Help celebrate the Wells Festival of Literature's 30th anniversary by joining other writers, both local and from around the world, and entering our international competitions!

These are judged by published authors in each category and there are cash prizes to be won, as well as special prizes for local authors. There are four categories: Open Poetry, Short Story, Book for Children and Young Poets. You have until the end of June to enter, so get your creative juices working!

The prizes for all four competitions will be presented on Monday 17 October 2022 during the Festival itself.

The poetry reading for both the Open Poetry and Young Poets takes place on the same day, immediately before the presentation of prizes in all four categories. This special occasion is one of the highlights of the Festival as it is only then that the winning writers will be revealed for the first time!

The Open Poetry Competition will be judged this year by Tristram Fane Saunders. He is the commissioning editor at the Telegraph and, as their poetry critic, he also runs 'Poem of the Week'. Tristram's own poems appear in Carcanet's 'New Poetries Vlll: An Anthology'. His current pamphlet is 'Woodsong' and 'The Rake' is due in May. The first prize for the Open Poetry Competition is £1000, the second prize is £500 and the third prize is £250, with an additional prize of £100 for the best local poet.

The judge for the Short Story Competition will be Lucy Jago. She is an award winning writer of fiction and non-fiction and a former documentary producer for both Channel 4 and the BBC. Her first book 'The Northern Lights' won the National Biography prize. Her YA novel 'Montacute House' was acclaimed in the US and the UK.

Lucy attended the Wells Festival of Literature last year with her book 'A Net for Small Fishes', which is soon to be released in paperback and for which the film rights have been sold. Lucy is a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund and lives in Somerset. First prize for the Short Story Competition is £750, second prize is £300 and third prize is £200, with an additional prize of £100 for the best local short story writer.

The 'Book for Children' will be judged by Lucy Cuthew. She is the author of more than 30 books for children. Her debut novel 'Blood Moon', a YA verse novel, was nominated for the 2021 CILIP Carnegie Medal, shortlisted for the 2021 Wales Book of the Year Award and was selected as a USBBY Outstanding International Book. Lucy is a lecturer in Writing for Young People at Bath Spa University and speaks regularly on the BBC about children's literature. First prize in the competition is £750, second prize £300 and third £200, with an additional prize of £100 for the best local children's book author.

Caleb Parkin will Judge the Young Poets Competition. Caleb, Bristol City Poet 2020-2022, won second prize in the National Poetry Competition 2016 and the Winchester Poetry Prize 2017. His poems feature in many publications. His debut pamphlet is 'Wasted Rainbow' and his debut collection 'This Fruiting Body' was published in October 2021. Caleb tutors for various institutions and holds an MSc for Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes. The first prize for the Young Poets is £150, second £75 and third £50, plus a year's subscription to the Poetry Society for each prize winner.

By entering our competitions you will also be helping to promote reading and a love of literature in local state schools in the wider community. The Wells Festival of Literature is entirely run by volunteers and all profits go towards enabling authors and poets to visit schools to inspire our young people, as well as providing books for young people and one-to-one reading support tailored to the needs of individual children. Please see our website www.wellsfestivalofliterature.org.uk for further information and terms and conditions.