The Astley Prize returns for a second year, inviting submissions inspired by the theme "A Sense of Place". We want you to transport the reader to another place, time, or wherever your imagination takes you. Stories must be original, unpublished and written in English. 

This year, the Astely Prize will be judged by multi-award-winning short story writer, Sarah Hall. Hailed as “a writer of show-stopping genius” and twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction, Sarah has produced seven acclaimed novels and three short-story collections. She is also the only writer ever to win the BBC National Short Story Award twice, first with Mrs Fox in 2013 and then again in 2020 with The Grotesques.

The winners will receive £500 (first prize), £100 (second prize) and £50 (third prize). Winning stories will be published on the Nairn Book & Arts Festival website and their authors will be invited to read their work at the 2025 Nairn Book & Arts Festival. 

The competition is open internationally to writers aged 16 and over. Stories can be up to 5000 words, with no minimum. Whether it’s a few words or a few thousand, we want to read it! 

Entry is now open and will close on 30 June with a £10 entry fee per story and £5 for any subsequent entries. Read the full submission guidelines below before paying your entry fee and submitting your story.

Please read full submission guidelines below before entering. 

Competition Rules and Guidelines

• The Astley Prize invites submissions inspired by the theme 'A Sense of Place'.
• The competition is open to all writers 16 years or over from any country whether they have had work previously published or not.
• Entries should be submitted online. Postal entries will not be accepted.
• Entries must be written in English.
• Entries must not use Artificial Intelligence (AI) or other Large Language Models (LLMs) to write their work.
• A fee of £10 per entry is payable via TicketSource on the Nairn Book and Arts Festival website. Nairn Book and Arts Festival is a charity. We will use the fees to fund the administration, promotion and cash prizes of the competition.
• More than one entry may be submitted. If you enter more than once, after the initial fee of £10 for the first entry, each subsequent entry is charged at £5.
• Entries must be submitted by midnight on 30th June 2026.
• Entries can be withdrawn but fees will not be refunded.
• All entries must be the author’s own work.
• Simultaneous entries are permitted. The author must inform the Nairn Book and Arts Festival if their entry wins or is placed in another competition or is published elsewhere prior to announcement of winners on 31 July 2026.
• Entries previously published in print or online, shared on any media platform or having already won a prize are not eligible.
• Do not include your name on your submission document
• The maximum word count is 5000 words. There is no minimum and the word count should be included in the top right of the first page.
• The title is not included in the word count.
• The font used should be plain and clear 12pt.
• The pages should be numbered in the centre at the bottom of the page.
• The file should be saved as doc, docx, or pdf. No other format will be accepted.
• No amendments or changes are permitted to entries after they have been submitted.
• Receipt of entry will be acknowledged by email to all entrants.
• All submissions will be treated in strict confidence. We comply with all relevant data protection laws, including GDPR.
• Judging will be blind – the judge will not see author names. Only winners will receive feedback from the judge.
• The winners will be informed on 31 July.
• The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence can be entered into.
• The author retains copyright and publishing rights, but entry deems permission is granted to the Nairn Book and Arts Festival to publish winning entries in print or online for six months.
• The winning authors will be invited to read their entry at the 2025 Nairn Book and Arts Festival New Writers event in the first week of September 2026 should they wish to do so.
• The story placed first will win £500, second will win £100 and third will win £50.