In 2012, Norwich became England’s first UNESCO City of Literature, recognising a literary culture stretching from its historic writers and publishers to the city’s contemporary writing scene.
The National Centre for Writing is based at Dragon Hall in the city, running workshops and a dedicated working space for writers. Its current programme includes fiction courses and regular opportunities for writers to meet and work alongside others in Norwich.
The University of East Anglia has played its own part. Creative writing has been taught there for more than 50 years, with the university describing itself as having pioneered the teaching of the subject in the UK.
Sooner or later, a novelist has to leave the safety of the workshop. The book lands in front of somebody who doesn’t know the writer, hasn’t followed its progress and has only those first pages to judge it by. Do they turn the page?
That moment, when the opening has to earn another page, is what Writers Online’s First 5K Novel Prize is designed to test. Entrants submit 5,000 words from an unpublished novel alongside a synopsis, with £5,000 and a consultation with Sheil Land Associates literary agent Piers Blofeld going to the winner.
Writers Online editor, Tina Jackson, said:
Writers can spend months or years working on a novel, but if you want to see your work in print, there comes a point when you have to put those opening pages in front of somebody else and see whether they make them want to keep reading.
That’s what we wanted this competition to be about. The £5,000 prize is significant, but so is the chance to have a proper professional conversation about your work with somebody who understands what agents and publishers are looking for.
You can enter if you're unpublished, self-publishing or traditionally published - all you need is a story you believe in and an opening that makes us want the next 5,000 words.
The runner-up will receive £500 and a consultation with Monica Chakraverty, editorial director and head of the scouting programme at Cornerstones Literary Consultancy.
The competition is open to eligible writers internationally, with entries closing at 23:59 on 31 December 2026. Writers Online currently lists the First 5K among its open-entry competitions.