Farnham’s First Five Pages – Writing Competition
Deadline: Friday 10 January 2025
Farnham Literary Festival presents Farnham’s First Five Pages writing competition.
Entrants to submit the first 5 pages of their novel and a 250-word synopsis, your work does not have to be finished.
There is no set theme or style of writing however your entry should be an unpublished, original story.
The judges will agree on a longlist of 20 submissions and 10 will be shortlisted.
Awards:
First place – THE PARIS PRIZE FOR FICTION – £1000 and a critique
Second place – £300
Third place – £200
The Paris Prize for Fiction:
The Farnham Literary Festival is immensely grateful for the generosity of B.A. Paris, the New York Times and Sunday Times best-selling author, who has offered this substantial prize. B.A. Paris says, ‘I am very grateful to those who supported me early in my writing career and want to show my gratitude by encouraging new authors. Writing competitions play an important role in building a debut writer’s confidence and I hope that by sponsoring this prize, we will uncover some exciting new talent.’
Eligibility:
- 18 and over
- You must be an unpublished writer (self-published writers are eligible, but the work itself must not be published anywhere)
- Your work must be your own, original writing
- Only fiction work will be accepted
- Your work does not have to be finished; we only need the first 5 pages!
Rules:
IMPORTANT: All entries are judged anonymously. Please do not include your name or any other personal information on the document.
Length:
- The first 5 pages (maximum) of your work
- The first page of the submission should include a 250-word synopsis (the synopsis is in addition to the 5 pages, not included in the page count)
Format:
- Save as a PDF file or Word Document with the novel title as the file name
- Please do not include your name in with the file name
- First page to include the synopsis
- Numbered pages
- Include the title of the work on every page (in the header)
- Entries must be typed in 12 pt with black font, double spaced and in Times New Roman font
- Entries must be in English
Fees:
There is a £10 fee per submission. There is no limit to the number of submissions per person
Results:
Longlist announcement – TBC
Shortlist announcement – TBC – award ceremony details to follow
Short-listed entrants will be interviewed in person or via zoom before the judges make their final decision
All shortlisted works will have the opportunity to be published on the Farnham Literary Festival website.
If you have a query, please contact megan.cross@farnham.gov.uk
Meet the Judges
Louise Morrish
Louise Morrish is passionate about women’s history. She loves
nothing more than discovering the stories of ordinary women
in the past who achieved extraordinary things, but whom
history has forgotten.
Her dream of seeing her own book on a shelf came true when
her debut novel, Operation Moonlight, won Penguin Random
House First Novel competition in 2019. Operation Moonlight was
published in 2022, and her second book with Penguin, Women of War,
will be published in March 2025. Louise is now represented by
literary agent LBA Books.
B.A. Paris
B.A.Paris is the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author of the word-of-mouth hit Behind Closed Doors. Her new novel will be out later this year.
With 7 million editions of her seven novels sold worldwide, her books have been translated into 41 languages. Three of her novels have been optioned for major screen adaptations and a film has been made of her novel The Breakdown.
Gill Thompson
Ex Farnham resident and Alton College lecturer Gill has written four historical fiction novels, all of which have been digital number one bestsellers.
She now lives in West Sussex and has recently been appointed Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of Chichester.
Gill hosts a creative writing website at: www.wordkindling.co.uk
Melanie Whipman
Melanie Whipman is a writer, editor and lecturer. Her work has been broadcast on Radio 4 and published in numerous literary and commercial magazines and anthologies.
She is an Associate Lecturer at the University of Chichester; leads creative writing workshops in Farnham and is commissioning editor for The Story Player.
Her debut short story collection, Llama Sutra, won the Rubery International Book Award (short story category) in 2017 and was a contender for the Edge Hill Prize. She is currently editing her novel, which was written during her MA in Creative Writing, and which was awarded the Kate Betts Prize. She has a PhD in English and Creative Writing from the University of Southampton.
