The HG Wells Short Story Competition

The annual HG Wells Fiction Short Story Competition offers a £250 Senior and £1,000 Junior prize and free publication of all shortlisted entries in a quality, professionally published paperback anthology.



Founded by the world-renowned BBC Aeronautics Correspondent Reg Turnill and his wife, Margaret, to celebrate the life and works of HG Wells and encourage creative writing, especially among the young.

Competition Rules

Competition Rules

There are two competitions: The Margaret and Reg Turnill Competition for young writers of 21 years and under, for which the prize winner receives £1,000, and a competition for the over 21s which offers The Grand Prize of £500.

This year’s theme is “Switch”.

Entries must be in English.

The length is 1,500 to 5,000 words.

Double quotation marks should be used for speech and single quotation marks for other appropriate purposes.

Entry to the competition are online only, with entrants submitting their story (as a PDF or text document) and any fee as appropriate via our entry form;

There is a template available below to make ensure your story is formatted correctly. You do not have to use it, but if it helps, please do so. However, whether you use the template or not, the pages should be numbered but the entrant’s name should not appear on any page except on the entry form.

Please ensure you DO NOT have your name or address ANYWHERE in your uploaded document: we judge all entries “blind” and including your name or address will invalidate your entry. To be safe, do not even use your own name as a character name.

The closing date is Monday 11th July 2022 and entries will be accepted up to midnight on that date.

There are no entry fees for those aged 21 years and under on 11th July 2022. Over 21s must pay an entry fee of £10 or £5 for those with student id. Details for payment are shown on the entry form. Each story must be submitted on a separate entry form and accompanied by a fee where appropriate.

Proof of age and / or student id may be required for any entry entered in the Under 22 or at the reduced student price. This proof may be requested by email after the close of entries and prior to the publication of a short list.

All submissions must be made online, with all required fields completed.

All submissions should be the writer’s original work.

Copyright remains with the author.

The story may not be published elsewhere.

The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence can be entered into.

Entry implies permission for your story to be published in the annual HG Wells Short Story Competition Anthology, and used for Competition publicity purposes.

Last Date
Entries for 2023 Competition close on 10th July 2023

There are no entry fees for those aged 21 years and under on 6th July 2023.

 Over 21 must pay an entry fee of £10 or £5 for those with student id. Details for payment are shown on the entry form. Each story must be submitted on a separate entry form and accompanied by a fee where appropriate.