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DIRECTORY

Best Writing Contests in 2025

Showing 420 contests that match your search.

Genres: Fiction and Short Story

Every Friday, Reedsy sends out five writing prompts. Enter your response within a week for a chance at $250. Winners may also be included in a future issue of Reedsy’s literary magazine, Prompted.

Top Prize:

$250

Additional prizes:

Publication on Reedsy Prompts + $25 credit for Reedsy Marketplace services for shortlisted entries

💰 Entry fee: $5

📅 Deadline: December 31, 2025

The Elegant Literature Award For New Writers

Elegant Media Publishing Corporation

Genres: Fiction, Crime, Fantasy, Romance, Horror, LGBTQ, Science Fiction, Suspense, and Thriller

This contest invites new or unpublished authors to write a story based on the prompt 'Dreaded Destinations, and a gate'. The contest aims to promote new talent in fiction writing.

Top Prize:

$3,000

Additional prizes:

1st: Free enrollment in New Novelist Accelerator and publication payment at 10c/word | 2nd – 10th: 10c/word and publication | 11th – 35th: $20 USD and an honorable mention in the magazine.

💰 Entry fee: $10

📅 Deadline: June 30, 2025 (Expired)

The Bedford Competition

The Bedford Competition

Genres: Poetry and Short Story

The Bedford Competition runs annual international short story and poetry competitions open to anyone over 17 years. Winning entries are published in an anthology.

Top Prize:

£2000

Additional prizes:

2nd Prize £300 | 3rd Prize £200 | Cygnature Prizes £200 | Bedford Prizes £100

💰 Entry fee: $11

📅 Deadline: October 31, 2025

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Genres: Fiction and Flash Fiction

The contest honors George Dila, a friend of the magazine and its original fiction editor. It invites submissions of previously unpublished flash fiction under 1,000 words.

Top Prize:

$100

Additional prizes:

Publication in Third Wednesday magazine

💰 Entry fee: $6

📅 Deadline: August 15, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Poetry

The competition invites poets to submit works based on five given words each week over a 42-week period. It aims to encourage creativity and showcases poets' works in an anthology.

Top Prize:

$750

Additional prizes:

Second place: 500 euros Third place: 250 euros Travel fee and accommodation for winners attending the event. Physical award crafted by Michael Ray, plus opportunities for winners to read at events.

💰 Entry fee: $5

📅 Deadline: January 28, 2025 (Expired)

The Iowa Review Awards

The Iowa Review

Genres: Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, and Short Story

The Iowa Review Awards is an annual writing contest accepting submissions in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. It has been held every January since 2003, and winners are published in the December issue.

Top Prize:

$1,500

Additional prizes:

First runners-up receive $750

💰 Entry fee: $20

📅 Deadline: January 31, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Poetry

The Heroica Poetry Prize is a competition aimed at women and non-binary authors and poets, offering monetary rewards and publication in an anthology.

Top Prize:

£125

Additional prizes:

2nd: £50 | 3rd: £25 | Winning and long-listed poems will be published.

💰 Entry fee: $2

📅 Deadline: March 31, 2024 (Expired)

Tom Grass Prize

Friends and family of Tom Grass

Genres: Fiction and Non-fiction

The Tom Grass Prize celebrates the spirit of adventure through short pieces of prose, inviting writers from all backgrounds to reflect on the theme of adventure. The prize honors Tom Grass, a multifaceted writer and traveler.

Additional prizes:

1st prize of £1,000 and two runners-up prizes of £500 each.

💰 Entry fee: $0

📅 Deadline: March 31, 2025 (Expired)

Open Prize

National Poetry Series

Genres: Poetry

The NPS Open Competition invites submissions of book-length poetry manuscripts from U.S. residents and American citizens abroad. Winners receive cash prizes and publication.

Top Prize:

$10,000

Additional prizes:

Publication of a full-length manuscript by a participating publisher.

💰 Entry fee: $35

📅 Deadline: March 21, 2025 (Expired)

Poetry of the Sacred

Center for Interfaith Relations

Genres: Christian and Poetry

For over fourteen years, the Poetry of the Sacred contest encourages poets to explore spiritual themes. It focuses on literary excellence, authenticity, and spiritual tenor in submissions.

