Write 800 words inspired by a favourite book to celebrate National Year of Reading 2026
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What if Lizzie Bennet & Mr Darcy lived in Bury St Edmunds? What would happen if Vera had a crime to solve in Suffolk? Or Jack Reacher was fighting injustice across on the streets of East Anglia?
Let your imagination run wild with a continuation of a plot or characters from literature.
You can write in any form, style or genre as long as you adhere to the 800 word limit and submit your entry by 26th July 2026.
PRIZES
Winner
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a £250 voucher to spend on author events & writing workshops at Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival 2026 (spend on yourself, or bring your friends along too!)
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a £50 book voucher from Harris and Harris Books
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your work published in the Bury Free Press
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a certificate presented at the festival
Runner-up
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a £150 voucher to spend on author events & writing workshops at Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival 2026 (spend on yourself, or bring your friends along too!)
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a £25 book voucher from Harris and Harris Books
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your work published in the Bury Free Press
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a certificate presented at the festival
All entrants will receive:
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Subscriber Box Office Access on 1st June 2026, before General Booking opens on 1st July 2026
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20% off tickets - on top of Early Bird offers and Gold, Silver & Bronze multi-buy offers
and
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25% off Creative Writing Workshops
ENTRY
Submit online by midnight 26th July 2026
£7.99 paid on entry - via pay pal or card. Every entry fee for the Adult Competition = 1 more book donated to local schools.
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Meet our judge.
This year the Adult Category of our Creative Writing Competition will be judged by Festival Honorary Patron, Margaret Meyer.
Margaret Meyer grew up in New Zealand and has lived in the UK since 1990. She has been a journalist, editor and publisher, and was for five years the British Council’s Director of Literature. After training as a mental health therapist she worked in schools, prisons and recovery centres as well as private practice. In 2020 She completed the University of East Anglia’s prestigious MA in Creative Writing. The Witching Tide (2023), her best-selling debut novel, was inspired by the events of the East Anglian witch hunt of 1645-7 and is dedicated to the more than 100 innocent women who lost their lives.