Mairtín Crawford Awards

About

The Mairtín Crawford Awards are aimed at writers working towards their first full collection of poetry, short stories, or a novel. Mairtín Crawford was a writer and poet and who was a significant figure in Northern Ireland's literary community. “Mairtín wrote as he lived, with a combination of intelligence and daring, revolutionary spirit and generosity of heart.” Moyra Donaldson
He was born in Belfast in 1967 and educated at Rathmore Grammar School and Queen’s University Belfast. He was co-founder and editor of the radical poetry journal, The Big Spoon, the production and arts editor of Fortnight Magazine and a prominent figure of Giros Poetry Collective. Mairtín was a creative writing tutor at The Crescent for eight years, before being appointed as writer-in-residence, and in his time at the Centre, he encouraged new writers by providing ways of publication and readings for people of all ages and abilities. Mairtín was appointed Director of the Between The Lines Festival of Literature (which is now the Belfast Book Festival) and in 1993 brought Allen Ginsberg to read at the Centre.
His own writing spanned many genres, including poetry, screenwriting, journalism and criticism. Mairtín died suddenly in 2004. In 2005 Lagan Press published his Selected Poems.

Fees Notice: This project charges fees (or requires purchases) for all submissions.
The fee is GBP £10 (below average for contests).

Limited Demographic: Submissions are restricted to those who have not published a collection or novel & were born in or are a resident of Ireland or UK.

Country of Publication & Year Established

United Kingdom

Established in 2017

Publication Medium & Contest Frequency

Electronic Publication Electronic Publication: Awarded 1 x per year

AI Policy

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Collapse section Fiction Temp Closed

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience, including: Britons, Irish.

Genres:

General

Lengths:

Flash Fiction: Up to 1,000 words.
Short Story: 1,000 - 2,500 words.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Literary.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics.

Winner's Prize:

Professional payment (5 or more US cents per word) Professional payment. Details: GBP £500 for the winning entry.

Submissions:

Method: Online form.
Reprints: Reprints are NOT allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Unknown.
Multiple entries: Multiple entries are NOT allowed.
Media: Text.

Collapse section Poetry Temp Closed

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience, including: Britons, Irish.

Genres:

General

Lengths:

Poem: Up to 60 lines; 3 - 5 pieces.

Poetry Forms:

Open to all/most Forms.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Literary.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics.

Winner's Prize:

Professional payment (US$50 or more per poem) Professional payment. Details: GBP £500 for the winning entry.

Submissions:

Method: Online form.
Reprints: Reprints are NOT allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Unknown.
Multiple entries: Multiple entries are NOT allowed.
Media: Text.

Always check guidelines for details and restrictions. If you aren't familiar with these terms, see our glossary.

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Mairtín Crawford Awards Submission Statistics

The statistics in this section are compiled from submission reports sent to us through our submission tracker. They are not provided by the publication's editors/staff or by Duotrope's admins. Information in this section is updated a few times per day. Learn more about the statistics.

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Accuracy

We have received 1 report within the past 12 months. The more responses reported, the more accurate the information.

Other Information

The most common submission fee paid: GBP £10.00.
Most recent response reported was received on 04 Jun 2026.
Responses have been received for submissions sent as recently as 02 Mar 2026.
Date compiled: 15 Sep 2026 09:01 UTC (less than a minute ago).

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Before Submitting

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Always read the full guidelines provided by the publisher.
Try to read at least one previous publication to get a better idea of what the editor would like to see.
Unless the publisher's guidelines state otherwise, always use industry standard manuscript formatting.
Be professional, patient, and persistent.

Dates

Last Updated: 06 Aug 2026

We check their guidelines for changes every four weeks, and we audit the listing twice a year.