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DIRECTORY

Best Writing Contests in 2025

Showing 419 contests that match your search.

Page 12

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)

Genres: Essay, Fiction, Poetry, Short Story, Flash Fiction, Non-fiction, Novella, and Script Writing

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 fee: $15

📅 Deadline: July 15, 2025 (Expired)

Genres: Fiction and Science Fiction

The Global Thriller Awards seek the best books featuring suspense and thrilling stories that can change the balance of world power. It includes the Lab Lit genre, focusing on stories based on real science.

Top Prize:

$1,000

Additional prizes:

Grand Prize winners receive exclusive Chanticleer Book Review Packages and author interviews, valued at $795, along with additional prizes.

💰 Entry fee: $99

📅 Deadline: July 31, 2025 (Expired)

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Non-fiction, Novel, Novella, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Short Story, Thriller, and Young Adult

The Reader Views Literary Awards recognize innovative self-published books, offering visibility and credibility to independent authors. The contest provides thorough book reviews, evaluation forms, and promotional opportunities.

Top Prize:

$1,250

Additional prizes:

Gold: $750 | Silver: $350 | Bronze: $150 | Various sponsored awards and features in newsletters include marketing packages, interviews, and ads.

💰 Entry fee: $89

📅 Deadline: December 15, 2025

Genres: Short Story and Fiction

The Henshaw Press Short Story Competition invites entries from anyone over 16 years old. Stories should be up to 2,000 words on any theme. The competition supports literacy by donating profits to local schools.

Top Prize:

£200

Additional prizes:

2nd Prize: £100 | 3rd Prize: £50. | Opportunity to be included in the next Henshaw Anthology.

💰 Entry fee: $6

📅 Deadline: August 31, 2025 (Expired)

North Street Book Prize

Winning Writers

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

The North Street Book Prize focuses on self-published or hybrid-published books, offering significant cash prizes and marketing services to enhance visibility. The contest has been running for 11 years and encourages entries across various genres.

Top Prize:

$10,000

Additional prizes:

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

💰 Entry fee: $85

📅 Deadline: July 01, 2025 (Expired)

Genres: Fiction and Novella

Established in 2001, this annual prize awards a novella that excels in the format, offering a $1,000 advance, publication, and 10 copies of the book. Recent judges include notable authors like Steven Dunn and Michael Martone. Submissions open January 1 and close March 31 each year.

Top Prize:

$1,000

Additional prizes:

Publication and 10 copies of the published book

💰 Entry fee: $20

📅 Deadline: March 31, 2025 (Expired)

Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest

Ayn Rand Institute

Genres: Essay

The Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest is open to all high school, college, and graduate students worldwide. Participants write essays based on prompts related to Ayn Rand's novel _Atlas Shrugged_. The contest has seasonal entry rounds with unique prompts, and essays must be between 800 and 1,600 words. The winning essays demonstrate a strong grasp of the book's themes.

Top Prize:

$25,000

Additional prizes:

Annual Grand Prize of $25,000 Seasonal prize winners: 1st place: $3000 2nd place: $2000 3rd place: $1000

📅 Deadline: December 27, 2024 (Expired)

Novel Fair 2025

Irish Writers Centre

Genres: Fiction and Novel

Novel Fair is an annual competition for unpublished novelists, allowing winners to pitch their novels to publishers and agents. It includes a two-day event with workshops and meetings with industry professionals.

Top Prize:

Present your novel to leading publishers and agents at the Irish Writers Centre

Additional prizes:

Shortlisted applicants receive feedback on their submissions.

💰 Entry fee: $55

📅 Deadline: September 30, 2024 (Expired)

TWFest Very Short Fiction Contest

Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival

Genres: Fiction and Short Story

The TWFest Very Short Fiction Contest is designed to promote new work from emerging writers. Eligible submissions are original short stories up to 1,000 words, written in English, and must be unpublished. The contest offers a grand prize of $500.

Top Prize:

$500

Additional prizes:

VIP Pass to the Festival ($600 Value), Public reading at the next Festival, Publication in French Quarter Journal. Top finalists will receive a LitPass ($100 value) to the Festival.

💰 Entry fee: $10

📅 Deadline: October 15, 2025

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 (Expired)

Solas Awards

Travelers' Tales, a division of Solas House, Inc.

Genres: Essay, Non-fiction, and Travel

The Solas Awards honor excellence in travel writing, with cash prizes and publication opportunities. Entries must be original, true stories with specific word count guidelines. The contest runs annually, with winners announced on March 1 each year.

Top Prize:

$1,000

Additional prizes:

Silver: $750 Bronze: $500 Certificates of merit for Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners in other categories; $100 honorarium for publication in books.

