Our purpose is to engage, educate and embolden new writers and artists
The Plaza Prizes mission is to discover writers and artists from all over the globe and connect them to the creative industries in the UK so that both they, and their work, may flourish and enrich our collective consciousness.


The Plaza Prizes started in Halifax, West Yorkshire. We were the grateful recipient of business start-up funding from Calderdale Council, and we are happy to be an active participant in ‘Culturedale’, a new initiative to promote this picturesque region as a happening destination for cultural events. We may be staging our inaugural awards ceremony in Halifax and launching our annual anthology at this event in 2023.
The Irish/British author, Simon Kerr, founded and directs The Plaza Prizes. All our competitions are international in scope, and quality is key, but with our Bursary Schemes, we encourage writers and artists who might not be earning much right now to enter for FREE. We also want writers and artists from different communities to showcase their work so if you’re from an under-presented group, please do apply to enter for FREE.
The Competitions

Audio Poetry
1st prize: £1000. 2nd prize: £300. 3rd prize: £100

Poetry (40 lines max)
1st prize: £1000. 2nd prize: £300. 3rd prize: £100

Poetry (60 lines max)
1st prize: £1000. 2nd prize: £300. 3rd prize: £100

Science Fiction / Fantasy: First Chapters
1st prize: £1000. 2nd prize: £300. 3rd prize: £100
Continue reading “Science Fiction / Fantasy: First Chapters”

Prose Poetry
1st prize: £500. 2nd prize: £200. 3rd prize: £50

Short Story (5000 words max)
1st prize: £1000. 2nd prize: £300. 3rd prize: £100

Short Story
1st prize: £2000. 2nd prize: £300. 3rd prize: £100

Flash Fiction
1st prize: £750. 2nd prize: £250. 3rd prize: £100

Microfiction
1st prize: £500. 2nd prize: £150. 3rd prize: £50

Sudden Fiction
1st prize: £1000. 2nd prize: £300. 3rd prize: £100

Literary: First Chapters
1st prize: £1500. 2nd prize: £300. 3rd prize: £100

Crime: First Chapters
1st prize: £1500. 2nd prize: £300. 3rd prize: £100

Memoir: First Chapters
1st prize: £1500. 2nd prize: £300. 3rd prize: £100
'Every new writer needs encouragement to take that brave first step to put pen to paper - The Plaza Prizes is a brilliant, timely initiative that will help bring to the surface some great new voices. Be brave, pick up your pens and write on!'