The Best Writing Contests of 2022
Writing competitions curated by Reedsy
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Manage a competition? Submit it here
Join our short story competition
Submit a short story based on 1 of 5 weekly prompts. Winners get $250.
Showing 384 contests
Zizzle Literary Flash Fiction Contest
Zizzle Literary
Every week during our submission period, we’ll post one-sentence dialogue writing prompts on our social media platforms. Choose a dialogue prompt that inspires you and write a story that includes the prompt.
Top prize
Additional prizes
1000
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $5
Deadline: March 15, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Flash Fiction
View contestIndiana Review Poetry Prize
Indiana Review
Winners of the Indiana Review poetry contest receive a prize of $1,000 and publication in Indiana Review. You may submit up to three poems. All entries are considered for publication. Each $20 fee gets you a year-long subscription of the journal.
Top prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Publication in Indiana Review
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $20
Deadline: March 31, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Poetry
View contestThe Restless Books Prize For New Immigrant Writing
Restless Books
The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing was created in 2016 to honor outstanding debut literary works by first-generation immigrants, awarded for fiction and nonfiction in alternating years. The winner receives $10,000 and publication by Restless Books. Submissions for the 2021 Prize in Nonfiction are open from September 10, 2020 to March 31, 2021.
Top prize
$10,000
Additional prizes
Publication by Restless Books
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: March 31, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Non-fiction
View contestAn Axe to Grind - Flash Fiction Contest
The Darling Axe
Tell us a story in fewer than 1000 words for a chance to win from a growing prize pool, plus publication on the Chopping Blog.
Top prize
$700
Additional prizes
Publication on the Chopping Blog
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $5
Deadline: March 31, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Short Story, Flash Fiction
View contestSnowbound Chap Book Award
Tupelo Press
The Snowbound Chapbook Award includes a cash award of $1,000 in addition to publication by Tupelo Press, 25 copies of the winning title, a book launch, and national distribution with energetic publicity and promotion. Manuscripts are judged anonymously and all finalists will be considered for publication. Please read the complete guidelines before submitting your manuscript.
Top prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Publication by Tupelo Press
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $25
Deadline: March 31, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Poetry
View contestFrost Farm Prize for Metrical Poetry
Frost Farm Poetry
The Trustees of the Robert Frost Farm in Derry, NH, and the Hyla Brook Poets invite submissions for the 2021, 11th Annual The Frost Farm Prize for metrical poetry. The winner receives $1,000 and an invitation, with honorarium, to read in June 2021 as part of The Hyla Brook Reading Series at the Robert Frost Farm.
Top prize
$1,000
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $6
Deadline: March 31, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Poetry
View contestPoetry Awards Contest
TCK Publishing
The TCK Publishing Poetry Awards Contest is an international poetry contest established in 2021. Each year’s prizewinner receives a $1,000 honorarium and publication of his or her poem on the TCK Publishing website. TCK Publishing recognizes poetry writers from all countries, backgrounds, and levels of experience.
Top prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Publication on TCK Website
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $5
Deadline: March 31, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Poetry
View contestNowhere Emerging Travel Writers' Prize
Nowhere Magazine
We are looking for never-been-published travel writers from anywhere in the world to send us stories—fiction, nonfiction, essay or poetry—that possess a powerful sense of place, people and time.
Top prize
$500
Additional prizes
Publication in Nowhere Magazine
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $15
Deadline: March 31, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Essay, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, Poetry, Short Story
View contestRed Hen Press Nonfiction Award
Red Hen Press
Established in 2015, the Red Hen Nonfiction Award seeks to recognize the art of true story-telling through literary craft. The awarded fiction manuscript is selected through an annual submission process which is open to all authors.
Top prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Publication by Red Hen Press
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $25
Deadline: March 31, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Non-fiction
View contestLighthouse Poetry Series
Cleveland State University Poetry Center
The Cleveland State University Poetry Center welcomes submissions for the Lighthouse Poetry Series. The Lighthouse Poetry Series publishes contemporary poetry from poets with any history of publication. The winner will receive $1,000, publication, and a standard royalty contract. This year’s contest will be judged by Randall Mann.
Top prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Royalty contract
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $28
Deadline: March 31, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Poetry
View contestFiction Prize
Indiana Review
Winners of the Indiana Review short story contest receive a prize of $1,000 and publication in Indiana Review. Stories can be up to 6,000 words. All entries are considered for publication. Each $20 fee gets you a year-long subscription of the journal.
