About Us
We are the first university-wide creative writing society in Cambridge for both poetry and prose. Our goal is to provide an active, dedicated platform where students can pursue a passion for literature in a collaborative and inclusive environment.
We host speaker events, student sharing groups, workshops, open-mics, socials, collaborations and more. We wish to help connect the existing creative community, as well as create more spaces for readers and writers to come together.
You can check out our upcoming events below, browse a list of the writing opportunities in Cambridge, view our gallery, or contact us and link up with our social media.
If you too would like to get involved in building a more vibrant creative writing community here at Cambridge, just sign up to our mailing list below, and we'll keep you updated!
2020-21 COMMITTEE
President: Shivani Sekar
Vice-President: Tharushi Wijesena
Secretary: Sel Yuchen Chow
Treasurer: Anjeli Chapman
Webmaster: Valerii Likhosherstov
Failed Novelists President: Thomas Musgrove
coming soon
Michaelmas 2021
Failed Novelists Writing Group
Sundays 10am-12pm
On Zoom
These groups are for students to give and receive feedback on each others' writing. Submissions can be complete in themselves or extracts of longer works. All genres and forms of writing are welcome. Sundays are a chance to talk about your work in a supportive and informal setting, and to meet other Failed Novelists.
Poetry & Prose
in Cambridge
Cambridge has been home to countless distinguished writers throughout its long history. The verses of Milton and Tennyson, Wordsworth and Byron, the tragedies of Marlowe and the groundbreaking novels of Sterne and Nabokov owe much to the time their authors spent in the halls of the university’s colleges. This celebrated literary heritage is represented today by writers like Salman Rushdie and Zadie Smith, and Cambridge continues to play a role in shaping the face of contemporary literature.
The university is still one of the leading literary centres in the UK, and each year welcomes thousands of students from across all disciplines who share a passion for the written word. This influx of talent and enthusiasm is what ensures the persistence of the Cambridge tradition.
A list of the many writing opportunities in Cambridge.
Publications
Notes: A student-run journal released fortnightly in Oxford and Cambridge.
The Mays Anthology: Since 1992, The Mays has published an annual selection of new writing and artwork from students at Cambridge and Oxford.The Dial: A creative-writing magazine based at Queen’s College, but open for all submissions of poetry, prose and art.
Polyglossia: This languages society encourage creative writing submissions for their magazine.
Polyphony: A new creative-writing magazine.
Ink: A new magazine which is centred around mixed-media work, creative writing and art.
Cambridge Humanities Review: Accepts essays on literary criticism, art, and more.
Strange Weather: A magazine, focused on environmental issues, climate, geography and experimental writing.
Staunch: A new feminist magazine welcoming creative writing submissions.
Blueprint: A mental health magazine based in Cambridge.
Gender Agenda: The CUSU Women's Campaign magazine, accepting poetry, prose and art from self-defining women and non-binary people.
Motley: A magazine welcoming art and writing.
Awards
Jane Martin Poetry Prize: A national competition for young poets (aged 18-30 years) hosted at Girton College, at which the prize will be awarded.
The John Kinsella and Tracy Ryan Poetry Prize: Open to those in statu pupillari with the winning poem published in The Churchill Review.
The Other Prize: For the best play submitted; in conjunction with The John Kinsella Prize.
The Brewer Hall Poetry Prize: For the best original collection of poems in English, run by Emmanuel College.
College-based Societies/ Places
Pelican Poets and Writers: The Corpus Christi writing society which hosts regular talks and readings.
Murray Edwards English Society: This society hosts talks by local writers and creative-writing workshops.
The Shirley Society: St. Catharine’s College’s poetry society.
PemSoc: Pembroke College’s poetry society; work is submitted anonymously and discussed in the meetings.
Deaddie's Poets' Society: The St Edmund's poetry society.
Churchill Creative Writing: A new society at Churchill College, offering relaxed group meetings to write and share work.
ADC Theatre: This theatre company frequently performs plays written by students.
Cambridge Film Association: Works to bring film-makers together to create short films and run writing workshops/groups for script-writers.
CB1 poetry: Holds regular readings by acclaimed writers.
Speakeasy: A regular spoken-word open-mic.
Chameleon: A creative writing network to gather together writing opportunities across Cambridge, sometimes holding writing challenges.
Hiraeth: An organisation running workshops designed to provide a platform for marginalised groups and all Cambridge writers to produce a yearly publication.
Cambridge PEN: This society promotes freedom of expression, especially in translation.
The Prize
Read the following guidelines carefully before submitting for the CUPPS Prize 2020
The guidelines are as follows:
- You must be a student of the University of Cambridge.
- All entries must be received by midnight BST 14th February 2021. Late entries will not be accepted.
- All entries must be submitted to the provided email address, cambridgepoetryandprosesociety@gmail.com
- All entries must be submitted as PDF documents. A separate PDF document must be submitted with a short bio and your name. You must also attach a copy of the receipt or payment confirmation for your submission (e.g. a screenshot of the email) showing ID (your name/ order no.) and recipient (CUPPS).
- All poems must have a title and must not exceed 40 lines in length (excluding title). Entries can be on any subject.
- All prose entries must have a title and must not exceed 10,000 words in length (excluding title). Entries can be on any subject. Entries may be extracts from a novel or novella, or may be short stories.
- Individuals may enter up to 3 entries per category. The cost of entering a category is £5, and therefore if you wish to submit to both categories then the entry fee will be £10. These payments must be made using the PayPal shop on the CUPPS website.
- Entries must be the original work of the author and we will run checks for plagiarism.
- Entries may be published previously (e.g. on a personal blog) but cannot have won any other competition.
- Entries must be written in English but you can include phrases in another language.
- All entries are judged anonymously, and the writer’s name must not appear anywhere on the work itself.
- There will be one winner for each category (poetry and prose) eligible to receive a sum of £100, and one runner-up, eligible to receive £25.
Payment
Purchase your submission to the CUPPS Prize below
Gallery
Photos & videos from our events.
CONTACT US
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© 2020