Writing West Midlands

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We support creative writers and creative writing in the West Midlands region. We are an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.

Here, we post about opportunities for writers and writer-focused events, courses, workshops and schemes. Writing West Midlands is the Literature Development and Delivery Agency for the West Midlands. We exist to help good writing and literature activities flourish in the West Midlands. We focus on work to develop opportunities for creative writers, including supporting young writers and building audiences for writing.

21/10/2026

Looking for competitions and prizes to submit to? Here’s our latest round up of writing opportunities!

- The Happiful Poetry Prize 2026 - No Entry Fee - Deadline: Friday 30 October 2026 - https://buff.ly/45WYt84
- The National Poetry Competition 2026 - Entry fee: £9 - Deadline: Saturday 31 October 2026 - https://buff.ly/jRtCwOe
- PLATFORM hosted by Faber - No Entry Fee -Deadline: Saturday 31 October 2026 - https://buff.ly/idfpJQE
- The Solstice Nature Prize 2026 - No Entry Fee - Deadline: Saturday 31 October 2026 - https://buff.ly/dlmCHde
- London Writers Awards 2027 - No Entry Fee - Deadline: Tuesday 3 November 2026 - https://buff.ly/AuCRqdt
- W&A Working-Class Writers' Prize 2026 - No Entry Fee - Deadline: Sunday 1st -December 2026 - https://buff.ly/E0qJkXU
- The Malcolm Rushton Prize for Playwriting - No Entry Fee - Deadline: Thursday 31 December 2026 - https://buff.ly/PJYdgAi
- The Green Light Prize by Inkandescent - Entry Fee: £25 - Deadline: Tuesday 1 June 2027 - https://buff.ly/E2LhgaQ
- Scratch A4 Short Story Competition 2026 - Entry Fee: £4 - Deadline: Saturday 24 October 2026 - https://buff.ly/9hHYMGM

16/10/2026

Back by popular demand! This online course is taught by award-winning writer Jane Rogers, over 5 live and interactive sessions.

This course aims to inspire and encourage short story writers, through discussion of brilliant examples, and through a range of exercises giving students the opportunity to explore key elements of the craft.

This course will run on Tuesdays from the 19th January to the 16th February 2027, 19:00-21:00 GMT via Zoom.

This five week course costs £175. Bursaries available.

For more more information and to book, please visit: https://buff.ly/4anFyRQ

14/10/2026

Join writer Ken Preston in this workshop to take control of your writing career. This is where you stop waiting to be chosen and start doing it yourself!

The session will take place on Thursday 14 January 2027, 7 PM - 9 PM via Zoom.

This two-hour workshop costs £35. Bursaries available.

For more information and to book, please visit: https://buff.ly/XdwVOQo

03/10/2026

Writer Wisdom: a series of posts spotlighting writers in our community, sharing their insights and the reason they return to the page, even on the hard days.

This month, author Lucy Marcovitch shares the best writing advice that drives her writing. Lucy’s education writing has been commissioned by public bodies, charities and children’s publishers, including the BBC, Nosy Crow, the Premier League and the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. She also writes short stories and creative non-fiction, and has recently started writing poetry. She has had two picture books published, and her children’s bedtime story, The Elephant Space Tower, appeared in Mslexia in May 2025.

"Two pieces of advice drive my writing, although neither was given directly to me. The first is Don’t write what you know, write what you want to understand. I ripped this from a newspaper article many years ago so cannot attribute the author, but it jumped out at me because I realised that it encapsulated why I write. The newspaper scrap is pinned to my noticeboard to this day, curling and yellowing around the edges, quietly reminding me of what to do.

The other is from a wonderful book on creative writing that many other writers will know: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. She champions the ‘crappy first draft’ – the act of simply getting something down on paper rather than trying to create beauty and wonder (or even full sense) from the outset. I say it to myself when I’m staring at an empty screen trying to work out how to begin, and I taught it to my daughter when she was wrestling with A levels and agonising over essay-writing. Allowing yourself to write a crappy first draft is freeing, giving you permission to put words on paper, however crappy they might be."

01/10/2026

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Bradley Taylor as the new Poet Laureate for the city of Birmingham 2026-28.

Bradley is a very talented poet who has exciting ideas to encourage more people to connect with poetry, and we are really looking forward to working with him over the coming two years.

We’ll be hosting an inauguration event as part of Birmingham Literature Festival on Sunday 11th October at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, featuring poetry performed by Bradley and our newly appointed Young Poet Laureate, as well as from our outgoing Poets Laureate, Ayan Ayden and Japmeh Kaur Gujral. This event is sponsored by Birmingham City University.

Come and join us for this special event, one of many fantastic poetry events taking place across the day. Visit birminghamliteraturefestival.org to book.

Oh, and Happy National Poetry Day!

Photo by: Sam Frank Wood

19/09/2026

Join us for a free morning of networking for emerging and established writers from across the West Midlands and beyond.

This event will feature guest speakers Peter Stones, Relationship Manager for Literature (Midlands) at Arts Council England and Lisa Blower, novelist and producer of the 100Books Project, sharing what it takes to make a successful Arts Council England funding application. Hosted by Jonathan Davidson from Writing West Midlands.