Top Prize:

$500

Additional prizes:

Winner receives the Thomas Merton Grand Prize Three honorable mentions of $100 each

💰 Entry fee: $15

📅 Deadline: August 12, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Poetry

The competition runs for 42 weeks from April 9, 2024, to January 28, 2025. Each week, five words will be provided for poem submissions, which must incorporate all the words.

Top Prize:

€750

Additional prizes:

€500, €250

💰 Entry fee: $5

📅 Deadline: January 28, 2025 (Expired)

Genres: Poetry

The Booksie 2025 Poetry Contest seeks original poems of any type or length. Entries can be serious or whimsical, but should evoke thought. Judges will select winners from six finalists.

Top Prize:

$1,000

Additional prizes:

Gold winner badge and promotion across Booksie. Runners-up receive $100 cash and a silver winner badge

💰 Entry fee: $7

📅 Deadline: October 17, 2025

The Adventure Writers Competition

Clive Cussler Collector’s Society

Genres: Fiction, Novel, Thriller, and Mystery

The Adventure Writers Competition (AWC) celebrates adventure writing, accepting action/adventure novels. The 2024 contest finalists have been announced, and submissions for the 2025 competition will be open from January 1 to April 30, 2025. The AWC aims to promote and recognize quality adventure writing through a rigorous judging process.

Top Prize:

$1,000

Additional prizes:

Two AWC Finalist Awards: $500

💰 Entry fee: $50

📅 Deadline: April 30, 2025 (Expired)

Genres: Fiction and Flash Fiction

The mission of this contest is to inspire creativity, great writing, and provide well-rewarded recognition to contestants. The contest is open to all styles and genres of flash fiction.

Top Prize:

$500

Additional prizes:

2nd: $300 | 3rd: $200 | 7 runner-ups: $25 Amazon Gift Cards | 10 honorable mentions: $20 Amazon Gift Card. All winners, runner-ups, and honorable mentions are published on WOW.

💰 Entry fee: $10

📅 Deadline: August 31, 2025

Edinburgh Short Story Award

Scottish Arts Trust

Genres: Crime, Humor, Romance, and Short Story

The Edinburgh Short Story Award is open to writers worldwide, welcoming stories of any genre. The award offers substantial cash prizes and the opportunity for publication in The Edinburgh Anthology. It emphasizes inclusivity through bursaries for underrepresented writers.

Top Prize:

$3,000

Additional prizes:

2nd: £500 | 3rd: £250 | Publication in the anthology for top twenty stories

💰 Entry fee: $12

📅 Deadline: February 28, 2025 (Expired)

Genres: Fiction and Mystery

The Mystery & Mayhem Awards seek the best books in mystery genres, focusing on amateur sleuths, light suspense, and more. Over $30,000 in prizes, including a $1,000 Grand Prize, exclusive reviews, and promotional boosts for winners.

Top Prize:

$1,000

Additional prizes:

Exclusive Chanticleer Book Review Package and Author Interview valued at $795. Various sponsor awards and promotional opportunities for winners.

💰 Entry fee: $99

📅 Deadline: July 31, 2025

Genres: Poetry

The Muriel Craft Bailey Poetry Contest is an annual event that celebrates original poetry. It has been held since 1997 in memory of poet Muriel Craft Bailey. The contest is open for submissions from April 1 to July 15 each year, with guidelines updated periodically.

Top Prize:

$1,000

Additional prizes:

Publication by The Comstock Review

💰 Entry fee: $25

📅 Deadline: July 15, 2024 (Expired)

"Write On!" Short Story Contest

Ann Arbor District Library

Genres: Children's

The contest is for Grades 3-5 and will be open for submissions from January 6 to February 2, 2025. An awards ceremony will be held on April 19, 2025.

Top Prize:

Publication on website

📅 Deadline: February 02, 2025 (Expired)

Harold Morton Landon Translation Award

Academy of American Poets

Genres: Poetry

The Harold Morton Landon Translation Award is an annual award recognizing the work of a translator for a poetry collection translated from any language into English, published in the previous calendar year. Established in 1976, the award amount is $1,000.

Top Prize:

$1,000

📅 Deadline: February 15, 2025 (Expired)

2024 International Literary Prize

Hammond House Publishing

Genres: Poetry, Script Writing, and Short Story

The 2024 International Literary Prize invites writers to submit entries in four categories: Short Stories, Poetry, Scriptwriting, and Songwriting. The contest emphasizes anonymity in submissions and offers cash prizes, publication opportunities, and feedback options.

