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The Best Writing Contests of 2023

Writing competitions curated by Reedsy

Genre

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Showing 639 contests

Story Unlikely's Short Story Contest

Story Unlikely

Story Unlikely's Annual Short Story contest is simply looking for great stories, judged both by the technical and literary quality as well as the author's ability to tell a story. We are not genre specific, and judging is blind, not based on the author's credentials, background, or pedigree. This is merit only. May the best story win.

Top prize

$750

Additional prizes

2nd: $500 | 3rd: $250 | Publication and illustration for top 3 stories

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: January 31, 2024

Genres

Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller, Young Adult

Edit Your Source Code

Effective Altruism at Berkeley

With a $1800 prize pool, Effective Altruism at Berkeley is hosting a scifi creative writing contest. In this contest, writers can explore the ways that becoming a supercapable human affects their lives and changes the world. In the Edit Your Source Code Contest, you’re asked to: Imagine what change(s) you would make to your own source code. Then, explore the possible consequences of your edits. What is it like living in the world as an altered, potentially superpowerful person? We encourage you to explore a range of possible outcomes, including what would happen if your edits create outcomes that are misaligned with your goals.

Top prize

$500

Additional prizes

2nd: $350 | 5x runner-up: $100

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: October 23, 2022 (Expired)

Genres

Fiction, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Short Story

Climate Change Writing Competition

Write the World

This month, dear writers, ahead of COP27, help us raise the voices of young people in this urgent fight. In a piece of personal narrative, tell the world’s leaders gathering in how climate change impacts you. How has this crisis changed your environment, your community, your sense of the future? Storytelling, after all, plays a critical role in helping us grasp the emergency through which we are all living, igniting empathy in readers and listeners—itself a precursor to action.

Top prize

$100

Additional prizes

Runner-up: $50

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: October 18, 2022 (Expired)

Genres

Essay, Memoir, Non-fiction

The European Writing Prize

The European Society of Literature

The European Writing Prize is a competition that seeks to find young, unrecognised talent in the literary scene, and showcase their work to the public.

Top prize

$50

Additional prizes

Publication

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: January 01, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Fiction, Short Story

Novel Writing Competition 2022

Write the World

Novel writing is about personally inhabiting the world of your characters. And yet a novel also requires looking inward—reflecting on your own experience and interior life to develop authentic, three-dimensional characters. This November, join thousands of other writers in the honorable pursuit of novel writing (it’s National Novel Writing Month!) and then submit an excerpt to us.

Top prize

$100

Additional prizes

Runner-up: $50

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: November 22, 2022 (Expired)

Genres

Fiction, Novel

Global Warning Contest

Effective Altruism at UC Berkeley

What are the large-scale problems that the world is facing over the next 20 years? People frequently express concern about climate change as one of the largest existential risks and potential sources of suffering for humans and other animals in the coming decades. The Global Warning Contest hopes to create more awareness around it and reward people for thinking critically about the future.

Top prize

$500

Additional prizes

2nd: $300 | 4x runner-up: $50

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: November 20, 2022 (Expired)

Genres

Non-fiction

Human Rights Essay Contest for High School Students

RICHARD M KEMPER FOUNDATION

Respect for human rights seems to be eroding in many countries. Do you agree? If so, provide examples and explain what you think is the major cause of the problem and how it should be addressed? If you disagree, explain the reason you disagree.

Top prize

$3,000

Additional prizes

2nd: $1500 | 3rd: $750

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: December 10, 2022 (Expired)

Genres

Non-fiction

Muse of Fire BIPOC Playwriting Festival

Atlanta Shakespeare Company

The Atlanta Shakespeare Company is launching a new playwriting initiative for historically marginalized artists. The "Muse Of Fire Playwriting Festival'' invites playwrights of the global majority to create a full-length play that reimagines Shakespeare’s themes and plots through the lens of BIPOC America.

Top prize

$5,000

Additional prizes

Stage reading in summer 2023

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: April 15, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Script Writing

Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award

Tufts Poetry Awards

Kate Tufts – widow of Kingsley Tufts, and creator of the award – had said she wanted to create a prize “that would enable a poet to work on his or her craft for awhile without paying bills.” The legacy created with the Kingsley & Kate Tufts Poetry Awards will continue to inspire countless generations of poets and lovers of poetry.

Top prize

$100,000

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: June 30, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Poetry

National Essay Contest

U.S. Institute of Peace

The U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) partners with the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) on the annual National High School Essay Contest. The contest engages high school students in learning and writing about issues of peace and conflict, encouraging appreciation for diplomacy’s role in building partnerships that can advance peacebuilding and protect national security.

