A Short Story Competition Open to Welsh Writers Every Month, in English or Cymraeg
Quick answer: Short story competition deadlines in Wales mostly come once a year; Writory's comes every month. Entry is $8 for one story of 100 to 3,000 words in English or Welsh. Judging is blind against a published rubric, every entrant receives a certificate and a score out of 100 on 30 November 2026, and writers keep all rights.
Entry is $8 for one story of 100 to 3,000 words. The deadline is 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, early evening in Cardiff, and every entrant receives a certificate and a five-part score out of 100 on 30 November 2026.
Wales and the short story: Rhys Davies, Kate Roberts, and the calendar now
Wales has two short story traditions and honours both. Rhys Davies wrote in English and gives his name to the Rhys Davies Short Story Competition, run by the Rhys Davies Trust with Parthian and open to writers born or living in Wales. Kate Roberts wrote in Welsh and remains the measure for the stori fer; the National Eisteddfod's Prose Medal each August continues that line. Carys Davies won the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award in 2015 and Cynan Jones the BBC National Short Story Award in 2017, both from Wales.
Literature Wales runs the Wales Book of the Year and Tŷ Newydd, the Hay Festival fills the border town every late May, and the Swansea University International Dylan Thomas Prize, for writers aged 39 and under, is among the largest in the world for young writers. All of those come once a year. Writory's contest closes every month, reads every story blind against a published rubric, and sends every entrant a certificate and a score out of 100 on 30 November 2026.
Writing in Welsh, and the rest of the terms
A story in Welsh is read in Welsh, not translated, and scored against the same five-part rubric as an English entry in the same pool. Stories run from 100 to 3,000 words, in any genre, entered online at /submit-story by anyone aged 13 or over. Your name is removed before the panel reads. The rubric is public: Storytelling & Structure 25, Character & Emotional Impact 25, Language & Craft 20, Originality & Voice 20, Impact & Resonance 10.
The top prize each round is $100, the winner enters the next round free, and free entry is otherwise earned, never open. You keep all rights, and nothing is published without your permission, so a story entered here is still eligible for the Rhys Davies competition, New Welsh Review or a Parthian anthology afterwards. The first contest runs from 1 September to 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, with results and certificates on 30 November 2026. From December the contest is monthly: entries close on the 25th, results on the 30th, and the next round opens the moment they land.
The deadline in Cardiff time
The round closes at 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. IST here is Indian Standard Time, five and a half hours ahead of Greenwich. Wales is on Greenwich Mean Time from late October to late March, so the 25 November deadline is 6:29 PM in Cardiff, Swansea, Bangor and Aberystwyth. During British Summer Time the same deadline is 7:29 PM. Either way the round closes in the early evening, on the 25th itself.
A story uploaded at eleven at night Cardiff time on the 25th has missed the round by more than four hours and rolls into the next one. Treat six in the evening as the honest cutoff in winter and seven in summer, and check that the entry shows in your account before you close the browser. Results and certificates follow on 30 November 2026, to every entrant on the same day.
Paying in dollars from Wales, and how the prize is paid
Writory is based in India and charges entrants outside India in US dollars: $8 for one story, $14 for two, $25 for five. Pay by card or PayPal at /submit-story. Your bank converts at the day's rate, which puts a single entry at roughly £6 at the time of writing; we do not print a sterling price because the rate would make it wrong within weeks. Some UK cards add a small non-sterling fee, pence on a charge this size.
The $100 prize is paid by PayPal, which works with Welsh bank accounts and pays out in pounds. Written feedback on a story is an optional extra at entry, priced separately; the certificate and score come with every entry. The Story Craft course at /academy/story-craft is free and takes an evening. The lessons follow the five rubric parts in order, so the course doubles as a reading of the scorecard.
The published rubric, 100 points
- Storytelling & Structure (25 points): Does every scene cause the next, and does the ending pay off the opening?
- Character & Emotional Impact (25 points): Do we want something with your character, and does the story make us feel it?
- Language & Craft (20 points): Clean, deliberate prose: rhythm, precision, and nothing wasted.
- Originality & Voice (20 points): The angle only you could write, told in a voice that sounds like nobody else.
- Impact & Resonance (10 points): What the story leaves behind after the last line.
How it works
Submit an original story of 100 to 3,000 words by 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. Every story is judged blind against the rubric above, and results arrive on 30 November 2026: every entrant receives a certificate with their name and a score out of 100. Writers keep all rights. Monthly winners earn free entry to the next round. Enter at https://writoryofficial.com/submit-story.
Common questions
Is the competition open to writers in Wales?
Yes, from Anglesey to Monmouthshire, on the same terms as every other entrant. There is no Welsh category and no quota. Judging is blind, so the panel sees no name, town or nationality, and every story is read in its own language in one pool against the same published rubric.
What does entry cost in pounds?
Entry is charged in US dollars: $8 for one story, $14 for two, $25 for five. Your card or PayPal account converts at the day's rate, roughly £6 for a single entry at the time of writing. Winning a round makes the next entry free, and entering three rounds in a row earns a free entry.
What does every entrant receive?
A certificate in your name and a score out of 100 across the five rubric parts, delivered on 30 November 2026, the same day the winners are announced. You are not told your rank or the size of the field; the score describes how your own story was read against the rubric.
What time is the deadline in Wales?
25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST is 6:29 PM in Cardiff while the UK is on Greenwich Mean Time, which covers the late-November deadline, and 7:29 PM during British Summer Time. IST means Indian Standard Time throughout. Results and certificates follow on 30 November 2026.
Can I write in Welsh?
Yes. A story in Cymraeg is read in Welsh, not translated, and scored on the same five-part rubric as every English entry in the same pool. Language & Craft is marked on precision and rhythm within the language you chose, not on which language it is.
Does entering here affect the Rhys Davies Short Story Competition?
Entering is not publication, so the story stays unpublished and you keep all rights; nothing is published without your permission. The Rhys Davies competition sets its own conditions on prior entry and simultaneous submission, so read the current rules before sending the same story there.
More story contest pages
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- Short Story Competition Rules, in Full and in Plain Words
- All short story contest pages
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About Writory
Writory (writoryofficial.com) is an international monthly poetry contest founded in 2025 by Shivay Mehra. Poets from 31 countries have entered, readers come from over 150 countries, and every submitted poem is judged and scored out of 100 across five criteria: creativity, emotion, structure, language and impact and resonance. Every entrant receives a certificate; winners receive cash prizes and are published by name. Entries close on the 25th of each month and results are announced on the 30th. Writory is listed by Duotrope, Poetry Kit, Christopher Fielden's competition list and Creative Writing NZ, among other organisations. Past results are public at past winners and the leaderboard.