Top Prize:

1st prize for Short Story and Poetry: £1000 1st prize for Scriptwriting: £500 1st prize for Song writing: £250

Additional prizes:

2nd and 3rd prizes for all categories: £100 and £50 respectively, along with publication for all shortlisted entries.

💰 Entry fee: $10

📅 Deadline: September 30, 2024 (Expired)

Winds of Asia Award

Kinsman Avenue Publishing, Inc

Genres: Flash Fiction, Poetry, and Short Story

The Winds of Asia Award invites Asian authors and poets to submit original, unpublished works that highlight Asian cultures. Winners can receive cash prizes up to $500, along with publication in Kinsman Quarterly and the upcoming anthology, Winds of Asia. The contest encourages diverse voices and stories.

Top Prize:

$500

Additional prizes:

2nd: $200, 3rd: $100, 4th: $50. Subsequent 6 finalists receive a $25 amazon gift card. 1st place also gets publication in Kinsman Quarterly and the annual anthology.

📅 Deadline: February 28, 2025 (Expired)

High School Academic Research Competition

Crimson Consulting Limited

Genres: Essay and Non-fiction

The High School Academic Research Competition (SARC) is an online contest for high school students aged 13-18 to conduct research on any topic. Participants develop their research proposals and skills through exclusive bootcamps and compete by submitting proposals and video pitches.

Top Prize:

$1,000

Additional prizes:

1st place: $1000 and free Indigo Research Intensive Program 2nd place: $750 3rd place: $500

💰 Entry fee: $20

📅 Deadline: April 30, 2025 (Expired)

Genres: Fiction, Non-fiction, and Poetry

The Unleash WIP Award supports writers in completing significant literary projects, offering $500, editorial feedback, coaching, and a feature in Unleash Lit.

Top Prize:

$500

Additional prizes:

Editorial feedback, coaching meetings, and an excerpt/interview feature in Unleash Lit.

💰 Entry fee: $35

📅 Deadline: July 15, 2025

James Alan McPherson Prize for the Novel

Association of Writers & Writing Programs

Genres: Fiction and Novel

The AWP Award Series is an annual competition for the publication of excellent new book-length works. The series is open to all authors writing in English, regardless of nationality or residence. The competition includes various genres, and the James Alan McPherson Prize specifically focuses on novels.

Top Prize:

$5,500

Additional prizes:

Publication by the University of Nebraska Press

💰 Entry fee: $30

📅 Deadline: February 28, 2025 (Expired)

Writing MAGIC

Sadie Tells Stories

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, and Young Adult

The Writing MAGIC contest invites authors to write a short story under 500 words about anything magical. Open to all age groups, stories can be fiction or non-fiction. The contest aims to celebrate creativity and share magical experiences.

Top Prize:

$500

Additional prizes:

Second place: $150

💰 Entry fee: $10

📅 Deadline: April 01, 2024 (Expired)

Tor House Prize for Poetry

Robinson Jeffers Tor House Foundation

Genres: Poetry

The Robinson Jeffers Tor House Prize for Poetry is an annual contest honoring the poet Robinson Jeffers. Established as a living memorial, it aims to recognize outstanding poetry submissions. The prize includes an honorarium and honorable mentions.

Top Prize:

$1,000

Additional prizes:

$200 for honorable mention

📅 Deadline: March 15, 2024 (Expired)

Bridport Flash Fiction Prize

Bridport Arts Centre

Genres: Fiction and Flash Fiction

The Bridport Flash Fiction Prize invites writers to submit stories of up to 250 words. It aims to celebrate the art of brevity in storytelling. The winning entries receive the opportunity for publication and recognition.

Top Prize:

£1000

Additional prizes:

£500 for 2nd, £250 for 3rd

💰 Entry fee: $12

📅 Deadline: May 31, 2025 (Expired)

GWG Literary Prize 2025

Geneva Writers Group

Genres: Fiction, Non-fiction, and Poetry

The GWG Literary Prize 2025 invites writers to explore hope and resilience through candid writing. Categories include fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry, all reflecting the theme of hope.

Top Prize:

$100

Additional prizes:

1st: 100CHF, 2nd: 50CHF, 3rd: 25CHF. Each winner and runner-up also receives 1 free workshop each.

💰 Entry fee: $20

📅 Deadline: March 03, 2025 (Expired)

Genres: Children's, Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Short Story, and Young Adult

The Arizona Authors Literary Contest is open to authors worldwide from January 1, 2025, to June 1, 2025. It accepts unpublished and published works across multiple categories, with a focus on literary merit.

