Discover the finest writing contests of 2018 for fiction and non-fiction authors of short stories, poetry, essays and more. Updated weekly, these contests are vetted by Reedsy to weed out the scammers and time-wasters. Manage a contest? Submit it here
We found 271 contests that match your search 🔦
Each entry must be original work and previously unpublished.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 2018, Best in Category, and President's Favorite.
Deadline: May 31st, 2018 (Expired) • Entry fee 💰: $15
Genre: Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry,
$1,000
Publication in Flying South 2018
Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers
Offers emerging writers a chance to get their work seen by acquiring agents and editors.
For unpublished writers of novel-length commercial fiction.
Deadline: May 31st, 2018 (Expired) • Entry fee 💰: $30
Genre: Fiction,
$150
The winner of each of the three Omnidawn poetry book and chapbook contests wins an immediate cash prize as indicated above for each poetry competition, publication of the book by Omnidawn with a full color cover (unless the author prefers black and white), 100 free copies of the winning book, and extensive display advertising and publicity.
Deadline: October 15th, 2018 • Entry fee 💰: $27
Genre: Poetry,
$3,000
Publication of book
The theme for 2018 PRECIOUS, is intended to be inspirational, not restrictive, please feel free to interpret it in any way you choose. Be creative, be unpredictable, be different; the judges will be eternally grateful if you can make them feel the honesty and the emotion as well as the intellect and rigour in your poem.
Deadline: September 30th, 2018 • Entry fee 💰: £10
Genre: Fiction, Short Story,
£100
Publication by Hammond House
The theme for 2018 PRECIOUS, is intended to be inspirational, not restrictive, please feel free to interpret it in any way you choose. Be creative, be unpredictable, be different; the judges will be eternally grateful if you can make them feel the honesty and the emotion as well as the intellect and rigour in your poem.
Deadline: September 30th, 2018 • Entry fee 💰: £10
Genre: Poetry,
£100
Publication by Hammond House
Free to enter monthly short story competition. Prize includes $50 and publication online. Short stories up to 3,000 words are accepted. Open theme.
Deadline: December 31st, 2018 • Entry fee 💰: 0
Genre: Fiction, Short Story,
$50
Publication on The Writing District
Twice each year Black Lawrence Press will run the Black River Chapbook Competition for an unpublished chapbook of poems or short fiction between 16-36 pages in length. The contest is open to new, emerging, and established writers. The winner will receive book publication, a $500 cash award, and ten copies of the book. Prizes are awarded on publication.
Deadline: October 31st, 2018 • Entry fee 💰: $15
Genre: Fiction, Poetry, Short Story,
$500
Book publication
At around noon each Tuesday (UTC), from the 11th of April 2017, Ó Bhéal will post five new words. Entrants will have one week to compose and submit poems that include all five words given for that week. Poems cannot exceed 50 lines in length (including line breaks), and must include all five words listed during the week.
Deadline: December 31st, 2018 • Entry fee 💰: €5
Genre: Poetry,
€500
Publication in Five Words Vol XI
Surrey International Writers’ Conference
The contest will be judged by Diana Gabaldon and Jack Whyte. Story length: 2,500 – 5000 words.
Deadline: September 21st, 2018 • Entry fee 💰: $15
Genre: Fiction, Short Story,
$1,000
Publication
We were founded in 2014 by Rattle Tales, Brighton’s interactive short story evening. Our roots mean we love stories that work on the stage as well as they do on the page. If you can create a story that challenges us with new ideas while staying beautifully simple, there’s a good chance we’ll love it. If you can write a story like that, keep reading. We’d love to have your entry.
Deadline: July 1st, 2018 • Entry fee 💰: £8
Genre: Short Story,
£1,000
£100 for the two runners up
Write a 2,000-word fictional short story using any nuance, definition, or understanding of the word “change.”
Deadline: May 15th, 2018 (Expired) • Entry fee 💰: $25
Genre: Fiction, Short Story,
$1,000
Publication in Writer Magazine
The theme of the contest this year is "Luggage." First prize: A week’s holiday in the island of Crete. First three winners’ stories published in two different anthologies (Greek and English). All the stories of the Shortlist will be published in a special English edition, released through amazon.com & strangedays books.
Deadline: June 20th, 2018 (Expired) • Entry fee 💰: €10
Genre: Short Story,
A week holiday in Crete for two
Publication
Welcome to the Dorset Fiction Award's bi-annual short story competition! We're looking for short stories, fewer than one thousand words in any genre and topic.
Deadline: June 9th, 2018 (Expired) • Entry fee 💰: £7
Genre: Fiction, Short Story,
£500
Publication in the yearly anthology and website
The competition is open to new, emerging and established poets from any country BUT at least one of the two winners will be a debutante (with no chapbook or book published previously). Up to 25 other entrants will be publicly listed as "highly commended".
Deadline: June 30th, 2018 • Entry fee 💰: £25
Genre: Poetry,
£1,000
Chapbook publication with 50 free copies
In its nearly two centuries of existence, The Saturday Evening Post has published short fiction by a who’s who of great American authors, including Ray Bradbury, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Louis L’Amour, Sinclair Lewis, Jack London, Joyce Carol Oates, Edgar Allan Poe, Anne Tyler, and Kurt Vonnegut, among so many others. Now you have the opportunity to join our illustrious lineup by entering The Saturday Evening Post’s Sixth Annual Great American Fiction Contest.
Deadline: July 1st, 2018 • Entry fee 💰: $10
Genre: Fiction, Short Story,
$500
Publication in The Saturday Evening Post
The winner will receive a publication contract with Southern Illinois University Press, and will be awarded a $1000 prize. The winner will also receive $1500 as an honorarium for a reading at Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Deadline: July 8th, 2018 • Entry fee 💰: $20
Genre: Poetry,
$2,500
Publication
Two volumes of poems will be selected from an open competition of manuscripts submitted online through Submittable October 1 through November 18, 2017. The winners will each receive a publication contract with Southern Illinois University Press. In addition, both winners will be awarded a $1000 prize and $1500 as an honorarium for a reading at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Deadline: November 18th, 2018 • Entry fee 💰: $20
Genre: Poetry,
$2,500
Publication
The work submitted must be a first book of poetry published between July 1, 2017, and June 30, 2018. Manuscripts, CDs, and chapbooks are not accepted.
Deadline: July 1st, 2018 • Entry fee 💰: FREE
Genre: Poetry,
$10,000
The Kate Tufts Discovery Award was created in 1994, a year after the inception of the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. It is presented to a first book by a poet of genuine promise. The Kate Tufts Discovery Award offers a hefty prize of $10,000 and is given for poetry volumes published in the preceding year.
Deadline: July 1st, 2018 • Entry fee 💰: FREE
Genre: Poetry,
$100,000
Entries should comprise of a book proposal and a sample chapter of no more than 6,000 words. We accept both fiction and non-fiction across most genres (excluding poetry and children’s fiction, however we will consider Young Adult submissions).
Deadline: June 29th, 2018 • Entry fee 💰: £25
Genre: Fiction, Non-fiction,
£500 advance
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