The Best Essay Writing Contests of 2023
Writing competitions curated by Reedsy
Writing competitions curated by Reedsy
Bergen International Literary Festival
Write your story about the climate crisis in a poem or a personal essay.
€2,000
đź’° Fee: $0
Deadline: October 15, 2023
Essay, Memoir, Non-fiction, Poetry, Science Writing, Young Adult
View contestSunspot Literary Journal
Sunspot Lit seeks a story, essay, excerpt from longer prose pieces, artwork, graphic novel, or poem that combines excellence in craft with reader or audience appeal. Feedback for fiction and nonfiction submissions available for additional fee.
$500
Publication
đź’° Fee: $12
Deadline: September 30, 2023
Essay, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, Poetry, Script Writing, Short Story
View contestIndignor House Publishing
Indignor House Publishing is proud to announce that our annual writing competition (INDIGNOR PLAYHOUSE Short Story Annual Competition) is officially open with expected publication in the fall of 2024. Up to 25 submissions will be accepted for inclusion in the annual anthology.
$500
2nd: $250 | 3rd: $150
đź’° Fee: $20
Deadline: March 31, 2024
Fiction, Flash Fiction, Short Story, Crime, Essay, Fantasy, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Novella, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Thriller, Young Adult
View contestPivotal
Pivotal is an essay contest for high school students around the world run in partnership with Oxford University's Global Priorities Institute on the world’s most pressing problems. Students will write a 2000-word essay on one of three prompts relating to future generations, AI policy, and ethics.
$15,000
đź’° Fee: $0
Deadline: October 10, 2023
Essay, Non-fiction
View contestKinsman Avenue Publishing, Inc
Indigenous storytellers (Native American, First Nation Australian, Indian, Polynesian, etc.) may submit original, unpublished work in English; short stories, essays, onstage scripts, poetry, or visual art.
$500
2nd: $250 | 3rd: $100 | 6 Finalists: $25 gift card
đź’° Fee: FREE
Deadline: October 31, 2023
Essay, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Script Writing, Short Story
View contestLetter Review
The Letter Review Prize for Nonfiction (0 - 5000 words) is open to writers from anywhere in the world. Winners are published and every entry is considered for publication. 20 entries are Longlisted.
$1000 (shared by 3 winners)
Publication
đź’° Fee: $20
Deadline: August 31, 2023 (Expired)
Essay, Memoir, Non-fiction
View contestLetter Review
The Letter Review Prize for Manuscripts (Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction) is open to writers from anywhere in the world. Three Winners are awarded and have extracts published. 20 entries are Longlisted. Winners receive letter of recommendation for publishers.
$1000 (shared by 3 winners)
Publication
đź’° Fee: $25
Deadline: August 31, 2023 (Expired)
Crime, Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery, Novel, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Short Story, Thriller, Young Adult
View contestSunspot Lit
Beginnings have the power to spark passion or curiosity. They might immediately connect a specific place and time with an emotional tone. The best openings offer a feeling, atmosphere, action, or image that is gripping, and hints at more to come. For Sunspot Lit’s Inception contest, send your best opening. There are no restrictions on theme, category, or the length of the piece or collection from which the excerpt comes. Word limit is 250 for prose, 25 words for poetry.
$500
Publication in digital and print editions
đź’° Fee: $10
Deadline: July 31, 2023 (Expired)
Crime, Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Non-fiction, Novel, Novella, Romance, Science Writing, Short Story, Thriller, Young Adult
View contestAI Institute for Resilient Agriculture
AIIRA is seeking essays speculating on how AI will change careers within the next decade, as well as fiction stories depicting a day in the life of a job transformed by AI technology. Submissions should address how AI will help future professionals perform their jobs more efficiently as well as what job duties will become redundant due to AI.
$550
2nd: $400 (x2) | 3rd: $250
đź’° Fee: FREE
Deadline: September 30, 2023
Essay, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Non-fiction, Science Writing, Short Story
View contestFederal Highway Administration/Public Roads Magazine
Public Roads is proud to announce its first Student Writing Competition, designed to encourage high school and college students interested in or actively pursuing STEM majors to demonstrate their knowledge by writing an article that relates to the transportation industry.
Published in Winter 2023 Issue of Public Roads Magazine
đź’° Fee: FREE
Deadline: July 21, 2023 (Expired)
Essay, Non-fiction, Science Writing
View contestCAPTRS
CAPTRS has launched a pathogen threat scenario writing contest, which will be part of their work to build a catalog of pathogen threat scenarios that will be used to hone pandemic preparedness strategies and train future decision-makers. Submissions may not exceed 2,500 words, and will be judged on creativity, plausibility of the pathogen threat, complexity of cascading societal factors, difficulty posed for current pandemic response capabilities and quality of writing.
$10,000
2nd: $5,000 (up to 2 winners) | 3rd: $1,000 (up to 5 winners)
đź’° Fee: FREE
Deadline: July 31, 2023 (Expired)
Essay, Fiction, Science Fiction, Short Story
View contestWrite the World
The teenage years are an in-between time, the stage linking our childhood to adulthood. It’s a time of internal transitions, as we find out more about who we are and who we want to be in the world. This month, use the tools of creative nonfiction to write about your own experience of this passage into adulthood.
