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DIRECTORY

Best Writing Contests in 2024

Showing 428 contests that match your search.

Genres: Travel

Have you been marked by travel? If so, tell us how. Engaging with the genre of creative nonfiction, seize upon memorable incidents from your travel history — study abroad, domestic travels, even your discovery of Northfield. Entertain us. Make us laugh. Move us. Help us travel with you.

Top Prize:

$200

📅 Deadline: April 07, 2024 (Expired)

Spring Flash Fiction Contest

The Berlin Literary Review

Genres: Flash Fiction

This contest is for flash fiction pieces of 1,500 words or less. Winning entries will be published in the magazine.

Top Prize:

€660

Additional prizes:

Second place: €100 Third place: €60 Winner has publication in the online magazine for winners and shortlisted participants.

💰 Entry fee: $6

📅 Deadline: May 31, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Thriller, and Young Adult

A quarterly flash fiction competition challenging writers to create an original piece based on two prompts and one anti-prompt. The entries are judged blindly, and winners are announced on the podcast.

Top Prize:

$1,000 AUD

Additional prizes:

2nd place: AU$500 3rd place: AU$200 Honorable mentions are awarded AU$50 each, and two wildcard prizes of AU$50 each.

💰 Entry fee: $25

📅 Deadline: July 21, 2024 (Expired)

SFPA Poetry Contest

Science Fiction Poetry Association

Genres: Poetry

The SFPA Poetry Contest promotes speculative poetry, rewarding quality works while raising funds for the organization. The contest includes categories for poems of varying lengths—Dwarf (1-10 lines), Short (11-49 lines), and Long (50+ lines). 2024's judge is Stephanie M. Wytovich.

Top Prize:

$150

Additional prizes:

Second: $75 Third: $25 Winners are published on the SFPA website.

💰 Entry fee: $3

📅 Deadline: August 31, 2024 (Expired)

Novel Fair 2025

Irish Writers Centre

Genres: Fiction and Novel

Novel Fair is an annual competition for unpublished novelists, allowing winners to pitch their novels to publishers and agents. It includes a two-day event with workshops and meetings with industry professionals.

Top Prize:

Present your novel to leading publishers and agents at the Irish Writers Centre

Additional prizes:

Shortlisted applicants receive feedback on their submissions.

💰 Entry fee: $55

📅 Deadline: September 30, 2024 (Expired)

Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest

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: June 14, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, LGBTQ, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, and Travel

The Fiction Factory Short Story Competition invites writers to submit stories of up to 3,000 words. The competition is open to all genres excluding Children's and Young Adult Fiction. Winning stories will be published on the website and potentially in an anthology.

Top Prize:

$500

Additional prizes:

Winning stories will be published and included in an anthology.

💰 Entry fee: $7

📅 Deadline: July 31, 2024 (Expired)

Open Prize

National Poetry Series

Genres: Poetry

The NPS Open Competition seeks book-length manuscripts of poetry from U.S. residents or American citizens living abroad. Five winners are awarded a cash prize and publication.

Top Prize:

$10,000

Additional prizes:

Publication of a full-length manuscript by a participating publisher.

💰 Entry fee: $35

📅 Deadline: March 15, 2024 (Expired)

Short Story Contest

Writers' Mastermind

Genres:

You’ve got something special. We want to get it out into the world. The Writers’ Mastermind is holding a short story contest for writers of all levels and all genres. 1K-5K words. Previously published work is accepted.

Top Prize:

$100

Additional prizes:

Publication and social media promotion, 6 months free membership to the Writers' Mastermind

💰 Entry fee: $0

📅 Deadline: September 01, 2021 (Expired)

The Big Moose Prize

Black Lawrence Press

Genres: Fiction, Novel, Poetry, and Short Story

Each year Black Lawrence Press will award The Big Moose Prize for an unpublished novel. The prize is open to new, emerging, and established writers. The winner of this contest will receive book publication, a $1,000 cash award, and ten copies of the book. Prizes will be awarded on publication. The Big Moose Prize is open to traditional novels as well as novels-in-stories, novels-in-poems, and other hybrid forms that contain within them the spirit of a novel.

Top Prize:

$1,000

Additional prizes:

Publication, 10 copies of your book

💰 Entry fee: $27

📅 Deadline: January 31, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Fiction

We accept stories of any length, written in English, that fit the theme "Fiction about a Stranger"

Top Prize:

$100

Additional prizes:

Publication on Drapers Guild Website

💰 Entry fee: $15

📅 Deadline: February 15, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Essay, Non-fiction, and Travel

The Anthology Travel Writing Competition invites original and unpublished travel articles in English. Entries should capture authentic travel experiences and convey strong cultural insights. The maximum word count is 1,000, and there is no limit on submissions. Each submission requires a separate entry form and fee.

