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DIRECTORY

Best Writing Contests in 2024

Showing 428 contests that match your search.

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)

Genres: Fiction, Short Story, and Flash Fiction

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:

$300

Additional prizes:

Up to five finalists may also be considered for publication.

💰 Entry fee: $15

📅 Deadline: November 01, 2024 (Expired)

Annual Poetry Contest

Third Wednesday

Genres: Poetry

Each year Third Wednesday awards 3 $100 prizes in its annual poetry contest. For this year's contest, entries will be accepted from November 1, 2020 through February 15, 2021. We will accept contest entries of up to 3 previously unpublished poems of any style and subject matter. There is no limit on length.

Top Prize:

$100

Additional prizes:

print copy of the 3rd Wednesday contest issue

💰 Entry fee: $6

📅 Deadline: February 28, 2024 (Expired)

Faith Poetry Contest

FanStory.com Inc.

Genres: Poetry

The theme for this poetry contest is "faith". We are looking for poems that in some way pertain to this theme. It doesn't matter if it's spiritual, political, intellectual or emotional as long as faith is clearly represented.

Top Prize:

$100

💰 Entry fee: $10

📅 Deadline: August 19, 2024 (Expired)

Best Indie Book Award

Best Indie Book Award

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Novel, Novella, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller, and Young Adult

The annual Best Indie Book Award® (or BIBA®) is an international literary awards contest recognizing self-published and independently published authors from all over the world. Entries are limited to independently (indie) published books, including those from small presses, e-book publishers, and self-published authors.

Top Prize:

Trophy

💰 Entry fee: $65

📅 Deadline: August 15, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Essay, Memoir, Non-fiction, Crime, Humor, and Science Writing

The Letter Review Prize for Nonfiction is an award for nonfiction submissions up to 5000 words. It seeks to recognize and publish quality writing and offers a total prize pool of $1000 USD.

Top Prize:

$1,000

Additional prizes:

2-4 winners are announced who share in the prize money. Publication by The Letter Review

📅 Deadline: September 30, 2024 (Expired)

FFF Competition Twenty One

Free Flash Fiction

Genres: Flash Fiction

The FFF Competition Twenty-Four invites submissions of flash fiction pieces between 100 and 300 words on any theme. The contest aims to discover and promote new flash fiction writers.

Top Prize:

£150

Additional prizes:

2 Highly Commended: £60 | 3 shortlisted: £50 | Publication

💰 Entry fee: $4

📅 Deadline: October 23, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Fiction and Short Story

The Dzanc Books Short Story Collection Prize celebrates imaginative and inventive writing in book-length collections. The winning submission will receive a $2,500 advance and publication. The contest is open to all writers, and all submitted works must be previously unpublished collections.

Top Prize:

$2,500

Additional prizes:

Publication

💰 Entry fee: $25

📅 Deadline: September 30, 2024 (Expired)

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

Established in 2018, the Women’s Prose Prize is for previously unpublished, original work of prose. Novels, short story collections, memoirs, essay collections, and all other forms of prose writing are eligible for consideration. The awarded manuscript is selected through a biennial competition, held in even-numbered years, that is open to all writers who identify as women.

Top Prize:

$1,000

Additional prizes:

Publication by Red Hen Press

💰 Entry fee: $25

📅 Deadline: February 28, 2024 (Expired)

Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award

Claremont Graduate University

Genres: Poetry

The Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award honors a poet for a single volume of poetry published between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024. It is the world's largest monetary prize for poetry, valued at $100,000. The award aims to support poets in their mid-career, allowing them to focus on their craft without financial burdens.

Top Prize:

$100,000

Additional prizes:

The Kate Tufts Discovery Award offers $10,000 for a first book of poetry.

📅 Deadline: July 01, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Poetry

The Indiana Review Poetry Prize is part of an annual contest that awards a prize for excellent poetry submissions. The contest is open to submissions of poetry, and winners receive publication along with a monetary honorarium.

Top Prize:

$1,000

Additional prizes:

Publication in Indiana Review

💰 Entry fee: $20

📅 Deadline: March 31, 2024 (Expired)

Free Verse Poetry Contest

FanStory.com Inc.

Genres:

Write a free verse poem. This is a method of writing poetry, which does not essentially follow any structure or style. There is no fixed meter and no structure regarding rhyme and lines in each stanza.

Top Prize:

$100

💰 Entry fee: $10

📅 Deadline: August 22, 2022 (Expired)

The Caledonia Novel Award

Alice Lutyens, literary agent at Curtis Brown

Genres: Fiction, Novel, and Young Adult

The Caledonia Novel Award aims to support unpublished and self-published novelists across all genres for adults and young adults. The 2025 competition encourages diverse submissions, offering significant prizes to help cultivate new talent.

