In 2026 we will host the first writing competition. There will be two competition categories: Flash fiction (400 words) and short story fiction (1000 words).
Entry date
The dates for the competition have not yet been revealed. Hold your horses and ready your pens. To hear about this, subscribe to our site to get all the information when it’s ready. We will not spam you!
Prizes
- First prize for each category of competition will be £100
- First prize winners will have their story depicted by an artist, which will be included alongside their story on our website.
- Second prize for each category will be £25.
- First, second and commended stories will be published digitally on the Chawriteable website.
Who can enter?
The competition is open to anyone over the age of 16. It is open to any writer, published or unpublished. (And yes, if you write, you are a writer!). Entries must be your own work.
Whether you are based in the UK or across the globe, you are welcome to enter. Competition entries must be in English.
Fee and fundraising
Entry donation is £5 or more. Authors can donate larger amounts through our ticketing system to raise money for our chosen charities.
10 free places are available for people who cannot afford the fee currently. Please email chawriteable@gmail.com to claim a place.
Guidance
Genre information will be added soon.
The flash fiction maximum word count is 400 words and the short story fiction maximum word count is 1000 words. There is no minimum length of story for either category.
Rights
The worldwide copyright to submitted stories will remain with the authors (including film, broadcast and dramatic rights). However, entering the competition enables rights for the stories to be published digitally on the Chawriteable website for commended and winning stories.
Authors may request their stories to be removed from the website and this will be complied with.
Judging process
Judges will be announced in due time.
Judges will be shared a long-list of up to 200 works of fiction for their respective category. A panel of experienced readers will read all submissions to narrow down the field prior to judges reading them.
Working with AI
We encourage all writers not to use AI to write or edit their submitted work. While AI has extensive uses, this competition is for humans only. Keep AI involvement within the fictional content, please.
Admission details
All entries must be in a clear font, size 12-14 and should be double-spaced (for ease of judging). Pages should be numbered.
Entries should be submitted electronically in word, pdf, or txt file format via email to chawriteable@gmail.com
The first page of the submitted document should include the author’s name, contact details and word-count of the entry. No other information should appear on this page. I.e. if the text of your entry takes three pages, your details and word-count will appear on page 1, your entry title and content on pages 2, 3 and 4 of the document. This first page is for administrative purposes only and will be removed before the entry is passed to the judging panel.
Any content past page 1 that includes the author’s name or other personal identifying mark will be disqualified.
Entry and Payment
Authors can buy tickets for entry via [details to be added soon] and then the fiction should be attached to an email and sent to chawriteable@gmail.com
The subject line of the email should read as either:
- Flash fiction – Chawriteable 2026, or
- Short fiction – Chawriteable 2026
The content of the email should clearly include the author’s name, contact details and ticket booking ID. The title of the attached document (with your story) should be the title of your story (without your name).
Fees cannot be refunded, but the competition is running for charity, so hopefully this would not be necessary, anyway.
Thank you for your interest in joining this competition, we look forward to reading your work of fiction!
If you have any questions, please contact us.