Calico Creative Writing Competition
A new short fiction competition celebrating imaginative writing
Calico Libraries invites writers from across the borough and beyond to enter its inaugural writing competition, submissions are now open*
We’re seeking short works of fiction (1,500 words or fewer) responding to the theme Imagined Worlds. Whether your story explores a reimagined reality, a speculative future, or an entirely original landscape, we’re looking for creative and distinctive interpretations of the theme.
Winning and highly commended entries will be published both in print and online.
*Submission period: 1st November – 31st December 2025
The Judges
We are excited to announce Francis Gene-Rowe, Ese Erheriene, and Chris Barnham as our judges for the inaugural Calico Libraries creative writing competition! Each of these judges bring a different perspective to the judging process, and we look forward to hearing their thoughts on the submissions.
Francis Gene-Rowe
Francis is a poet, scholar and game designer. Born in South London and currently based in Bow, Francis is co-director of the London Science Fiction Research Community, member of the Goblin Futures collective, and former judge of the Arthur C. Clarke Award.
Ese Erheriene
Ese Erheriene is an emerging writer of fiction and poetry. From London, she has lived in France, Norway, and across Asia. As a journalist, she wrote for The Wall Street Journal — in London and Hong Kong — for almost six years, before moving to Portugal for a year to write about identity, [dis]connection and culture. That experience became her short story ‘The Knowledge’, published in the Goldfish Anthology (2023). Her fiction was longlisted for the Deborah Rogers Fund Award (2023) and she is a winner of the Future Worlds Prize (2024), as well as a former participant of the Mountain Writers Intensive residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Her poetry has been commissioned by the Montcalm Collection for display in three of its London hotels.
Chris Barnham
Chris Barnham is a Lewisham councillor and was Cabinet Member for Children’s Services 2018-2024. He also has a parallel career as a science fiction writer, with numerous stories in print, alongside two novels. His time travel novel, Fifty-One, is set in Deptford in the 1940s and 2040s, and was described by Interzone magazine as ‘better plotted than Connie Willis.’ Chris has twice appeared in the annual Best of British Science Fiction collection.
Submission Guidelines
- Maximum length: 1,500 words
Prose fiction responding/relating to the theme of ‘Imagined Worlds’.
Please only submit complete works – no chapters or excerpts of longer works.
Works should be written primarily in English. Words or short phrases in other languages are acceptable.
Submissions must be typed in a legible font, at least 12pt. If submitted in person, submissions must be printed. If submitted online, submissions must be in .doc, .docx, or .pdf format.
Please include a cover page with
The title of your work
Your name
Your Lewisham library card number (if you have one)
Your postcode,
Your date of birth
Your email address
Please DO NOT put your name or any other identifying information in the body of the submission. Please keep all identifying information on the cover page. This is so we can anonymise your work for judging.
You must be at least 18 years old and live in Greater London to enter.
Submissions must be previously unpublished, including on social media, blogs, or online in any format.
First submissions are free if submitted in person at Manor House, Forest Hill, Sydenham, or Crofton Park Library with a library card in your name. For all following submissions, or works submitted online, the submission fee is £3. The submission fee is nonrefundable.
Submissions must be wholly your own original work. The use of generative AI is not permitted. All characters in submitted works must be purely fictional. Submissions must not infringe upon any copyright or contain libellous material.
Submissions must not contain slurs or other language/material which is inappropriate or prejudiced against another group on the basis of race, nationality, gender, sexuality, religion, disability, etc.
Edits or changes after submitting will not be possible, so please make sure your submission has been edited for accurate spelling and grammar.
Calico Projects volunteers are eligible to submit, so long as they adhere to all other submission guidelines. Calico Projects paid staff and their immediate family and partners are not eligible to submit.
If you have any questions, please contact submissions@calicoprojects.com
Submit your work
Before submitting, please read the full guidelines above. Submissions that don’t follow them will not be considered.
We welcome prose fiction up to 1,500 words inspired by the theme “Imagined Worlds.” Works must be complete, original, unpublished, and written primarily in English.
Include a cover page with your name and contact details, but keep your story itself anonymous for judging.
You must be 18 or older and live in Greater London. First submissions are free in person at participating libraries with a library card. Online or additional entries cost £3.
AI-generated work and later edits are not allowed. Please proofread before sending.