Hong Kong-based independent publisher Proverse is inviting writers around the world to submit unpublished work for its 2026 international literary prizes, with cash awards and publication on offer across both book‑length and single‑poem categories.

Founded by the late educationist Dr Verner Bickley, MBE, and his wife, the poet and scholar Dr Gillian Bickley, the International Proverse Prizes are open to anyone aged 18 or above, regardless of nationality, residence or citizenship. 

Entries must be previously unpublished in English, but translated work is welcome, provided the English version is submitted. Past winners and finalists have come from Hong Kong, Macao and Beijing, alongside authors from Austria, Australia, Chile, Cuba, Germany, India, Italy, Lithuania, New Zealand, the UK, the US and elsewhere, underlining the awards’ international reach.

The flagship International Proverse Prize recognises single‑author, book‑length manuscripts of fiction, non‑fiction or poetry. The winning work receives publication by Proverse, including editorial preparation, plus a cash prize of HK$10,000 (also stated on the publisher’s site as US$1,200 or £800), which may be shared by up to two entries. 

Eligible submissions range from 30,000 to 40,000‑word novellas to 75,000 to 100,000‑word novels and non‑fiction titles, and 4,000 to 5,000‑word poetry collections, with some flexibility for longer verse manuscripts.

Running in parallel, the Proverse Poetry Prize focuses on single poems and has been held annually since 2016. It offers cash awards of US$100 for first place, US$45 for second and four third prizes of US$20, with winning and selected poems published in the Mingled Voices anthology series. Entries can be in any style or form and may follow a theme suggested by the judges or a subject chosen by the poet.

Submissions for both prizes are now open and can be made through Proverse’s online submissions manager, which the organisers list as their preferred route. The regular deadline is 30 June, with late entries accepted from 1 to 11 July on payment of an additional fee. 

Full entry conditions, past winners, and photographs from prize receptions at venues such as the Helena May can be found on the Proverse website, while the site of Proverse’s distributor showcases the breadth of the imprimatur’s backlist, from poetry to memoir and local history.

For emerging writers in the GBA and beyond, the Proverse prizes are “pathways to publication,” offering a route from desk drawer to bookshelf via a Hong Kong‑based boutique press with a deliberately international outlook.