The Best Essay Writing Contests of 2023
Writing competitions curated by Reedsy
Writing competitions curated by Reedsy
Anthology Magazine
The Anthology Travel Writing Competition is open to original and previously unpublished travel articles in the English language by writers of any nationality, living anywhere in the world. We are looking for an engaging article that will capture the reader’s attention, conveying a strong sense of the destination and the local culture. Max 1000 words.
€500
💰 Fee: $16
Deadline: November 30, 2023
Essay, Non-fiction, Travel
View contestAmerican Writers Museum
"Give me a song of hope and a world where I can sing it.” – Pauli Murray, Dark Testament Pauli Murray (1910-1985) was difficult to define. They were a poet, a lawyer, a priest, a freight hopper, Eleanor Roosevelt’s friend, arrested for refusing to comply with bus segregation laws, a closeted member of the LBGTQ+ community, a professor, and so much more. Their work has influenced Supreme Court decisions, the Civil Rights movement, and countless individual people. This prompt is a quote from Murray’s collection of poems titled Dark Testament. It can be used as a first line, a last line, a jumping-off point, an inspiration for your students’ work. They can use the entire quote or portions of it to write a fiction or nonfiction story, poem, song, scene, short monologue or other form of writing. Submissions should be 1,000 words or less regardless of format.
3x Elementary Grade winners: $500 | 3x Middle School winners: $1,000 | 3x High School winners: $2,000
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: June 05, 2023
Essay, Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Script Writing
View contestLab42
The ARC Essay Challenge is a competition that desires the evolution of human-level abstraction and reasoning in AI agents. We are looking for interdisciplinary ideas in your essays that draw inspiration from fields such as biology, mathematics, philosophy, neuroscience, or any other to contribute to understanding and improving the adaptability of AI in new and unknown situations.
$1,500
2nd: $1000 | 3rd: $500 | Publication
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: May 07, 2023
Essay, Science Writing
View contestTadpole 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.
$1,000
2nd: writing coach package 3rd: developmental or diversity editing package.
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: April 30, 2023
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
View contestInstitute for Youth in Policy
Countless countries around the world suffer from a plethora of issues – economic hardship, social turmoil, political polarization, pandemic recovery, unreliable leadership, corrupt governance, warfare and conflict, the list goes on. If you were elected the leader of your country, what would you do to address the issues your country faces in order to build a more prosperous society?
$250
Publication
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: June 15, 2023
Essay
View contestFairfield Scribes
The Scribes Prize is looking for fiction & creative nonfiction stories of 90-110 words. Prizes include publication, award seals, and cash: $250 for gold, $125 for silver, $60 for bronze & 15 honorable mentions for $20 each. Simultaneous submissions & reprints welcome. Max 3 submissions per author. All entries will receive feedback from 2 editors.
$250
2nd: $125 | 3rd: $60 | Publication | Editor's deedback
💰 Fee: $5
Deadline: September 01, 2023
Crime, Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Romance, Science Fiction, Thriller
View contestPloughshares
In the spirit of the journal 's founding mission, the Ploughshares Emerging Writer's Contest recognizes work by an emerging writer in each of three genres: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. One winner in each genre per year will receive $2,000 and publication in the literary journal. Authors are considered "emerging" if they haven 't published or self-published a book.
3x $2000
Publication in Ploughshares
💰 Fee: $24
Deadline: May 15, 2023
Essay, Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Short Story
View contestNarratively
Narratively is looking for profile pieces that tell the story of ordinary people or communities doing extraordinary things. The grand prize winner will receive $3,000, and the two finalists will receive $1,000 each. Guest judges are renowned journalists Gay Talese, Lisa Lucas and Rebecca Traister.
$3,000
$1000 for two other finalists
💰 Fee: $20
Deadline: April 14, 2023
Essay, Non-fiction
View contestBacopa Literary Review
Bacopa Literary Review is an annual international print journal published by the Writers Alliance of Gainesville. Our Bacopa Literary Review Editors’ blog shows the quality of writing we seek by highlighting work we respect from previous Bacopa issues as well as other sources.
£200 in 6 categories
$100 Honorable mention in 6 categories
💰 Fee: $0
Deadline: April 16, 2023
Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Short Story, Essay, Flash Fiction, Humor
View contestPitch magazine
Pitch magazine is pleased to announce the launch of the Young Sports Journalist competition 2023! We are seeking well-argued articles from students aged 14-24 for this competition.
£150 in each category
Publication | Work experience at The Times and FIPP
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: April 07, 2023
Essay
View contestSunspot Lit
Geminga is a neutron star so small it was difficult to detect. It was named, in part, for a transcription of gh’è minga, meaning “it’s not there.” With Geminga: $500 for Tiny Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, or Art, Sunspot Lit honors the power of the small. No restrictions on theme or category. Word limit is 100 for fiction and nonfiction. Micropoetry is limited to 140 characters. Graphic novelsshould be 4 pages or less.
