London Arts and Talents International Competition 2026

Writers. Artists. Musicians.

London Arts and Talents invites writers, artists and musicians from around the world to take part in the London Arts and Talents International Competition 2026.

We are looking for work with a voice of its own — not flawless technique for its own sake, and not a famous name, but what the creator genuinely set out to say and how convincingly they said it.

Every entry is assessed by specialist panels bringing together LAT Team Experts and Invited Experts from the wider creative industries.

Every entrant receives a written professional assessment of their work.

Entries: 1 August – 20 October 2026
Judging: 21–30 October 2026
Results announced: 31 October 2026

SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY → info@londonartsandtalents.co.uk

Who can enter

Creators aged 18 and over, from any country in the world.

Written work is accepted in English and Russian. For visual art and music categories, language is not a factor.

No formal arts education, professional membership or previous record of awards is required. None of these factors affects the judging process.

The panel judges the work, not the biography.

You may enter more than one category. Each entry is assessed separately.

Collaborative work is welcome. Please name all creators involved in your application; any resulting award will be issued to the group.

THREE STREAMS

THE WORD

Fiction - a short story or self-contained extract, up to 15,000 characters.

Poetry - a selection of 3–5 poems.

Non-fiction - an essay, feature or documentary prose, up to 15,000 characters.

Writing for children - prose or verse for a young readership, up to 10,000 characters.

Format: PDF or DOCX, with the author's name on the first page.

THE IMAGE

Painting and drawing

Applied and decorative arts - ceramics, textiles, jewellery and art dolls.

Digital art and illustration

Photography

Format: 1–3 works, JPEG or PNG, at least 2000 px on the longest side.

For three-dimensional work, please send 2–3 views of the same piece; this counts as one work.

Please include the title, year, medium and dimensions for each work.

THE SOUND

Voice - classical, contemporary or folk.

Instrumental performance

Songwriting and composition - original music and/or lyrics.

Format: 1-2 pieces of up to 6 minutes each, submitted as MP3 or WAV files, or as a video link.

Both studio and live recordings are accepted.

HOW WORK IS JUDGED

Each entry is assessed independently against four criteria:

Craft - technique, command of the material, form and language.

Originality - an individual creative voice rather than imitation.

Coherence - how successfully the idea is carried through and how effectively form supports content.

Impact - the ability of the work to hold attention and remain with the reader, viewer or listener.

Each criterion is scored from 1 to 10 points, giving a maximum possible score of 40 points.

The final result is based on the assessment of the relevant specialist panel.

THE 2026 EXPERT PANEL

Entries are assessed by specialist panels representing THE WORD, THE IMAGE and THE SOUND.

The judging panels bring together two groups of creative professionals:

LAT TEAM EXPERTS

Members of the London Arts and Talents team with professional experience across literature, visual arts, music, media and the creative industries.

INVITED EXPERTS

Independent creative professionals invited by London Arts and Talents to contribute their specialist knowledge and professional experience to the judging process.

Invited experts are selected according to the professional expertise required for each competition stream and may include writers, artists, musicians, educators, curators and other established creative professionals.

Each entry is assessed only within its relevant creative stream and against the competition's four published criteria: Craft, Originality, Coherence and Impact.

Blind Assessment

All judging is conducted anonymously.

Experts receive works under registration numbers, without entrants' names, biographies or creative CVs.

Entrants are not informed which individual expert assessed their work.

This approach allows London Arts and Talents to combine the expertise of its own professional team with the perspectives of invited independent specialists while maintaining an impartial assessment process.

Following the judging process, every entrant receives a written professional assessment of their work based on the same four published criteria.

The assessment is issued in the name of London Arts and Talents and reflects the professional evaluation of the relevant panel.

AWARDS

In each of the three streams, the panel selects:

3 Laureates - First, Second and Third Place
5 Nominees

This creates 24 awards across the competition as a whole.

We deliberately do not award separate first, second and third places in every sub-category. The purpose is to preserve the significance of each award across the three main creative streams.

GRAND PRIX

One exceptional work may be selected from across all three streams for the London Arts and Talents Grand Prix 2026.

The Grand Prix recipient receives:

- a dedicated feature in the News section of the London Arts and Talents website;
- an invitation to be interviewed for the London Arts and Talents YouTube channel;
- presentation within the association's international creative community.

All Laureates and Nominees are invited to join the London Arts and Talents community and may be invited to participate in future projects, exhibitions, publications, interviews and other creative initiatives.

All other entrants receive a personal Certificate of Participation and a written professional assessment of their work.

PUBLICATION OF YOUR WORK

Publication is entirely your choice.