Top prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Publication in Indiana Review
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $20
Deadline: March 31, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Short Story
View contestNew Deal Writing Competition
Genesee Valley Council on the Arts
The New Deal Writing Competition is a short story competition where the writer is asked to use a painting chosen by the staff of GVCA as inspiration for their short story. The application portal for submissions will be open from March 1, 2021 to April 1, 2021.
Top prize
$200
Additional prizes
Publication in Artsphere Magazine
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $5
Deadline: April 01, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Short Story
View contestTravel Writing Competition
Globe Soup
The Globe Soup Travel Writing Contest is open to non-fiction writers. Enter original, unpublished non-fiction travel writing in any form, including personal essay, destination piece and opinion piece. Entries must be no longer than 1,000 words.
Top prize
$1,300
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: April 01, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Travel
View contestThe Pinch Literary Awards
The Pinch Literary Journal
Pinch is a literary journal run by the MFA students at the University of Memphis. In their annual contest, two winners are selected from each category of fiction and poetry. Only unpublished entries are considered.
Top prize
$2,000
Additional prizes
Publication in Pinch
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $20
Deadline: April 07, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Poetry, Short Story
View contestInteractive Romance Writing Contest
Sana Stories
The theme of our current Writing Contest is ‘Slow Burn’ - the romantic pull between two characters that just keeps on going! Stories need to be written with our Writing Tool, have min. 5000 words, have at least one choice situation where the story branches. Adaptations of linear stories are also welcome.
Top prize
€500
Additional prizes
€200, €100
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: April 11, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Short Story, Young Adult
View contestParsec Short Story Contest
Triangulation
The theme for the 2021 contest is: Still Waters, Deep Thoughts. This can be conveyed in the setting, plot, characters, dialogue…the only limit is your imagination. The theme must be integral to the story in some way and not just mentioned in passing. All stories must be of the Science Fiction, Fantasy, or Horror genres and no more than 3,500 words.
Top prize
$200
Additional prizes
Publication in the 2020 Confluence program book
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $0
Deadline: April 15, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Science Fiction, Short Story
View contestWe the Students Essay Contest
Bill of Rights Institute
The Bill of Rights Institute engages, educates, and empowers individuals with a passion for the freedom and opportunity that exist in a free society. Students in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Armed Forces schools abroad, and students in United States territories are eligible to participate in its contest.
Top prize
$7,500
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: April 15, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Children's, Essay
View contestIrene Adler Prize
Lucas Aykroyd
The Irene Adler Prize offers a $1,000 US scholarship to a woman pursuing a degree in journalism, creative writing, or literature at a recognized post-secondary institution in the U.S. or Canada, based on an essay competition.
Top prize
$1,000
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: April 30, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Essay
View contestCave Canem Poetry Prize
Cave Canem
Launched in 1999 with Rita Dove 's selection of Natasha Trethewey 's Domestic Work, this first-book award is dedicated to the discovery of exceptional manuscripts by black poets of African descent. Manuscripts should be 48-75 pages in length.
Top prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Publication by University of Pittsburgh Press
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $20
Deadline: April 30, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Poetry
View contestAdrienne Rich Award for Poetry
Beloit Poetry Journal
Submit 1-3 unpublished poems on any subject in any style up to a maximum of 10 pages per entry. (We enjoy long poems!)
Top prize
$1,500
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $15
Deadline: April 30, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Poetry
View contestIEW Writing Contest
Institute for Excellent Writing
We are delighted to present our annual writing contest for all aspiring and accomplished writers, ages eight to eighteen. Whether or not they have experience with IEW's Structure and Style® Writing Method, your students are invited to participate.
Top prize
$100
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: April 30, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Children's, Short Story
View contestAgnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize
University of Pittsburgh Press
The University of Pittsburgh Press announces the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize for a first full-length book of poems. Named after the first director of the Press, the prize carries a cash award of $5,000 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press in the Pitt Poetry Series under its standard royalty contract. The winner will be announced in the fall; no information about the winner will be released before the fall announcement. The Starrett Prize is our only venue for first-book poetry manuscripts.
