Farnham’s First Five Pages – Writing Competition

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 Full details 

eadline: Wednesday 31 December 2025

Farnham Literary Festival presents Farnham’s First Five Pages writing competition.

Entrants to submit the first 5 pages of their novel and a 250-word synopsis, your work does not have to be finished.
There is no set theme or style of writing however your entry should be an unpublished, original story.

The judges will agree on a longlist of 20 submissions and 10 will be shortlisted.

Awards:

First place – THE PARIS PRIZE FOR FICTION – £1000 and a critique
Second place – £300
Third place – £200

The Paris Prize for Fiction:
The Farnham Literary Festival is immensely grateful for the generosity of B.A. Paris, the New York Times and Sunday Times best-selling author, who has offered this substantial prize. B.A. Paris says, ‘I am very grateful to those who supported me early in my writing career and want to show my gratitude by encouraging new authors. Writing competitions play an important role in building a debut writer’s confidence and I hope that by sponsoring this prize, we will uncover some exciting new talent.’

Eligibility:

  • 18 and over
  • You must be an unpublished writer (self-published writers are eligible, but the work itself must not be published anywhere)
  • Your work must be your own, original writing
  • Only fiction work will be accepted
  • Your work does not have to be finished; we only need the first 5 pages!

Rules:

IMPORTANT: All entries are judged anonymously. Please do not include your name or any other personal information on the document.

Length:

  • The first 5 pages (maximum) of your work
  • The first page of the submission should include a 250-word synopsis. The synopsis is in addition to the 5 pages, not included in the page count.

Format:

  • Save as a PDF file or Word Document with the novel title as the file name
  • Please do not include your name in with the file name
  • First page to include the synopsis
  • Numbered pages
  • Include the title of the work on every page (in the header)
  • Entries must be typed in 12 pt with black font, double spaced and in Times New Roman font
  • Entries must be in English

Fees:

There is a £10 fee per submission. There is no limit to the number of submissions per person

Results:

Longlist announcement – Monday 16 February 2026
Shortlist announcement – Friday 27 February 2026
Results – Sunday 15 March 2026

An award ceremony will be held on Sunday 15 March 2025 at Farnham Town Hall. Further details to follow.

* Short-listed entrants may potentially be interviewed before the judges make their final decision.

All shortlisted works will have the opportunity to be published on the Farnham Literary Festival website.


If you have a query, please contact litfestcomp@gmail.com


Meet the Judges

 

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