Top Prize:

€500

Additional prizes:

Publication in Anthology magazine

💰 Entry fee: $16

📅 Deadline: November 30, 2024

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

A Very Short Story Contest

Gotham Writers Workshop

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

Participants write a short story using ten words or fewer, inspired by the famous six-word story attributed to Hemingway. The submission must be original and unpublished, with entries judged based on originality and quality.

Top Prize:

Winning entry receives a free Gotham class of their choosing (excluding premium classes).

📅 Deadline: May 31, 2024 (Expired)

Genres:

fe

📅 Deadline: September 02, 2024 (Expired)

Military Anthology: Partnerships, the Untold Story

Armed Services Arts Partnership

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

Partners are an integral aspect of military life, at home and afar, during deployment and after homecoming. Partnerships drive military action and extend beyond being a battle buddy, wingman, or crew member. Some are planned while others arise entirely unexpectedly. Spouses, family, old or new friends, community, faith leaders, and medical specialists all support the military community. Despite their importance, the stories of these partnerships often go untold. This anthology aims to correct that: We will highlight the nuances, surprises, joy, sorrow, heroism, tears, healing power, and ache of partnerships. We invite you to submit the story about partnerships from your journey, so we can help tell it.

Top Prize:

$500 Editors' Choice award

Additional prizes:

$250 for each genre category (prose, poetry, visual art)

📅 Deadline: March 01, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Fiction, Flash Fiction, and Poetry

HFR will accept contest submissions in poetry and fiction between Feb 1-29, 2024. This year’s poetry judge is Diana Khoi Nguyen, author of Ghost Of and Root Fractures. This year’s fiction judge is Venita Blackburn, author of How to Wrestle a Girl and Dead in Long Beach, California. There will be two prizes of $1,500 each and publication in Hayden’s Ferry Review (online in summer 2024 and in the fall/winter 2024 print issue) for a poem or a group of poems and a work of fiction. A runner-up in each category will receive $250 and publication. All entries are considered for publication.

Top Prize:

$1,500

Additional prizes:

Runners-up: $250

💰 Entry fee: $20

📅 Deadline: February 29, 2024 (Expired)

Jane Austen Society of North America Essay Contest

Jane Austen Society of North America

Genres: Children's and Essay

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

📅 Deadline: June 02, 2022 (Expired)

Michael Waters Poetry Prize

University of Southern Indiana

Genres: Poetry

The Michael Waters Poetry Prize awards a $6,000 prize and publication by SIR Press for a collection of poetry written in English. Entries are considered annually, with the next deadline on February 3, 2025, and judged by Monica Youn. The contest aims to honor Michael Waters’ contributions to American arts and letters.

Top Prize:

$6,000

Additional prizes:

Publication by SIR Press.

💰 Entry fee: $3

📅 Deadline: February 03, 2025

Louise Bogan Award

Trio House Press

Genres: Poetry

The Louise Bogan Award for Artistic Merit and Excellence includes $1,000, publication, and twenty books. The Louise Bogan Award for Artistic Merit and Excellence is open to ALL poets, regardless of publication history.

Top Prize:

$1,000

Additional prizes:

Publication

💰 Entry fee: $25

📅 Deadline: March 15, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Poetry

The F(r)iction Poetry Contest invites submissions of poetry that are narrative-driven with strong imagery and a coherent structure. It encourages experimental and nontraditional works.

Top Prize:

$300

Additional prizes:

Up to five finalists will also be considered for publication.

💰 Entry fee: $10

📅 Deadline: November 01, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: LGBTQ and Novel

The Randall Kenan Prize for Black LGBTQ Fiction, in memory of the celebrated author Randall Kenan, honors Black LGBTQ writers of fiction. The award will go to a Black LGBTQ writer whose fiction explores themes of Black LGBTQ life, culture, and/or history. To be eligible, the winner of the prize must have published at least one book and show promise in continuing to produce groundbreaking work.

Top Prize:

$3,000

📅 Deadline: February 16, 2024 (Expired)

True Story Contest

FanStory.com Inc.

Genres: Non-fiction and Short Story

Share a true story about your life. Write about any event that happened in your life that you would like to share. Cash prize to the winner.

Top Prize:

$100

💰 Entry fee: $10

📅 Deadline: December 15, 2024

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

An international contest to find original short stories focused on the human impact of climate change. Emphasis on emotional narratives rather than scientific theories. Open to writers aged 18 and above.

