Our competitions are designed to help members get ahead in their careers. You can check the international website for more information on international grants and awards available.

We are so excited to bring you our March 2012 Slush Pile Challenge. Our challenger is Amanda Rutter, commissioning editor for Strange Chemistry the new YA imprint of the groundbreaking sci-fi/fantasy publishers, Angry Robot.

We will invite an agent or editor to pose a challenge to our membership.

A minimum of fifteen randomly selected submissions will be reviewed by the featured agent/editor. He/she will select one ‘winner’. The winner will receive a 30-minute one-on-one meeting (in person or over the phone) with the featured agent/editor. So that this is a learning opportunity for all SCBWI members, the agent/editor will provide a brief analysis of the submission he/she selected. The analysis will be sent to the ‘winner’ and posted on the British SCBWI website.

SCBWI British Isles is very excited to announce the winners of our third UNDISCOVERED VOICES anthology competition. The competition helps fresh, new voices in children's literature find agents, publishers and ultimately readers. The third Undiscovered Voices anthology was published in January 2012 and sent free of charge to UK editors and agents focusing on children's literature. The book was produced by volunteers with the financial support of Working Partners Ltd, a London-based company which creates series fiction.

The previous two anthologies have helped launch the writing careers of several SCBWI-BI members. Since 2008, these authors have accumulated lots of prize nominations, short listings and awards, including a long-listing for the Carnegie Medal.