Courses & Competitions: Mslexia & Granta 2026

I’m delighted to be bringing you details of the latest competitions and courses.

Are you a writer looking to submit your work for competition? Is it something you’ve thought about but you’re not sure where to look? Well, I have just the suggestion for you.

Mslexia are currently running their women’s fiction competitions for 2026.

There are three categories to choose from: Short Story, Flash Fiction and Novel. The closing date for all of the choices below is 23.59 (GMT) on 21^st September 2026.

Short Story –

This is your opportunity to submit an unpublished complete short fiction piece of up to 3,000 words.

The entry fee is £14.

Get this, the first prize is £3,000. Three additional finalists will receive £150. Plus, the winning entry and three finalists will feature in the December 2026 edition of Mslexia as well as Mslexia’s eBook anthology due to be published in December 2026.

Eight additional short-listees will receive £75 and be included in the 2026 edition of Mslexia and the anthology.

The judge will be Ingrid Persaud.

For more information on how to enter along with all the rules and such, visit Mslexia.co.uk.

Flash Fiction –

Alternatively, maybe flash fiction is more your thing.

This is for unpublished complete short fiction of up to 300 words.

Entry costs £8.00.

The winner will receive £1,000 with three additional finalists winning £100 each. Eight short-listees will each get £50.

Like with the short story option, the winner, three finalists and the eight short-listees will feature in the December 2026 edition of Mslexia as well as Mslexia’s eBook anthology due to be published in 2026.

The judge will be Sherrie Flick.

For more details on how to enter and to see all the rules, visit Mslexia.co.uk.

Novel –

Finally, Mslexia are also running their Novel competition for 2026.

To be honest, this sounds incredible.

This is open to unpublished fiction novels of at least 50,000 words in any genre for adult and/or young adult.

Don’t panic. They are asking that you submit the first 5,000 words in the first instance.

Longlisted entrants will then be asked to submit their finished manuscripts, along with a synopsis, later in the judging process. This will be around January/February 2027.

The judges are Sarah Moss, Imogen Morrell and Cat Mitchell. Entry is £28.

The first prize is amazing. It’s £5,000.

The winner and three finalists will also receive the following –

• Manuscript feedback from The Literary Consultancy.
• Pitch training at a day-long professional workshop in Newcastle upon Tyne.
• Personal introductions to agents and editors at a talent party in central London.

(N.B – Both the workshop and talent party are arranged in partnership with New Writing North. Mslexia will contribute up to £100 to each finalists’ travel expenses.)

All entrants will be notified in January/February 2027.

The winner and finalists will be announced on 1^st June 2027.

For more details on how to enter and all the rules and things, visit, Mslexia.co.uk.

(Novel Kicks is not associated with Mslexia or their competitions. Information purposes only. Details correctt at time of publication. Any mistakes are mine and not Mslexia.)

*****

Granta ‘Writing a Literary Novel’ course.

‘Transform your Novel, Redefine Your Practice.’

If a long-term course is something you’re looking for, then Granta could have the thing for you.

Starting on 7^th October 2026, the Writing a Literary Novel course begins. The aim of the course is to finish with 20,000 – 30,000 words of your novel and to ‘gain confidence in yourself as a writer.’

The course will ‘allow space for experimentation and innovation,’  ‘challenge expectations’ & ‘get to know your writing process from the inside out.’ This really does sound great.

It’s estimated that study time would be 10-12 hours so it can be fitted around life.

The tutor for this course will be author, Sarah Moss. It will run for eight months, with eight sessions (one per month,) split into four weekly parts.

• Week 1 – Creative Playground. This is designed to ‘stimulate creativity, challenge habits, build writing muscles and inject fun into the process.’
• Week 2 & 3 – Focused writing-development time to progress your novel.
• Week 4 – Close reading week. Write, edit, read and critique work from your fellow course mates.

Throughout the course, there will be exclusive video interviews, podcasts and transcripts of conversations between Granta editors and guest authors.

The price for this is £3,750 (or six interest-free monthly payments.)

Be aware, the skill level is advanced. The deadline to apply is 2^nd September 2026.

For more information, to apply, and/or to download a prospectus, head to Granta where they are also offering courses on Writing Poetry, Writing Nature, Writing Memoir, Writing Literary Short Fiction and Writing Long-form Journalism. All courses are online.

(Novel Kicks is not associated with Granta. For information purposes only. Details correct at time of publication. Any mistakes are mine, not Granta.)

by

Laura

I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.