Our 2020 New Travel Writer of the Year competiion is now closed for entries.
Thanks to all those who entered. Please check back on our site for updates on the shortlist.
Are you an aspiring travel writer? Do you want the chance to have your work published? Once again weâve teamed up with the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards to launch the worldâs best competition for unpublished travel writers.
The Bradt Travel Guides New Travel Writer of the Year competition is completely free to enter and offers the following unbeatable prizes:
For the overall winner:
– A fantastic break for two in Portugal, courtesy of Wexas and TAP Air Portugal.
– A commission to write an article about their trip for Wexas Traveller magazine (giving them a published piece on their CV)
For all three short-listed finalists:
– An invitation to join the judges as their guest at the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards ceremony in early 2020 (date tbc), during which the winner will be revealed
– A place on the next Bradt Travel-Writing Seminar (run in conjunction with leading travel-writing training agency, Travellersâ Tales)
To enter the competition, you should write a piece of 600â800 words, which must be original, written in the first person and based on personal experience. For this yearâs competition, instead of a general theme, entrants must include the phrase âand then it happenedâ somewhere within their entry. Please note, âand then it happenedâ should NOT be the title of the piece, but those four words should occur naturally somewhere in the text. The deadline for submission is midnight on 6 October 2019. The competition is open only to those who have never received payment for a travel-related article published in print or online (with the exception of competition entries for which a cash prize is awarded, and entries published in Bradt’s anthologies). For full entry details, terms and conditions, see the links below.
Bradt has a long-standing commitment to the promotion of excellent travel writing, and we have run an annual writing competition for over 20 years. By teaming up with the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards â which honour some of the country’s best published writers â we are able to provide not only unique prizes but a priceless platform for three aspiring writers to showcase their skills to the professional travel-writing community.
For the second year running, we are offering entrants to the Bradt New Travel Writer of the Year the opportunity to receive detailed expert feedback on their entry. See below for more information.
Prizes
First Prize
The wonderful main prize is a two-night break in Portugal at the Pousada PalĂĄcio de Queluz Hotel with three-day car hire and a guided tour of Lisbon’s historic centre and the BelĂ©m neighbourhood, where the winner will be treated to a wine or olive-oil tasting, all courtesy of Wexas. Also included is a commission to write an article about the prize trip for publication in Traveller magazine and a place on the annual Bradt Travel-Writing Seminar (run in conjunction with Travellersâ Tales, the UKâs leading training agency for aspiring travel writers).
Runners-up
Two runners-up will receive places on the annual Bradt Travel-Writing Seminar (held in autumn 2020).
All three shortlisted entrants will be invited to join the judges at the awards ceremony â at which the winner will be announced and the trophy presented â to be held in early 2020 (date and venue tbc).
Entries
You should write a piece of 600â800 words, which must be original, written in the first person and based on personal experience. For this yearâs competition, instead of a general theme, entrants must include the phrase âand then it happenedâ somewhere within their entry. Please note, âand then it happenedâ should NOT be the title of the piece, but those four words should occur naturally somewhere in the text. All entries must have an original title. Minimum length is 600 words and maximum length is 800 words, excluding the title. The closing date for entries to reach us is midnight on 6 October 2019.
The competition is open to anyone over 18 who has not previously received payment for a travel-related article published in print or online (with the exception of competition entries for which a cash prize is awarded, and those published in Bradt’s series of anthologies). If you are in doubt about whether or not you qualify to enter the competition, please contact marketing@bradtguides.com.
How to enter:
– Send your entry as an attached Word document to travelwriting@bradtguides.com. All entries should have an original title, which should be the file name of the document.
– Provide your full name, email, postal address and a daytime telephone number in the body of your email. Do not include your name in the Word document itself (pieces are judged anonymously).
– Confirm you are an unpublished writer (defined in our T&Cs here) by typing the following into the body of your email: âI confirm that I am an unpublished travel writer and have not previously received any payment for a piece of travel writing published either in print or online at the time of entry.â
– The subject line of your email should read ‘New Travel Writer of the Year 2020’, followed by either OPT IN or OPT OUT.
The shortlist will be posted on our website in early December. If you wish to be notified of the shortlist by email as soon as it is released, we will need your consent to be contacted via e-newsletter (even if you are already a subscriber to our newsletter mailing list), so please choose OPT IN. This will also mean you are first to hear about our future travel-writing opportunities. By consenting to receive marketing correspondence, you agree that we may share your details with our competition partners Wexas, Wexas Traveller Magazine, the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards and Travellers’ Tales.
If you donât wish to receive our e-newsletter, please choose OPT OUT. We will post the shortlist announcement on our website so please check there.
Full details of our privacy policy can be found here.
Deadline for entering is midnight on 6 October 2019. The shortlisted entrants will be notified in early December.
We regret we are unable to accept entries by post.
Tips & advice
For some advice from our judges and examples of good writing from previous Bradt travel-writing competitions, click here. This year judge Jonathan Lorie has written an article with tips for travel writing competitions and using themes correctly, which can be read here. Last years finalists’ entries are available to read here. If youâd like more detailed advice from the experts on how to break into travel writing â including both the art and craft of writing articles and how to get your work published â then book yourself on the next one-day Bradt Travel-Writing Seminar being held on 29 September 2019 and featuring a panel including our founder Hilary Bradt.
Expert feedback
Once again we are offering entrants to the ‘New Travel Writer of the Year’ competition the opportunity to receive detailed expert feedback on their entry.
Jonathan Lorie is a former editor of Traveller magazine who has written for the Guardian, Independent, National Geographic and Conde Nast Traveller, among many others. As well as running the Travellersâ Tales training courses he has been a judge of the Bradt ‘New Travel Writer of the Year’ competition for many years.
Jonathanâs new book The Travel Writerâs Way was publlished earlier this year by Bradt. This unique, practical 12-step programme helps readers develop their travel writing through enjoyable creative exercises and expert tuition. It features exclusive interviews on the craft of travel writing from several notable professional writers including Paul Theroux, Robert MacFarlane, Colin Thubron and Sara Wheeler.
Jonathan is offering a half-hour telephone or Skype call in which he will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your entry, possible next steps for your travel writing and answer any questions you may have. Price: ÂŁ35.00 + VAT
Anyone requesting feedback will also have the opportunity to buy a signed copy of The Travel Writerâs Way for the special price of ÂŁ10.00 (RRP ÂŁ14.99 â no VAT payable on print book sales in the UK).
For more information and to request feedback on your entry, please contact marketing@bradtguides.com. All feedback calls will take place after the winning entries have been announced, at a time to be agreed between Jonathan Lorie and the entrant.
Terms & conditions
For full terms and conditions please click here.
