The Best Non Fiction Writing Contests of 2022
Writing competitions curated by Reedsy
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Submit a short story based on 1 of 5 weekly prompts. Winners get $250.
Showing 90 contests
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 For the first time, we are open to published entries as well as unpublished entries.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
💰 Fee: $15
Deadline: September 30, 2022
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
View contestMacQ-15 Ekphrastic Writing Challenge: "The Question of Questions"
MacQueen's Quinterly
For our tenth themed writing challenge, MacQueen’s Quinterly is calling for literary works in multiple genres: flash and micro-fiction, nonfiction, poetry, prose poetry, and poetic hybrids. Each piece entered must include one “q” word and must address the theme described in our contest guidelines and publisher's commentary.
Top prize
$200
Additional prizes
Publication in Issue 15 of MacQueen's Quinterly online
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $4
Deadline: August 21, 2022
Genres
Essay, Flash Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, Poetry, Science Writing
View contestAlone Writing Contest
FanStory.com Inc.
Write a story where the main character is alone. Fiction and non-fiction welcomed. Maximum words 5,000. The winner takes away a $100 cash prize. All writers will receive feedback for their submission.
Top prize
$100
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $12
Deadline: January 29, 2023
Genres
Fiction, Non-fiction
View contestNarrative Prize
Narrative Magazine
The Narrative Prize is awarded annually for the best short story, novel excerpt, poem, one-act play, graphic story, or work of literary nonfiction published by a new or emerging writer in Narrative. The submission system is open all year.
Top prize
$4,000
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $27
Deadline: June 15, 2023
Genres
Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Short Story
View contestWild Atlantic Writing Awards (WAWA)
Ireland Writing Retreat
Welcome to the fifth ‘Wild Atlantic Writing Awards’ (WAWA) competition to welcome the New Year which we hope will provide challenge, diversion and enjoyment for you over the holidays and into next year as well. As with all our competitions, there will be two separate categories - flash fiction and creative nonfiction. And we’ve decided on an intriguing theme for both - TIME.
Top prize
€1000
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $11
Deadline: September 09, 2022
Genres
Flash Fiction, Non-fiction
View contestEtched Onyx and the Story Discovery Podcast
Onyx Publications
The Fall Edition Contest is an open, mixed-category contest. In other words, we have no limitations or expectations on which types of works will win awards. Selections are based on originality, voice, and style. Last year's contest had 4 prose winners and 2 poetry winners. (An early bird entry fee of $7.50 runs till July 31)
Top prize
$500
Additional prizes
Second Prize $250 | Third Prize $100 | 3 Honorable Mentions $50 each
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $12
Deadline: August 28, 2022
Genres
Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Non-fiction, Poetry, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller
View contestWrite a letter to your younger self
The Unsealed
Write an open letter to your younger self or the next generations as a whole.
Top prize
$400
Additional prizes
2nd: $100
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $5
Deadline: August 15, 2022
Genres
Non-fiction
View contestWrite a letter to your children/future children
The Unsealed
Write an open letter to your children/child or future children/child about what you want them to know about you.
Top prize
$350
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $5
Deadline: October 03, 2022
Genres
Non-fiction
View contestWriting LOVE
Sadie Tells Stories
Writing LOVE is a 500 word short story contest. The story can be fiction or non-fiction as long as it includes an element of love. A love for life, for nature, for someone, for peace, for a passion..
Top prize
$500
Additional prizes
$150 to the runner up
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: August 15, 2022
Genres
Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, Young Adult
View contestThe Story I Needed To Have Read
Exisle Academy
Sometimes, the right story at the right moment can give us the courage we need to overcome adversity. And when that story doesn't already exist, we need to make it ourselves. Write a short story - in any genre, fiction or fact - that helped or would have helped you at a pivotal moment in your life. One winner will receive up to $2000 worth of training and coaching with Exisle Academy, including the opportunity to discuss developing a book with our editors. Entry is encouraged from writers of all types from all background’s cultures and abilities. We are seeking entries from as diverse a set of communities as possible. Top entries will be published on our website, with their permission.
Top prize
$2,000
Additional prizes
Free enrolment to the "Become a Successful Author" course
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: August 28, 2022
Genres
Fiction, Non-fiction, Short Story
View contestTo Hull and Back Humorous Short Story Contest
Christopher Fielden
July 2022 saw the launch of the 8th To Hull And Back Short Story Competition, a biennial short story contest with a humorous twist that celebrates the most imaginative and amazing short stories from writers all over the world.
Top prize
£1,200
Additional prizes
2nd Prize: £600 | 3rd Prize: £300 | 3 x Highly Commended: £150 | 14 x Shortlisted: £75
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $16
Deadline: June 30, 2023
Genres
Fiction, Humor, Non-fiction, Short Story
View contest2nd Annual WCWF Writing Contest
Wine Country Writers' Festival
Fire up those pens and get those unpublished stories and poems submitted to WCWF 2nd Annual Writing Contest. Three winners in each category, publication in Anthology, and your own copy. Entries: $15 or two for $25.
