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DIRECTORY
Showing 424 contests that match your search.
IndieReader
Genres: Fiction, Non-fiction, and Novel
The IndieReader Discovery Awards (IRDA) focus on recognizing outstanding self-published books in various genres, providing authors with exposure and opportunities for representation by literary agents. Each entry receives a professional review, and winners gain significant prizes, including cash awards, reviews, and promotional opportunities.
Top Prize:
$500
Additional prizes:
Cash prizes for second ($250) and third place ($150) winners, as well as prizes for Best First Book and Best Cover Design.
💰 Entry fee: $150
📅 Deadline: February 12, 2025 (Expired)
Winning Writers
Genres: Poetry
Welcome to the 20th annual Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest. Submit published or unpublished work. $3,000 for a poem in any style or genre. $3,000 for a poem that rhymes or has a traditional style.
Top Prize:
$3,000
Additional prizes:
$200 for 10 honorable mentions
💰 Entry fee: $20
📅 Deadline: October 01, 2025
Genres: Poetry
The competition runs for 42 weeks from April 9, 2024, to January 28, 2025. Each week, five words will be provided for poem submissions, which must incorporate all the words.
Top Prize:
€750
Additional prizes:
€500, €250
💰 Entry fee: $5
📅 Deadline: January 28, 2025 (Expired)
Munster Literature Centre
Genres: Poetry
The Gregory O’Donoghue International Poetry Competition is an annual prize open to original, unpublished poems in English of up to 40 lines. It celebrates poetry and offers substantial prizes while encouraging international participation.
Top Prize:
$2,000
Additional prizes:
2nd Place: €500 3rd Place: €250 10 runners up: €50 Featured reading at the Cork International Poetry Festival with hotel stay, publication in Southword, and featured on the Southword Poetry Podcast.
💰 Entry fee: $7
📅 Deadline: November 30, 2024 (Expired)
Trio House Press
Genres: Essay, Memoir, and Non-fiction
The Aurora Polaris Creative Nonfiction Award is an annual contest launched by Trio House Press, focused on creative nonfiction manuscripts. The award aims to recognize innovative and distinct works in this genre.
Top Prize:
$1,000
Additional prizes:
Publication
💰 Entry fee: $25
📅 Deadline: May 15, 2025 (Expired)
Lascuax Review
Genres: Essay and Non-fiction
Creative nonfiction may include memoirs, chronicles, personal essays, humorous perspectives, literary journalism—anything the author has witnessed, experienced, or discovered. Pieces may be previously published or unpublished, and simultaneous submissions are accepted. Winner receives $1,000, a bronze medallion, and publication in The Lascaux Review.
Top Prize:
$1,000
💰 Entry fee: $15
📅 Deadline: September 30, 2024 (Expired)
Gyeongsang National University, Department of Language Education
Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery, Science Fiction, and Travel
The contest aims to publish a magazine of short stories across various genres. Stories must fit specific word counts and themes, and will be evaluated by staff judges.
Top Prize:
$250
Additional prizes:
Prize for the winner in each genre.
📅 Deadline: September 01, 2025
Indiana Review
Genres: Essay, Fiction, and Non-fiction
The Creative Nonfiction Prize is held annually by Indiana Review, which also publishes various genres including poetry and fiction. It features a $20 entry fee, which includes a subscription to the journal. All entries are considered for publication.
Top Prize:
$1,000
Additional prizes:
Publication in Indiana Review
💰 Entry fee: $20
📅 Deadline: March 31, 2024 (Expired)
Fiction Factory
Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, LGBTQ, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, and Travel
The Fiction Factory Short Story Competition invites entries of up to 3,000 words in any genre except Children's and Young Adult fiction. Winners will be published on the website and in an anthology.
Top Prize:
£500
Additional prizes:
Winning stories will be published and included in an anthology.
💰 Entry fee: $7
📅 Deadline: May 31, 2025 (Expired)
Ayn Rand Institute
Genres: Essay
The Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest is open to all high school, college, and graduate students worldwide. Participants write essays based on prompts related to Ayn Rand's novel _Atlas Shrugged_. The contest has seasonal entry rounds with unique prompts, and essays must be between 800 and 1,600 words. The winning essays demonstrate a strong grasp of the book's themes.
Top Prize:
$25,000
Additional prizes:
Annual Grand Prize of $25,000 Seasonal prize winners: 1st place: $3000 2nd place: $2000 3rd place: $1000
📅 Deadline: December 27, 2024 (Expired)
One Page Poetry
Genres: Poetry
One Page Poetry is dedicated to the art of expressing a poetic theme on a single page, whether your poem is four lines or forty, whether yours is a love poem, inspirational poem, philosophical poem, or just one that is fun or whimsical. We welcome any and all poetic forms, as long as they fit on a single page.
Top Prize:
$2,000
Additional prizes:
2nd: $1000 | 3rd: $500
💰 Entry fee: $25
📅 Deadline: September 30, 2025
Lascuax Review
Genres: Fiction and Flash Fiction
The Lascaux Prize in Flash Fiction invites submissions of stories that may be previously published or unpublished. True stories are accepted if written in a narrative style. The contest emphasizes the importance of storytelling.
