It must be that time of year again because here is a list of competitions and writing wanted for you to consider.
There's a writing stories for children competition; the 2007 Templar Poetry Pamphlet and Collection Competition; A researcher from Lancaster university is looking for stories from Manchester; there's the "Blinking eye" poetry competition for those of us over 50; Mslexia Women's Poetry Competition 2007 and Wire poetry magazine are looking for contributions.
See below for full details of each of these.

The Academy of Children’s Writers announces their Twenty Second Annual Write a Story for Children Competition that is open to all amateur writers over the age of 18. There are cash prizes of £2,000 for the best story submitted, £300 for second prize and £200 for the third placed story.
Independent judges, who will be looking for such qualities as originality, imagination and flair, will read the entries. Most importantly, they will also consider how the story will appeal to children.
Details from:
ACW, Competition Entry
P. O. Box 95, Huntingdon,
Cambridgeshire.
PE28 5RL. England
http://www.childrens-writers.co.uk/competition.htm

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Poetry Competition
Submissions are invited for the 2007 Templar Poetry Pamphlet and Collection Competition which publishes three winning pamphlets along with a £500 (or Euro equivalent) cash award for each winner, and the opportunity to submit a full collection for later publication. The best 40 or so individual poems are also published as an anthology. There is an awards and launch event held in Derbyshire in late autumn. The 2007 Judge is Jean Sprackland, poet and currently Education Director for the Poetry Archive in London. All entrants receive a complimentary copy of the anthology. The entry fee is £16 or 25Euro and the rules, entry forms and further information is available from the website at www.templarpoetry.co.uk or by post from Templar Poetry, PO BOX 7082, Bakewell, Derbyshire, DE45 9AF
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Corinne Fowler, a researcher from Lancaster University, says: "(I am) working on a big project called 'Moving Manchester: how the experience of migration has informed creative writing from Greater Manchester since 1960'. As part of the project we are compiling an electronic catalogue of all relevant publications and publishing it on our website...
I was wondering if you could recommend any of your titles to me that come from any Manchester based writer and we can buy them to read for our project."
More details at: http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/projects/movingmanchester/
Contact Corinne at: Floor C, Institute for Advanced Studies, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YW, c.fowler@lancaster.ac.uk, tel & mobile: 01524 510820 07791 989672
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The acclaimed poet Don Paterson is to be the judge of this year’s Blinking Eye poetry competition for writers of 50 years of age and over.
Entries to the competition, which closes on 7 August, may be on any theme and in any style. The overall winner will have a collection of their poems published by Blinking Eye and will receive 100 copies of the book. An anthology of commended poems will also be published by Blinking Eye.
Entry forms are available from Jeanne Macdonald, Blinking Eye Publishing, PO Box 549, North Shields, Tyne & Wear NE30 2WT (please send a stamped addressed envelope). They can also be downloaded from the Blinking Eye website at www.blinking-eye.co.uk, where full details of the competition are posted.

Mslexia Women's Poetry Competition 2007
1st Prize £1000; 2nd Prize £500; 3rd Prize £250; 22 other finalists will win £25 each.
Judges: U A Fanthorpe and R V Bailey; Closing Date: 27 April 2006; Entry Fee: £5 for up to 5 poems; Email poetry@mslexia.demon.co.uk for guidelines or telephone 0191 2616656 www.mslexia.co.uk or contact Mslexia Publications Ltd, PO Box 656, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE99 1PZ

Poems by New and Established Poets Wanted
at Wire Poetry Magazine - on-line
For details, visit: www.thewatchettspress.com