The countdown to the 2025 South Warwickshire Literary Festival has officially begun, with the launch of this year's writing competition.

Open from Monday 13 January to Friday 28 March, the popular competition allows writers from around the world to be part of the festival.

The festival itself runs for the fourth time in September.

The writing competition has four categories:

●    Fiction (maximum 800 words) – judged by Gabrielle Mullarkey

●    Creative nonfiction (maximum 800 words) – judged by Simon Whaley

●    Flash fiction (maximum 200 words) - judged by Michael Loveday

●     Poetry (maximum 40 lines) – judged by Gwyneth Box

For each category the winner will take a £75 prize, while a commended entry will win £25.

The winners and commended entries will also be invited to read their entry at this year's festival – although attendance is optional and will be at the expense of the author, not the festival.

The competition is open to anyone aged 16 or over from anywhere in the world, although entries must be in English.

Entry to the competition is £3.90 per piece and can be done via the revamped South Warwickshire Literary Festival website at https://www.southwarwickshireliteraryfestival.com/

Aside from the launch of this year's writing competition, there is also plenty more exciting news of the 2025 Festival.

First, this year's main event – which takes place on Saturday 20 September – will have a new home at The Fold, Spencer St, Leamington Spa CV31 3NE. The full line up for the day and ticket details will be revealed in February.

Second, 2025 also sees the launch of two South Warwickshire Literary Festival fringe events.

The SWLF Literary Evenings will offer literary talks and meet the author events, and will run on Thursday 12 June and Thursday 18 September, both at 1 Mill Street Leamington CV31 1ES – more details will be announced later this year.

Finally, for now, the Festival's organising committee is "delighted to welcome two new patrons" – bestselling author Sophie Hannah, and CEO of Fairlight Books Louise Boland.

Festival director Jacci Gooding commented: "2025 promises to be the best year so far for the South Warwickshire Literary Festival, with a new venue, new extra events and two wonderful new patrons who we are thrilled to have on board…and that's without even mentioning our fantastic writing competition that is the heart of our event and last year attracted entrants from across the globe.

"And to think; we haven't even revealed our Festival programme yet! To say I'm excited would be an understatement!"

To be the first to hear this year's Festival programme, and full details of the SWLF Literary Evenings, be sure to sign up to the mailing list at https://www.southwarwickshireliteraryfestival.com/ or follow the Festival on Instagram, Bluesky, or Facebook.