The Best Writing Contests of 2022
Writing competitions curated by Reedsy
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Showing 488 contests
The Masters Review Short Story Contest
The Masters Review
Summer is for Short Stories! The Masters Review’s Short Story Award for New Writers is a bi-annual contest that recognizes the best fiction from today’s emerging writers. The winner receives a $3,000 prize and agency review, and their story will be published online in late winter/early spring. Second and third place finalists will be awarded publication, agency review and $300/$200 prizes. Entries must be under 6,000 words.
Top prize
$3,000
Additional prizes
Second and third place prizes ($300 / $200, publication, and agency review)
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $20
Deadline: August 28, 2022
Genres
Flash Fiction, Short Story
View contestInternational Novel Prize
Grindstone Literary
The 2022 Grindstone International Novel Prize is open to authors from all around the world, and is aimed at discovering and elevating new and unsung authors. Authors may submit finished or part-finished manuscripts providing they are not currently represented by an agent. We forward all longlisted works to some of the best agencies in the UK such as Curtis Brown Books, Conville and Walsh, Janklow & Nesbitt, the Paper Literary Agency, the Good Literary Agency, and so many more.
Top prize
£1,000
Additional prizes
Runner Up: £500 | 4x Shortlist: £125 | Longlist: Entries forwarded to affiliated agents.
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $20
Deadline: October 01, 2022
Genres
Crime, Mystery, Novel, Thriller
View contestClaymore Award
Killer Nashville
Created in 2009, the Killer Nashville Claymore Award assists new and rebranding English-language fiction authors to get published, including possible agent representation, book advances, editor deals, and movie and television sales. The contest is limited to only the first 50 double-spaced pages of unpublished English-language manuscripts containing elements of thriller, mystery, crime, or suspense NOT currently under contract.
Top prize
Possible contract with Mystery Writers of America
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $40
Deadline: April 01, 2023
Genres
Crime, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Novel, Science Fiction, Thriller
View contestRattle 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
Genres
Children's, Poetry
View contestMiami University Novella Prize
Miami University
The Miami University Novella Prize is awarded annually to a novella-length manuscript of original fiction (18,000–40,000 words). The winner receives $750, a standard contract, publication and 10 copies of the book.
Top prize
$750
Additional prizes
Publication through the University of Miami Press
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $25
Deadline: August 30, 2022
Genres
Fiction, Novella
View contestEtched Onyx and the Story Discovery Podcast
Onyx Publications
The Fall Edition Contest is an open, mixed-category contest. In other words, we have no limitations or expectations on which types of works will win awards. Selections are based on originality, voice, and style. Last years contest had 4 prose winners and 2 poetry winners.
Top prize
$500
Additional prizes
Second Prize $250 | Third Prize $100 | 3 Honorable Mentions $50 each
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $12
Deadline: August 28, 2022
Genres
Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Non-fiction, Poetry, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller
View contestKatherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction
University of North Texas Press
The University of North Texas Press announces the 2023 Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction. The winner of this annual award will receive $1000 and publication by UNT Press. Entries will be judged by an eminent writer.
Top prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Publication by UNT Press
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $25
Deadline: June 30, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Flash Fiction, Novella, Short Story
View contestFlash Fiction Competition
Globe Soup
Globe Soup are looking for the best flash fiction of no more than 800 words. The competition features a secret location in which all participants must set their story. Participants can get extensive feedback on their entry by joining Globe Soup's writing group and free entry to their monthly micro fiction contests and other opportunities to win cash prizes!
Top prize
£1000
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $16
Deadline: December 31, 2021 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Flash Fiction, Crime, Fantasy, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller, Young Adult
View contestBlue Lynx Prize for Poetry
Lynx House Press
The annual Blue Lynx Prize for Poetry awards $2000 plus publication for a full-length poetry collection. The Prize is awarded for an unpublished, full-length volume of poems by a U.S. author, which includes foreign nationals living and writing in the U.S. and U.S. citizens living abroad.
