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Creative Writing Award for Short Fiction
Aesthetica Magazine
Genres: Fiction and Short Story
The Creative Writing Award celebrates outstanding new writing talents in poetry and short fiction, offering a platform for authors globally to showcase their work. It emphasizes innovation in content and form across any theme.
Top Prize:
$2,500
Additional prizes:
Publication in the Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual One-year subscription to The London Magazine, Granta, and Mslexia Consultation with Redhammer Management Six-week writing short stories course from Curtis Brown Creative
💰 Entry fee: $18
📅 Deadline: August 31, 2025 (Expired)
Colorado Gold Writing Contest for Unpublished Writers
Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers
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The Colorado Gold Rush Literary Awards Contest is aimed at unpublished writers of novel-length fiction, offering feedback and exposure to literary agents and editors.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.
Top Prize:
$150
Additional prizes:
Winner receives official certificate, trophy, and reading during the conference luncheon. Three finalists receive $50, certificate, and pitch session with agents.
💰 Entry fee: $25
📅 Deadline: May 01, 2025 (Expired)
Emerging Author Dagger
Crime Writer's Association
Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Novel, Novella, Suspense, Thriller, Crime, and Short Story
The Emerging Author Dagger is an international competition for unpublished crime novelists. It seeks submissions of a crime novel opening (max. 3,000 words) and a synopsis (max. 1,500 words) from writers who have never had a publishing contract for a full-length novel. The prize includes a cash prize of £500 and opportunities for shortlisted entrants to showcase their work to agents and publishers.
Top Prize:
$500
Additional prizes:
Shortlisted entries shown to agents and publishers
💰 Entry fee: $41
📅 Deadline: February 28, 2026
Annual Poetry Contest
Third Wednesday
Genres: Poetry
The Annual Poetry Contest accepts up to 3 previously unpublished poems of any style, with no length limit. Winning entries receive cash prizes and publication. Additionally, winners and honorable mentions get a print copy of the issue.
Top Prize:
$100
Additional prizes:
Winning poets receive a print copy of the contest issue.
💰 Entry fee: $6
📅 Deadline: February 28, 2025 (Expired)
Diode Editions Chapbook Contest
Diode Editions
Genres: Poetry
The Diode Editions Chapbook Contest is an annual competition open to English-language poets. Multiple publications may be selected during this contest.
Top Prize:
$750
💰 Entry fee: $10
📅 Deadline: July 15, 2025 (Expired)
Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year
Canterbury Festival
Genres: Poetry
The Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year Competition invites entries of poems on any subject and in any format, with a maximum length of 60 lines. Judging is anonymous, and an entry fee of £5 per poem is required.
Top Prize:
£300
Additional prizes:
1st: £300 + title of Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year | 2nd: £150 | 3rd: £75
💰 Entry fee: $5
📅 Deadline: June 02, 2025 (Expired)
The Rooker Prize
Lewes FC
Genres: Fiction
Entrants need only write the first 250 words of their novel/story/memoir, and are judged on how much the judges want to read the rest of the story.
Top Prize:
£250 to a charity of your choice
Additional prizes:
Feedback/coaching session with an experienced editor at Hachette UK, plus a wooden trophy.
💰 Entry fee: $50
📅 Deadline: April 05, 2025 (Expired)
The Caledonia Novel Award
Caledonia Novel Award Organizers
Genres: Fiction, Novel, and Young Adult
The Caledonia Novel Award is an international competition for unpublished and self-published novelists in all genres, encouraging writers to submit their original works. The award aims to connect new authors with literary agents.
Top Prize:
£1500
Additional prizes:
Exclusive framed award designed by Edinburgh artist Lucy Roscoe. | Highly Commended prize: £500 | Special prize: a free place on a writing course at Moniack Mhor Creative Writing Centre.
💰 Entry fee: $37
📅 Deadline: October 15, 2025 (Expired)
Ambroggio Prize
Academy of American Poets
Genres: Poetry
The Ambroggio Prize is a $1,000 publication prize for a poetry manuscript originally in Spanish with an English translation. It honors American poets whose first language is Spanish and is awarded annually since 2017.
Top Prize:
$1,000
📅 Deadline: September 15, 2025 (Expired)
Leave Your Mark: Teen Contest
Gotham Writers Workshop
Genres: Script Writing, Fiction, and Poetry
Participants are invited to write about a scar, real or fictional, in any format (story, song, script, poem) with a limit of 250 words. The contest encourages creativity and personal expression.
Top Prize:
$400 Gotham credit, a $50 gift certificate to Bookshop, and publication on the Gotham Writers website.
