Send the first 5,000 words of your novel to Farnham's First Five. The winner gets £1,000 and an agent's critique. Entries close on 30 November.

Unpublished novelists have until Monday 30 November to enter Farnham’s First Five, the writing competition run by Farnham Literary Festival.

Writers send in the first 5,000 words of an adult novel, with a 250-word synopsis. The novel does not have to be finished.

The winner takes the Paris Prize for Fiction: £1,000 and a professional critique from literary agent Katie Fulford of Bell Lomax Moreton. The prize is sponsored by the bestselling author B.A. Paris, whose novels have sold nine million copies, Farnham Town Council said on 4 November.

The prizes and the judges

  • First: £1,000 and a critique
  • Second: £300
  • Third: £200

The judges are the authors B.A. Paris, Suzanne Goldring, Louise Morrish, Melanie Whipman and Guy Morpuss, with Katie Fulford.

How to enter

The rules are on the festival’s competition page:

  • You must be 18 or over and unpublished. Self-published writers can enter, but the work itself must not have been published anywhere.
  • Adult fiction only, in English, and your own work. Writing produced or edited with an AI tool is not accepted.
  • Up to 5,000 words, with the 250-word synopsis on the first page. The synopsis does not count towards the 5,000.
  • Word document, 12pt Times New Roman, double spaced, pages numbered and the title in the header.
  • No name anywhere in the document or the file name: entries are judged anonymously.
  • £11 per entry. You can enter more than once, uploading each entry separately.

Key dates

  • Monday 30 November 2026: entries close
  • Friday 12 February 2027: longlist announced
  • Friday 26 February 2027: shortlist announced
  • Sunday 14 March 2027: winner revealed at an awards ceremony at Farnham Town Hall, the finale of the festival

Councillor Kika Mirylees, the town council’s lead member for culture, said the competition was “a fantastic opportunity for aspiring authors to share their work, gain recognition and receive valuable feedback from experienced professionals”.

What it means for you

  • If you have a novel in a drawer, you need only its opening, not the whole book.
  • Check the formatting rules before you upload. A name in the file name breaks the anonymity rule.
  • Younger writers: the festival’s separate Farnham Poetry Competition is free, open to any age and closes on 15 February 2027. The 2027 theme is “Heatwave”.