Top prize
$2,000
Additional prizes
Publication
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $28
Deadline: July 16, 2022
Genres
Poetry
View contestKate 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, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Poetry
View contestKingsley Tufts Poetry Award
Tufts Poetry Awards
Kate Tufts established the $50,000 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award at Claremont Graduate University in 1992. As Kate Tufts observed, these awards are intended “to give a poet a little breathing room and a little recognition.” 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, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Poetry
View contestNew Voices Award
Lee & Low Books
The New Voices Award is given annually by children's book publisher Lee & Low Books for a children’s picture book manuscript by a writer of color or Indigenous/Native writer. Established in 2000, the New Voices Award encourages writers of color and Indigenous/Native writers to submit their work to a publisher that takes pride in nurturing new talent.
Top prize
$2,000
Additional prizes
A standard Lee & Low publishing contract | Honor Award winner: $1,000
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $0
Deadline: August 01, 2022
Genres
Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry
View contestShort Story Competition
Globe Soup
We’re looking for the best SHORT STORY of no more than 8,000 words. There is no theme for this competition. Your story can be written in any genre or style, but it must be fiction.
Top prize
£1500
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $7
Deadline: August 23, 2022
Genres
Short Story
View contestExeter Story Prize and Trisha Ashley Award
Creative Writing Matters
The competition is for stories of up to five thousand words on any theme. We are delighted that Sunday Times Bestselling author, Trisha Ashley is once again offering an award. This year she has asked us for a selection of 'engaging and quirky' stories to choose from.
Top prize
£500
Additional prizes
2nd Prize: £250 | 3rd Prize: £150 | Trisha Ashley Award: £200
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $15
Deadline: August 31, 2022
Genres
Fiction, Short Story
View contestMoment Magazine-Karma Foundation Short Fiction Contest
Moment Magazine
The Moment Magazine-Karma Foundation Short Fiction Contest encourages writers to unpublished short fiction related to Judaism or Jewish culture or history. Established in 2000, judges and special guests for this international annual contest have included Joyce Carol Oates, Robert Pinsky, Walter Mosley, Nicole Krauss, Erica Jong, Jonathan Safran Foer, Geraldine Brooks, Andre Aciman and Dara Horn.
Top prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Publication in Moment Magazine
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $25
Deadline: August 15, 2022
Genres
Fiction, Short Story
View contestThe Megaphone Prize
Radix Media
The Megaphone Prize by Radix Media is dedicated to publishing timely and interrogative work by debut writers of color. This year, the prize is open to short story collections. Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, will judge and choose the winning manuscript.
Top prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Publication, 20 author copies
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $20
Deadline: October 15, 2022
Genres
Fiction, Short Story
View contestThe X.J. Kennedy Poetry Prize
Texas Review Press
Established in 1998, The X. J. Kennedy Prize highlights one full-length collection of poetry per year. Since 2019 the Prize comes with a $10,000 advance, a standard royalty contract, and 20 copies of the published book.
Top prize
$10,000 advance
Additional prizes
Royalty contract with TRP, publication, 20 author copies
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $28
Deadline: September 30, 2022
Genres
Poetry
View contestFiction Factory Short Story Competition
Fiction Factory
This is a bi-annual competition. We welcome stories on any theme. The maximum wordcount is 3,000.
Top prize
£300
Additional prizes
£100, £50
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $8
Deadline: October 31, 2022
Genres
Fiction, Short Story
View contestBenjamin Saltman Poetry Award
Red Hen Press
Established in 1998, in honor of the poet Benjamin Saltman (1927–1999), this award is for a previously unpublished original collection of poetry. The awarded collection is selected through an annual competition that is open to all poets.
Top prize
$3,000
Additional prizes
Book publication by Red Hen Press, a four-week PLAYA residency
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $25
Deadline: October 31, 2022
Genres
Poetry
View contestNovella-in-Flash Award
Bath Flash Fiction Award
The goal of the Novella-in-Flash Award is to promote flash fiction for both writers and readers and to bring the genre to a wider audience. There is a 6000 to 18000 word limit and each flash (or chapter) should not be more than about 1000 words.
Top prize
£300
Additional prizes
£100 for two runners-up, publication
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $19
Deadline: January 15, 2023
Genres
Novel, Short Story, Novella
View contestIndieReader Discovery Awards
IndieReader
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 IR Discovery Awards will receive a verdict, written by an IndieReader reviewer and based on their assessment after reading the complete book.