💰 Entry fee: $35

📅 Deadline: September 21, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Essay

The 2025 contest is themed “Real or Fake: Discovering Authenticity”, and it invites submissions exploring the meaning of truth in a time of misinformation, imitation, and uncertainty.

Top Prize:

$1,000

Additional prizes:

2nd: $500 | 3rd: $300 | 2x honorable mentions: $150

📅 Deadline: September 30, 2025

Genres: Short Story

The Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition is dedicated to supporting new voices in short fiction. It has a history of over 43 years and emphasizes original, unpublished stories. Winners are highlighted on the competition's website.

Top Prize:

$1,500

Additional prizes:

2nd | $500 | 3rd: $500 | Publication of the winning story on the competition website.

💰 Entry fee: $15

📅 Deadline: September 01, 2025 (Expired)

Genres: Christian, Fantasy, Novel, Novella, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, and Young Adult

The Christy Award, established in 1999, celebrates novels that explore themes of faith and their influence on modern culture. Over the years, these awards have become a cornerstone event that brings together writers and publishers within the Christian literary community.

Top Prize:

The Christy Book of the Year Award.

💰 Entry fee: $175

📅 Deadline: March 31, 2025 (Expired)

The Good Housekeeping Writing Competition

Good Housekeeping and Rachel Mills Literary

Genres: Fiction

Good Housekeeping magazine has partnered with Rachel Mills Literary Agency to launch a competition for aspiring novelists that offers a cash prize.

Top Prize:

£1500

Additional prizes:

The winner will also receive a 1 hour, one-on-one mentoring session with literary agent Nelle Andrew. Their work will be published online by Good Housekeeping.

📅 Deadline: August 31, 2025 (Expired)

#GWstorieseverywhere

Gotham Writers

Genres: Fiction and Flash Fiction

The #GWstorieseverywhere contest invites participants to submit very short stories based on monthly themes. The stories can be fictional or true and must be original and unpublished. The winning entries are featured on Gotham's website.

Additional prizes:

Winner receives a free Gotham class of their choosing, excluding premium classes

💰 Entry fee: $0

📅 Deadline: June 30, 2025 (Expired)

Leave Your Mark: Teen Contest

Gotham Writers Workshop

Genres: Script Writing, Fiction, and Poetry

Participants are invited to write about a scar, real or fictional, in any format (story, song, script, poem) with a limit of 250 words. The contest encourages creativity and personal expression.

Top Prize:

$400 Gotham credit, a $50 gift certificate to Bookshop, and publication on the Gotham Writers website.

Additional prizes:

Two runner ups wll receive a free Gotham class of their choice and publication.

📅 Deadline: December 15, 2025

Jim Martin Memorial Story Contest

Arizona Mystery Writers

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, and Short Story

The Jim Martin Memorial Adult Story Contest invites submissions of mystery, suspense, or thriller stories from adults aged 18 and over. It honors Jim Martin, a long-time member of Arizona Mystery Writers, supported by his family's generous contribution to the organization.

Top Prize:

$200

Additional prizes:

2nd Place: $100 3rd Place: $75 Winning stories will be published on the AMW website.

💰 Entry fee: $15

📅 Deadline: August 01, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Memoir

The Anthology Personal Memoir Competition invites entries for personal memoirs, encouraging emerging writers to share their stories. The winner will be published in Anthology magazine.

Top Prize:

€500

Additional prizes:

Publication in Anthology magazine

💰 Entry fee: $15

📅 Deadline: August 31, 2025 (Expired)

Genres: Fiction and Short Story

The contest welcomes submissions of previously unpublished short stories of 1000 words or fewer. It encourages simultaneous submissions and offers publication for finalists in their journal.

Top Prize:

$150

Additional prizes:

2nd place: $100 3rd place: $50 Honorable mentions: $25 Publication in the journal for top finalists.

💰 Entry fee: $5

📅 Deadline: April 01, 2025 (Expired)

Genres: Fiction and Novel

The Dzanc Books Prize for Fiction recognizes daring, original, and innovative novels. It is open to all writers, including those with agents. Submissions must be unpublished and include a synopsis, author bio, and contact info.

Top Prize:

$5,000

Additional prizes:

Advance and publication by Dzanc Books

💰 Entry fee: $25

📅 Deadline: January 01, 2025 (Expired)

Mark Lynton History Prize

Columbia Journalism School

Genres: Non-fiction

The Mark Lynton History Prize, in the amount of $10,000, is awarded to a book­-length work of history on any topic that best combines intellectual distinction with felicity of expression. Books must have been published in the United States between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023.