Additional prizes:
Two runner ups wll receive a free Gotham class of their choice and publication.
📅 Deadline: December 15, 2025
IEW Writing Contest
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)
Voice.club Monthly Flash Fiction Contest
Soft Designs, Inc.
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)
Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition
Crime Writers Association
Genres: Fiction and Short Story
The competition seeks the best unpublished short mystery story of up to 3,500 words, adhering to Margery Allingham's definition of a great mystery. It is open to both published and unpublished authors worldwide.
Top Prize:
£500
Additional prizes:
Two passes to Crimefest & a selection of books
💰 Entry fee: $22
📅 Deadline: February 28, 2025 (Expired)
Fiction Factory Flash Fiction Competition
Fiction Factory
Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, LGBTQ, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, and Travel
The competition invites writers to submit short stories of up to 1000 words, excluding children's and young adult fiction. The entry fee varies based on the number of submissions. Winners will be announced in February 2026.
Top Prize:
£500
Additional prizes:
Publication on the website and free assessment for 2nd and 3rd placed entries.
💰 Entry fee: $7
📅 Deadline: November 30, 2025
WOW! Women on Writing Quarterly Flash Fiction Contest
WOW! Women On Writing
Genres: Flash Fiction, Fiction, and Short Story
The WOW! Women on Writing Flash Fiction Contest aims to inspire creativity and recognition for writers. Open to all genres of flash fiction, it has been running since 2006 and has awarded over $100,000 in cash prizes to participants. The contest allows entries globally, and submissions must be in English.
Top Prize:
$400
Additional prizes:
2nd: $300 | 3rd: $200 | 7 runner-ups: $25 Amazon Gift Cards
💰 Entry fee: $10
📅 Deadline: August 31, 2025 (Expired)
Wonder Fiction Battle
Writing Battle, Inc.
Genres: Fiction, Short Story, Fantasy, and Flash Fiction
The Wonder 2025 Flash fiction Battle is part of the Writing Battle series, where participants write stories based on prompts. Participants receive feedback from professionals.
Top Prize:
$3,400
Additional prizes:
$3400 prize for 4x Genre Winners; $500 prize for 4x Genre Runner-ups. Winners receive online publication, feedback from industry professionals
💰 Entry fee: $39
📅 Deadline: April 13, 2025 (Expired)
F(r)iction Short Story Contest
Brink Literacy Project
Genres: Fiction and Short Story
The F(r)iction Short Story Contest is open for submissions. It celebrates unique and boundary-pushing literature. The winning story will be published in F(r)iction's print collection or online blog, and the contest encourages experimental writing.
Top Prize:
$1,000
📅 Deadline: May 02, 2025 (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)
The Plough Prize
The Plough Arts Centre
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.
Top Prize:
£1,000
Additional prizes:
2nd place: £500 3rd place: £250 Highly Commended poems may be recognized.
💰 Entry fee: $5
📅 Deadline: March 31, 2025 (Expired)
The Adventure Writers Competition
Clive Cussler Collector’s Society
Genres: Fiction, Novel, Thriller, and Mystery
The Adventure Writers Competition (AWC) celebrates adventure writing, accepting action/adventure novels. The 2024 contest finalists have been announced, and submissions for the 2025 competition will be open from January 1 to April 30, 2025. The AWC aims to promote and recognize quality adventure writing through a rigorous judging process.
Top Prize:
$1,000
Additional prizes:
Two AWC Finalist Awards: $500
💰 Entry fee: $50
📅 Deadline: April 30, 2025 (Expired)
UNO Press Publishing Lab
University of New Orleans Press
Genres: Novel and Fiction
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: September 01, 2025 (Expired)
Rule of Law — Your Opinion
Write the World
Genres: Essay, Memoir, and Non-fiction
This contest invites submissions that explore themes of justice, equity, fairness, rules, and laws. Participants can write in various genres, including personal narrative, opinion writing, and creative writing (poetry, fiction, screenwriting).
Top Prize:
$100
Additional prizes:
Runner-Up and Best Peer Review will each receive $50.
📅 Deadline: October 17, 2025 (Expired)
The Next Big Story
The Novelry Group Limited
Genres: Fiction
The Next Big Story is a creative writing prize inviting submissions for the first 1,500 words of a work of fiction. The contest aims to encourage new voices in storytelling, offering a grand prize of $100,000 and eight shortlisting prizes of The Finished Novel Course to help writers finalize their projects.
Top Prize:
$100,000 or £75,000
Additional prizes:
Eight shortlists receive access to The Finished Novel Course (valued at approx $4,995 each).
