Forget The Booker, Make Sure You Enter The Rooker Book Competition

I’ve just heard about the nicest writing competition I have ever come across, run by what sounds like the nicest football club.

It’s an annual competition run by Lewes FC. Lewes is the county town of East Sussex. It has more antique shops than you can shake a stick at and has a river (Ouse) a castle (old) and a house that once belonged to one of the wives that Henry VIII didn’t behead (Anne of Cleves).

It also has a pioneering football club that was the first professional or semi-professional club in the world to implement an equal pay structure. It means that the playing budgets for its men’s and women’s teams are identical.

What They Want

They do things differently and you won’t be surprised to learn that their competition is also different. There is no set theme and it definitely doesn’t have to be about football, although I’m guessing that with two national newspaper sports journalists on the impressive judging panel it wouldn’t hurt. In an attempt to “democratise novel-writing” they are lowering the barriers that might discourage people from entering.

It is a book prize, but you don’t need to have written a book.
You don’t even need to have written the first three chapters or a slick synopsis.
All they want is the first 400 words.

The winner receives:

• A hand-carved wooden trophy
• £250 to donate to a charity of their choice
• An exclusive one-hour feedback and coaching session with an experienced editor at Hachette UK, designed to help kick-start a potential writing career.

And this year, for the first time, Lewes FC is flinging open the gates beyond its turnstiles, and inviting anyone to enter from anywhere.

The illustrious judging panel is chaired by Baroness Lola Young, author and advocate who also happens to be a former Chair of the Booker Prize. The other confirmed judges are Georgia Byng (children’s’ author), Paul Hayward (Observer sports journalist and author), Mark Crick (author), Suzy Wrack (Guardian women’s football journalist and author) and Emad Akhtar (Publishing Director for Orion Fiction).

How to Enter (it would be rude not to)

• Type your 400-word opening to a novel (including the book title and genre)
• Email it as an attachment to Karen@lewesfc.com
• You must use the subject line: ROOKER PRIZE
• Include your name and contact details in the email

The information on their website refers to the opening of a novel, but I double-checked with organiser and former director, Karen Dobres, and she tells me that they would also welcome memoirs (but no other types of non-fiction).

Closing date: Monday 30 March 2026

The name of the competition comes from the club’s nickname, The Rooks. They are called that because of the colony of rooks that nest near their home ground. The winner will be announced on Monday 27 April 2026, which happens to be International Crow and Raven Appreciation Day.

It is a long, long time since I watched a live football match but I am warming to the idea. It is not only because they have prosecco on tap in the club bar, it’s also because I like people and organisations who do things differently.