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The Best Writing Contests of 2023

Writing competitions curated by Reedsy

Genre

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Showing 639 contests

All In The Mind

SaveAs Writers

SaveAs Writers invite entries of poetry and prose for their annual competition. 2023 celebrates the centenary of the publication of Freud’s The Ego and the Id. We hope that the theme of ‘all in the mind’ inspires you to write about the role of the unconscious in our daily experience and our culture. How do hidden forces motivate human beings in our spiritual, emotional, and mental lives?

Top prize

£200 for both Poetry & Prose

Additional prizes

2nd: £100 | 3rd: £50 for both Poetry & Prose

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: $4

Deadline: September 30, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Fiction, Poetry

Inception 2023

Sunspot Lit

Beginnings have the power to spark passion or curiosity. They might immediately connect a specific place and time with an emotional tone. The best openings offer a feeling, atmosphere, action, or image that is gripping, and hints at more to come. For Sunspot Lit’s Inception contest, send your best opening. There are no restrictions on theme, category, or the length of the piece or collection from which the excerpt comes. Word limit is 250 for prose, 25 words for poetry.

Top prize

$500

Additional prizes

Publication in digital and print editions

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: $10

Deadline: July 31, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Crime, Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Non-fiction, Novel, Novella, Romance, Science Writing, Short Story, Thriller, Young Adult

Flash Fiction Competition

Pigeon Review

This year's Flash Fiction competition centers around the theme of "home". What it means to you, how you understand it, and the emotions "home" evokes within you.

Top prize

$125

Additional prizes

2nd: $100 | 3rd: $75

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: $5

Deadline: July 31, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Humor, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller

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

Eunice Williams Nonfiction Prize

HerStry Literary Magazine

HerStry has long been a place for women identifying and nonbinary folks to tell their stories. We are a brave space for brave stories. Now, we’d like to amplify your stories even more with our contest and prize. There is no theme to adhere to for this contest, simply nonfiction written by you, about you. Give us your best work, the stuff of your heart. Our stories are what make us, tell yours.

Top prize

$400

Additional prizes

2nd: $250 | 3rd: $100

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: $15

Deadline: December 15, 2023

Genres

Memoir, Non-fiction

Gabriele Rico Challenge for Nonfiction

Reed Magazine

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, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Non-fiction, Short Story

The Atom Learning Young Author Award

Atom Learning

The theme for 2023 is 'If I were in charge for a day…'. Entrants must submit a creative response to this theme no more than 500 words. All entrants must be aged between 7–11 on the day the competition closes (10th September 2023). Submissions must be written by the child and must not be supported by an adult. We’re looking for aspiring writers, not perfect wordsmiths!

Top prize

A trip to Disneyland Paris for a family of 4

Additional prizes

Chromebook worth £250 | More prizes for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: September 10, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Fiction, Children's

Travel Writing Award

Ottawa Tourism

Ottawa Tourism offers an annual $500 CAD prize for outstanding travel writing featuring Canada’s Capital Region. Eligible entries include items in English or in French that have appeared in magazines, newspapers, or online media in 2023 that highlight Ottawa as a travel destination.

Top prize

$500 CAD

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: February 02, 2024

Genres

Travel

First Crime Novel Competition

Macmillan Publishers

The Competition is open to any writer, regardless of nationality, aged 18 or older, who has never been the author of any Published Mystery Novel (including self-published works and ebooks.)

Top prize

$10,000 advance

Additional prizes

Publication

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: December 15, 2023

Genres

Fiction, Novel

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

Miami 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 $1,000, a standard contract, publication and 20 copies of the book.

Top prize

$1,000

Additional prizes

Publication through the University of Miami Press

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: $25

Deadline: August 30, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Fiction, Novella

Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction

University of North Texas Press

The University of North Texas Press announces the 2024 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, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Flash Fiction, Novella, Short Story

Narrative Prize

Narrative Magazine

The Narrative Prize is awarded annually for the best short story, novel excerpt, poem, one-act play, graphic story, or work of literary nonfiction published by a new or emerging writer in Narrative. The submission system is open all year.

