Submissions are now invited for our annual Non-Fiction Competition, The Richard Booth Prize 2024, named after one of Hay-on-Wye’s most notable residents and it’s self proclaimed ‘King of Hay’. Richard was always a great supporter of books, Hay-on-Wye and of course, local writers.

Sadly, Richard passed away in 2019, but his name lives on everywhere in Hay, including this writing prize which he so graciously sponsored during his lifetime and we continue to honour in his memory.

This year we are thrilled to confirm that the judge for our Non-Fiction Competition is Dr. Alwyn Marriage.

Dr. Alwyn Marriage is a poet, lecturer and writer, a member of the Society of Authors, and Managing Editor of the publishing house, Oversteps Books. She is also a Research Fellow in the School of English and Languages of the University of Surrey.

Alwyn is the author or editor of fifteen books, which include a number of poetry collections, a couple of non-fiction books, and two novels: Rapeseed and The Elder Race. Two recent poetry collections are In the image: portraits of mediaeval women and Pandora’s Pandemic. Her latest collection, Possibly a pomegranate, was published in spring 2022 and her poetry, articles and reviews are published widely in newspapers, magazines, journals and on-line platforms.

· Entries must be entirely the work of the entrant and by submitting you are confirming that the work is your own. Any evidence to the contrary will result in immediate disqualification.

· Entries must not have been published, self-published, published on any website, blog, social media, or online forum, broadcast nor winning or placed (as in 2nd, 3rd, runner up etc.) in any other competition.

· If your entry has been long-listed or shortlisted in other competitions and provided it has not won a prize or been published, it is eligible.

· Simultaneous submissions are allowed but will become ineligible should they win a prize elsewhere or be published prior to the date of prize giving. Entry fees will not be refunded. You must inform us immediately should your entry be published or win a prize elsewhere.

· Entries submitted posthumously are not eligible.

· Entries must be a minimum of 500 words and a maximum of 1250 words. The theme is entirely open. Title is not included in the line count.

· We will disqualify entries if they are named or over the line limit. If you forget to add the title or line count your entry will NOT be disqualified.

· The closing date for entries is midnight on Monday 22nd July 2024. Any entries received after this date will not be considered.

Entries

· Please use a good-sized text (12pt preferred), and clear typeface (e.g., Times New Roman, Arial, Courier, or Comic Sans) as a courtesy to our judge, with single spacing between lines and double spacing between paragraphs.

· All entries are judged anonymously. Your name or any contact details must NOT appear on your entry. Please put your name, title, and contact details on the booking form only. Please do not include your name in the file name.

· Please put the title and word count at the beginning of your entry. Please number your pages and secure them together if you are submitting a hard copy.

· We would prefer entries via email but will also accept hard copies.

· Via email: Send your entry to haywriterscompetitions@outlook.com as a pdf attachment with a completed copy of the form overleaf attached. Please write ‘competition entry’ in the subject box.

· Via post: Send your printed entry to – The HWC Competition Secretary, 3 Crug View, Silver Street, Llanfaes, Brecon, Powys, LD3 8BL, with a completed copy of the form overleaf attached.

The entry form and full competition details can be downloaded here –

Time get writing! Good luck!

And Finally …

A Note on Plagiarism

In April this year Spelt Magazine identified a placed piece of writing, from one of their annual competitions, had been submitted by an individual discovered to be a serial plagiarist. The news shocked and saddened the not only everyone at Spelt, but also rippled through the hard working, honest and conscientious multitudes connected to the writing and publishing industry.

As Wendy Pratt (Founder and Editor in Chief of Spelt Magazine) said, “it hurts me, personally, to know that we have platformed a writer who has built their reputation on the backs of other writer’s hard work.”

Hay Writers’ Circle completely acknowledges, supports and concurs with Spelt’s view on plagiarism. We thank them for their bravery in drawing this unpleasant subject to all our attentions and the professional way they have moved forward after it’s discovery.

Don’t forget to subscribe with your email address in the box below.