These are the full terms and conditions for The Leicester Writes Short Story Competition.
1. The Leicester Writes Short Story Prize 2026 is by invitation only. The prize aims to encourage new writing.
2. All entries must be original unpublished prose, on any theme and no more than 3,500 words. The entry must not have been accepted for publication elsewhere. Entries subsequently listed in other prizes will need to be withdrawn.
3. Entries cannot be unfinished at the time of entry. We will not allow entries to be amended at a later date so please submit completed stories only.
4. Writers may submit a single short story of any length (up to 3,500 words).
5. Winners will be notified at the email address stated in their entry. We may from time to time post updates across our social media channels.
6. All entrants must complete the entry form online. This will help to verify your email address and eligibility.
7. Your entry must be submitted before midnight on 31st July 2026. Entries will not be accepted after this date. Please don’t leave it until the last minute to submit your entry.
8. By submitting, the entrant grants Dahlia Books the right to publish their entry on electronically and in a published collection in the event of their work being longlisted and/or winning the competition. The copyright of the works will remain with individual authors.
9. Dahlia Books cannot accept responsibility for entries which are not received or which are received after the closing date due to technical failure or for any other reason.
10. Winners agree to participate in publicity events in connection with the competition.
11. Dahlia Books and the winners may enter into agreements which will grant Dahlia Books the publishing, broadcasting, serial and electronic rights in the longlisted and winning entries.
12. Dahlia Books reserves the right to change the rules of this competition without notice.
13. The winner of the competition will be notified in September.
14. Any prizes offered must be taken within 30 days.
15. The decision of the competition judges will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
16. Entries to the prize must be the sole work of the author. You must not use any AI tools to conceive, generate, edit or co-create your short story.
17. All entries are judged by humans. We will never feed your work through any AI tools to assess the quality of your entry.
18. Employees of Dahlia Books and members of their immediate family are excluded from participating in the competition.
19. We may, from time to time, inform you of new books and special offers that we think will be of interest.
20. Please send any competition queries via email to f.shaikh@dahliapublishing.co.uk