Venue: Newcastle Library, Castle House, Barracks Rd, Newcastle-under-Lyme, ST5 1BL
Date/time: 28th November 2026, 11:00 - 12:30 GMT

Tickets are FREE but bookable: https://buff.ly/PwcHcIl

17/09/2026

Looking for competitions and prizes to submit to? Here’s our latest round up of writing opportunities!

1. The Sareeta Domingo Prize 2026 - No Entry Fee - Deadline: Monday 21st September 2026 - https://buff.ly/I9bheDd
2. The Moth Nature Writing Prize 2026 - Entry fee: €16 per poem or prose piece - Deadline: Wednesday 30 September 2026 - https://buff.ly/6SjLV6I
3. Granta Submissions September 2026 - Entry fee: £3.50 - Deadline: Wednesday 30 September 2026 - https://buff.ly/CorIlYc
4. Hammond House International Literary Prize 2026 - Entry Fee: £10 - Deadline: Wednesday 30 September 2026 - https://buff.ly/tttj71j
5. Searchlight Awards 2026 Novel Prize for YA and Children’s Fiction - Entry Fee: £24 for each entry - Deadline: Wednesday 30 September 2026 - https://buff.ly/YzZySpx
6. Folk Horror Short Story Contest 2026 - No Entry Fee - Deadline: Thursday 1 October 2026 - https://buff.ly/4p3Ssub
7. The Solstice Nature Prize 2026 - No Entry Fee - Deadline: Saturday 10th October 2026 - https://buff.ly/7MbBprI
8. The Caledonia Novel Award 2027 - Entry Fee: £28 per novel - Deadline: Thursday 15th October 2026 - https://buff.ly/kBt6bq9
9. Scratch A4 Short Story Competition 2026 - Entry Fee: £4 - Deadline: Saturday 24 October 2026 - https://buff.ly/lp4PZ3g

02/09/2026

Writer Wisdom: a series of posts spotlighting writers in our community, sharing their insights and the reason they return to the page, even on the hard days.

This month, author Jan Edwards reflects on what keeps her writing. She was a Master Locksmith, librarian, publishing assistant, bookseller, editor and other things she can’t recall off hand. She appears in over 60 fantasy, horror and crime anthologies. Her WW2 crime series, Bunch Courtney Investigations garnered an Arnold Bennett Book Prize. She belongs to both the Crime Writers Association and British Fantasy Society.

"As I enter my eight decade, why do I write is a question I still ask myself. It certainly isn’t for the money! I have sold dozens of short stories over the years, and have a number of novels out there, but I invariably kept a day job; especially in the early days. Many of those jobs have been book related it's true - bookseller, librarian, publishing assistant etc (when I wasn’t slaving for the family business) but day jobs nevertheless.

The short fiction I place in anthologies with main stream publishers in recent years have mostly been commissioned, which is both good and scary. I’m not a slow writer so much as a compulsive re-writer; invariably coerced into relinquishing manuscripts because the deadline is about to whoosh past in a fiery blur. It gets no better (possibly even worse) with novels and I never get away with less than half a dozen drafts before I am even vaguely satisfied with what I’ve produced.

Yet I continue to write, no matter how painfully, frustratingly, infuriatingly time-consuming that process frequently becomes. Why? For the simple reason that I love it."

29/08/2026

Careers in Writing is BACK this November!

Here’s a look back at some of the highlights of last year’s event…We can’t wait to do it all again!

CiW takes place on November 7th 2026, at Birmingham City University and offers a dynamic mix of 1-2-1 sessions, expert talks, and hands-on workshops, providing participants with the tools, knowledge, and inspiration to advance their writing careers.

Book now! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/careers-in-writing-day-2026-ages-16-25-tickets-1989537813156

19/08/2026

Looking for competitions and prizes to submit to? Here’s our latest round up of writing opportunities!

New Writers’ Prize 2026 - No Entry Fee - Deadline: Monday 24th August 2026 - https://buff.ly/cqw2Hqc
The Anthology Personal Memoir Competition 2026 - Entry Fee: €15 - Deadline: Monday 31 August 2026 - https://buff.ly/zOsZBh1
Nero New Writers Prize 2026 - No Entry Fee - Deadline: Friday 11th September 2026 - https://buff.ly/vJ4RWwC
Inclusive Voices Short Story Competition 2026 - No Entry Fee - Deadline: Sunday 13 September 2026 - https://buff.ly/c6IJLKd
Mslexia Short Story Competition 2026 - Entry Fee: £14 - Deadline: Monday 21 September 2026 - https://buff.ly/sr3HXfA
THE JOFFE BOOKS PRIZE 2026 - No Entry Fee - Deadline: Wednesday 30 September 2026 - https://buff.ly/5M53E0A
INK Festival 2027 Script Submissions - No Entry Fee - Deadline: Wednesday 30 September 2026 - https://buff.ly/yLxVbbm

Address

Gibb Street
Birmingham
B94AT

Telephone

0121 246 2770

Website

http://www.writingwestmidlands.org/

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