Top prize
$150
Additional prizes
2nd Place: $75 | 3rd Place: $50
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $15
Deadline: July 29, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Non-fiction, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Short Story, Thriller, Young Adult
View contestYeahWrite Super Challenge
YeahWrite
The Super Challenge is a prompted, 48-hour flash competition alternating between fiction and creative nonfiction. Prompts are released on a Friday night; writers have 48 hours to craft a response in 1,000 words or fewer. Professional editors read all entries and provide detailed feedback on each. The top writers move on to round 2 with new prompts.
Top prize
$150
Additional prizes
$100 for second place | $50 for third place
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $35
Deadline: December 23, 2022
Genres
Essay, Flash Fiction, Non-fiction
View contestMarch Micro Writing Competition
Globe Soup
We accept: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Each month has a theme. You have just 100 words to write something interesting, unique, and impactful based on the theme. Entry to your first contest is £3, after that you can enter all subsequent contests for free each month. You can get peer feedback on your entry too. The theme this month is: Yellow/Orange.
Top prize
$133
Additional prizes
Publication on our website
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $4
Deadline: March 14, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Flash Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry
View contestGeminga: $250 for Tiny Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, or Art
Sunspot Lit
Authors and artists eligible. Sunspot Lit’s Geminga contest honors the power of the small. No restrictions on theme or category. $250 cash, publication for the winner, and publication offered to runners-up and finalists. Enter as many times as you like, but only one piece per submission.
Top prize
$250
Additional prizes
Publication in digital and print
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $6
Deadline: June 30, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Crime, Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Script Writing, Short Story, Thriller, Young Adult
View contestNew Voices Award
Lee & Low Books
The New Voices Award is given annually by children's book publisher Lee & Low Books for a children’s picture book manuscript by a writer of color or Indigenous/Native writer. Established in 2000, the New Voices Award encourages writers of color and Indigenous/Native writers to submit their work to a publisher that takes pride in nurturing new talent.
Top prize
$2,000
Additional prizes
A standard Lee & Low publishing contract | Honor Award winner: $1,000
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $0
Deadline: August 01, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry
View contestIndieReader Discovery Awards
IndieReader
Where talented authors meet publishing professionals with the power to make a difference in the success of their books. Every author who enters a title in the IR Discovery Awards will receive a verdict, written by an IndieReader reviewer and based on their assessment after reading the complete book.
Top prize
First look consideration by a top, NYC-based literary agency
Additional prizes
$500, publicist consultation service, Reedsy credit, custom author website
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $150
Deadline: February 15, 2023
Genres
Fiction, Non-fiction, Novel
View contestGabriele Rico Challenge for Nonfiction
https://www.reedmag.org/gabriele-rico-challenge-for-nonfict
The Gabriele Rico Challenge for Nonfiction recognizes outstanding works of nonfiction. We are looking for creative nonfiction, such as personal essays or narratives, not scholarly papers or book reviews. All works should be stand-alone essays, not chapters of a longer work. Please limit prose submissions to 5,000 words.
Top prize
$1,333
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $20
Deadline: November 01, 2022
Genres
Non-fiction, Short Story
View contestNorth Street Book Prize
Winning Writers
One grand prize winner will receive $8,000, a marketing analysis and one-hour phone consultation with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, a $300 credit at BookBaby, and 3 free ads in the Winning Writers newsletter (a $525 value). Please submit between February 15 and June 30, 2022.
Top prize
$8,000
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $70
Deadline: June 30, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, Poetry
View contest2nd Annual WCWF Writing Contest
Wine Country Writers' Festival
Fire up those pens and get those unpublished stories and poems submitted to WCWF 2nd Annual Writing Contest. Three winners in each category, publication in Anthology, and your own copy. Entries: $15 or two for $25. See the contest rules and enter now. Blind Judging.
Top prize
$150
Additional prizes
Publication in an anthology
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $15
Deadline: July 29, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Non-fiction, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Short Story, Thriller, Young Adult
View contestSeán O'Faoláin International Short Story Competition
Munster Literature Centre
The competition is open to original, unpublished and unbroadcast short stories in the English language of 3,000 words or fewer. The story can be on any subject, in any style, by a writer of any nationality, living anywhere in the world.
Top prize
€2,000
Additional prizes
Residency at Anam Cara Retreat, Featured reading at the Cork International Short Story Festival, Publication in Southword
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $22
Deadline: July 31, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Non-fiction, Short Story
View contestBacopa Literary Review
Writers Alliance of Gainesville
We seek unusual perspectives, passionate voices, compelling work. This includes poetry, creative non-fiction, and short stories.
Top prize
£300
Additional prizes
£100 second prize
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $0
Deadline: May 23, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Short Story
View contestThe Hal Prize
Peninsula Publishing & Distribution
The Hal Prize offers publication to a readership of more than 25,000 and cash awards for winners. The contest is open to writers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and to photographers throughout the United States. Prose should be no more than 4,000 words and poetry no longer than a page. The annual literary and photography contest is presented by the Peninsula Pulse and Write On, Door County.
