National Association of Writers
and Groups (NAWG)

Shortlist for winners of all the Members' Competitions is now available! 



President: The Lord Fellowes of West Stafford, DL

Registered Charity Number 1059047


Whatever type of writing you do, we’ve got you covered.

2025 Members' Competitions

by Liz Ashcroft • 2 September 2025
Members Competitions 2025 - winners shortlist

URGENT - have you paid your subscription?

by Penny Ellis • 14 August 2025
The deadline date for paying 2025-26 subscriptions to NAWG is 31st August 2025. Any groups or individuals who have not paid by this date will be removed from the active database and will not be sent publications in future, able to vote in the AGM, allowed to enter the 2026 members' competitions, or be listed on the website. The groups and individual members who have not yet paid are being advised of the deadline. Groups and Individuals who fail to pay up may of course re-join. New groups and individuals joining the association will pay the full subscription (group £50, individual £25, student £15) and with their joining pack will be sent access to all the Link magazines published since 1st July 2025. They will be encouraged to enter the Members' competitions 2026 (closing date 31st March 2026.) After 31st March, new joiners subscriptions will cover them until 30th June 2027 i.e. they get their first period of up to three months free.

New 250 competition

by Susan Cartwright Smith • 5 August 2025
Can you write a spooky ghost or horror story in just 250 words? Then why not enter our NAWG 2025 Autumn 250-word Flash Fiction competition . It will run from Friday 3rd to Friday 31st October, so you have plenty of time to start thinking about it now. Prize of £25 for the winning entry , and we'll publish it on the website. Entries cost £2.50 and you'll find all the entry details on the website HERE - entry will be open to all from the 3rd of October.

Writers' Meet - Poetry Special

by Gary Carr • 6 July 2025
NAWG in association with Runaway Writers

Bournemouth Writing Prize 2026

by Elanor McBay • 12 May 2025
Celebrating 10 years - and bigger prizes!

OPEN competitions 2025

by Liz Ashcroft • 12 May 2025
The 2025 OPEN competitions - Short Story & Poetry

The Write Path 2024

by Simon Whaley • 5 April 2025
Now available to buy!

Wentworth Writing Weekend 2025

by Chris Huck • 30 March 2025
16th to 18th May

250-word Flash Competition

by Susan Cartwright-Smith • 1 March 2025
SPRING 2025 Short Story competition winner
Click here for what's new...

We help to set up and run writing groups and provide support for individual writers.

There are many benefits of membership, including a professional critiquing service to help writers develop and improve their work.

Our Patrons are:

     The Lord Fellowes of West Stafford, DL
     Sir Alan Ayckbourn, CBE
     Carol Ann Duffy, CBE
          Gervase Phinn
     Lord Bragg of Wigton
     Jilly Cooper, CBE
     

Membership

"People join a writers' group because they want to share their work and ideas in a supportive atmosphere. NAWG provides just that environment for writers across the nation."

Click the button below to join us.
Join Us!

Events & Courses

We have many events, including:
  • Monthly Meet the Committee sessions via Zoom.
  • NAWGFest, our annual open festival of writing in September,
  • Weekend writing retreats at Wentworth Castle in Yorkshire.
Click the button below to learn more.
Learn more

Competitions & Publications

We're here to help you write!
We run many writing competitions throughout the year. A good proportion of these are free to enter if you're a member of NAWG.
Our publications include a bi-monthly magazine and regular e-newsletter for members, an annual anthology of award-winning writing, plus many books including our Narrathon project.

Members' Benefits

There are many benefits of membership, including a professional critiquing service to help writers develop and improve their work, and advertising which is usually free. More info here

E-newsletter

We have an e-newsletter that we send out (ONLY to our members) by email. This gives an insight into what our members are doing and gives people  the opportunity to alert us to their needs (NOTE: MEMBERS PASSWORD is needed to request e-news)

Link Magazine

Link Magazine is our bi-monthly publication about writing, by writers, for writers. Link provides up-to-date news, ideas, writing opportunities, tips and advice, and keeps members in touch with one another.

Other books

 The Write Path for 2018 and 2019,  our anthologies of award-winning writing, are available to buy from our shop, and  the later editions for 2020 to 2023 can be purchased from your favourite online bookstore.

Confidence

Boosting Your Self Confidence as a Writer by Steve Bowkett is a book packed with tips and advice designed to show writers of all levels of experience how to become more confident and how this can only have a beneficial effect on their work.