Competitions Policy & Rules

• The full shortlist of 12 entrants for each of the Short Story and Flash Fiction competitions will be announced in Mslexia magazine and on the website, and published in the ebook anthology Best Women’s Short Fiction 2026 on 1 December 2026.
• Copyright of any entry remains with the author, but Mslexia has the unrestricted right to publish the winning entries or extracts in its magazine and on its website, plus unrestricted rights to use the winning entries and any related material for PR purposes.

Eligibility

• The competition is open to all women, of any nationality, from any country, provided you're writing in English (or associated dialects) 
• Entries should not have been published or accepted for publication in print or online by a third party.  
• Entries that have won other competitions are not eligible.
• The Adult Novel Competition is for unpublished novelist only. Women who have had a text novel published by a mainstream or independent publisher, for any age group, in any country, are not eligible. 
• All or part of self-published manuscripts with sales of fewer than 500 copies are eligible.
• Entries should not be a translation of another author’s work.
• You do not have to subscribe to Mslexia to be eligible.
• Employees of Mslexia are not eligible.
• AI-generated entries are not eligible. You may not use Artificial Intelligence, or the AI tools of other apps, to aid in any part of the story's creation. Spellcheckers and word processors are permitted. By submitting, you are formally declaring that no AI has been used.

For a more detailed explanation of 'published' visit our Entry Instructions page.

How to enter

• All competition categories open for entries on 1 June 2026 and close at 23.59 GMT on 21 September 2026.
• You may enter online or send your entry by post. If entering online, there are full instructions on the website.  
• If entering by post, please print out and complete the submission form on our website, mark your envelope ‘Mslexia Fiction Competition’ and send it to: Mslexia Publications Ltd, PO Box 656, Newcastle upon Tyne NE99 1PZ.
• If entering by post, please pay by cheque (payable to Mslexia Publications Ltd.) or by debit/credit card (phone +44 (0)191 204 8860 with your details). 
• You may enter as many competition categories as you like, with as many submissions as you like, but you must enter each submission separately, accompanied by a separate fee.
• Entry fees must be in pounds sterling. For overseas entries, international online card payments are accepted. 

Prize Terms

Novel Competition

• Manuscript feedback from The Literary Consultancy is optional. Practical arrangements should be agreed between the finalists and TLC. 
• The pitch training is a day-long professional workshop in Newcastle upon Tyne. The personal introduction to agents and editors will take place at a Talent Party in central London. Both events are arranged in partnership with New Writing North. These parts of the prize are also optional. Mslexia will contribute a total of £100 towards each finalists’ travel expenses. 
• These additional prizes must be taken before 30 September 2026. 

Short Story Competition

• Payment for each of the eight additional shortlisted stories, that will be published along with the four winners in the ebook anthology Best Women’s Short Fiction 2026 is £75. 

Flash Fiction Competition

• Payment for each of the eight additional shortlisted flash fictions that will be published along with the four winners in the ebook anthology Best Women’s Short Fiction 2026, is £50.   

The closing date for all three fiction competition categories is 21 September 2026.

Poetry and Poetry Pamphlet Competition 2026 Rules & Prize Terms

All categories

Single Poem Competition: for poems of any length, in any style.

Poetry Pamphlet: for collections of 18-20 poems, of up to 24 pages. 

All entries

• Type each poem, single-spaced, on A4 pages. If a poem is longer than one page, please number the pages. Write the title on the same sheet as the poem. This applies to single poem entries as well as to poems that are part of pamphlet entries.
• Your entry will be judged anonymously, so do not put your name on the page with your poem/s.
• No alterations may be made to an entry once it has been submitted.
• All winners will be notified of the outcome of their entry via email. Notifications will be sent to the Single Poem entrants in February 2027 and all winning poems will be published in the Mar/Apr/May 2027 issue of Mslexia magazine. Notifications will be sent to the Poetry Pamphlet entrants in May 2027. 