Top prize

$2,500

Additional prizes

Runner-up: $1,250

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: April 03, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Essay

Creative Writing Contest-CWC11

Dharma Inc. Intl.

What are the changes you would like to see, to make the world a better place?  Our world is seeing a lot of changes. What are the beneficial ones, which ones are harmful? Which changes, from what you have seen, will make things better?

Top prize

$900

Additional prizes

2nd: $300 | 3nd: $100

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: December 04, 2022 (Expired)

Genres

Essay

Drue Heinz Literature Prize

University of Pittsburgh Press

The Drue Heinz Literature Prize recognizes and supports writers of short fiction and makes their work available to readers around the world. The award is open to authors who have published a book-length collection of fiction or at least three short stories or novellas in commercial magazines or literary journals.

Top prize

$15,000

Additional prizes

Publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: June 30, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Fiction, Short Story

Medical Student Essay Contest

Hektoen International Journal of the Medical Humanities

Students currently enrolled in a medical school or program are encouraged to submit to our Medical Student Essay Contest. Essays can be on any topic as it relates to medicine. Art, history, and literature topics are preferred.

Top prize

$3,500

Additional prizes

Runner-ups: $2,500

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: March 15, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Essay, Memoir

MBF/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

We 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

AIIRA Writing Contest

AI Institute for Resilient Agriculture

AIIRA is seeking essays speculating on how AI will change careers within the next decade, as well as fiction stories depicting a day in the life of a job transformed by AI technology. Submissions should address how AI will help future professionals perform their jobs more efficiently as well as what job duties will become redundant due to AI.

Top prize

$550

Additional prizes

2nd: $400 (x2) | 3rd: $250

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: September 30, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Essay, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Non-fiction, Science Writing, Short Story

World Historian Student Essay Competition

World History Association

The World Historian Student Essay Competition is an international competition open to students enrolled in grades K–12 in public, private, and parochial schools, and those in home-study programs. Membership in the World History Association is not a requirement for submission. Past winners may not compete in the same category again.

Top prize

$500

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: May 01, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Children's, Essay

Annual Cultural Heritage Writing Contest

The Trailblazer Review

Founded in November 2022, The Trailblazer Review is an international high school literary magazine dedicated to celebrating and honoring indigenous culture through creative writing. Its Annual Cultural Heritage Contest accepts submissions of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction under 4000 words from middle and high school students (13-18 years old) on the subject of native culture and heritage.

Top prize

Publication

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: February 20, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Script Writing, Short Story, Young Adult

Kate Tufts Discovery Award

Claremont Graduate University

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. The work submitted must be a first book of poetry published between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022. Manuscripts, CDs, and chapbooks are not accepted.

Top prize

$10,000

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: June 30, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Poetry

Jane Austen Society of North America Essay Contest

Jane Austen Society of North America

JASNA conducts an annual student Essay Contest to foster the study and appreciation of Jane Austen's works in new generations of readers. Students world-wide are invited to compete for scholarship awards in three divisions: high school, college, and graduate school.

Top prize

$1,000 scholarship

Additional prizes

Two nights’ lodging for JASNA’s Annual General Meeting

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: June 02, 2022 (Expired)

Genres

Children's, Essay

Amazing Women’s Edition Contest

National Youth Foundation

Founded by Black women with a vision for change, the mission of the National Youth Foundation is to promote diversity, inclusion and gender equality through innovative literary programs. To honor the vast accomplishments of women in the United States, the National Youth Foundation is pleased to announce the Amazing Women’s Edition (AWE) competition. This writing contest is open to students in grades K to 8 residing in the United States.

Top prize

$500

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: January 07, 2022 (Expired)

Genres

Children's

National Youth Foundation "I Matter" Contest

National Youth Foundation

Founded by Black women with a vision for change, the mission of the National Youth Foundation is to promote diversity, inclusion and gender equality through innovative literary programs. The “I Matter” poetry contest was launched by a 14-year old student who took action to educate the world about why Black Lives Matter. The contest calls upon students across the country to submit poems on this important topic.

Top prize

$500

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: July 23, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Children's, Poetry

VFW Voice of Democracy

Veterans of Foreign Wars

The VFW is dedicated to promoting patriotism and investing in our future generation. If you are a democracy-loving high school student interested in a $30,000 college scholarship or a patriotic middle school student interested in winning $5,000, these scholarships may be for you.

Top prize

$30,000 college scholarship

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: October 31, 2022 (Expired)

Genres

Children's

Annual Student Essay Contest

Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum

Essay contest open to all students in the following four divisions: 5th – 6th grade, 7th – 8th, 9th – 10th, and 11th – 12th (or equivalent ages/school years). This is an excellent opportunity for young people to comment on the current world as they see it and make the case for a democratic society.

