⏳ Weekly Writing Contest | July 27: Ekphrasis
Submit your entry by Friday, August 1st at 12pm ET/5pm BST. Plus: A 'Reader's Choice' award.
Welcome to the Weekly Writers' Hour Contest!
This week’s challenge invites you to choose artwork that speaks to you and let it lead the way to a new piece of writing.
📌 PLUS: We’ve got two updates this week. Read on for news about our August break and a brand-new way to share your writing with the community.
PROMPT:
Ekphrasis is a literary description of a work of visual art.
This week, write a short piece inspired by a work of visual art. You might describe the artwork, imagine what happens just beyond the frame, or explore what the image stirs in you.
Unpublished pieces of 500 words or less in any genre are eligible.
Submissions are due by Friday, August 1st, at 5pm BST / 12pm ET.
Keep reading for more information on prizes and FAQs.
Happy writing!
The Writers’ Hour Magazine Team
A Note from Our Editorial Team
This week, we invite you to write in response to a piece of visual art. This could be anything from a famous painting or sculpture to a photograph, comic, collage, or mural. Then, let it spark your imagination.
You might:
Describe the artwork as if you're guiding someone through it
Tell a story that begins just outside the frame
Reflect on how the image makes you feel or what it reminds you of
Speak to the artist or one of the figures in the scene
Let it open a memory, a question, or a dream
Respond however you’d like in any genre you like. Follow the image. See where it leads.
📣 Two Important Updates
1. A Short Summer Pause
After this week’s prompt, the Weekly Writers’ Hour Contest will take a short rest for the month of August. We’re pausing to give our small editorial team a bit of creative breathing room and to dream up exciting new things for the autumn season.
We’ll be back on Sunday, August 31st with a brand-new prompt.
2. Trialing: ‘Reader’s Choice’ via the Comments
Many of you have told us that you would love the chance to read each other’s submissions, even those not selected for publication. So this week, we’re trying something new.
If you’d like to share your piece with the community, publish the text of your piece directly into the comments section at the bottom of this post.
In addition to our three winning pieces, we’ll also highlight a “Readers’ Choice” selection from the comments section. This could be based on likes, replies, or simply the spark it creates among readers.
Note:
This is completely optional and will have no bearing on contest results. We will continue to read all entries anonymously through Submittable.
To be considered for the official contest (and eligible for prizes), you must be subscribed to Writers’ Hour Magazine, and submit your entry via Submittable.
Sound fun? Share your submission and cheer on your fellow writers in the comments below!
How to Submit:
Submissions should be made through our online submission platform, Submittable, and formatted as a Word Doc.
For more details, please read the full Contest Guidelines.
The winning entries will receive:
First Prize:
$65 USD (£50 GBP)
Publication in Writers’ Hour Magazine
3-months of London Writers’ Salon Silver Membership (£79 value)
Commemorative Writers’ Hour trophy mug
Second Prize:
Publication in Writers’ Hour Magazine
1-month of London Writers’ Salon Silver Membership (£29 value)
Third Prize:
Publication in Writers’ Hour Magazine
FAQs:
What genres can I write in?
All genres - fiction, nonfiction, poetry, etc - are welcome.Is there a word limit?
Your piece must be 500 words or less. Pieces that exceed this will not be considered. There is no minimum word limit.Do I need to submit in a specific format?
Please follow the instructions outlined in the Contest Guidelines.When is the deadline to submit?
Submissions are due by Friday, August 1st at 5pm BST / 12pm ET / 9am PT.Submissions received outside this window will not be considered.
When will the winner be announced?
The winner will be contacted via Submittable, and the winning entries will be published in Writers’ Hour Magazine in September 2025.Can I submit a piece I’ve already published?
Only previously unpublished pieces are eligible for this contest. (Published means anything that has already been made publicly available in print or online.)Can I use AI tools (like ChatGPT) to help write my contest submission?
No. We do not accept any AI-assisted writing for contest entries. All submissions must be the author’s original work and human-generated. Use of AI will disqualify you from this and any future contests.
Is there a fee to submit?
No, there is no fee to submit. However you must be subscribed to Writers’ Hour Magazine in order for your submission to be considered.
PS - Write with us at Writers’ Hour
Come work on your submission at Writers' Hour—our daily silent writing sprints—where writers from around the world come together to work on their projects. It’s the perfect environment to focus, share space with other writers, and make progress on your contest entry.
Property of a Lady
She was seated only five rows back from the front of the podium, but I didn't see the young woman wearing the necklace and blue and white silk scarf until her surprise bid blew up the auction. As I would discover only in those frantic hours after the hammer dropped and it was already too late, no one else had either.
It an invitation only affair and, if knew Philip, everyone there had been vetted. True, there were few houses that catered to those uber wealthy buyers and sellers for whom, as Philip explained with the classic understatement of an English gentleman: "discretion is an important criteria." But, if some whisper ever leaked out that someone had slipped into the inner-circle, his clientele would vanish like wisps of back-room cigarette smoke in the draft of a suddenly opened door.
Despite the secrecy, Philip's was packed. The auction had been the buzz of London's more clandestine circles for a month. Still, I was surprised when Alister Stewart—who had presided over each of the last five record-setting auctions at the largest London house—took both the podium, and command of the room.
"Ladies and gentlemen I draw your attention to the only lot offered this evening." Two white glove clad members of the staff placed a display case centre stage. "Two engraving proofs on parchment depicting a female bust facing right, necklaced..." Stewart paused, and ran a knowing look across the sale floor. "...crowned and mantled."
Several gasps from the audience.
"And a coat of arms quarterly first and fourth France modern, 2nd and 3rd England." Again Stewart paused. "Supported by lion and dragon. Both proofs signed by Sir John York, Master of the Mint.
"On their own remarkable works of a master artisan, but tonight not alone."
The aides shifted the larger case to reveal a smaller one behind.
"Accompanied by the exquisitely engraved coin dies, and a gold sovereign of half a troy ounce; hammered. Obverse and reverse bearing the proofed designs, the arms of Lady Jane Grey marshalled to what might have been had she been crowned. Dated, 1553."
As if on cue, the aides turned the case. A glint of gold flashed from the coin.
The murmurs grew.
"Available for private sale for the first time, the sole example of coinage minted during the nine day reign of Lady Jane Grey, the uncrowned successor of Edward VI, executed in February of 1554. A singular artistic evolution of concept, to design, to execution... to coin a phrase."
"Shall we begin at two hundred thousand pounds sterling?"
Even these years later, I remember her profile ("facing right, necklaced") with uncanny clarity: pale, fair-haired, a dusting of freckles on her nose. Her eyes were cold; determined. She could not have been more than twenty five years old but when she spoke her voice rang through the din of the crowd like the chime of a lovely bell.
"One million pounds sterling," she said.
And the room went silent.
This latest prompt is absolutely lovely and intriguing. So capacious! Question, I guess. I wonder if it would have been good to suggest that writers also upload a photo of the visual image they're writing about.