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I’m thrilled to be working with the Jericho Prize, a new competition for unpublished Black-British children’s writers.

Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, the Jericho Prize is looking for writers with great stories to inspire children aged 4 years plus and 7–9.

Winners in each category receive a £500 cash prize, exclusive access to publishing industry professionals and much more. The prize is supported by leading children’s publishers Knights Of, Penguin Random House Children’s and Alanna Max, plus the Youth Libraries Group, Storymix and Candid Cocoa.

The project will also be making free resources for new writers available online during the course of the prize, with experienced writers giving advice on every stage of the writing process, from coming up with ideas to working with agents and publishers.

I’ll be helping with the marketing of the prize, as we try to spread the word and unearth all the fantastic writing talent out there. Give us a follow on Twitter or Instagram.

You can find out more at www.jerichoprize.com. The prize is free to enter for unpublished and self-published Black-British writers over the age of 18, with submissions open from 2 August 2021.

Here’s news of a couple of competitions for new plays.

Sussex Playwrights’ Club is holding its annual competition with a first prize of £200 plus a reading of the play at a club meeting. This year they are asking for 90-minute stage plays on the intriguingly wide theme of ‘past, present and/or future’.

The closing date for entries is 31 July 2012. More details here.

Meanwhile Shoreham WordFest is taking entries for its 15-minute play competition. This one is only for writers in Adur, Worthing and the surrounding areas, and the winning plays will be performed script-in-hand at this year’s WordFest in September.

You have to be a bit quicker with this one: the closing date is 31 May 2012. More details here.

So what’s stopping you all? Get writing!