFORD SHORT STORY & POETRY PRIZES – £100
Open to entrants residing in the Bedford, UK area. (see competition rules for eligible postcodes).
All submissions are entered in the Main Prize.
Latest News
After the successful 12th year of holding this International Writing Competition, we are pleased to announce that the 2025 competition is now open from
1st May to 31st October.
We are accepting submissions of short stories and poetry in English from across the world.
The anthology of shortlisted and winning stories and poems from the 2024 competition is in the process of being published in paperback and electronic format and will be available very soon in our Bookstore.
Below are the judges for the 2025 competition

Fran Lock
Poetry Prize JudgeFran Lock is the author of numerous chapbooks and fourteen poetry collections. Her most recent collections are Hyena! (Poetry Bus Press, 2023), shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize 2023 and for the PEN Heaney Prize 2024, and 'a disgusting lie': further adventures through the neoliberal hell-mouth (Pamenar Press, 2023). more... Read More

Toby Litt
Short Story Prize JudgeToby Litt is a writer, academic and environmental activist based in London. He grew up in Ampthill and went to Bedford Modern School. He has published novels, short story collections and poems. His most recent book is A Writer’s Diary (Galley Beggar, 2023) – and his diary continues to run on Substack. Read More... Read More

Stephen Bywater
Cygnature Story Prize JudgeStephen Bywater joined the merchant navy at sixteen before studing English at university. After graduating he completed an MLitt at St Andrews. For twenty years he has taught English in Bedford. He is currently teaching English at a college in Cambridge. He is the author of ... Read More

Rishi Dastidar
Cygnature Poetry Prize JudgeRishi Dastidar’s poetry has been published by the Financial Times and BBC amongst many others. He is a fellow of The Complete Works, and a consulting editor at The Rialto magazine. A poem from his Laurel Prize long-listed third collection, Neptune’s Projects (Nine Arches Press), was included in The Forward Book of Poetry 2024... Read More

Kate Packman
Bedford Story Prize JudgeKate Packman is the author of You Can See the End of the World From Here which was longlisted for the Bridport Novel Prize 2024 (published by author cooperative Protea Press). The novel explores the challenges of parenting, mental health issues and the menopause. After graduating from University of Bedfordshire, she completed an MA in creative writing at Birkbeck... Read More

Hazera Forth
Bedford Poetry Prize JudgeHazera Forth co-organises Bedford’s Stanza poetry society and participates in a number of other poetry groups in Bedford. Her work has been long listed in the Poetry Wales Pamphlet Prize and several other publications... Read More
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