Top Prize:

$500

Additional prizes:

Grand winner: $500 | 3x 1st: $200 | 3x 2nd: $125 | 3x 3rd: $75 | 3x 4th: $50 | 11x "Best of Subcategory" prizes: $25 each | Recognition in the Arizona Literary Magazine and various monetary prizes for winners and runners-up.

💰 Entry fee: $50

📅 Deadline: June 01, 2025 (Expired)

Bath Flash Fiction Award

Bath Flash Fiction Award

Genres: Fiction and Flash Fiction

An international rolling flash fiction competition that runs three rounds annually, offering substantial cash prizes and opportunities for publication in anthologies.

Top Prize:

£1000

Additional prizes:

£300 for 2nd, £100 for 3rd

💰 Entry fee: $10

📅 Deadline: February 02, 2025 (Expired)

Wild Atlantic Writing Awards (WAWA)

Ireland Writing Retreat

Genres: Flash Fiction and Non-fiction

The WAWA challenges writers to explore the theme of 'Endings' through short stories of up to 500 words. Entries must not include the word 'endings' in the title or story itself. Winners will be announced in March 2025.

Top Prize:

$500

Additional prizes:

Winner can choose either 500 euro or a voucher worth 1,000 euro for any writing retreat in 2025. Top ten stories in each category will be published on the Ireland Writing Retreat website, including a bio and photo of the author.

💰 Entry fee: $10

📅 Deadline: January 12, 2025 (Expired)

Black River Chapbook Competition

Black Lawrence Press

Genres: Poetry

Twice each year Black Lawrence Press will run the Black River Chapbook Competition for an unpublished chapbook of poems or prose between 16-36 pages in length. The contest is open to new, emerging, and established writers. The winner will receive book publication, a $500 cash award, and ten copies of the book. Prizes are awarded on publication.

Top Prize:

$500

💰 Entry fee: $18

📅 Deadline: June 01, 2024 (Expired)

Cricket Magazine Contest

Cricket Magazine

Genres: Children's

The contest invites children to submit original art related to a camp theme. It emphasizes creativity and originality, encouraging participants to depict their ideal camping experiences.

Additional prizes:

Winning entries will be published in the November/December 2024 issue of Cricket Magazine.

💰 Entry fee: $0

📅 Deadline: July 25, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Fantasy and Fiction

PocketVerse: The Fantasy Quest invites writers to create original English-language audio series in various fantasy subgenres. Entries must have a minimum of 100k words completed by the contest deadline to be eligible for prizes.

Top Prize:

$5,000

Additional prizes:

2nd: $2500 | 3rd: $1250 | 4th: $750 | 5th: $500 | All winners receive a certificate and social media promotion.

📅 Deadline: June 15, 2025 (Expired)

The Plaza Poetry Prize

The Plaza Prizes Ltd.

Genres: Poetry

The Plaza Poetry Prize (60 lines) is an international competition with the aim of discovering, publishing, and promoting talented new writers. Judged by Pulitzer Prize-winner Natalie Diaz, it offers cash prizes and publication opportunities for shortlisted entries.

Top Prize:

$5,000

Additional prizes:

First Place: £4000 / $5000 + publication in the anthology + nomination for The Forward Prize (Top prize of £1000 / $1200). Second Prize: £300 / $360. Third Prize: £100 / $120.

💰 Entry fee: $15

📅 Deadline: February 28, 2025 (Expired)

Discover the finest writing contests of 2025 for fiction and non-fiction authors — including short story competitions, essay writing competitions, poetry contests, and many more. Updated weekly, these contests are vetted by Reedsy to weed out the scammers and time-wasters. If you’re looking to stick to free writing contests, simply use our filters as you browse.

Why you should submit to writing contests

Submitting to poetry competitions and free writing contests in 2025 is absolutely worth your while as an aspiring author: just as your qualifications matter when you apply for a new job, a writing portfolio that boasts published works and award-winning pieces is a great way to give your writing career a boost. And not to mention the bonus of cash prizes!

That being said, we understand that taking part in writing contests can be tough for emerging writers. First, there’s the same affliction all writers face: lack of time or inspiration. Entering writing contests is a time commitment, and many people decide to forego this endeavor in order to work on their larger projects instead — like a full-length book. Second, for many writers, the chance of rejection is enough to steer them clear of writing contests. 

