The Best Children's Writing Contests of 2023

Writing competitions curated by Reedsy

Showing 25 contests


The Atom Learning Young Author Award

Atom Learning

The theme for 2023 is 'If I were in charge for a day…'. Entrants must submit a creative response to this theme no more than 500 words. All entrants must be aged between 7–11 on the day the competition closes (10th September 2023). Submissions must be written by the child and must not be supported by an adult. We’re looking for aspiring writers, not perfect wordsmiths!

Top prize

A trip to Disneyland Paris for a family of 4

Additional prizes

Chromebook worth ÂŁ250 | More prizes for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: FREE

Deadline: September 10, 2023 (Expired)


Genres

Fiction, Children's

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National Youth Foundation "I Matter" Contest

National Youth Foundation

Founded by Black women with a vision for change, the mission of the National Youth Foundation is to promote diversity, inclusion and gender equality through innovative literary programs. The “I Matter” poetry contest was launched by a 14-year old student who took action to educate the world about why Black Lives Matter. The contest calls upon students across the country to submit poems on this important topic.

Top prize

$500

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: FREE

Deadline: July 23, 2023 (Expired)


Genres

Children's, Poetry

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100 Word Writing Contest

Tadpole Press

100 words per entry. Submit as many entries as you’d like. All ages. All genders. All nationalities. All writers welcome. The theme is using humor as healing.

Top prize

$1,000

Additional prizes

2nd: writing coach package 3rd: developmental or diversity editing package.

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: $10

Deadline: April 30, 2023 (Expired)


Genres

Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Thriller, Young Adult, Children's, Poetry, Romance, Short Story, Suspense, Travel

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The Betty Award

The Betty Award

As one of the few competitions for elementary and middle school students, The Betty Award grants cash prizes for written pieces below 1,000 words. The Betty Award has both a Spring & Fall contest.

Top prize

$300

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: $20

Deadline: May 13, 2023 (Expired)


Genres

Children's

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North Street Book Prize

Winning Writers

Submit a self-published or hybrid-published book, up to 200,000 words in length. One grand prize winner will receive $10,000, a marketing analysis and one-hour phone consultation with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, a $300 credit at BookBaby, three months of Plus service (a $207 value) and a $500 account credit from Book Award Pro, and 3 free ads in the Winning Writers newsletter (a $525 value)

Top prize

$10,000

Additional prizes

$1,000 for top winner in each category | $300 for honorable mentions

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: $75

Deadline: June 30, 2023 (Expired)


Genres

Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, Poetry, Children's, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Thriller, Young Adult

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"It's All Write!" Teen Writing Contest

Ann Arbor District Library

The Ann Arbor District Library is excited to host its 30th annual “It’s All Write!” Teen Writing Contest in Winter 2022! Young Adult authors take part as judges each year, who then read and select the winning stories. Stories are judged in three different categories: Grades 6-8, Grades 9 & 10, and Grades 11 & 12. The top three writers in each age group receive fabulous prizes. This is an ever-growing, state-wide contest.

Top prize

$250

Additional prizes

2nd: $150 | 3rd: $75

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: FREE

Deadline: March 05, 2023 (Expired)


Genres

Children's

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Promising Young Writers Contest

National Council of Teachers of English

Through collaboration and community, shared stories and shared experiences, NCTE supports teachers and their students in classrooms, on college campuses, and in online learning environments. The Promising Young Writers Program stimulates and recognizes the writing talents of eighth-grade students and to emphasize the importance of writing skills among eighth-grade students.

Top prize

The NCTE Certificate of Recognition

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: $25

Deadline: February 15, 2023 (Expired)


Genres

Children's

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$1000 for 1000 Words Contest

The Layla Beban Young Authors

The $1000 for 1000 Words fiction writing contest is open to all students enrolled in grades 6-12. Each entrant may submit a fiction piece consisting of exactly 1,000 words (not including title or author’s name). The fiction piece can be on any topic, as long as it is not vulgar or offensive, does not use inappropriate profanity, and is the original work of the entrant not previously published.

