The Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) and Margery Allingham Society have launched a competition for previously unpublished short stories with a top prize of £1,000.

The competition is open to anyone in the world aged over 18, and stories must be written in English and submitted anonymously. The word limit is 3,500 words and the entry fee is £10. Stories must be submitted by March 2014 and the winner will be announced at Crimefest 2014 (15-18 May) in Bristol.

The Margery Allingham Society is sponsoring the £1,000 prize, which was announced by CWA chair Alison Joseph at the Hampstead & Highgate Literary Festival on 17 September. Full details of the prize are available on the CWA website.

Allingham, creator of Albert Campion, wrote dozens of books including several classic crime novels. She was one of the Queens of Crime along with Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh and Dorothy Sayers during the Golden Age of crime fiction. Allingham died in 1966 aged 62.