My Writing Journey Competition

The 'My Writing Journey Competition' has closed for entries

After 15 years of running the My Writing Journey Competition, we’ve made the difficult decision to bring it to a close.

In recent rounds, over 90% of submissions were entirely generated by AI. Whether they arrived from India, Brazil or Timbuktu, the entries were nearly identical in content and voice, and devoid of the spark, originality and soul that has defined this competition for so many years.

Moreover, judging AI-generated work proved to be a disheartening task. Our brilliant judges, who have given their time, care and expertise, deserve more than that. While AI is adept at correcting grammar and punctuation, it cannot write your life story for you.

And so, it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to one of the sweetest writing competitions, one that has drawn many thousands of unique, deeply human stories since 2010 from every corner of the globe.

On a brighter note, we’ve been hard at work compiling a new anthology of award-winning essays – our gift to you, in celebration of 20 years of nurturing global writing talent.

You can download the free anthology of winning entries directly below.

Read past winning entries

Download our free anthology, 'The Writer's Journey'

This anthology, compiled by editors Michelle Mocumbi and Andrew Murton, brings together twenty of the best essays from our My Writing Journey competition (2018–2025).

The writers come from all over the world – big cities, small towns, late-night kitchen tables. They write about the real business of becoming a writer: the thrill of a breakthrough, the punch of rejection, the slog of sitting down yet again when they’d rather be anywhere else.

Wherever you are on your own writing path, may these stories about the journey to mastery keep you company. May they remind you that all writers, even the famous ones, have wanted to give up at times. Their success is largely because they didn’t.

Complete the form below to receive your free copy.

Download our free anthology, '22 Best Essays to Inspire New Writers'

Here’s an anthology of the 22 best prize-winning essays from our ‘My Writing Journey’ Competition, held between 2008 and 2018. The anthology offers 100 pages of timeless writing advice and heartfelt personal stories from talented writers from around the world.

Edited by our graduate copy-editing student Emma Hager, cover design by Andrea Vanek, and typesetting by Koos Turenhout, this e-book makes a perfect gift. Whether it’s for you, or for your writer friends, fill out the form above to receive your free copy today.

My Writing Journey Competition