Top prize

$1,000

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: FREE

Deadline: February 01, 2023 (Expired)


Genres

Children's, Short Story

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EngineerGirl Writing Contest

EngineerGirl

Every year, the EngineerGirl website sponsors a contest dealing with engineering and its impact on our world. The topic and detailed instructions for the contest are posted in September with a deadline for submissions on February 1st of the following year. Winners are announced in the spring.

Top prize

$500

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: FREE

Deadline: February 01, 2023 (Expired)


Genres

Children's

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Bennington Young Writers Awards

Bennington College

Bennington College has a unique literary legacy, including twelve Pulitzer Prize winners, three U.S. poet laureates, four MacArthur Geniuses, countless New York Times bestsellers, and two of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people. In celebration of this legacy, Bennington launched the Young Writers Awards to promote excellence in writing at the high school level. Our goal with this competition is to recognize outstanding writing achievement by high school students.

Top prize

$1,000

Additional prizes

2nd: $500 | 3rd: $250

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: FREE

Deadline: November 01, 2022 (Expired)


Genres

Children's

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World Historian Student Essay Competition

World History Association

The World Historian Student Essay Competition is an international competition open to students enrolled in grades K–12 in public, private, and parochial schools, and those in home-study programs. Membership in the World History Association is not a requirement for submission. Past winners may not compete in the same category again.

Top prize

$500

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: FREE

Deadline: May 01, 2023 (Expired)


Genres

Children's, Essay

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Seven Hills Literary Contest and Penumbra Poetry and Haiku Contest

Tallahassee Writers Association

The Seven Hills Literary Contest and Penumbra Poetry and Haiku Contest (collectively, “the Contest”) is sponsored annually by the Tallahassee Writers Association. The contest is open to English-language entries from around the world. For the first time, we are open to published entries as well as unpublished entries.

Top prize

$300

Additional prizes

Published in the Seven Hills Review

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: $15

Deadline: September 30, 2022 (Expired)


Genres

Children's, Crime, Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Non-fiction, Novel, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Short Story, Thriller, Young Adult

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Rattle Young Poets

Rattle Foundation

Rattle is a publication of the Rattle Foundation, an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the practice of poetry, and is not affiliated with any other organization. The author of the poem must have been age 15 or younger when the poem was written, and 18 or younger when submitted.

Top prize

Publication in Rattle Magazine

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: FREE

Deadline: November 15, 2022 (Expired)


Genres

Children's, Poetry

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Celebration Day Writing Contest

The Day

The Celebration Day Competition gets children to connect with the oldest person they know and interview them about the person who inspired them most growing up. They will retell the story in a creative way to win their work being read out on camera by a star-studded collection of celebrity guests, an iPad, and a ÂŁ100 Amazon voucher. You must be aged between five and 18 to enter the competition, or be a teacher, and can live anywhere in the world.

Top prize

ÂŁ100 Amazon Voucher

Additional prizes

Celebrities reading out winning entries, publication on website.

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: FREE

Deadline: June 21, 2022 (Expired)


Genres

Children's

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"Write On!" Short Story Contest

Ann Arbor District Library

The annual "Write On!" Short Story Contest for Grades 3-5 accepts story entries each winter. All writers, their friends, and families are invited to a Story Celebration and awards ceremony on Saturday, April 23, 2022, featuring a published children's author and the top three writers in each grade will receive an award.

Top prize

Publication on website

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: FREE

Deadline: March 06, 2022 (Expired)


Genres

Children's, Short Story

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Cricket Magazine Contest

Cricket Magazine

’Tis winter, and the cold wind doth blow. But it can be fun to frolic in the ice and snow. So, bundle up! For our January contest, everybuggy would love to read your best wintry tale. Welcome to an opportunity to get published in Cricket Magazine! Your contest entry must be your very own original work. Ideas and words should not be copied. Your entry must be signed by your parent or guardian, stating that it is your own work, that no help was given, and that Cricket has permission to publish it in the magazine and on our website.