Top prize
$250
Additional prizes
Cash prizes for 2nd and 3rd place, publication in 8142 Review, and a handmade mug
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: September 15, 2022
Genres
Essay, Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Short Story
View contestThe Synopsis Skirmish—a contest for querying authors
Darling Axe Editing
Summarize your novel in 500 words for a chance at a $1000 CAD prize pool! Our judge, Michelle Barker, will be asking herself one question: "Does this synopsis convince me that I'm in the hands of an adept novelist with a unique and engaging story to tell?"
Top prize
$560
Additional prizes
$200 for second place, $100 for third
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $5
Deadline: May 31, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Novel, Novella, Romance, Science Fiction, Thriller, Young Adult
View contestWrong Turns Travel Writing Competition
Intrepid Times
Write an original, factual, first-person travel story about a time you made a decision or took a risk while traveling that got you lost, landed you somewhere you didn’t intend, or led to a new discovery, realization, or connection. Editors will be looking for originality, voice, and a satisfying story that captures attention and makes use of imagery to pull the reader along at every step.
Top prize
$150
Additional prizes
Runners up: $50 | Publication on Intrepid Times
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $0
Deadline: April 30, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Non-fiction, Travel
View contestTrue Story Contest
FanStory.com Inc.
Share a true story about your life. Write about any event that happened in your life that you would like to share. Cash prize to the winner.
Top prize
$100
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: November 12, 2022
Genres
Non-fiction, Short Story
View contestScience me a Story
Society of Spanish Researchers in the UK (SRUK)
This competition was created with the aim of promoting scientific outreach in a fun and engaging way, appropriate for primary school children. The ultimate goal of the contest is to promote scientific spirit and inspire the generations that will build our future. We hope to achieve this through the communication of scientific achievements, findings, methods, and anecdotes in the form of short stories.
Top prize
$267
Additional prizes
£150 and £100 runner ups
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $0
Deadline: April 24, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Short Story
View contestTeen Angst: Mix Tape Vol 2
4 Horsemen Publications, Inc.
Poetry, Journals, Diaries & Love Letters, we all have them collecting dust on a shelf, in a box under your bed, or hidden away in the attic where no one can find them. That journal, diary, or even composition book full of your teen angst. We want them. In the raw, unedited, all the teen angst you can hit us with. Take a picture of the journal, the page, angsty doodles,love letters and more. We will share them to the world, all backgrounds, all ages and generations (including our own)! This project is co-hosted between 4 Horsemen Publications and Battle Goddess Productions.
Top prize
Publication in anthology
Additional prizes
Access to buy author copies at a discounted rate
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $0
Deadline: June 30, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Essay, Memoir, Non-fiction, Poetry
View contestEmerging Writer's Contest
Ploughshares
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.
Top prize
$2,000
Additional prizes
Publication in Ploughshares
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $24
Deadline: May 15, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Essay, Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Short Story
View contestFlying South
Winston-Salem Writers
Each entry must be original work and previously unpublished. Simultaneous submissions will be accepted, but authors must notify Flying South immediately and withdraw from the contest if their work is accepted elsewhere. Prizes include publication in Flying South 2022, Best in Category, and President's Favorite.
Top prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Publication in Flying South 2022
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $25
Deadline: May 31, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry
View contestLazuli Literary Group Writing Contest
Lazuli 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.
Top prize
$500
Additional prizes
Publication in "AZURE: A Journal of Literary Thought"
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $15
Deadline: May 22, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Essay, Fiction, Poetry, Short Story, Flash Fiction, Non-fiction, Novella, Script Writing
View contest100 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. This year's theme is the power of words. The words we write, the words we say, the words we keep to ourselves. They make a difference in the lives of those around us. How can you use your words to instill a sense of calm, of hope, of community? To remind one another of the beauty of diversity. To encourage us to support, love, and inspire one another.
Top prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
2nd: writing coach package 3rd: developmental or diversity editing package.
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: April 30, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Thriller, Young Adult
View contestThe Fountain Essay Contest
Fountain Magazine
We want to hear your COVID-19 story. What has the virus taught you about life? If you were not infected, what has your experience been like as an “outsider?” We encourage our contestants to explore this issue in a way that is most meaningful to them, and to do so while making sure to avoid speculative narratives and political polarization.
Top prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
$500, $300, $150
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $0
Deadline: April 01, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Essay, Memoir, Non-fiction
View contestThe Writerwerx University Novel Opening Contest
Writerwerx University
Submit the first 1,000 words of your published book.
Top prize
$2,000
Additional prizes
2nd Place: $1,000 cash/prizes, 3rd Place $100 cash/prizes
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $20
Deadline: February 28, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Novel, Science Fiction, Thriller, Young Adult
View contestWOW! Women On Writing Quarterly Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest
WOW! Women On Writing
WOW! is proud to introduce our newest essay contest! The contest is open globally. Your story must be true, but the way you tell it is your chance to get creative. We are open to all styles of essay—from personal essay to lyric essay to hybrid essay, and beyond!
Top prize
$500
Additional prizes
Publication, interview, and gift card good for one item from CreateWriteNow's Store
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $12
Deadline: April 30, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Non-fiction
View contest
