If you have a competitive streak, enjoy a challenge or just relish the idea of pocketing roughly $8,000, you will be happy to know that The Bridport Prize 2010 website is now open for entries!  Now in it's 36th year, this writing contest offers real financial and career help to new and aspiring writers.

The Bridport Prize offers two massive cash prizes of £5000 (roughly $8,000 but if you want to be picky, head to xe.com for an up-to-date conversion).  Prizes are awarded for one short story and one poem.  Short stories can be up to 5,000 words, although if you are a fan of short and sweet you can opt for the new category for Flash Fiction, for stories of under 250 words.  The prize for the the winner of the Flash Fiction is smaller, but still likely to be your best chance to be paid £1,000 (roughly $1,800) for 250 words!  Poems should be no longer than 42 lines, although they can take any format.

As well as offering some of the largest cash prizes for English language writing, the Bridport prize also boasts prestige, with previous winners including writers such as Kate Atkinson (who has also won a Whitbread Book of the Year prize), Tobias Hill (who has previously won BOTH the short story and poetry Bridport prizes), Carol Ann Duffy and Helen Dunmore.  If you are curious about their entries, and other winning pieces, then you can order anthologies of the best entries from previous years from Amazon and other bookstores, as well as from the Bridport website.

As well as having a distinguished alumni, the Bridport judges are established, respected writers. Previous judges have included Tracey Chevalier, Rose Tremain and Andrew Motion.  This year, Zoe Heller, author of Notes on a Scandal, will be judging the short stories category, saying that she is looking for "Attention to sentences, distinctive voices and surprise."  The poetry judge is Michael Laskey, founder of the International Aldeburgh Poetry Festival and previously nominated for the TS Eliot award. His latest collection of poetry is titled "The Man Alone: New and Selected Poems."

The competition is truly international, and open to anyone writing in English.  Entries must be previously unpublished anywhere either in print or electronic format.  Entry fees are £7 (roughly $10) per story, £6 per poem or £5 per flash fiction. The closing date is 30th June 2010 so you have plenty of time to get your thinking caps on, get typing and send off your entries.

Since the prize will be scooped up based on merit, and there are less entrants, there have to be better odds than winning the lottery, right?

Find out full details and enter online at: www.bridportprize.org.uk   You can also download pdf entry forms, which instructions on how to send your entry and fees via snail mail.