Top prize

$4,000

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: $27

Deadline: June 15, 2024

Genres

Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Short Story

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

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

SFPA Poetry Contest

Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA)

The annual SFPA Speculative (Dwarf/Short/Long) Poetry Contest is open to all poets, including non-members of the SFPA. Awards will be given across 3 categories.

Top prize

$150

Additional prizes

2nd: $75 | 3rd: $25 | Publication

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: $3

Deadline: August 31, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Poetry, Fiction

Edinburgh Award for Flash Fiction

Scottish Arts Trust

The Edinburgh Flash Fiction Award is open to writers worldwide, published and unpublished, and for stories on any topic up to 250 words. Chief judges are the celebrated authors Zoe Strachan and Louise Welsh. The top twenty authors will be given free tickets to our annual Flash Bash at the Scottish Arts Club in Edinburgh, where everyone will present their stories and the prize-winners will be announced.

Top prize

£2000

Additional prizes

2nd: £300 | 3rd: £150 | Golden Hare Award: £500

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: $8

Deadline: August 31, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Fiction, Flash Fiction

Moment 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: September 30, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Fiction, Short Story

The 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, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Poetry

Benjamin 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, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Poetry

Edwin Markham Prize for Poetry

Reed Magazine

The Edwin Markham Prize honors outstanding works of poetry. Our taste is eclectic and celebrates the wonderful diversity of forms, styles, and levels of diction available to the contemporary poet. Writers may submit up to five (5) poems per submission.

Top prize

$1,000

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: $20

Deadline: November 01, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Poetry

John Steinbeck Award for Fiction

Reed Magazine

Awarding one of the richest purses among literary magazines—$1,000 for the winning story—the John Steinbeck Award for Fiction recognizes exceptional works of fiction. Aesthetically, we are open to most styles and approaches. All works should be stand-alone short stories, not chapters of a longer work. Please limit prose submissions to 5,000 words.

Top prize

$1,000

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: $20

Deadline: November 01, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Fiction, Short Story

Green Stories Writing Competition

University of Southampton

Theme: Microbes to the Rescue! This short story competition is sponsored by the Environmental Biotechnology Network. It may appeal to writers with a scientific bent as it aims to use fiction to raise awareness of Environmental Biotechnology and what microbial systems can do for us. Eligibility: Open to all – we encourage international writers. All submissions must be in English and unpublished. Length: We ask for a short story of between 1000 and 3000 words.

Top prize

£500 prize

Additional prizes

2nd: £200 | 3rd: £100

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: September 21, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Fiction, Novel, Short Story, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Thriller

The Not-So-Great Outdoors Contest

Gotham Writers Workshop

It’s that season when people spend time in the great outdoors. Which is a perfect time to tell us a story about a not-so-great outdoor experience. It might be camping during a wild rainstorm or getting lost while out for a simple walk or just melting outside during a heat wave. Give us a story—fiction or nonfiction—in 49 words or fewer. We’ll pick the story we like best and give that writer a free Gotham class of their choosing.

Top prize

Free writing class

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: August 31, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Flash Fiction

Public Roads Student Writing Competition

Federal Highway Administration/Public Roads Magazine

Public Roads is proud to announce its first Student Writing Competition, designed to encourage high school and college students interested in or actively pursuing STEM majors to demonstrate their knowledge by writing an article that relates to the transportation industry.

Top prize

Published in Winter 2023 Issue of Public Roads Magazine

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: July 21, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Essay, Non-fiction, Science Writing

WOW! Women on Writing Spring 2023 Flash Fiction Contest

WOW! Women On Writing

Seeking short fiction of any genre between 250 - 750 words. The mission of this contest is to inspire creativity, great writing, and provide well-rewarded recognition to contestants.

Top prize

$400

Additional prizes

2nd: $300 | 3rd: $200 | 7 runner-ups: $25 Amazon Gift Cards

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: $10

Deadline: August 31, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Flash Fiction, Fiction, Short Story

Southam Book Festival Flash Fiction Competition

Southam Book Festival

A story of up to 100 words ( including title). Must include the word 'alarmed'. Open to all over 16 yrs.