Top prize

Publication in Cricket Magazine

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: $0

Deadline: January 25, 2022 (Expired)


Genres

Children's, Short Story

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PFD Children's Queer Fiction Prize

Peter Fraser + Dunlop

Judged by E. Latimer and agents Silvia Molteni and Lucy Irvine. Accepting middle grade (aimed at readers aged 8-12) and chapter books (aimed at readers aged 6-8) fiction samples across all genres. Applicants are asked to submit a three-chapter sample and synopsis. Works may be finished or in-progress.

Top prize

Publishing contract with PFD

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: FREE

Deadline: March 01, 2022 (Expired)


Genres

Children's, Fiction, LGBTQ

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Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award

Society of Children's Book Writers

The Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award recognizes and encourages the publication of an excellent book of poetry or anthology for children and/or young adults. The award will be given to a book of poetry originally published in English. It can be a book by an individual poet or poets or an anthology.

Top prize

$1,000

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: FREE

Deadline: March 15, 2022 (Expired)


Genres

Children's, Poetry

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Funny Festival Fables

C.A.A.B Publishin

Write us a short story about the festive period. We want tales about silly snowmen, naughty elves, and hilarious stories that would make Santa go HO! HO! HO! Entries should be around 1,000 words or less and must be sent as a Word Document with no pictures.

Top prize

$40

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: FREE

Deadline: August 31, 2022 (Expired)


Genres

Children's, Flash Fiction

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IEW Writing Contest

Institute for Excellent Writing

We are delighted to present our annual writing contest for all aspiring and accomplished writers, ages eight to eighteen. Whether or not they have experience with IEW's Structure and Style® Writing Method, your students are invited to participate.

Top prize

$100

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: FREE

Deadline: April 30, 2021 (Expired)


Genres

Children's, Short Story

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Stone Soup Flash Fiction Contest

Stone Soup

Stone Soup holds a Flash Contest during the first week of every month. The month’s first Weekly Creativity prompt provides the contest challenge. Submissions are due by midnight on Sunday of the same week. Up to five winners are chosen for publication on our blog. The winners, along with up to five honorable mentions, are announced in the following Saturday Newsletter.

Top prize

Publication on Stone Soup's blog

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: FREE

Deadline: December 01, 2022 (Expired)


Genres

Children's, Flash Fiction

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VFW Voice of Democracy

Veterans of Foreign Wars

The VFW is dedicated to promoting patriotism and investing in our future generation. If you are a democracy-loving high school student interested in a $30,000 college scholarship or a patriotic middle school student interested in winning $5,000, these scholarships may be for you.

Top prize

$30,000 college scholarship

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: FREE

Deadline: October 31, 2022 (Expired)


Genres

Children's

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Amazing Women’s Edition Contest

National Youth Foundation

Founded by Black women with a vision for change, the mission of the National Youth Foundation is to promote diversity, inclusion and gender equality through innovative literary programs. To honor the vast accomplishments of women in the United States, the National Youth Foundation is pleased to announce the Amazing Women’s Edition (AWE) competition. This writing contest is open to students in grades K to 8 residing in the United States.

Top prize

$500

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: FREE

Deadline: January 07, 2022 (Expired)


Genres

Children's

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Jane Austen Society of North America Essay Contest

Jane Austen Society of North America

JASNA conducts an annual student Essay Contest to foster the study and appreciation of Jane Austen's works in new generations of readers. Students world-wide are invited to compete for scholarship awards in three divisions: high school, college, and graduate school.

Top prize

$1,000 scholarship

Additional prizes

Two nights’ lodging for JASNA’s Annual General Meeting

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: FREE

Deadline: June 02, 2022 (Expired)


Genres

Children's, Essay

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We the Students Essay Contest

Bill of Rights Institute

The Bill of Rights Institute engages, educates, and empowers individuals with a passion for the freedom and opportunity that exist in a free society. Students in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Armed Forces schools abroad, and students in United States territories are eligible to participate in its contest.

Top prize

$7,500

Entry requirements

đź’° Fee: FREE

Deadline: April 15, 2021 (Expired)


Genres

Children's, Essay

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