$500
Publication in digital and print
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: March 31, 2023 (Expired)
Crime, Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Script Writing, Short Story, Thriller, Young Adult
View contestPapers Owl
To all TV shows nerds: we're incredibly excited to announce a competition for the best essay based on the TV series you are keen on. This is a new challenge for folks who may be under budget and interested in winning subscriptions on streaming services (Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Disney).
Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, or Disney+ subscription for 6 months
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: May 15, 2023
Crime, Essay, Fantasy, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller, Young Adult
View contestWrite By The Sea
Flash Fiction (700 words), Short Story (2,500 words), Poetry (40 lines) Memoir/Personal Essay (1,000 words). The winner of each category will receive a cash prize of €500, a beautiful hand-crafted WBTS 2023 Writing Competition trophy and a free weekend pass to Write By The Sea festival 2023. All four winning pieces will be published on the Write By The Sea website.
€500
2nd: €200 | 3rd: €300
💰 Fee: $11
Deadline: June 04, 2023
Essay, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Memoir, Poetry, Short Story
View contestTrio House Press
We seek un-agented full-length creative nonfiction manuscripts including memoir, essay collections, etc. 50,000 - 80,000 words.
$1,000
Publication
💰 Fee: $25
Deadline: August 31, 2023
Essay, Memoir, Non-fiction
View contestMunster Literature Centre
The competition is open to original, unpublished, personal essays between 2500 ‒ 5000 words. We’re looking for personal, confessional essays which border on memoir ‒ gripping essays full of memories and feelings. The best indicator of the kind of thing which interests us is what we have published in past issues; essays by Kim Addonizio, Sandra Beasley, Simon Van Booy, Carlo Geblér, Thomas Lynch, Anthony Walton, Helen Mort and Kim Moore.
€1,000
8 Runners-Up: €500
💰 Fee: $22
Deadline: February 28, 2023 (Expired)
Essay
View contestHoward's New Beginnings
The aim of the contest is to share eco-friendly ideas. Tell us something you think helps make the planet become more eco-friendly such as an eco-friendly product or packaging, a recipe for a natural product, or a waste-management tip. Up to 500 words. Any writer from anywhere can submit an entry. Contest deadline is April 22 2023, Earth Day.
$150
Publication
💰 Fee: $5
Deadline: April 22, 2023
Essay, Non-fiction, Science Writing
View contestThe European Society of Literature
The 2023 Bloom Writing Contest is a writing competition that seeks to find hidden talent in the literary scene. The contest will place heavy emphasis on works of deep meaning, aesthetic beauty and literary quality—just as Harold Bloom did. The 2023 Bloom Writing Contest accepts submissions of all types, whether it be an essay, a poem, a short story.
$500
Publication
💰 Fee: $3
Deadline: May 01, 2023
Essay, Fiction, Memoir, Novel, Poetry
View contestAyn Rand Institute
The Atlas Shrugged novel essay contest is open to all students globally. Atlas Shrugged is a heroic mystery novel written by Ayn Rand. Choose a prompt and write a 800-1,600 word essay.
$10,000
2nd: $2,000 (x3) | 3rd: $1,000 (x5) | 25 finalists: $100 | 50 semifinalists: $50
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: November 06, 2023
Essay, Fiction, Mystery, Novel, Thriller, Young Adult
View contestNew York Mills Regional Cultural Center
The Great American Think-Off, now in its 30th year, is an exhibition of civil disagreement between powerful ideas that connect to your life at the gut level. People of all ages and backgrounds are encouraged to submit an essay of no more than 750 words for a chance to win one of four $500 cash prizes and participate in the live debate to ultimately answer the question, determined by audience vote.
$500
Participation in live debate
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: April 01, 2023
Essay
View contestOklahoma City National Memorial & Museum
Essay contest open to all students in the following four divisions: 5th – 6th grade, 7th – 8th, 9th – 10th, and 11th – 12th (or equivalent ages/school years). This is an excellent opportunity for young people to comment on the current world as they see it and make the case for a democratic society.
$1,000
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: February 27, 2023 (Expired)
Essay
View contestBrink
The Brink Literary Journal Award for Hybrid Writing will be administered to the winner of a literary contest designed to champion innovative hybrid and cross-genre work.
$1,000
Publication
💰 Fee: $22
Deadline: February 15, 2023 (Expired)
Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Humor, Memoir, Non-fiction, Poetry, Science Writing, Short Story
View contestHispanic Culture Review
As the Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano once said, "the best that the world has is in the many worlds that the world contains." Therefore, this year we invite you to reflect on the following questions: How do you or your community celebrate these connections? How do you value those experiences with those people who leave a mark on your life? 1 work will be awarded in each category: 1) photography & visual arts, 2) poetry, and 3) narrative/essay/academic investigation.
$100 for photography, poetry, and essay winners
Publication
💰 Fee: $0
Deadline: February 01, 2023 (Expired)
Essay, Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Short Story, Flash Fiction
View contestcrazyhorse
From January 1st to January 31st, submit short stories and essays of up to 25 pages or a set of 1-3 poems. Winners in each genre will receive $2,000 and publication.