Top Prize:
$1,000
Additional prizes:
Winner also receives a bronze medallion and publication in The Lascaux Review
💰 Entry fee: $15
📅 Deadline: June 30, 2025 (Expired)
The Bath Novel Awards
Genres: Fiction, Novel, and Young Adult
The Bath Novel Award is a £5,000 international prize for adult and YA manuscripts across various genres, aimed at unagented writers who are unpublished, self-published, or independently published.
Top Prize:
£5,000
Additional prizes:
Shortlisted writers receive feedback on their full manuscripts
💰 Entry fee: $38
📅 Deadline: May 31, 2025 (Expired)
Gutsy Great Novelist
Genres: Fiction, Novel, Young Adult, Crime, Fantasy, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, and Thriller
The Chapter One Prize is an international writing contest for unpublished novelists. It aims to find the best opening chapter of a novel-in-progress written in English. Submissions open on February 3, 2025, and close on March 3, 2025.
Top Prize:
$1,000
Additional prizes:
2nd: $500 | 3rd: $250. Honorable mentions may also be awarded.
💰 Entry fee: $20
📅 Deadline: March 03, 2025 (Expired)
Nimrold International Journal of Prose and Poetry
Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Short Story, and Novel
The Nimrod Literary Awards are hosted by the Nimrod International Journal to honor outstanding writing in fiction and poetry. Each year, the awards feature a first prize of $2,000 and a second prize of $1,000, along with publication opportunities for winners.
Top Prize:
$2,000
Additional prizes:
2nd: $1000 + publication
💰 Entry fee: $20
📅 Deadline: April 30, 2025 (Expired)
Historical Novel Society
Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Novel, Romance, Thriller, and Young Adult
The competition invites unpublished first three chapters of historical novels up to 15,000 words. It aims to promote excellence in storytelling. The overall winner will be announced at the HNS UK 2024 conference.
Top Prize:
£1,000
Additional prizes:
Category winners: £500 and HNS UK 2024 conference ticket. Competition trophy and feedback from judges.
💰 Entry fee: $40
📅 Deadline: February 15, 2024 (Expired)
Damon Galgut
Genres: Fiction and Short Story
The Plaza Short Story Prize invites entries for short stories up to 5000 words. The prize includes cash rewards and publication in an anthology, aiming to discover and promote new literary talent.
Top Prize:
$5,000
Additional prizes:
1st Prize: £4000 / $5000; 2nd Prize: £300 / $360; 3rd Prize: £100 / $120. Top 10 entries published in anthology.
💰 Entry fee: $18
📅 Deadline: April 30, 2025 (Expired)
Gotham Writers Workshop
Genres: Fiction, Flash Fiction, and Short Story
In this contest, participants must write a story about a niche hobby or special interest in 101 words or fewer. Entries should be original and unpublished, and AI-generated entries are not allowed. Judging will focus on originality, quality, spelling, and grammar.
Top Prize:
Winner receives a free Gotham class of their choosing, excluding premium classes.
💰 Entry fee: $0
📅 Deadline: August 31, 2025
Coffeehouse Poetry
Genres: Poetry
The Troubadour International Poetry Prize is an annual competition open to poets worldwide, judged by notable figures in the literary community. The 2024 prize includes cash awards for the top three poems, as well as opportunities for commended entries.
Top Prize:
$2,000
Additional prizes:
Second: £1,000 Third prize: £500 20 commended entries Winners read with judges at the online international prize-night celebration.
💰 Entry fee: $8
📅 Deadline: September 23, 2024 (Expired)
Institute for Excellence in Writing
Genres: Children's
The contest invites students aged 8-18 to participate, regardless of experience with IEW's writing methods. Each participant submits an essay based on specified prompts for different age levels.
Top Prize:
$200
Additional prizes:
1st place: $200 for the student winner and a $200 gift certificate for their parent or teacher Additional monetary prizes and gift certificates for 2nd and 3rd places. Participants receive a free IEW bookmark.
📅 Deadline: April 30, 2024 (Expired)
World History Association
Genres: Children's and Essay
An international competition open to K–12 students, focusing on personal connections to world history. Essays must address specific topics and demonstrate critical thinking and effective communication.
Top Prize:
$500
Additional prizes:
One-year membership in the World History Association
📅 Deadline: May 01, 2025 (Expired)
The Ghost Story
Genres: Horror and Fiction
The Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award is a biannual contest seeking full-length supernatural or magic realist short stories. The winning stories are published on June 1 and Halloween. The award is open to any story with a supernatural theme, not limited to traditional ghost stories.
Top Prize:
$1,500
Additional prizes:
Publication of the winning story. $300 for each of two Honorable Mentions.
💰 Entry fee: $20
📅 Deadline: April 30, 2025 (Expired)
Georgia Romance Writers
Genres: Novel and Romance
The Maggie Award for Excellence recognizes outstanding works of romantic fiction. Open to both traditional and self-published authors, the contest emphasizes quality storytelling. The award seeks submissions that showcase excellence in the romance genre.