Top Prize:

$1,500

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: $28

📅 Deadline: October 15, 2024 (Expired)

Memo'd AI-assisted Writing Contest

Memo'd Technologies, LLC

Genres: Non-fiction

The Memo'd AI Writing Contest invites participants to create popular Memos using their AI content creator. Participants can enter by generating Memes through the Memo'd app and publishing them. The contest encourages creativity, allowing users to leverage AI and their own insights to produce Memos.

Top Prize:

$750

Additional prizes:

Second Prize for second most unique views: $250 Best AI Prompt Prize for most creative and useful prompt: $250

📅 Deadline: April 30, 2024 (Expired)

The Raven Short Story Contest

Pulp Literature Press

Genres: Fiction

This contest is for previously unpublished short fiction between 250 and 2500 words in length. Multiple entries welcome. Total entries limited to 300. Show us your most scintillating treasures in the form of short fiction up to 2500 words in length and you could be the one bringing home $300 CAD to line your nest!

Top Prize:

$230

Additional prizes:

Publication in Pulp Literature

💰 Entry fee: $15

📅 Deadline: October 15, 2024 (Expired)

Creative Writing Award for Poetry

Aesthetica Magazine

Genres: Poetry

The Aesthetica Creative Writing Award celebrates outstanding writers in poetry and short fiction. It aims to support new literary talent and showcases entries that reflect upon the changing world and challenge traditional boundaries of form and technique.

Top Prize:

£2,500

Additional prizes:

Publication in the Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual | Two online masterclasses with Arvon | A course from the Poetry School

💰 Entry fee: $12

📅 Deadline: August 31, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Fiction and Novella

Established in 2001, The Clay Reynolds Novella Prize highlights one book a year that excels in the novella format. Since 2019 the Prize comes with $500, a standard royalty contract, and 20 copies of the published book.

Top Prize:

$500

Additional prizes:

A Standard Royalty contract, 20 copies of the novella published

💰 Entry fee: $20

📅 Deadline: March 31, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Poetry

Write a 2-4-2 syllable poem: 2 syllables in the first line, 4 in the second, 2 in the last. Subject can be anything. Winner receives feedback and a cash prize.

Top Prize:

$100

Additional prizes:

Feedback for all submissions.

📅 Deadline: December 11, 2024

Genres: Essay and Non-fiction

The contest recognizes outstanding works of nonfiction, awarding $1,333 for creative nonfiction entries, such as personal essays. Submissions must be stand-alone essays, not previously published, and limited to 5,000 words.

Top Prize:

$1,333

Additional prizes:

All contest entrants receive a free copy of the latest edition of Reed Magazine.

💰 Entry fee: $20

📅 Deadline: November 01, 2024 (Expired)

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

We are not concerned with genre distinctions. Send us the best you have; we want only for it to be thoughtful, intelligent, and beautiful. We want art that grows in complexity upon each visitation; we enjoy ornate, cerebral, and voluptuous phrases executed with thematic intent.

Top Prize:

$500

Additional prizes:

Publication in "AZURE: A Journal of Literary Thought"

💰 Entry fee: $15

📅 Deadline: September 24, 2024 (Expired)

#GWstorieseverywhere

Gotham Writers

Genres: Fiction and Flash Fiction

Each month we invite you to post a story on Twitter using #GWstorieseverywhere for a chance to win a free class. Your story must be no longer than 25 words, with a max of 280 characters, including spaces and the hashtag #GWstorieseverywhere.

Top Prize:

Gotham Writers Workshop

💰 Entry fee: $0

📅 Deadline: January 31, 2022 (Expired)

Wild Atlantic Writing Awards (WAWA)

Ireland Writing Retreat

Genres: Flash Fiction and Non-fiction

The 9th edition of the WAWA invites entries in flash fiction and creative nonfiction based on the theme of 'danger'. Stories should not exceed 500 words and must not include the word 'danger' in the title or text. Winners will be announced in September 2024.

Top Prize:

$500

Additional prizes:

Winner can choose either 500 euro or a voucher worth 1,000 euro for any writing retreat in 2024 or 2025. Top ten stories in each category will be published on the Ireland Writing Retreat website

💰 Entry fee: $10

📅 Deadline: July 28, 2024 (Expired)

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.