But we’re here to tell you that two of the great benefits of entering writing contests happen to be the same as those two reasons to avoid them.

When it comes to the time commitment: yes, you will need to expend time and effort in order to submit a quality piece of writing to competitions. That being said, having a hard deadline to meet is a great motivator for developing a solid writing routine.

Think of entering contests as a training session to become a writer who will need to meet deadlines in order to have a successful career. If there’s a contest you have your eye on, and the deadline is in one month, sit down and realistically plan how many words you’ll need to write per day in order to meet that due date — and don’t forget to also factor in the time you’ll need to edit your story!

For tips on setting up a realistic writing plan, check out this free, ten-day course: How to Build a Rock-Solid Writing Routine.

In regards to the fear of rejection, the truth is that any writer aspiring to become a published author needs to develop relatively thick skin. If one of your goals is to have a book traditionally published, you will absolutely need to learn how to deal with rejection, as traditional book deals are notoriously hard to score. If you’re an indie author, you will need to adopt the hardy determination required to slowly build up a readership.

The good news is that there’s a fairly simple trick for learning to deal with rejection: use it as a chance to explore how you might be able to improve your writing.

In an ideal world, each rejection from a publisher or contest would come with a detailed letter, offering construction feedback and pointing out specific tips for improvement. And while this is sometimes the case, it’s the exception and not the rule.

Still, you can use the writing contests you don’t win as a chance to provide yourself with this feedback. Take a look at the winning and shortlisted stories and highlight their strong suits: do they have fully realized characters, a knack for showing instead of telling, a well-developed but subtly conveyed theme, a particularly satisfying denouement?

The idea isn’t to replicate what makes those stories tick in your own writing. But most examples of excellent writing share a number of basic craft principles. Try and see if there are ways for you to translate those stories’ strong points into your own unique writing.

Finally, there are the more obvious benefits of entering writing contests: prize and publication. Not to mention the potential to build up your readership, connect with editors, and gain exposure.

Resources to help you win writing competitions in 2025

Every writing contest has its own set of submission rules. Whether those rules are dense or sparing, ensure that you follow them to a T. Disregarding the guidelines will not sway the judges’ opinion in your favor — and might disqualify you from the contest altogether. 

Aside from ensuring you follow the rules, here are a few resources that will help you perfect your submissions.

Free online courses

On Writing:

  • "How to Craft a Killer Short Story" (Click here)
  • "The Non-Sexy Business of Writing Non-Fiction" (Click here)
  • "How to Write a Novel" (Click here)
  • "Understanding Point of View" (Click here)
  • "Developing Characters That Your Readers Will Love" (Click here)
  • "Writing Dialogue That Develops Plot and Character" (Click here)
  • "Stop Procrastinating! Build a Solid Writing Routine" (Click here)

On Editing:

  • "Story Editing for Authors" (Click here)
  • "How to Self-Edit Your Manuscript Like a Pro" (Click here)
  • "Novel Revision: Practical Tips for Rewrites" (Click here)

Blog posts

  • "How to Write a Novel: Steps From a Bestselling Writer" (Click here)
  • "How to Write a Short Story in 9 Simple Steps" (Click here)
  • "100 Literary Devices With Examples: The Ultimate List" (Click here)
  • "20 Writing Tips to Improve Your Craft" (Click here)
  • "How to Write Fabulous Dialogue [9 Tips + Examples]" (Click here)
  • "8 Character Development Exercises to Write 3D Characters" (Click here)

Bonus resources

After you submit to a writing competition in 2025

It’s exciting to send a piece of writing off to a contest. However, once the initial excitement wears off, you may be left waiting for a while. Some writing contests will contact all entrants after the judging period — whether or not they’ve won. Other writing competitions will only contact the winners. 

Here are a few things to keep in mind after you submit:

  • Many writing competitions don’t have time to respond to each entrant with feedback on their story. However, it never hurts to ask! Feel free to politely reach out requesting feedback — but wait until after the selection period is over.

  • If you’ve submitted the same work to more than one writing competition or literary magazine, remember to withdraw your submission if it ends up winning elsewhere.

  • After you send a submission, don’t follow it up with a rewritten or revised version. Instead, ensure that your first version is thoroughly proofread and edited. If not, wait until the next edition of the contest or submit the revised version to other writing contests.

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