Best Entry: $100
Runner up: $50 | Best Peer Review: $50
đź’° Fee: FREE
Deadline: July 18, 2023 (Expired)
Essay, Memoir, Non-fiction
View contestKinsman Avenue Publishing, Inc.
Submissions are open for Kinsman Quarterly’s African Diaspora Award. Top winners receive prizes up to $500 USD and publication within the Black Diaspora anthology. No entry fee required. Those eligible should submit an original, unpublished work in English that features themes of the African diaspora by July 15, 2023.
$500
2nd: $250 | 3rd: $100 + Publication
đź’° Fee: FREE
Deadline: July 15, 2023 (Expired)
Crime, Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Poetry, Romance, Script Writing, Short Story, Young Adult
View contestThe Heartland Review Press
Submit one piece of fiction or creative nonfiction of topic or category to include flash in a Word document through Submittable (link on website). No pdfs. Include a short cover letter and bio. Simultaneous submissions accepted, but writers must withdraw if published elsewhere. We read the first 50 pieces of fiction and 50 of creative nonfiction submitted each month during the open call.
Publication
đź’° Fee: FREE
Deadline: November 15, 2023
Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller, Young Adult
View contestSunspot Literary Journal
Sunspot Lit seeks one short story, CNF, artwork, poem, graphic novel, script, or excerpt that outshines the rest. Literary and genre works accepted. Feedback available for additional fee. See guidelines for details. Enter through Sunspot’s Submittable or through Duotrope.
$500
Publication
đź’° Fee: $10
Deadline: May 31, 2023 (Expired)
Essay, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, Poetry, Script Writing, Short Story
View contestQuills and Keyboard
We are made of students hosting a contest for teen & YA authors. There are 15 categories, from journalism to a section for novelists’ favorite chapters. Qualified judges will send feedback on each piece. We partnered with many writing organizations such as Teen Author Boot Camp and Newpages and recognized by non-profits such as Polyphony Lit.
Publication in Under the Madness and Skipping Stones
đź’° Fee: FREE
Deadline: May 20, 2023 (Expired)
Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Non-fiction, Novella, Poetry, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Script Writing, Short Story, Thriller, Young Adult
View contestUnleash Press
Writers are invited to submit novels, short story collections and creative nonfiction manuscripts. The Editors' Prize winner receives a publication contract with Unleash Press and $1000 prize, along with 10 printed copies of the final book. We may also offer publication contracts to additional outstanding manuscripts.
$1,000
Publishing contract
đź’° Fee: $35
Deadline: December 15, 2023
Essay, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Memoir, Novel, Short Story, Non-fiction
View contestthe archipelago
the archipelago is looking for great works of fiction, poetry, and personal essay. Eligibility: One piece per entry. One entry per person for each week (you can submit your writing for each round of competition repeating every week). The writing must be previously unpublished (including online). All entries must be in English. 700 - 1000 maximum word count for stories. 150 maximum lines for poetry. Submission Dates: April 10 - July 10
$150 AUD
Publication
đź’° Fee: FREE
Deadline: June 10, 2023 (Expired)
Essay, Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, Poetry, Short Story
View contestColumbia Undergraduate science journal
The SARC is an exciting opportunity for students, aged 13-18 years old, who are looking for ways to exercise their research skills and have their works published in preparation for college. In SARC 2023, you will conduct research and write a 2-page essay on ANY topic of your choice -whether it be the sciences, a social issue in your community, or anything! The competition takes place across May through June 2023 and is 100% virtual, removing geographical barriers!
$1,000
đź’° Fee: $15
Deadline: May 27, 2023 (Expired)
Essay, Science Writing
View contestWriteFluence
After the success of Mr. Rosewood’s antics last year, and Mrs. Rosewood’s a year before the last; here’s Mr. and Mrs. Rosewood waiting for you to write about any of their days into a story. We are excited to announce our latest short-story writing contest. This time, we challenge you to write a captivating story about a day in the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Rosewood.
Publication in anthology
đź’° Fee: $2
Deadline: June 15, 2023 (Expired)
Essay, Fiction, Short Story
View contestAnthology 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
đź’° 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
đź’° Fee: FREE
Deadline: June 05, 2023 (Expired)
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
đź’° Fee: FREE
Deadline: May 07, 2023 (Expired)
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.
đź’° Fee: $10
Deadline: April 30, 2023 (Expired)
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
đź’° Fee: FREE
Deadline: June 15, 2023 (Expired)
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
đź’° Fee: $5
Deadline: September 01, 2023 (Expired)
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
đź’° Fee: $24
Deadline: May 15, 2023 (Expired)
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
đź’° Fee: $20
Deadline: April 14, 2023 (Expired)
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.
ÂŁ200 in 6 categories
$100 Honorable mention in 6 categories
đź’° Fee: $0
Deadline: April 16, 2023 (Expired)
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.
ÂŁ150 in each category
Publication | Work experience at The Times and FIPP
đź’° Fee: FREE
Deadline: April 07, 2023 (Expired)
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
đź’° 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
đź’° Fee: FREE
Deadline: May 15, 2023 (Expired)
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
đź’° Fee: $11
Deadline: June 04, 2023 (Expired)
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
đź’° Fee: $25
Deadline: August 31, 2023 (Expired)
Essay, Memoir, Non-fiction
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
đź’° Fee: $5
Deadline: April 22, 2023 (Expired)
Essay, Non-fiction, Science Writing
View contest