Top prize

$1,000

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: February 27, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Essay

Rattle Young Poets

Rattle Foundation

Rattle is a publication of the Rattle Foundation, an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the practice of poetry, and is not affiliated with any other organization. The author of the poem must have been age 15 or younger when the poem was written, and 18 or younger when submitted.

Top prize

Publication in Rattle Magazine

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: November 15, 2022 (Expired)

Genres

Children's, Poetry

Bennington Young Writers Awards

Bennington College

Bennington College has a unique literary legacy, including twelve Pulitzer Prize winners, three U.S. poet laureates, four MacArthur Geniuses, countless New York Times bestsellers, and two of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people. In celebration of this legacy, Bennington launched the Young Writers Awards to promote excellence in writing at the high school level. Our goal with this competition is to recognize outstanding writing achievement by high school students.

Top prize

$1,000

Additional prizes

2nd: $500 | 3rd: $250

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: November 01, 2022 (Expired)

Genres

Children's

"Write On!" Short Story Contest

Ann Arbor District Library

The annual "Write On!" Short Story Contest for Grades 3-5 accepts story entries each winter. All writers, their friends, and families are invited to a Story Celebration and awards ceremony on Saturday, April 23, 2022, featuring a published children's author and the top three writers in each grade will receive an award.

Top prize

Publication on website

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: March 06, 2022 (Expired)

Genres

Children's, Short Story

King of Essay

Papers Owl

To all TV shows nerds: we're incredibly excited to announce a competition for the best essay based on the TV series you are keen on. This is a new challenge for folks who may be under budget and interested in winning subscriptions on streaming services (Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Disney).

Top prize

Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, or Disney+ subscription for 6 months

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: May 15, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Crime, Essay, Fantasy, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller, Young Adult

Stone Soup Flash Fiction Contest

Stone Soup

Stone Soup holds a Flash Contest during the first week of every month. The month’s first Weekly Creativity prompt provides the contest challenge. Submissions are due by midnight on Sunday of the same week. Up to five winners are chosen for publication on our blog. The winners, along with up to five honorable mentions, are announced in the following Saturday Newsletter.

Top prize

Publication on Stone Soup's blog

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: December 01, 2022 (Expired)

Genres

Children's, Flash Fiction

Great American Think-Off

New York Mills Regional Cultural Center

The Great American Think-Off, now in its 30th year, is an exhibition of civil disagreement between powerful ideas that connect to your life at the gut level. People of all ages and backgrounds are encouraged to submit an essay of no more than 750 words for a chance to win one of four $500 cash prizes and participate in the live debate to ultimately answer the question, determined by audience vote.

Top prize

$500

Additional prizes

Participation in live debate

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: April 01, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Essay

IEW 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

Funny Festival Fables

C.A.A.B Publishin

Write us a short story about the festive period. We want tales about silly snowmen, naughty elves, and hilarious stories that would make Santa go HO! HO! HO! Entries should be around 1,000 words or less and must be sent as a Word Document with no pictures.

Top prize

$40

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: August 31, 2022 (Expired)

Genres

Children's, Flash Fiction

Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest

Ayn Rand Institute

The Atlas Shrugged novel essay contest is open to all students globally. Atlas Shrugged is a heroic mystery novel written by Ayn Rand. Choose a prompt and write a 800-1,600 word essay.

Top prize

$10,000

Additional prizes

2nd: $2,000 (x3) | 3rd: $1,000 (x5) | 25 finalists: $100 | 50 semifinalists: $50

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: November 06, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Essay, Fiction, Mystery, Novel, Thriller, Young Adult

$1000 for 1000 Words Contest

The Layla Beban Young Authors

The $1000 for 1000 Words fiction writing contest is open to all students enrolled in grades 6-12. Each entrant may submit a fiction piece consisting of exactly 1,000 words (not including title or author’s name). The fiction piece can be on any topic, as long as it is not vulgar or offensive, does not use inappropriate profanity, and is the original work of the entrant not previously published.

Top prize

$1,000

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: February 01, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Children's, Short Story

Lumiere Review Writing Contest

Lumiere Review

The Lumiere Review is back with our annual Writing Contest! We accept both poems and prose (fiction, nonfiction) from all writers. That said, we particularly encourage emerging writers, as well as those who identify as BIPOC, LGBTQIA, disabled, or other marginalized groups to submit to our contest. We will actively promote writers with these backgrounds.

Top prize

$100

Additional prizes

Publication in Lumiere Magazine

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: January 31, 2022 (Expired)

Genres

LGBTQ, Poetry, Short Story

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