💰 Entry fee: $15
📅 Deadline: July 31, 2025 (Expired)
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)
"Matter" Poetry Contest
Oprelle Publications
Genres: Poetry
The Matter Poetry Contest invites poets to showcase their work. Winners are selected based on the emotional impact and creativity of their submissions. The contest aims to highlight the significance of poetry in personal and societal contexts.
Top Prize:
$100
Additional prizes:
2nd: $100 | 3rd: $50 | Publication in anthology
💰 Entry fee: $15
📅 Deadline: October 31, 2025 (Expired)
The SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction
SmokeLong Quarterly
Genres: Flash Fiction
An annual competition celebrating excellence in flash fiction. Entries must be unpublished, and winners receive cash prizes and nominations for various prestigious awards.
Top Prize:
$2,500
Additional prizes:
2nd: $1000 | 3rd: $500 | Grand Prize winner receives automatic nominations for Best Small Fictions and Pushcart Prize.
💰 Entry fee: $16
📅 Deadline: May 10, 2025 (Expired)
Heart Fiction Battle
Writing Battle
Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Short Story, Thriller, and Young Adult
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Top Prize:
$1,500
Additional prizes:
Genre Runner-up (x4): $375 Feedback by industry professionals
💰 Entry fee: $20
📅 Deadline: August 02, 2024 (Expired)
Gulf Coast Writers Association Writing Contest
Gulf Coast Writers Association
Genres: Flash Fiction, Non-fiction, and Poetry
The Gulf Coast Writers Association (GCWA) organizes an annual writing contest to celebrate and recognize talented writers across various genres. Participants can submit original works in Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Poetry. The contest promotes writers' creativity and provides valuable feedback from experienced judges.
Top Prize:
$200
Additional prizes:
Second place: $75 Third place: $50 For each category
💰 Entry fee: $20
📅 Deadline: June 30, 2025 (Expired)
The Plaza Short Story Prize
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)
Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
Cleveland Foundation
Genres: Novel, Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, and Poetry
The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards recognize outstanding works that contribute to our understanding of racism and cultural diversity. Established in 1935 by Edith Anisfield Wolf, it remains the only American book prize focused on these themes.
Top Prize:
$10,000
Additional prizes:
Winners receive $10,000 and are honored at a ceremony in Cleveland.
📅 Deadline: December 31, 2025
Anthology Poetry Competition
Anthology Magazine
Genres: Poetry
The Anthology Poetry Competition aims to recognize and encourage excellence in poetry writing and to provide a platform for publication. Open to original and unpublished poems in English, there are no restrictions on theme or style. Poems must not exceed 40 lines, and there is no limit on the number of entries.
Top Prize:
€1000
Additional prizes:
2nd: €500 | 3rd: €250 + publication of the winning poem in Anthology magazine
💰 Entry fee: $18
📅 Deadline: October 31, 2025 (Expired)
Tom Howard / Margaret Reid Poetry Contest
Winning Writers
Genres: Poetry
Welcome to the 23rd annual Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest. Submit published or unpublished work. $3,500 for a poem in any style or genre. $3,500 for a poem that rhymes or has a traditional style.
Top Prize:
$3,500
Additional prizes:
$500 for 10 honorable mentions
💰 Entry fee: $25
📅 Deadline: October 01, 2025 (Expired)
Red Hen Press Women's Prose Prize
Red Hen Press
Genres: Fiction, Non-fiction, Short Story, Essay, Memoir, and Novel
Established in 2018, the Women's Prose Prize honors previously unpublished, original prose work including novels, short story collections, memoirs, and essay collections. It is open to all women writers, with a fair evaluation process ensuring anonymity during judging.
Top Prize:
$1,000
Additional prizes:
Publication by Red Hen Press
💰 Entry fee: $25
📅 Deadline: February 28, 2025 (Expired)
Heroica Poetry Prize
Heroica
Genres: Poetry
The Heroica Poetry Prize is a competition aimed at women and non-binary authors and poets, offering monetary rewards and publication in an anthology.
Top Prize:
£125
Additional prizes:
2nd: £50 | 3rd: £25 | Winning and long-listed poems will be published.
💰 Entry fee: $2
📅 Deadline: March 31, 2024 (Expired)
The Booby Prize
The Booby Prize
Genres: Flash Fiction and Fiction
The Booby Prize is a quarterly flash fiction contest supporting the conservation of the Blue-Footed Boobys.
Top Prize:
£500
Additional prizes:
If you include a Blue-Footed Booby in your story, it will automatically be inducted into the Booby Hall of Fame and have a chance to win a booby soft toy.
💰 Entry fee: $10
📅 Deadline: October 19, 2025 (Expired)