Top Prize:
Trophy
💰 Entry fee: $40
📅 Deadline: April 05, 2024 (Expired)
Winchester Poetry Festival
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.
Top Prize:
$1,000
Additional prizes:
2nd place: £500 3rd place: £250 The Kathryn Bevis Prize offers an additional £150 and workshops for the best Hampshire-based poem.
💰 Entry fee: $6
📅 Deadline: July 31, 2024 (Expired)
Tim Saunders Publications
Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Novella, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller, and Young Adult
Established in 2023, this contest is a platform for writers and poets to get their work published. Categories include various forms of poetry and fiction, excluding erotic work. Winners receive feedback and cash prizes, while all approved submissions will be included in the anthology.
Top Prize:
£200
Additional prizes:
Feedback from the publisher + a complimentary copy of the anthology
💰 Entry fee: $15
📅 Deadline: September 30, 2025
Genesee Valley Council on the Arts (GVCA)
Genres: Christian, Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, LGBTQ, Mystery, Novel, Novella, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller, and Travel
The New Deal Writing Competition invites writers to create a short story inspired by a specific painting. The current painting is 'Playtime' by Fred Ross. This is the ninth annual contest, intended to celebrate creativity and connect art and writing.
Top Prize:
$200
Additional prizes:
Publication in newsletter
💰 Entry fee: $5
📅 Deadline: March 15, 2024 (Expired)
Black Lawrence Press
Genres: Poetry
Twice each year Black Lawrence Press will run the Black River Chapbook Competition for an unpublished chapbook of poems or prose between 16-36 pages in length. The contest is open to new, emerging, and established writers. The winner will receive book publication, a $500 cash award, and ten copies of the book. Prizes are awarded on publication.
Top Prize:
$500
💰 Entry fee: $18
📅 Deadline: June 01, 2024 (Expired)
The Heartland Review Press
Genres: Poetry
The contest honors the legacy of Joy Bale Boone, an influential American poet and activist. All entries must be original works in English, with a submission window from July 1 to October 1, 2025, for publication in Spring 2026. The winners will be announced before Christmas 2025.
Top Prize:
$400 gift card
Additional prizes:
2nd: $240 gift card | 3rd: $100 gift card
💰 Entry fee: $10
📅 Deadline: October 01, 2025
University of New Orleans Press
Genres: Novel
The Publishing Laboratory at the University of New Orleans seeks to promote innovative publicity and broad distribution for authors. They accept submissions for unpublished novels and short story collections. A selected author is awarded a $10,000 advance on royalties and a publishing contract.
Top Prize:
$10,000
Additional prizes:
Advance on royalties
💰 Entry fee: $28
📅 Deadline: August 31, 2024 (Expired)
Narrative Magazine
Genres: Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, and Short Story
The Narrative Prize is awarded annually for the best short story, novel excerpt, poem, one-act play, graphic story, or work of literary nonfiction by a new or emerging writer. All works published in the magazine each year are considered, and previously unpublished works may also be submitted. The prize includes a cash award and recognition in the literary community.
Top Prize:
$5,000
💰 Entry fee: $27
📅 Deadline: June 15, 2025 (Expired)
Stephen Spender Trust
Genres: Poetry
The Stephen Spender Prize is an annual award recognizing excellence in poetry translation, encouraging participants to translate poems from any language into English. It is open to various age groups including adults and students in the UK and Ireland. The contest aims to celebrate linguistic diversity and foster creative translation.
Top Prize:
$1,000
Additional prizes:
Second: £500 Third: £250 Various cash prizes for youth categories.
💰 Entry fee: $10
📅 Deadline: July 31, 2024 (Expired)
Berkeley Fiction Review
Genres: Fiction and Short Story
The contest welcomes submissions of previously unpublished short stories of 1000 words or fewer. It encourages simultaneous submissions and offers publication for finalists in their journal.
Top Prize:
$150
Additional prizes:
2nd place: $100 3rd place: $50 Honorable mentions: $25 Publication in the journal for top finalists.
💰 Entry fee: $5
📅 Deadline: April 01, 2025 (Expired)
Memoir Writing Ink
Genres: Memoir, Non-fiction, and Short Story
Original, unpublished works of memoir writing up to 2000 words. The winner will be interviewed and the winning story published on Alison Wearing’s website and featured in the Memoir Writing Ink program. This award was 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
💰 Entry fee: $25
📅 Deadline: June 30, 2025 (Expired)
Jane Austen Society of North America
Genres: Children's and Essay
An annual contest encouraging students to explore and appreciate Jane Austen's works. Open to high school, college, and graduate students worldwide, the contest offers scholarships for original essays focused on a specific topic related to Austen's literature.
Top Prize:
$1,000 scholarship
Additional prizes:
Two nights’ lodging for JASNA’s Annual General Meeting
📅 Deadline: June 02, 2025 (Expired)
The Iowa Review
Genres: Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, and Short Story
The Iowa Review Awards is an annual writing contest accepting submissions in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. It has been held every January since 2003, and winners are published in the December issue.
Top Prize:
$1,500
Additional prizes:
First runners-up receive $750
💰 Entry fee: $20
📅 Deadline: January 31, 2024 (Expired)
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