Best Writing Contests in 2024

Genres: Poetry

Established to recognise and encourage excellence in the craft of poetry writing and to provide a platform for publication, the Anthology Poetry Competition is open to original and previously unpublished poems in the English language. Entries are invited from poets of all nationalities, living anywhere in the world. There is no restriction on theme or style. Poems submitted should not exceed 40 lines. There is no limit to entries per person. Each submission will require a separate entry form and is subject to a separate entry fee.

Genres: Poetry and Fiction

The Heartland Review publishes fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. The contest is open to established and emerging writers. Submissions are free, and the next open calls will begin in December 2024. A contributor copy is provided to published authors.

Genres: Poetry

The Edwin Markham Prize for Poetry honors outstanding works of poetry, celebrating the diverse forms and styles of contemporary poets. The contest features a submission fee and specific entry requirements for participation.

Genres: Fiction and Short Story

Gail Honeyman was shortlisted in our competition and went on to write Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, winning the Costa debut novel award. All the winning and highly commended pieces are entered into the Sunday Times Audible competition, top prize £30,000. UK based writers are entered into the BBC short story competition. That's not all, literary agent A.M. Heath reads all the shortlist and considers representation. Long story short? You are 5,000 words away from success.

Genres: Fiction and Short Story

The Anthology Short Story Competition aims to recognize and encourage creative writing by providing a platform for publication. It is open to original and previously unpublished short stories in English, with no restrictions on theme or style. Stories should not exceed 1,500 words.

Genres: Fiction and Short Story

Our mission is to find the best unpublished short mystery — one that fits into legendary crime writer Margery’s definition of what makes a great story: “The Mystery remains box-shaped, at once a prison and a refuge. Its four walls are, roughly, a Crime, a Mystery, an Enquiry and a Conclusion with an Element of Satisfaction in it.”

Genres: Fiction and Flash Fiction

The editors of Third Wednesday wish to honor the memory of George Dila, friend of Third Wednesday and the editor who originally brought fiction to 3W. To this end, we proudly announce the opening of The George Dila Memorial Flash Fiction Contest. We accept entries of previously unpublished stories of under 1000 words in length (including title).

Genres: Children's and Short Story

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.

Genres: Children's and Poetry

The Rattle Poetry Prize is an annual contest that awards $15,000 for an outstanding poem published in the magazine's winter issue. Ten finalists receive $500 each and a chance to win a $5,000 Readers’ Choice Award. The contest is open to all writers worldwide, with an emphasis on ethical judging and editorial standards.

Genres: Children's and Short Story

The Youth Writing Contest is an annual event organized by the Vancouver Writers Fest for students in British Columbia. It accepts short stories and personal essays, with two categories for different grade levels. It's supported by the Emily Carr University of Art + Design.

Genres: Poetry

The Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize, established in 1981, is awarded for a first full-length book of poems. The prize includes a cash award and publication as part of the Pitt Poetry Series.

Genres: Fiction and Non-fiction

The First Pages Prize is an annual writing contest dedicated to emerging writers. It encourages submissions of the first five pages (up to 1,250 words) of a longer work in fiction or creative nonfiction. The contest aims to discover and promote new voices in literature.

Genres: Children's

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.

Genres: Fiction and Short Story

The ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize is an annual competition for short stories. Further details on submission and eligibility are outlined on the main prize page.

Genres: Poetry

The Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowships are $50,000 awards given to honor poets of literary merit appointed to serve in civic positions and to support them in creating new work, as well as to enable them to undertake meaningful, impactful, and innovative projects that enrich the lives of their neighbors, including youth, through responsive and interactive poetry activities.

Genres: Fiction and Flash Fiction

The Fish Flash Fiction Prize is an opportunity to attempt one of the most interesting and rewarding tasks – to create, in a tiny fragment, a completely resolved and compelling story in 300 words or less. The top ten stories will be published in the FISH ANTHOLOGY 2022.

Genres: Poetry

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.

Genres: Poetry

The Dream Quest One Poetry Contest is an international competition aimed at encouraging writers and poets to showcase their original works. The contest is open to all, regardless of experience, and accepts entries in various styles and themes. The mission is to inspire creativity and support literary talents.

Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller, and Young Adult

The Colorado Gold Rush Literary Awards Contest is aimed at unpublished writers of novel-length fiction, offering feedback and exposure to literary agents and editors. It encourages diverse voices and celebrates various genres.

Genres: Essay, Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, and Short Story

From January 1st to January 31st, submit short stories and essays of up to 25 pages or a set of 1-3 poems. Winners in each genre will receive $2,000 and publication.

Genres: Fiction and Short Story

This quarterly open-themed competition has closing dates of 31st March, 30th June, 30th September and 31st December. The results will be announced about six weeks after each closing date and the three winning entries each quarter will be published on the website.

Genres: Children's and Essay

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.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Short Story, Crime, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Science Fiction, Thriller, and Young Adult

Our annual flagship competition, the Stringybark Stories Open Short Story Award 2023, is now bigger than ever! Thanks to Graeme Simpson and Anne Buist, a record prize pool of over $1300 is on offer. The theme is open, the only constraint is that there must be a reference to Australia somewhere in the story. It doesn't matter how small a link there is (it could be a jar of vegemite on the counter), there just needs to be one!

Genres: Poetry

The Winchester Poetry Prize is an annual poetry competition launched in 2016, attracting entries from around the world. It opens in April and closes in July, with winners announced during the festival in October. The event is free to attend, and the winning poems are published in an anthology.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Novel, Romance, Science Fiction, and Young Adult

Have you completed the first draft of your novel? Are you ready to pass it on to a fresh pair of eyes, to see if you are on the right track? Is your all-important first chapter ready for submission to an agent? Whatever your plans, your first chapter must shine – it must grab your readers or quickly lose their interest.

Genres: Poetry

The Honest Holiday Haiku contest invites writers to create a haiku that reflects their honest feelings about the holiday season. This contest emphasizes originality and emotional expression.

Genres: Poetry

The Plough Prize is an international poetry competition open for poems in English, limited to 40 lines on any subject. The contest emphasizes anonymity in judging, with a focus on quality.

Genres: Poetry

Here 's how it works: our editorial staff chooses approximately fifty to sixty finalists. The highest scoring finalists (25 or so) are considered Special Merit poems. Special Merit poems go to the judge. The judge determines the top three prize winners. The entire editorial staff then selects the Honorable Mentions from the remaining Special Merits.

Genres: Fiction, Novel, Thriller, and Mystery

Any novels between 50,000 and 200,000 words that are in the realm of action/adventure/thriller/mystery - and chocked-full of adventure - are welcome. New and previously published books welcome, though you must have sold or given away less than 10,000 books of the title(s) you enter. We do not accept sci-fi, fantasy, horror or young children's books. See our website for info on rules and entering.

Genres: Poetry

The Free Verse Prize is a new poetry prize, which supports the Free Verse Poetry Book and Magazine Fair. The judge is poet and former Poetry Book Fair director, Chrissy Williams. Poems can be on any theme, and should have fewer than 40 lines.

Genres: Essay, Fiction, and Non-fiction

This bi-annual contest recognizes emerging writers with submissions of previously unpublished fiction or nonfiction up to 6,000 words. Judged by Colin Barrett, it awards $3,000 for first place, $300 for second, and $200 for third, along with agency reviews for finalists.

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Poetry, Science Fiction, Short Story, and Thriller

The contest awarded prizes for both prose and poetry categories, with multiple winners for each.

Genres: Fiction, Novel, Novella, Science Fiction, Science Writing, and Young Adult

We're looking for original ideas, a fresh voice, a diverse range of entries and stories that children will love! To enter, you must have written a full-length novel suitable for children/young adults aged between 7 and 18 years. We suggest a minimum of 30,000 words and ask that manuscripts do not exceed 80,000 words. The IET 150 Award will be awarded to a manuscript that celebrates Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.

Genres: Essay, Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, and Short Story

Enter themed storytelling contests to put your creativity to the test and be in with a chance of winning cash prizes and more. To submit, you'll need to sign up for a monthly fee of $9.99, or $4.99/month for 3 months.

Genres: Script Writing

The Scriptwriting Scholarship is open to people of color interested in scriptwriting for movies, TV shows, or plays. It provides three scholarships, each including two 10-week script courses, three intensives, and a 12-hour mentorship. Acceptance is for ages 18+, with a focus on supporting Black applicants.