Top Prize:

$1,000

Additional prizes:

2nd: $500 | 3rd: $250 | Up to 30 entries will be published in an anthology.

💰 Entry fee: $10

📅 Deadline: March 01, 2024 (Expired)

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. Submissions accepted between April 15 to June 30, 2024.

Top Prize:

$1,000

💰 Entry fee: $25

📅 Deadline: June 30, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Flash Fiction

The SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction (The Smokey) is a biennial competition that celebrates and compensates excellence in flash.

Top Prize:

$2,500

Additional prizes:

2nd: $1000 | 3rd: $500 | Finalists: $100 | Publication

💰 Entry fee: $14

📅 Deadline: April 30, 2024 (Expired)

Writing MAGIC

Sadie Tells Stories

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, and Young Adult

The Writing MAGIC contest invites authors to write a short story under 500 words about anything magical. Open to all age groups, stories can be fiction or non-fiction. The contest aims to celebrate creativity and share magical experiences.

Top Prize:

$500

Additional prizes:

Second place: $150

💰 Entry fee: $10

📅 Deadline: April 01, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Essay, Non-fiction, Science Fiction, Science Writing, and Short Story

There is no topic relating to technology that brings more discussion than artificial intelligence. Some people think it does wonders. Others see it as trouble. Let us know your opinion about AI in this competition. Include experiences you have had with AI. 300-word limit. Winners will be selected January 1, 2024. Open to anyone, anywhere.

Top Prize:

$100 CA

Additional prizes:

Publication

💰 Entry fee: $5

📅 Deadline: December 15, 2023 (Expired)

Genres: Fiction, Flash Fiction, and Short Story

The contest encourages participants to submit one fictional story (max 350 words) for a chance to win a prize. The contest requires a minimum of 10 shortlisted submissions to award a prize, which is a $25 Amazon Gift Card.

Top Prize:

$25 USD Amazon Gift Card

Additional prizes:

Publication

📅 Deadline: August 01, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Non-fiction, Short Story, and Travel

The competition invites writers to explore the theme of 'crossings' through original, factual, first-person travel stories. Entries must be between 1200 and 2000 words and should depict a personal travel experience that embodies the theme.

Top Prize:

$200

Additional prizes:

The winner's story will be published on Intrepid Times. Up to five shortlisted entries will also be published under standard terms.

💰 Entry fee: $0

📅 Deadline: April 30, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Essay and Non-fiction

The International Essay Competition gathered over 1000 entries from 50 countries. Participants engaged with a range of challenging questions, fostering academic passion beyond the classroom.

Additional prizes:

100% Scholarship Award to our Oxford University Summer Programme (worth £5995). Honorary Scholarship to attend Oxford University Summer Programme. Partial scholarships and credits for exclusive online courses for shortlisted entries.

📅 Deadline: February 19, 2024 (Expired)

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

As the Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano once said, "the best that the world has is in the many worlds that the world contains." Therefore, this year we invite you to reflect on the following questions: How do you or your community celebrate these connections? How do you value those experiences with those people who leave a mark on your life? 1 work will be awarded in each category: 1) photography & visual arts, 2) poetry, and 3) narrative/essay/academic investigation.

Top Prize:

$100 for photography, poetry, and essay winners

Additional prizes:

Publication

💰 Entry fee: $0

📅 Deadline: February 01, 2023 (Expired)

South Warwickshire Literary Festival Writing Competition

South Warwickshire Literary Festival

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

The SWLF Writing Competition invites entries in fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, with a word limit of 800 for prose and 40 lines for poetry.

Top Prize:

£50

Additional prizes:

Up to two commended pieces may be invited to read at a literary festival.

💰 Entry fee: $4

📅 Deadline: March 29, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Science Fiction, and Short Story

2023 Contest Theme is: Preserve or Purge. We ask that authors try and incorporate both concepts into their speculative work. This can be conveyed in the setting, plot, characters, dialogue; the only limit is your imagination. The theme must be integral to the story in some way and not just mentioned in passing.

Top Prize:

$200

Additional prizes:

2nd: $100 | 3rd: $50

💰 Entry fee: $0

📅 Deadline: March 31, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Non-fiction, Novel, Novella, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Short Story, Thriller, and Young Adult

The Reader Views Literary Awards program aims to honor independent authors and their self-published works. The awards are recognized industry-wide as a significant platform for independent authors.

Top Prize:

$1,250

Additional prizes:

Gold: $750 Silver: $350 Bronze: $150 sponsored awards including include marketing packages, interviews, and ads.

💰 Entry fee: $89

📅 Deadline: December 15, 2024

Prompts | Many Hands | 2024-09

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