Top prize
First look consideration by a top, NYC-based literary agency
Additional prizes
$500, publicist consultation service, Reedsy credit, custom author website
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $150
Deadline: February 15, 2023
Genres
Fiction, Non-fiction, Novel
View contest7 Day Story Writing Challenge
Globe Soup
Register now for our next 7-day story writing challenge. A secret theme, a randomly assigned genre and just 7 days to write a story of no more than 2,000 words. Our 7 day story writing challenges take place throughout the year. The challenges are free and you can even get feedback on your story. Take part in one challenge or take part in all of them!
Top prize
£500
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $0
Deadline: December 31, 2022
Genres
Fiction, Flash Fiction, Short Story
View contestFool for Poetry International Chapbook Competition
Munster Literature Center
The competition is open to new, emerging and established poets from any country. One of these winners will be the highest scoring manuscript entered by a poet with no solo collection (full-length or chapbook) previously published. Up to 25 other entrants will be publicly listed as "highly commended".
Top prize
€1,000
Additional prizes
Chapbook publication with 50 free copies, 2nd prize €500
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $30
Deadline: August 31, 2022
Genres
Poetry
View contestThe Ovacome Creative Writing Contest
Ovacome
The theme is ‘connected’ and this can be interpreted however the writer chooses. The finalists will be judged by Call the Midwife stars Jenny Agutter and Stephen McGann. Entries cost £5 and all proceeds from the competition will help Ovacome to support anyone affected by ovarian cancer and raise awareness of the signs and symptoms.
Top prize
£250
Additional prizes
Runner up receives a £50 Waterstones voucher and the winner gets published on the Ovacome website
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $7
Deadline: August 31, 2022
Genres
Short Story
View contestGabriele Rico Challenge for Nonfiction
https://www.reedmag.org/gabriele-rico-challenge-for-nonfict
The Gabriele Rico Challenge for Nonfiction recognizes outstanding works of nonfiction. We are looking for creative nonfiction, such as personal essays or narratives, not scholarly papers or book reviews. All works should be stand-alone essays, not chapters of a longer work. Please limit prose submissions to 5,000 words.
Top prize
$1,333
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $20
Deadline: November 01, 2022
Genres
Non-fiction, Short Story
View contestCelebration Day Writing Contest
The Day
The Celebration Day Competition gets children to connect with the oldest person they know and interview them about the person who inspired them most growing up. They will retell the story in a creative way to win their work being read out on camera by a star-studded collection of celebrity guests, an iPad, and a £100 Amazon voucher. You must be aged between five and 18 to enter the competition, or be a teacher, and can live anywhere in the world.
Top prize
£100 Amazon Voucher
Additional prizes
Celebrities reading out winning entries, publication on website.
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: June 21, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Children's
View contestNorth Street Book Prize
Winning Writers
One grand prize winner will receive $8,000, a marketing analysis and one-hour phone consultation with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, a $300 credit at BookBaby, and 3 free ads in the Winning Writers newsletter (a $525 value). Please submit between February 15 and June 30, 2022.
Top prize
$8,000
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $70
Deadline: June 30, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, Poetry
View contestCaledonia Novel Award
Caledonia Novel Award
Now in our ninth year of competition, we are an Edinburgh-based, international award for unpublished and self-published novelists in all genres for adults and YA. This year's judge is Charlotte Seymour, literary agent at Johnson & Alcock. On top of the £1,500 top prize, the best entry from the UK and Ireland will receive a place on a writing course at Moniack Mhor Creative Writing Centre.
Top prize
£1, 500
Additional prizes
Free place on a writing course at Moniack Mhor Creative Writing Centre.
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $30
Deadline: November 01, 2022
Genres
Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Novel, Science Fiction, Thriller, Young Adult, Romance, Suspense
View contestFirst 5 Pages Prize
Stockholm Writers Festival
SWF is proud to launch the First 5 Pages Prize to mark our 5th anniversary. Dazzle us with your brilliance. Delight us with your wit. Deceive us with your dastardly plot-twists. There will be one Grand Prize winner chosen from all entries. The winner will receive: $1000 cash, a ticket to SWF22, a pitch meeting with an agent conducted over Zoom, two night’s accommodation at a boutique hotel, and a full developmental edit donated by Reedsy, the industry’s leading platform for writing services.
