Are you a budding writer looking for opportunities to showcase your talents? Participating in competitions is a great way to get your work out there and challenge yourself as a writer.
Whether you’re interested in poetry, essay or memoir competitions, short story contests, or fiction novels, there’s a competition out there for you. Here’s a detailed list of various writing competitions, including entry costs, prizes, and how to enter:
1. Winchester Poetry Prize
The Winchester Poetry Prize is a globally popular, annual poetry competition, which began in 2016. The competition attracts entries from all over the world and is judged blind.
Entry fee: £6
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Deadline: July 31, 2024
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Prize: £1,000 grand prize and shortlisted poems will feature in a printed competition anthology.
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Eligibility requirements: Entry is open to anyone aged 16 and over.
Submission process: entry is made by either post or via email.
Submission guidelines: Poems must be typed, must not be longer than 40lines (excluding title), must be in English and must be the entrants own work. Poems must not be published elsewhere. Poems may be on any subject and in any form or style.
Find out how to enter and more at winchesterpoetryfestival.org
2. Aesthetica Creative Writing Award
The Creative Writing Award is an internationally renowned literary prize presented by Aesthetica Magazine. This award involves two categories: Poetry and Short Fiction.
Poetry entries should be no more than 40 lines. Fiction entries should be no more than 2,000 words. Works submitted or published elsewhere are accepted. Any topic is accepted.
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Deadline: August 31, 2024
Entry fees:
Poetry: £18
Short fiction: £25
Prizes
£2,500 for Poetry winner
£2,500 for Short Fiction Winner
Submit your entries to aestheticamagazine.com
3. Storytrade Book Awards
The Storytrade Book Awards are open to all Indie authors and publishers including self-published authors, university presses, and small or independent presses.
Books must be written in English and currently available for purchase by the general public. Books must have a publication date between 2022- 2024.
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All formats accepted: ebook, paperback, and hardcover. However will not accept physical copies and must be available electronically.
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Authors retains all rights to their publication.
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Entries are judged on Craft, excellence and innovation.
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Deadline: June 30, 2024
Entry fees:
Early bird fee: $60
Standard fee: $75
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Prize
$1000 for the grand prize, additional prizes for finalists.
Click here for more information and submission of entry.
4. Anthology Travel Writing Competition
The Anthology Travel Writing Competition is open to original and previously unpublished travel articles in the English language by writers of any nationality, living anywhere in the world.
Deadline: November 30, 2024
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Entry fees:
Early bird fee: £12
Standard fee: £15
Prize
£500
This Magazine offers multiple different writing competitions; including short story, flash fiction, art, poetry and photography, nature writing, and personal memoir writing competition.
Find out more about each competition here
5. TCK Publishing Poetry Awards Contest
The TCK Publishing Poetry Awards Contest is an international poetry contest established in 2021. Writers may submit up to five poems totaling no more than 500 words.
Deadline: June 30, 2024
Entry fee: $5
Prize
$1000 grand prize
Visit tckpublishing.com for submission guidelines
6. International Voices In Creative Nonfiction Competition
The International Voices in Creative Nonfiction Competition is an esteemed contest that seeks to recognize compelling true stories and personal essays that offer unique insights into diverse experiences and cultures.
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Submission Deadline: July 1, 2024.
Entry Fee: $25
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Prize
$1000 grand prize & publication
Visit vineleavespress.com for formatting and submission guidelines.
7. Work-In-Progress (WIP) Contest by Unleash Press
The Unleash WIP Award offers writers support in the amount of $500 to supplement costs to aid in the completion of a book-length work of fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. Writers will also receive editorial feedback, coaching meetings, and an excerpt/interview feature in Unleash Lit.
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Submission deadline: July 15, 2024
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Entry fee: $35
Prize:
$500 grand prize
Find out more here
8. Francine Ringold Award For New Writers
The Francine Ringold Awards for New Writers honor the work of writers at the beginning of their careers. This award involves two categories: Poetry and Fiction.
Poetry should be no more than 5 pages.
Fiction should be a maximum of 5,000 words.
Deadline: July 15, 2024
Entry fee: $12
Prizes:
$500 for each category
Submit your entry at nimrodjournal.submittable.com
8. Narrative Prize
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.
Deadline: June 15, 2024
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Entry Fee: $27
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Prize:
$4,000
Visit the narrative magazine’s official website for further information on the word count and submission guidelines.
10. International Welsh Poetry Competition
The International Welsh Poetry Competition is an annual English language poetry award and the largest of its kind in Wales. This competition aims to inspire people to capture life in the present day and to give a voice to a new generation of poets and writers.
Deadline: June 30, 2024
Entry fee: £6
Prizes:
£500 for the grand prize and other prizes for finalists.
Visit the Welsh Official website for more info.
11. The Paul Cave Prize for Literature
The Paul Cave Prize for Literature is an excellent platform for writers and poets to get their work read by a professional editor and published in a book. This competition welcomes all forms of poetry: haiku, free verse, sonnet, acrostic, villanelle, ballad, limerick, ode, elegy, flash fiction, short stories, and novellas in any genre except erotic.
Submission deadline: September 30, 2024
Entry fee: Varies based on category
Prizes:
Varies based on category
Click here to find out more
12. Hastings Book Festival – Short Story
The Hastings Book Festival writing competition is open to writers from anywhere in the world writing in English on any theme. We invite short stories up to 2,500 words.
Submission deadline: July 7, 2024
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Entry fee: $10
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Prize:
£250 grand prize
Find out more at hastingsbookfest.org
13. Rattle Poetry
The annual Rattle Poetry Prize offers $15,000 for a single poem to be published in the winter issue of the magazine. Ten finalists will also receive $500 each and publication, and be eligible for the $5,000 Readers’ Choice Award.
Deadline: July 15, 2024
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Entry fee: $30
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Prize:
$15,000 grand prize
Find out more at rattle.com
14. Scriptation Showcase
The Scriptation Showcase is a screenwriting contest that circulates winners’ scripts to Hollywood directors, showrunners, and producers.
Deadline: July 21, 2024
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Entry fees
Early bird fee: $49
Standard fee: $79
Prize:
$1000 grand prize
Find out more at showcasecompetition.com
15. Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition
Writers of short fiction may now enter the 2024 Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition. The competition has a forty-three-year history of literary excellence, and Lorian Hemingway and her small judging panel are dedicated to enthusiastically supporting the efforts and talent of writers of short fiction whose voices have yet to be heard.
Deadline: September 1, 2024
Entry fee: $15
Prize:
$1500 grand prize
Visit shortstorycompetition.com for more information.
