The Inaugural Liskeard Library Writing Competition aims to recognise great writing which stems from a connection to either Cornwall or Devon. Whether you have lived in the South-West at some point or your writing is simply inspired by it, you’re eligible.

The competition offers author exposure and the ability to both win and earn money with your writing.

One winner will be chosen by our Writer in Residence, Peter McAllister. They will win £100.

Nine further writers will be shortlisted with their work subsequently being made available for ‘rent’ by visitors to the Liskeard Library Café during the months of September, October and November 2024. Each time a visitor to the library ‘rents’ a writer’s work, they will also receive information on the writer. All proceeds gathered from the café’s rental of stories will be pooled and split evenly between all ten writers.

Rules:

• All genres of writing are permitted, including fiction, non-fiction, and non-academic essays.
• Open to residents of Cornwall or Devon, or those who have some connection with either county.
• Applicants must be aged 18 or above at the time of entry.
• All entries must be written in English.
• The entrance fee is £9.
• There is no limit on the number of entries one person can make, but each entry must be submitted separately.
• Submissions must be standalone and cannot be extracted from a larger piece.
• Please submit a maximum of 2,000 words per entry in double spaced 12pt Arial or Times New Roman font. .pdf .doc .docx .pages filetypes are all acceptable.
• Submissions will be judged anonymously, so please ensure that your name does not appear anywhere on your work.
• Stories must not have been published (not including self-published), or accepted for publication in print or online, or have won or been placed in another competition. Simultaneous submissions are encouraged, however if your entry is published, wins or is shortlisted elsewhere, please contact us to swap your entry for another piece you have written – you may do this a maximum of two times.
• Entrants retain full copyright, however by entering, all shortlisted entrants and the winner give permission for their work to be available for ‘rent’ in Liskeard Library Café for a period of three months. Funds from renting of all stories will be pooled and split evenly between all ten writers with payment being made to them as soon after November 30^th as is possible.
• Due to the volume of applications, the judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into following the results.
• Following payment, you will be given an email address to send your entry to (on your payment confirmation page). Please ensure you include the surname used to make payment in the body of your email (not within your work, as this is judged anonymously)