Top prize
$5,000
Additional prizes
Publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $25
Deadline: April 30, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Poetry
View contestThe Loraine Williams Poetry Prize
The Georgia Review
The Loraine Williams Poetry Prize is an award for a single poem, to be published in The Georgia Review. The winner will receive $1,500 and an expenses-paid trip to Athens, Georgia, to give a public reading with the judge. Submissions must be sent either online or by mail from March 1 through May 1. All submitted poems will be considered for publication in The Georgia Review; any selected will be paid $4 per line.
Top prize
$1,500
Additional prizes
Expenses-paid trip to Athens, Georgia
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $15
Deadline: May 01, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Poetry
View contestThe Peseroff Prize
Breakwater Review
Submit up to three poems and a $10 entry fee. There are no restrictions on content or form: it 's all poetry. Poems should be previously unpublished. The winner and finalists will be published in Breakwater Review.
Top prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Publication in spring issue
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: May 01, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Poetry
View contestStan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize
Kent State University
This prize is offered annually to a poet who has not previously published a full-length collection of poems. The prize awards the winner with $2,500 and publication of their first full-length book of poetry by the Kent State University Press. The winner and the competition's judge will give a reading together on the Kent State campus.
Top prize
$2,500
Additional prizes
Publication by Kent State University Press
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $30
Deadline: May 01, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Poetry
View contestElizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize
Australian Book Review
The Jolley Prize is open to all short story writers writing in English. We seek original short stories of between 2,000 and 5,000 words.
Top prize
$AU6,000
Additional prizes
$AU4,000, $AU2,500
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $25
Deadline: May 03, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Short Story
View contestThe Kurt Brown Prizes
Association of Writers & Writing Programs
AWP will offer three scholarships of $500 each to be awarded to three first-place winners in the genres of creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. These scholarships must be used to attend a writers’ conference, center, retreat, festival, or residency at one of the AWP member programs in the Directory of Conferences & Centers. All winners and six finalists will also receive a one-year individual membership.
Top prize
$500 scholarship
Additional prizes
one-year membership
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: May 15, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Non-fiction, Novel, Poetry, Short Story
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, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Essay, Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Short Story
View contestRaymond Carver Short Story Contest
Carve Magazine
The Raymond Carver Short Story Contest is one of the most renowned fiction contests in the world. Featuring prominent guest judges and offering $3000 across five prizes, the contest delivers exciting new fiction from writers all over the world. The contest opens each year April 1 - May 15 and prizewinners are published in our annual fall issue in October.
Top prize
$2,000
Additional prizes
Publication in Carve Magazine
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $17
Deadline: May 15, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Short Story
View contestOn the Far Side Contest
Fantasy, Futuristic, and Paranormal Romance Writers
Write fantasy, futuristic, or paranormal? Then the On the Far Side Contest is for you!! Welcome dragons, witches, ghosties, psychics, vampires, shapeshifters, unicorns, and any creature your imagination can conjure up in a galaxy far, far away, in a time long past, or in your very own backyard.
Top prize
Award
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $25
Deadline: May 16, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Novel, Romance
View contestMBF/de Groot Prize
Miami Book Fair
The Miami Book Fair has partnered with The de Groot Foundation to launch the Miami Book Fair/de Groot Prize to be awarded to an author for an unpublished novella. We created the MBF/de Groot Prize to fan the flame in emerging writers who yearn to be published. We want the prize to bring out the best in new authors who have a story that needs to be heard.
Top prize
$6,000
Additional prizes
Publication by Melville House & an expense-paid trip to the Miami Book Fair
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: May 30, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Novella
View contestYouth Writing Contest
The Vancouver Writers Fest
The Vancouver Writers Fest's annual youth writing contest is open to all students enrolled in grades 8-12 in British Columbia. Entries will be accepted for previously unpublished short stories (fiction or non-fiction) and personal essays: 1,500 word limit. The first-prize winner will receive a $200 cash prize and the second-prize winner, a $100 cash prize.
Top prize
$200
Additional prizes
$100
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $0
Deadline: May 31, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Short Story, Essay, Fiction, Non-fiction
View contestFirst Novel Award
Blue Pencil Agency
The Award is open to unrepresented and unpublished authors for a novel in any adult fiction genre. The winner and runners-up will receive an agent introduction and possibly a manuscript review.
Top prize
£1,000
Additional prizes
Agent introduction, manuscript review
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $27
Deadline: May 31, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Novel
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 31, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
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 2021, Best in Category, and President's Favorite.
Top prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Publication in Flying South 2020
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $25
Deadline: May 31, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry
View contest
