The Best Writing Contests of 2020
Writing competitions curated by Reedsy
Browse 50 contests that match your search 🔦
Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award
Established in 1998, in honor of the poet Benjamin Saltman (1927–1999), this award is for a previously unpublished original collection of poetry. Top prize is $3000 and 4-week residency at PLAYA arts and sciences program. The winner of the 2019 Benjamin Saltman Award will be announced in 2020.
Deadline October 31, 2020
Learn moreTop prize
$3,000
Additional prizes
Book publication by Red Hen Press
Genres
Poetry,
Entry fee
💰 Entry Fee: $25
Thomas Paine Award
Hidden River Arts offers an award of $1,000 and publication by Defarge Press, an imprint of Hidden River Publishing, for an original book-length manuscript of political or social activist writing. This may be a full-length work, or a collection of essays/articles. This competition is open to international submissions for all writers in English.
Deadline August 30, 2020
Learn moreTop prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Publication by Defarge Press
Genres
Essay,
Entry fee
💰 Entry Fee: $22
IndieReader Discovery Awards 2021
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 2021 IR Discovery Awards will receive a verdict, written by an IndieReader reviewer and based on their assessment after reading the complete book.
Deadline February 15, 2021
Learn moreTop prize
First look consideration by a top, NYC-based literary agency
Additional prizes
Genres
Fiction, Non-fiction, Novel,
Entry fee
💰 Entry Fee: $149
Momaya Poetry Competition
Accepting poems on the theme of "Touch" up to 1500 words.
Deadline October 30, 2020
Learn moreTop prize
$100
Additional prizes
Published in the Momaya Short Story Review
Genres
Poetry,
Entry fee
💰 Entry Fee: $9
Ex Ophidia Press Poetry Prize
Open to all English-language authors worldwide (of any age, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation) for a book of poetry.
Deadline August 31, 2020
Learn moreTop prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Publication and 15 author copies
Genres
Poetry,
Entry fee
💰 Entry Fee: $25
Creative Writing Award
Aesthetica Creative Writing Award
The Aesthetica Creative Writing Award is an international literary prize that is a hotbed for new talent in Poetry and Short Fiction. Now in its 14th year, the Prize supports both emerging and established writers. Winners are selected for both categories and awarded with £1,000. Publication within the Aesthetica Creative Writing Anthology, is also awarded to a further 60 writers whose works are highly commended.
Deadline August 31, 2020
Learn moreTop prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Publication in the Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual
Genres
Fiction, Poetry, Short Story,
Entry fee
💰 Entry Fee: $13
Margaret Reid Poetry Contest
$3,000 for a poem that rhymes or has a traditional style.
Deadline August 30, 2020
Learn moreTop prize
$3,000
Additional prizes
Genres
Poetry,
Entry fee
💰 Entry Fee: $15
Tom Howard Poetry Contest
$3,000 for a poem in any style or genre.
Deadline September 30, 2020
Learn moreTop prize
$3,000
Additional prizes
Genres
Poetry,
Entry fee
💰 Entry Fee: $15
Fischer Prize
This annual award is open to poets of all ages living in the US. Deadline for submissions is August 30th, 2020 and the prize is awarded at a Fischer Prize award ceremony Oct. 10, 2020, in Telluride, Colorado.
Deadline August 30, 2020
Learn moreTop prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Attendance at Telluride Literary Arts Festival
Genres
Poetry,
Entry fee
💰 Entry Fee: $10
Walt Whitman Award
The Walt Whitman Award is granted to an unpublished poetry collection. The prizes include $5,000, publication by Graywolf Press, and a six-week residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center in Umbria, Italy. Submissions are accepted from September 1 through November 1 each year. The judge for the 2019 Walt Whitman Award is Li-Young Lee.
Deadline November 01, 2020
Learn moreTop prize
$5,000
Additional prizes
Publication by Graywolf Press
Genres
Poetry,
Entry fee
💰 Entry Fee: $35
Inkitt's Writing Contest
Inkitt’s writing contest runs quarterly and gives authors the chance to win an exclusive GALATEA publishing deal and the chance to showcase their book to the world. Monthly, alongside the quarterly publishing deal prize draw, cash prize contest winners are announced, determined on how many likes the author has received on their book. Monthly these winners will receive $150. Authors can also use Inkitt’s Writing app — found in the app store under ‘Inkitt Writing” — to draft up their novels!
Deadline December 31, 2020
Learn moreTop prize
Publishing contract with GALATEA
Additional prizes
$150
Genres
Fiction,
Entry fee
💰 Entry Fee: FREE
The Morton Marr Poetry Prize
The Morton Marr Poetry Prize is an endowment by Marilyn Klepak of Dallas in honor of her father, whose love of poetry has encouraged her to pass this love on to others. The contest is open to any writer who has not published a book of poetry. You may enter up to six poems, but they must be entered one at a time. Only unpublished, formal poems are eligible: sonnets, sestinas, villanelles, rhymed stanzas, blank verse, et al.
Deadline September 30, 2020
Learn moreTop prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Publication in Southwest Review
Genres
Poetry,
Entry fee
💰 Entry Fee: $5
Nowhere Magazine Fall 2019 Travel Writing Contest
We are looking for young, old, novice and veteran writers to send us stories that possess a powerful sense of place. Stories can be fiction, nonfiction, poetry or essay.
Deadline November 20, 2020
Learn moreTop prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Genres
Essay, Non-fiction, Poetry, Fiction,
Entry fee
💰 Entry Fee: $20
Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards recognizes outstanding works that contribute to our understanding of racism and our appreciation of cultural diversity. Awards are given for fiction, poetry and nonfiction.
Deadline December 31, 2020
Learn moreTop prize
$10,000
Additional prizes
Genres
Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry,
Entry fee
💰 Entry Fee: $0
The Lascaux Prize in Creative Nonfiction
The Lascaux Prize in Creative Nonfiction will reopen 1 April 2020. Creative nonfiction may include memoirs, chronicles, personal essays, humorous perspectives, literary journalism—anything the author has witnessed, experienced, learned, or discovered. Pieces may be previously published or unpublished, and simultaneous submissions are accepted. Winner receives $1,000, a bronze medallion, and publication online in The Lascaux Review. The winner and all finalists will be published in the annual print journal Lascaux 8.
Deadline September 22, 2020
Learn moreTop prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Genres
Essay, Memoir, Non-fiction,
Entry fee
💰 Entry Fee: $15
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