GWG Literary Prize 2025

In a world that too often tests our limits, it’s hope that keeps us moving forward to find light in even the darkest moments. The GWG Literary Prize 2025 invites writers to explore the power of hope and the resilience of the human spirit.

We‘re looking for candid writing that lays bare the challenges that one can face, and inspires and uplifts with the desire and strength to overcome them, even if one is not successful in the end. Whether through non-fiction essay or memoir, fictional narratives, or poetry, we look forward to reading your expression and exploration of this global human experience.

CATEGORIES

• Fiction up to 1500 words
  
• Creative non-fiction up to 1500 words
  
• Poetry up to 50 lines
  

THE JUDGES

FICTION

Mary-Jane Holmes lives in the wilds of the English North Pennines. A Forward Prize nominee and Hawthornden fellow, she was shortlisted for the Beverley International Prize for Literature and longlisted for the UK National Poetry Prize twice. Her collection of poetry Heliotrope with Matches and Magnifying Glass is published by Pindrop Press and her collection of flash fiction Set a Crow to Catch a Crow is published by V. Press. She has won the Live Canon Poetry Pamphlet Prize, the Bath Novella-in-Flash Prize, the Bridport Poetry prize, Dromineer Flash Fiction Prize, the Mslexia Flash prize, and the Writer's Digest Poetry Prize among others. She was included in the BIFFY 50 2019/2020 and was a UK National Poetry Archive showcased poet. Her work appears in a variety of publications including Magma, Modern Poetry in Translation, Mslexia, The Lonely Crowd, Prole The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts, Tishman Review, Barren, Spelk, Cabinet of Heed, Firewords, Flashback Fiction, Fictive Dream, and in anthologies including Best Small Fictions 2014/16/18/20 and Best Microfictions 2020. She has an MA (Distinction) in Creative Writing from Kellogg College, Oxford and has been awarded an Arts and Humanities Research Council studentship to complete a creative writing PhD at Newcastle University. 

CREATIVE NON-FICTION

Born in Ireland, Padraig Rooney taught for two decades at Basel International School in Switzerland. The Gilded Chalet: Off-piste in Literary Switzerland (2015, Nicholas Brealey), a travel book about writers in Switzerland, was described by the Times Literary Supplement as “Brilliant. Thoroughly absorbing”. Rebel Angel: The Life and Times of Annemarie Schwarzenbach will be published by Polity Press in 2025. Advance reviews say:

"Anyone interested in Women's Studies, Gender Studies, Feminism, or LGBTQ+ Studies, not to mention journalism, photography, and travel will find this book wildly fascinating. What a life! And what a great way Padraig Rooney has told it." -  Carlos Dews, editor of the Library of America's Complete Works of Carson McCullers.

"Padraig Rooney is a born storyteller who charts the short but dramatic life of this beautiful, talented, and troubled Swiss-born writer. Rooney brilliantly communicates Schwarzenbach’s promise. Rebel Angel is a twentieth-century story that should not be missed." - Mary V. Dearborn, author of Carson McCullers: A Life

POETRY

Yun Wei received her MFA in poetry from Brooklyn College and studied at Georgetown University and London School of Economics. She has been awarded second place in the Boulevard Poetry Contest and first place in the Geneva Literary Prizes. Her poetry and fiction appear in over 15 journals, including Poetry Daily, Brooklyn Rail, Michigan Quarterly, Shenandoah, Poetry Northwest and Wigleaf. Her debut novel is represented by Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency. She works in global health in Switzerland, where she relies on chocolate and tears to survive mountain sports. 

PRIZES (IN EACH CATEGORY)

• 1st prize: 100 CHF plus 1 free workshop in 2025
• 2nd prize: 50 CHF plus 1 free workshop in 2025
• 3rd prize : 25 CHF plus 1 free workshop in 2025
• Winning entries will be published on the GWG website and winners will be invited as featured readers at a special open mic night and apero in Geneva.

SUBMISSION PERIOD

1 - 31 January 2025.

Submissions will be accepted from 12:01 am CET 1 January 2025 to 11:59 PM 31 January 2025 CET.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

• All entries must touch in some way on the theme of ‘hope and resilience’
• All entries must be written in English, but code switching is welcome.
• Minimum age to enter is 15.

• All submissions will be judged anonymously. Please do not include your name in the submitted text or in the title  of the file name. The title of the Word document should have the category and title of the piece only, eg. "Poetry – Song of Myself." In the subject line of the email include the category and title. Your email should include your name and contact information.

• All entries must be submitted as a Word document, in a simple font such as Courier, Arial, or Times New Roman at 12 point, double-spaced.
• Multiple entries are welcome; each entry must be submitted and paid for separately.
  
• AI generated writing will not be considered. Nor will texts previously published in any public format, including personal blogs.
• Work that promotes racism, misogyny, homophobia or any other forms of bigotry will not be considered.
• All submissions are final: no edits or substitutions are allowed.
• The winners will grant the right to first publication on the GWG website. After that, full rights will revert to the author.
• Current GWG Steering Committee members and those involved in organizing or judging the Literary Prize are not eligible to enter.
• Entry fees are non-refundable and non-transferable. The judges’ decision is final.

FEES PER ENTRY

HOW TO SUBMIT