Single Poem Entries

• Poems may be in any style, of any length, on any subject. Sequences of differently-titled poems must be entered as separate poems. A poem that is structured in several parts may be entered as one poem.
• You may enter any number of poems, but may only win one prize in the single poem competition. This is to allow the maximum number of entrants to receive recognition.
• Entrants who have not had poetry published (see definition under ‘Eligibility’) are also invited to enter the Unpublished Poet Prize by ticking the ‘Unpublished’ option on the online or postal entry form.
• You may enter any poem from a pamphlet entry into our competition for single poems, provided it fulfils the entry requirements. These are separate competitions, so you would need to make a separate entry. Success in one competition will not affect your chance of success in the other competition.

Prize Terms

• 1st Prize: £2,000.
• 2nd Prize, £500; 3rd Prize, £250; Unpublished Poet Prize, £250. 16 additional finalists win £25 each.
• The Unpublished Poet Prize may be awarded in addition to a finalist prize, but not in addition to a 1st, 2nd or 3rd prize.

Poetry Pamphlet Entries

• The Pamphlet Competition is separate from the Single Poem Competition and is for short collections of up to 24 pages of 18-20 poems.
• Pamphlet entries may contain poems of any length or style, providing each page contains no more than 40 lines of poetry, and there are no more than 24 pages of poetry in total.
• Poems must be typed, single-spaced, on A4 pages and in a single document.
• Poems submitted may not have been published previously as part of a pamphlet or full collection, but poems that have been published in magazines, anthologies, blogs and other media are eligible for inclusion.
• You may enter any poem from your pamphlet into our competition for single poems, provided it fulfils the entry requirements. These are separate competitions, so you would need to make a separate entry. Success in one competition will not affect your chance of success in the other competition.

Prize Terms

• The prize is £500 plus publication by Bloodaxe Books.
• The winning poet will be offered Bloodaxe Books’ standard publishing agreement in which copyright for the poems remains with the author, but Bloodaxe reserves the right to publish the work in its entirety or in part in the UK, Ireland, and the rest of the world for three years following the publication of the pamphlet. All rights will revert to the author at the end of this time.

Eligibility

• The competition is open to all women, of any nationality, from any country.
• Poems should be in English (or English dialect)
• Poems should not be a translation of another author’s work.
• Poems entered for the Single Poem Competition must not have been previously published or accepted for publication in print or online by a third party, or included in self-published works that are commercially available and have sales of over 300 copies.
• Simultaneous submissions are allowed, of individual poems or pamphlet collections, provided the poet withdraws their work from consideration in other competitions immediately upon notification of its placement in the Mslexia competition.
• You do not have to subscribe to Mslexia to be eligible.
• Employees of Mslexia are not eligible.
• AI-generated entries are not eligible. You may not use Artificial Intelligence, or the AI tools of other apps, to aid in any part of the poem's creation. Spellcheckers and word processors are permitted. By submitting, you are formally declaring that no AI has been used.

How to enter

• All competition categories open for entries on 1 September 2026 and close at 23.59 GMT on 7 December 2026
• You may enter online at www.mslexia.co.uk/competitions, or send your entry by post. If entering online, there are full instructions on the website.
• If entering by post, please print out and complete the submission form on our website (www.mslexia.co.uk/competitions), mark your envelope ‘Mslexia Poetry Competition’ and send it to: Mslexia Publications Ltd, PO Box 656, Newcastle upon Tyne NE99 1PZ. If entering by post, please pay by cheque (payable to Mslexia Publications Ltd.) or by debit/credit card (phone +44 (0)191 204 8860 with your details).
• You may enter as many competition categories as you like, with as many submissions as you like, but you must enter each submission separately, accompanied by a separate fee.
• Entry fees must be in pounds sterling. For overseas entries, international online card payments are accepted. 

Single Poem Competition: The entry fee of £12 allows you to enter up to three poems. You may enter as many times as you like, provided each set of poems is accompanied by the £12 entry fee.

Poetry Pamphlet Competition: The £20 entry fee allows you to enter one pamphlet. You may enter as many times as you like, provided each collection is accompanied by the £20 entry fee.

The closing date for the Single Poem and Poetry Pamphlet Competition is 
23.59 GMT, 7 December 2026.