Top Prize:

$10,000

💰 Entry fee: $75

📅 Deadline: December 07, 2023 (Expired)

The Philip Hoare Competition

University of Southampton

Genres: Non-fiction and Short Story

The Philip Hoare Prize is an international competition for the best non-fiction writing, established in 2025, seeking vivid and original narratives that blend personal, historical, and natural themes.

Top Prize:

£300

Additional prizes:

2nd: £100 | 3rd: £50 | Winner also receives publication in the University of Southampton’s annual Avenues Creative Writing anthology.

💰 Entry fee: $0

📅 Deadline: July 31, 2025 (Expired)

Genres: Fiction, Short Story, Horror, Mystery, and Science Fiction

The Fabula Press Short Story Contest encourages exceptional storytelling across genres, with no specific theme. Participants can submit entries for both free and paid categories. Winning stories may be published in an anthology.

Top Prize:

$500

Additional prizes:

2nd place: $250 3rd place: $100 Stories selected for publication: $75

📅 Deadline: June 11, 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)

Genres: Fiction and Short Story

The Creative Writing Award celebrates outstanding new writing talents in poetry and short fiction, offering a platform for authors globally to showcase their work. It emphasizes innovation in content and form across any theme.

Top Prize:

$2,500

Additional prizes:

Publication in the Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual One-year subscription to The London Magazine, Granta, and Mslexia Consultation with Redhammer Management Six-week writing short stories course from Curtis Brown Creative

💰 Entry fee: $18

📅 Deadline: August 31, 2025 (Expired)

Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award

Claremont Graduate University

Genres: Poetry

The Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award is one of the most prestigious poetry awards, providing significant financial support to poets. It offers a $100,000 prize for a single poetry collection published within the eligibility year, aimed at supporting mid-career poets. The award encourages poets to continue developing their craft.

Top Prize:

$100,000

Additional prizes:

The Kate Tufts Discovery Award offers $10,000 for a first book of poetry.

📅 Deadline: July 01, 2025 (Expired)

4th Annual Wine Country Writers' Festival Writing Contest

Wine Country Writers' Festival Society

Genres: Fiction, Non-fiction, and Poetry

The contest is open to writers over 18 worldwide and includes categories for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Each submission must adhere to specific formatting guidelines and word limits. Winners are selected through blind judging, and results are announced during the festival.

Top Prize:

$200 CAD per category

Additional prizes:

Second place: $100 Third place: $50 Winner also gets anthology publication, entry to next year's festival

💰 Entry fee: $15

📅 Deadline: June 02, 2024 (Expired)

Great American Think-Off

New York Mills Regional Cultural Center

Genres: Essay and Non-fiction

The Great American Think-Off is an annual philosophical essay contest that invites participants to submit essays on significant questions of life. The contest culminates in a live debate where finalists present their arguments, and the audience votes on the best perspective.

Top Prize:

$500

Additional prizes:

Four cash prizes of $500 each for finalists.

📅 Deadline: April 01, 2025 (Expired)

Genres: Essay, Memoir, and Non-fiction

The Personal Essay Competition invites young writers (ages 13-19) to craft essays between 400-1000 words based on the prompt: "Making meaning." The competition emphasizes storytelling from personal perspectives.

Top Prize:

$100

Additional prizes:

Runner-Up and Best Peer Review will each receive $50.

📅 Deadline: June 23, 2025 (Expired)

Genres: Poetry

The Hastings Book Festival Poetry Competition is an annual event inviting submissions from poets worldwide. The contest aims to celebrate new poetry and provides an opportunity for both established and emerging writers.

Top Prize:

£250

Additional prizes:

2nd: £100 | 3rd: £50 | Publication for winning poems. Winners may also be eligible for additional prizes like the Sussex Prize and Founder's Prize.

💰 Entry fee: $10

📅 Deadline: June 30, 2025 (Expired)

Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award

Poets & Writers, Inc.

Genres: Fiction and Poetry

Established in 1984, this award connects emerging writers with the New York City literary community, facilitating professional advancement through a network of agents, editors, and authors. The winners receive an honorarium, a public reading, and participation in a residency program.

Top Prize:

$500

Additional prizes:

Residency at the Jentel Artist Residency Program in Wyoming.

💰 Entry fee: $0

📅 Deadline: March 01, 2025 (Expired)

The Caterpillar Poetry Prize 2025

The Caterpillar Magazine

Genres: Poetry

An annual prize for unpublished poems written by adults for children aged 7–11. The prize aims to celebrate poetry that appeals to younger audiences.

Top Prize:

€1,000

Additional prizes:

A week at Circle of Misse in France

💰 Entry fee: $15

📅 Deadline: March 31, 2025 (Expired)

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