If the recent article on Write Out Loud from our Contributing Editor Patrick Wright about entering poetry competitions has kick-started your competitive nature, why not take a look at the Aesthetica Magazine Creative Writing Award?  This is the very kind of thing he was discussing.

The Award is an international literary prize that celebrates excellence in Poetry and Short Fiction and is hosted by the international art and culture publication, Aesthetica Magazine. With the aim to support and nurture new writing talent, it awards publication within an inspiring anthology to a shortlist of 60 writers, including a winner from each category.

The winners are also presented with further opportunities to expand their literary careers: £1,000 cash prize each, a consultation with literary agency Redhammer Management, a Full Membership to The Poetry Society, a subscription to Granta and books courtesy of Bloodaxe Books and Vintage Books.

Aesthetica champions artists across a range of media, with talent development at its core. It presents two further awards: the Aesthetica Art Prize and the Aesthetica Short Film Festival (ASFF). Through its three awards, Aesthetica showcases leading practitioners and supports their career through its international reputation and links with the creative industries.

Entry costs £12 for Poetry (40 lines maximum) and £18 for Short Fiction (2000 words maximum).  The deadline for entries is August 31^st and the winners will be announced in December 2018. The winning entries will be published in the 2018 Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual.  To enter visit the Aesthetica website here. 

Tempted?