Top prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
A full developmental edit donated by Reedsy & pitch meeting with an agent
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $20
Deadline: January 31, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Novel, Novella, Science Fiction, Thriller, Young Adult
View contestRuth Rendell Short Story Competition 2020
InterAct Stroke Support
InterAct Stroke Support is a UK charity dedicated to supporting stroke recovery by using professional actors to deliver hospital readings and community projects. InterAct's competition asks writers to write a piece in any genre in no more than 1000 words. Stories must be suitable to be read in the sensitive environment of a hospital setting.
Top prize
$1,000
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $15
Deadline: December 02, 2019 (Expired)
Genres
Fiction, Short Story
View contest2nd Annual WCWF Writing Contest
Wine Country Writers' Festival
Fire up those pens and get those unpublished stories and poems submitted to WCWF 2nd Annual Writing Contest. Three winners in each category, publication in Anthology, and your own copy. Entries: $15 or two for $25. See the contest rules and enter now. Blind Judging.
Top prize
$150
Additional prizes
Publication in an anthology
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $15
Deadline: July 29, 2022
Genres
Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Non-fiction, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Short Story, Thriller, Young Adult
View contestInternational Amy MacRae Award for Memoir
Memoir Writing Ink
Original, unpublished works of memoir writing to a maximum of 2000 words are accepted. Submission guidelines are available on our website: www.amyaward.com. Winner receives $1000, plus an additional $1000 off a Mindful Memoir Writing Retreat in southern France with award-winning author, playwright, and writing coach Alison Wearing. Shortlisted stories will be published in the annual Amy Award Anthology and featured in the Memoir Writing Ink program. This award has been created in celebration of the life of Amy Macrae and in support of her living legacy to improve the outcomes of women with ovarian cancer.
Top prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
$1,000 US towards a Mindful Memoir Writing Retreat in Southern France with award-winning author, playwright, and writing coach, Alison Wearing
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $25
Deadline: June 21, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Memoir
View contestLiterary Taxidermy Short Story Competition
Literary Taxidermy Short Story Competition
The Literary Taxidermy Writing Competition invites writers to create original stories and poems using the opening and closing lines of classic works of literature. In previous years, participants have tackled works by Lewis Carroll, Dorothy Parker, and Dashiell Hammett, crafting stories and poems in every genre, from science fiction to meta-fiction, and from sonnets to free verse. For its fifth year, in addition to monetary prizes and publication, the competition offers personal feedback for all honorable mentions. The competition is also a fundraiser for Ukraine. Sarah Waits, one of the competition editors, says, "We're a small organization, but we believe we can make a difference in the world.” Learn more about the 2022 Literary Taxidermy Writing Competition on our website: www.literarytaxidermy.com. Take the creative challenge—and join the fun! The competition begins on May 1st. We can’t wait to see what you stitch together!
Top prize
$500
Additional prizes
Publication in 2019 Anthology of Literary Taxidermy
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: July 11, 2022
Genres
Fiction, Short Story
View contestAs Bright as the Moon
Tales
Can’t decide between the headstrong alpha or the hunky omega? Us either. We’re seeking stories featuring steamy werewolf romance, perfect for reading under a full moon. Whether you’re Team Jacob Black or Team Alcide Herveaux…we’re all Team Awoooo. Works up to 3,000 words will be considered.
Top prize
$600
Additional prizes
2nd place: $300; 3rd place: $100
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $0
Deadline: May 31, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Fantasy, Fiction, Short Story, Thriller
View contestElegantLiterature's Fiction Contest
ElegantLiterature.com
We help new talent go pro, award life-changing prize money, and promote fiction writers worldwide. Each month we hold a contest based on a short fiction prompt. You write a wonderful story and enter the contest. We choose the winner who receives the grand prize. We also choose the best stories, pay the authors above-professional rates, and publish them in our magazine. Anyone can submit work to the magazine for free, but you must be an Elegant+ Member to enter the contests and win prizes. Membership is $10/month.
Top prize
$3000 USD + $0.10/word for publication
Additional prizes
Publication in online monthly magazine
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: May 31, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Short Story, Thriller, Young Adult
View contest