$2,000
Publication
💰 Fee: $20
Deadline: January 31, 2023 (Expired)
Essay, Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Short Story
View contestAI Institute for Resilient Agriculture
We invite contestants to submit writing that imagines the world in the year 2050 and explores the relationship between humans, technology, and their food: what will food look, taste, and feel like; where will it come from; who will produce and transport it; and how will we access and consume it? The world you bring to light should be believable and probe the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the future of agriculture. Your submission can be fiction or creative non-fiction, but keep in mind that the strongest submissions will use research to support the reality described. Contestants must be undergraduate students to submit to this contest.
$2,000
2nd: $1,500 | 3rd: $1,000
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: December 31, 2022 (Expired)
Essay, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Non-fiction, Science Writing, Short Story
View contestHektoen International Journal of the Medical Humanities
Students currently enrolled in a medical school or program are encouraged to submit to our Medical Student Essay Contest. Essays can be on any topic as it relates to medicine. Art, history, and literature topics are preferred.
$3,500
Runner-ups: $2,500
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: March 15, 2023 (Expired)
Essay, Memoir
View contestSunspot Lit
Inspired by the search for Goldilocks Zone planets, Sunspot Lit is looking for one short story, CNF, artwork, poem, graphic novel, or script that combines excellence with appeal. Literary and genre works accepted; feedback available.
$200
Publication
💰 Fee: $9
Deadline: December 19, 2022 (Expired)
Crime, Essay, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Poetry, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Script Writing, Short Story, Thriller, Young Adult
View contestDharma Inc. Intl.
What are the changes you would like to see, to make the world a better place? Our world is seeing a lot of changes. What are the beneficial ones, which ones are harmful? Which changes, from what you have seen, will make things better?
$900
2nd: $300 | 3nd: $100
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: December 04, 2022 (Expired)
Essay
View contestU.S. Institute of Peace
The U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) partners with the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) on the annual National High School Essay Contest. The contest engages high school students in learning and writing about issues of peace and conflict, encouraging appreciation for diplomacy’s role in building partnerships that can advance peacebuilding and protect national security.
$2,500
Runner-up: $1,250
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: April 03, 2023
Essay
View contestNervous Ghost Press
The 2021 Nervous Ghost Press Book Prizes are open to outstanding works of poetry and prose by anyone living in the United States of America. All work and all writers, from any point in their careers, are welcome to submit their work and get a chance of publication. Please submit a completed a manuscript (50,000-100,000 words for prose, 48-128 pages for poetry).
$1,000
Publication and a Californian reading tour
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: March 31, 2023 (Expired)
Essay, Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, Novel, Poetry, Humor, Young Adult
View contestWrite the World
This month, dear writers, ahead of COP27, help us raise the voices of young people in this urgent fight. In a piece of personal narrative, tell the world’s leaders gathering in how climate change impacts you. How has this crisis changed your environment, your community, your sense of the future? Storytelling, after all, plays a critical role in helping us grasp the emergency through which we are all living, igniting empathy in readers and listeners—itself a precursor to action.
$100
Runner-up: $50
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: October 18, 2022 (Expired)
Essay, Memoir, Non-fiction
View contestThe Florida Review
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Florida Review is given annually for a chapbook of short fiction, short nonfiction, or graphic narrative. Submit a manuscript of up to 45 pages with a $25 entry fee by December 31. All entries are considered for publication. All entrants receive a 1-year subscription. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
$1,000
Publication
💰 Fee: $25
Deadline: December 31, 2022 (Expired)
Essay, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Humor, Memoir, Non-fiction, Novella, Short Story
View contestSunspot Lit
Beginnings weight one moment with a particular power. A poem handles this differently than flash fiction, a novel, a graphic novel or an art series. Send your best opening. No restrictions on theme, category, or the length of the piece or collection from which the excerpt comes. Publication will be offered to runners-up and finalists.
$250
Publication in digital and print editions
💰 Fee: $8
Deadline: October 09, 2022 (Expired)
Crime, Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Non-fiction, Novel, Novella, Romance, Science Writing, Short Story, Thriller, Young Adult
View contestWorld 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.
$500
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: May 01, 2023
Children's, Essay
View contestSo to Speak Journal
So to Speak seeks work by writers who want to challenge and change the identity of the “canonical” writer. Our mission is to amplify voices of BIPOC, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ people, women, neurodivergent people, people of different religions or none, migrants, refugees & immigrants (regardless of citizenship), and incarcerated writers. Free submissions for Black and Indigenous Writers.
$500
Publication for winner and runner-up
💰 Fee: $9
Deadline: November 14, 2022 (Expired)
Essay, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, Poetry, Short Story
View contestLazuli Literary Group
We are not concerned with genre distinctions. Send us the best you have; we want only for it to be thoughtful, intelligent, and beautiful. We want art that grows in complexity upon each visitation; we enjoy ornate, cerebral, and voluptuous phrases executed with thematic intent.
$500
Publication in "AZURE: A Journal of Literary Thought"
💰 Fee: $15
Deadline: February 22, 2023 (Expired)
Essay, Fiction, Poetry, Short Story, Flash Fiction, Non-fiction, Novella, Script Writing
View contest