Top prize

£60

Additional prizes

2nd: £30 | 3rd: £20

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: $4

Deadline: October 09, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Flash Fiction

Universe of Threats Essay Contest

CAPTRS

CAPTRS has launched a pathogen threat scenario writing contest, which will be part of their work to build a catalog of pathogen threat scenarios that will be used to hone pandemic preparedness strategies and train future decision-makers. Submissions may not exceed 2,500 words, and will be judged on creativity, plausibility of the pathogen threat, complexity of cascading societal factors, difficulty posed for current pandemic response capabilities and quality of writing.

Top prize

$10,000

Additional prizes

2nd: $5,000 (up to 2 winners) | 3rd: $1,000 (up to 5 winners)

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: July 31, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Essay, Fiction, Science Fiction, Short Story

Page One Prize for Novelists

Gutsy Great Novelist

The Gutsy Great Novelist Page One Prize is awarded for an outstanding opening page of an unpublished novel. The prize is open internationally to anyone over 18 writing a novel in English in any genre for adult or YA readers.

Top prize

$1,000

Additional prizes

2nd $500 | 3rd $250

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: $20

Deadline: July 14, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Fiction, Novel, Crime, Fantasy, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Thriller, Young Adult

Gemini Magazine Flash Fiction Contest

Gemini Magazine

Knock us out in 1,000 words or less! Any subject or style. Except for the word limit, we have no rules and are open to your most creative work, whether literary, noir, historical, sci-fi or any other category. Read previous winners and finalists online to see the wide variety of flash fiction we publish.

Top prize

$1,000

Additional prizes

Second: $100 | 4x Honorable Mentions: $25 | Online publication for all six finalists

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: $7

Deadline: August 31, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Flash Fiction

Kurt Vonnegut Speculative Fiction Prize

North American Review

The Vonnegut Prize is an annual fiction competition intended to recognize the finest speculative fiction, which can include, but is not limited to, work influenced by the postmodern science-fiction of Kurt Vonnegut. We love Vonnegut’s dark humor, but please avoid mere imitation. We are enthusiastic about all work painted with speculative fiction’s broad brush: fairy tale, magical realism, fabulism, the fantastic, horror, Afro-futurism, science fiction hard and soft, and everything in between. The winning entry will appear in the North American Review's annual summer issue, and all finalists will be considered for publication.

Top prize

$1,000

Additional prizes

Publication

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: $23

Deadline: November 01, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Science Fiction, Suspense

Flash Fiction Competition

Write the World

“There was more room to think,” wrote novelist David Gaffney on becoming a flash fiction convert. Stories of the sudden/mini/micro variety pack the best parts of fiction into brimming, half-pint packages. Come celebrate the art of concision this month, dear writers, and write a story in 99 words or less.

Top prize

Best Entry: $100

Additional prizes

Runner up: $50, Best Peer Review: $50

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: August 22, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Flash Fiction

Creative Nonfiction Competition

Write the World

The teenage years are an in-between time, the stage linking our childhood to adulthood. It’s a time of internal transitions, as we find out more about who we are and who we want to be in the world. This month, use the tools of creative nonfiction to write about your own experience of this passage into adulthood.

Top prize

Best Entry: $100

Additional prizes

Runner up: $50 | Best Peer Review: $50

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: July 18, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Essay, Memoir, Non-fiction

Songwriting Competition

Write the World

Songs can tell stories, evoke emotion, even deliver lessons. Dear writers, what issue is most pressing to your generation? In an original song, channel this urgency into music, to be sung and celebrated—a rallying call for listeners near and far. This month, write your own song of change. We’ll select a winner for best lyrics and best performance.

Top prize

Best Lyrics: $100

Additional prizes

Best Performance: $100, Best Peer Review: $50

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: June 20, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Fiction, Poetry

The Canadian Jewish Playwriting Competition

The Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre

This one of a kind competition recognizes the most outstanding unproduced Canadian plays with a Jewish focus. The 2023 competition is co-presented by The Winnipeg Jewish Theatre (Manitoba), The Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company (Ontario), and The Segal Centre for the Performing Arts (Quebec).

Top prize

$1,000 (CAN)

Additional prizes

Workshop with director and up to 6 actors with public reading

Entry requirements

💰 Fee: FREE

Deadline: September 05, 2023 (Expired)

Genres

Script Writing

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