Top Prize:

$1,000

Additional prizes:

Two AWC Finalist Awards: $500

💰 Entry fee: $50

📅 Deadline: April 30, 2024 (Expired)

Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize

Academy of American Poets

Genres: Poetry

Established in 1975, this $25,000 award recognizes the most outstanding book of poetry published in the United States in the previous calendar year. The prize includes distribution of the winning book to hundreds of Academy of American Poets members.

Top Prize:

$25,000

Additional prizes:

Publication and distribution of book

💰 Entry fee: $75

📅 Deadline: May 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 contest seeks poetry submissions from writers aged 50 and older. The winner will receive a cash prize and publication. The submission window is from February 15 to April 15, and all poems must be original and not previously published.

Top Prize:

$1,000

Additional prizes:

Winner gets publication and a featured interview. All honorable mentions will be published.

💰 Entry fee: $20

📅 Deadline: April 15, 2024 (Expired)

swamp pink Prizes

crazyhorse

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.

Top Prize:

$2,000

Additional prizes:

Publication

💰 Entry fee: $20

📅 Deadline: January 31, 2024 (Expired)

Genres: Fiction

The Weatherglass Novella Prize 2025 invites submissions of novellas between 20k-40k words. The winning novella will be published by Weatherglass Books in 2025/26. The contest emphasizes the beauty of the novella form and aims to promote exquisite storytelling.

Top Prize:

£500

Additional prizes:

Winning novellas will be published by Weatherglass Books.

💰 Entry fee: $20

📅 Deadline: March 01, 2025

Nimrod Literary Awards

Nimrold International Journal of Prose and Poetry

Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Short Story, and Novel

All finalists in fiction and poetry will be published and paid at our standard publication rate. Semi-finalists in poetry will also be published and paid at our standard publication rate.

Top Prize:

$2000 + Publication

Additional prizes:

2nd: $1000 + Publication

💰 Entry fee: $20

📅 Deadline: April 01, 2024 (Expired)

Mark Lynton History Prize

Columbia Journalism School

Genres: Non-fiction

The Mark Lynton History Prize, in the amount of $10,000, is awarded to a book­-length work of history on any topic that best combines intellectual distinction with felicity of expression. Books must have been published in the United States between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023.

Top Prize:

$10,000

💰 Entry fee: $75

📅 Deadline: December 07, 2023 (Expired)

Writer's Games

The Writer's Workout

Genres: Fiction, Short Story, Crime, Fantasy, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Script Writing, Thriller, and Young Adult

Writer's Games is a free, six-week, challenge-based competition designed to help writers improve their craft. Each week, registered participants receive a secret event announcement and have 72 hours to write and submit their entries. All entries receive feedback from judges. The competition emphasizes creativity across various genres.

Top Prize:

Publication in anthology, 72 Hours (26+ spaces)

Additional prizes:

Top three overall winners receive interviews and physical copies of the anthology. Additional prizes are subject to sponsorship and donations.

📅 Deadline: July 22, 2024 (Expired)

Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction

University of North Texas Press

Genres: Short Story, Flash Fiction, and Novella

An annual award celebrating excellence in short fiction, the Katherine Anne Porter Prize invites submissions of unpublished collections of short stories, novellas, or flash fiction.

Top Prize:

$1,000

📅 Deadline: June 30, 2024 (Expired)

Claymore Award

Killer Nashville

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Novel, Science Fiction, and Thriller

Created in 2009, the Killer Nashville Claymore Award assists new and rebranding English-language fiction authors to get published, including possible agent representation, book advances, editor deals, and movie and television sales. The contest is limited to only the first 50 double-spaced pages of unpublished English-language manuscripts containing elements of thriller, mystery, crime, or suspense NOT currently under contract.

Top Prize:

Possible contract with Mystery Writers of America

💰 Entry fee: $40

📅 Deadline: April 01, 2025

Goldilocks Zone

Sunspot Literary Journal

Genres: Essay, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, Novel, Novella, Poetry, Script Writing, and Short Story

The contest invites short stories, novel excerpts, graphic novels, and poems that showcase excellence in craft with reader appeal. It accepts literary or genre works without restrictions on theme.

Top Prize:

$100

Additional prizes:

Publication for the winner; publication offered to runners-up and finalists.

💰 Entry fee: $5

📅 Deadline: April 30, 2024 (Expired)

Genres:

Established in 2001, The Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Prize highlights one book a year that excels in the chapbook format. Since 2019 the Prize comes with $500, a standard royalty contract, and 20 copies of the published book.

Top Prize:

$500

Additional prizes:

A Standard Royalty contract, 20 copies of the book published

💰 Entry fee: $20

📅 Deadline: March 31, 2024 (Expired)

Prompts | Many Hands | 2024-09

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