The Paul Cave Prize for Children’s Literature, established in 2023 by Tim Saunders Publications, is an offshoot of The Paul Cave Prize for Literature, showcasing stories for youngsters (from the age of five to twelve).
Children’s books published by Paul Cave included Olly Otter and Wizard Wubble. Paul knew all too well how difficult it was for authors to break into the highly competitive world of children’s literature, which has provided the impetus for establishing this important prize.
Paul Astley Cave-Browne-Cave (1917 to 2010) was a hugely inspirational magazine and book publisher. In 1960 Paul founded Hampshire the county magazine, running it for over forty years.
What we are looking for
All forms of poetry: haiku, free verse, sonnet, acrostic, villanelle, ballad, limerick, ode, elegy, flash fiction and short stories up to 5,000 words. The emphasis should be on providing an enjoyable reading experience with strong vocabulary and grammar while being mindful of the audience’s age. If the work can provide some worthwhile educational value as well then all the better.
Submissions can be accompanied by illustrations (jpg files not exceeding 2MB per image) as follows (but submissions don’t have to be accompanied by images):
Poetry and flash fiction can be accompanied by one image
A short story can be accompanied with up to 5 images
(the publisher reserves the right to select images)
Work must be new and unpublished.
International submissions welcome.
Rights to any work published remain with the author.
The publisher reserves the right to edit and exclude inappropriate submissions.
Guidelines
Poems
should not exceed 30 lines
Flash fiction
should not exceed 300 words
Short stories
should not exceed 5,000 words
Judges
The Saunders family:
Tim
Caroline
Harriett (12)
Heidi (10) – her book reviews are published in Anorak magazine
Henry (7)
Tim Saunders, his wife and children love reading and discussing stories, which makes them the perfect judges for this prize – our children are the target audience. You can rest assured that between us we will read every single submission. Unlike other contests, no AI is used whatsoever!
Prizes
Best Short Story – £100
Best Poem – £25
Best Flash Fiction – £20
A winning illustration could find its way onto the front cover of the book.
Winners of each category will have extracts of their work published on this web page and will receive a complimentary copy of The Paul Cave Prize for Children’s Literature 2024 book.
All approved submissions will feature in The Paul Cave Prize for Children’s Literature 2024. Each writer who submits a piece of approved work is guaranteed to have it published in the book.
How to enter
1. email your submission(s) to tsaunderspubs@gmail.com
2. send payment by Paypal to tsaunderspubs@gmail.com
or a cheque made payable to Creative Coverage and posted to 49 Church Close, Locks Heath, Southampton SO31 6LR. England. (Make sure the correct postage is paid otherwise it will not be delivered).
Submissions will be accepted on receipt of fee outlined below:
One short story – £30
Two short stories – £40
Up to 3 poems/flash fiction – £10
Up to 8 poems/flash fiction – £15
Entries open
November 30, 2023
Entries close
midnight February 28, 2024
Winners announced
March 30, 2024
