Your own story
In your own words
We all have a story to tell about ourselves, the good, the bad and the how did I end up there? Celebrate a snapshot of your life, a fragment in time or rear view mirror look at what was and now is.
We initially need 5,000 to 8,000 words plus a 300 word overview. If you’re long listed we’ll ask for a total of 15,000 words, including your original word count. Shortlisted? Then we need a total 30,000 words, again including your original entry and long listed word count.
It’s your moment of truth.
Fees: £26 per memoir.
Entries must be submitted online or by post. No email submissions.
Deadline: September 30, 2026
First prize: £1,500
You will receive a year’s mentoring from The Literary Consultancy through their Chapter & Verse scheme. You’ll also have the chance to consult with A.M. Heath, a leading London literary agency, plus get valuable advice from an editor at John Murray, part of Hachette publishers. You have the option of a discussion with the University of Exeter’s Creative Writing Department. In addition, the opening chapter/s of your memoir will be published on our website. Finally, we will always champion you as part of our Bridport Prize family.
Runner up
£750
Your full manuscript will be assessed by The Literary Consultancy with invaluable editorial feedback. You’ll be offered the option of a discussion with the University of Exeter’s Creative Writing Department. Your memoir’s opening chapter/s will also be published on our website. And, you’ll always be part of the Bridport Prize family.
Highly Commended
£150 x 3 awards
You’ll receive a 15,000 word manuscript appraisal from The Literary Consultancy, plus an invitation to an industry day with agents and publishers. You’ll also have the option of a discussion with the University of Exeter’s Creative Writing Department. Finally, you’ll always be part of the Bridport Prize family.
The Memoir competition is open internationally to writers aged 16+ writing in English.
The memoir submission / results timetable can be seen here.
• Your memoir does not need to be completed to submit. We accept work in progress.
• Entries must be entirely your own work and submission is confirmation of this. Any evidence to the contrary will result in disqualification.
• Co-authored work is not eligible.
• Work must not have won or been placed – 1st, 2nd, 3rd – in another competition. Long and short listed work is eligible as long as a cash prize was not awarded and no more than 8,000 words of the commended memoir has been previously published in print or online.
• Writers must not be represented by a literary agent or under contract with a traditional publisher, at the point of submission or at the long listing or shortlisting stages. We will ask you to re-confirm eligibility if selected.
• If you receive an offer of representation while your memoir is under consideration, you must inform us and withdraw.
• Entrants must not have previously published a memoir although previously self-published memoirs, both in print and e-book form are accepted.
• Entrants who have had other types of books traditionally published e.g.) poetry or a novel, are eligible.
For clarity, ‘published’ means where a publisher has selected a work on editorial grounds for their list and that list publishes different writers, as opposed to it being comprised of one author’s works, and where the author has not paid that publisher to do so.
• Simultaneous submissions are allowed but will become ineligible should they win a prize elsewhere, be published or receive notification of future publication while the competition is still being judged. Entry fees will not be refunded. You must inform us immediately should your entry be published or win a prize elsewhere.
• Translations into English are eligible provided the source text and translation are both the entrant’s own original work and it has not been previously published in the UK.
• Entries submitted posthumously are not eligible.
If you have a query about eligibility, please contact:
support@bridportprize.org.uk
More information and entry portal here.
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