Once the results have been announced, London Arts and Talents contacts each Laureate and Nominee individually to discuss whether they would like their work to be presented through our website, social media, publications or other competition materials.

You may decline publication. This has no effect on your award, certificate or place in the official competition results.

Copyright remains entirely with the author.

HOW TO ENTER

Entries are accepted by email:

info@londonartsandtalents.co.uk

Please send us:

1. A short letter about yourself, in your own words.
Tell us who you are, what you create and what the submitted work means to you.

2. Your creative CV.
You may include education, exhibitions, publications, performances, awards and other relevant creative activity.

If you do not have a formal creative CV, simply tell us briefly about your creative background. This does not affect the assessment.

3. Your work, prepared according to the requirements of your chosen category.

4. In the email subject line, state your stream and category.

For example:

THE IMAGE - Photography
or
THE WORD - Poetry

If your files are large - such as audio recordings or high-resolution images - you may send a cloud link.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

Within three working days, London Arts and Talents will confirm receipt of your application and assign your entry a registration number.

Your work is then prepared for blind assessment and passed to the appropriate specialist panel without your name, biography or creative CV.

If you have not received confirmation within three working days, please contact us again, as your original email may not have reached us.

KEY DATES

Entries: 1 August - 20 October 2026
Judging: 21-30 October 2026
Results published: 31 October 2026
Certificates and written assessments: by 10 November 2026

SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY → info@londonartsandtalents.co.uk

RIGHTS AND COPYRIGHT

Copyright remains entirely with the author.

Work submitted to the competition is used solely for assessment and is not published without the author's separate consent.

Any publication agreed with the author is credited appropriately and is non-commercial, appearing only through London Arts and Talents platforms and competition-related materials.

Personal data is processed in accordance with UK GDPR solely for the purposes of administering the competition, issuing awards and communicating with entrants.

QUESTIONS WE ARE OFTEN ASKED

Who judges the competition?

Entries are assessed by LAT Team Experts and Invited Experts.

LAT Team Experts are members of the London Arts and Talents team with professional experience across literature, visual arts, music, media and the creative industries.

For the London Arts and Talents International Competition 2026, invited independent experts include Alexey Pankratov, visual artist and art educator, contributing his expertise to THE IMAGE / Visual Arts, and DJ Gramozeka, contributing his professional expertise to THE SOUND / Music.

Invited Experts are selected by London Arts and Talents for their professional experience and specialist expertise within the relevant creative field.

Why aren't individual judges named?

The competition is designed around the professional expertise of the panels rather than the identity of individual judges.

Entrants are not informed which individual expert assesses their work, and experts receive entries under registration numbers without the entrant's identity or biography.

How can the judging be blind?

Experts receive only the work required for assessment together with its registration number. They do not receive the entrant's name, biography or creative CV as part of the judging material.

Are winners decided in advance? Do you reward people you know?

No.

Entries are presented to the relevant panel under registration numbers. The assessment is based on the four published criteria.

Panel members may not enter the competition themselves.

Why do I need to send a letter and creative CV if the judges don't see them?

These materials allow London Arts and Talents to understand who has entered and, after judging, to introduce selected creators appropriately through publications, interviews and future projects.

They have no bearing on the assessment of the submitted work.

Do I give London Arts and Talents the rights to my work?

No.

Copyright remains entirely yours.

Submitted work is used for assessment only. Any subsequent publication is discussed with you separately, and you are free to decline.

I'm not in the UK. Can I enter?

Yes.

The competition is international and runs entirely online. Entrants from any country are welcome.

I don't have an arts degree or belong to a professional union. Can I still enter?

Yes.

Formal education, union membership and previous professional recognition are not requirements.

The panel judges the work, not the biography.

What does the certificate confirm?

The certificate is issued by London Arts and Talents Ltd, a creative organisation registered in the United Kingdom.

It confirms participation in the competition and, where applicable, the award achieved.

Certificates are issued digitally and signed by the Director of London Arts and Talents.

ABOUT LONDON ARTS AND TALENTS

London Arts and Talents is an international creative association founded in 2022.

Our community brings together writers, artists, musicians and other creative professionals from different countries.

Since 2025, the organisation has been registered in the United Kingdom as London Arts and Talents Ltd (Company No. 16665145).

We develop international creative projects, organise competitions and cultural initiatives, publish interviews and articles, support emerging and established creative professionals, and build connections between artists and audiences across borders.

Our aim is to create an open international cultural space in which creative work can be discovered, discussed and supported.

Entries and enquiries:
info@londonartsandtalents.co.uk

London Arts and Talents Ltd
124 City Road
London EC1V 2NX
United Kingdom
Company No. 16665145