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Writing Competitions 2025 USA : Poetry, Short Stories, Fiction

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Submit your work to writing contests 2025 USA. The 2025 writing competitions USA are open to US writers or residents. Submit before the deadline.


2025 Writing Competitions USA 

Writing Competitions USA 2025




These writing competitons 2025 USA are a new wave of opportunities for writers to test their writing skills and earn more than stipends from it. Aside winning cash prizes, most of these competitions in USA 2025 come with publication and sometimes additional fellowship.

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Are Writing Contests Worth Entering?

Writing contests are undoubtedly one of the great ways to explore, complete and grab opportunities that are obtainable within the writing community. They could turn into something bigger or inspire ideas for your other writing.

Entering into any of the writing contests 2025 may guarantee you one or more of the following if your work gets selected.
  • Cash prizes
  • You stand a chance to have your work published.
  • Mentorship.
  • Recognition in literary events among many others.




Good luck!



January Writing Competitions USA 2025

1. Table Feast Magazine Literary Competitions 2024

Deadline: January 1, 2025.

Contests & Prizes:
 Nano & Micro Contest for Women Writers: $50 for winners in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction; work featured on merchandise. Entry fee: $3 (waivable). Poetry max 14 lines; prose max 200 words. Submit up to 6 poems or 2 prose pieces.

Fifty & Up Writer Awards: $50 + $1/year over age 50. Fee-free for poetry (2 pages max) and prose (500–2,000 words). Submit up to 5 poems or 1 prose piece.

Translations Prizes: $250 for winners in poetry and prose. Entry fee: $5 (waivable). Poems (2 pages max); prose (500–2,000 words).


2. Gemini Magazine Poetry Open 2025

Submit your best poems to the Gemini Magazine Poetry Open 2025 for a chance to win cash prizes totaling over $1,000.

Prizes:
1st Prize: $1,000
2nd Prize: $100
4 Honorable Mentions: $25 each
Entry Fee: $10 (up to 3 poems)

Deadline: January 2, 2025

Publication: Six finalists will be published in the April 2025 issue.

Additional Information:
  • Poems can be on any subject, style, or length.
  • Entries must be unpublished.
  • Poems on personal blogs are acceptable.
  • Translations are allowed.
  • All entries are read blind.

3. Steinbeck Fellows Program Awards for Writers 2025

Deadline: January 5, 2025.

Prizes: $15,000 stipend for one academic year (September–May).

Eligibility: Open to emerging writers of fiction, drama, creative nonfiction, and biography (no poetry). Applicants must reside in the San Francisco Bay Area or nearby counties during the fellowship. Prior extensive publication is not required.

Entry Fee: None.

Requirements: Writing proposal (1–3 pages), résumé, 25-page writing sample, and three recommendation letters.

Submission: Applications accepted from September; awards announced in May.
Fellows must present their work publicly and engage with the university’s creative writing program.

4. Sheptons Snowdrops Poetry Competition 2025 

Deadline: 11pm, Monday, 6 January 2025.

Theme: Treasures of Nature.

Prizes: £300 (18+), £100 (12-17), £50 (11 & under). Total cash prizes exceed $400.

Eligibility: Open worldwide; poems must be original, unpublished, and written in English.

Entry Fee: £4 per poem for 18+; free for under 18s.

Submission: Up to 5 poems (18+), 1 poem (under 18). Poems (max 30 lines) must be submitted via Skor.ie.

Prize Ceremony: February 22, 2025, at 2 PM, Baptist Church, Shepton Mallet.


5. Colorado Poetry Prize 2024

Deadline: January 14, 2025 (postmark deadline with a five-day grace period).

Eligibility: Open internationally to published and unpublished poets. Entrants must be over 16 years old.

Prizes: $2,500 honorarium and publication of the winning manuscript by the Center for Literary Publishing, distributed by the University Press of Colorado in fall 2025.

Entry Fee: No specific entry fee mentioned.

Submission: Manuscripts accepted via mail or online; identities of authors are removed before judging. Preliminary judges select finalists from submissions, and the final judge picks the winner.


6. The Bournemouth Writing Prize 2025

Submit your original, unpublished work (short stories or poems) by January 15, 2025, for a chance to win:

Short Story Prize: £500 + an hour-long consultation with Greene and Heaton agent, Laura Williams.

Poetry Prize: £500 + an hour-long feedback session with Dithering Chaps publisher.

Deadline: January 15, 2025

Entry Fee: $10

Open to writers worldwide aged 16+.

Categories: Short stories (up to 3,000 words) and poetry (up to 3 poems, 30 lines each).

Entries judged anonymously; no personal details on submissions. Winners receive 2 free tickets to Bourn Jammy event, publication in the Bournemouth Journal, and a free anthology copy.


7. 2025 Zócalo Poetry Prize Honors Poems of Place

Deadline: January 24, 2025, 11:59 PM PST
Entry Fee: Free
Prize: $1,000, publication of the poem with an interview, and an opportunity for a public reading at the Zócalo Book Prize event

Eligibility: Open to original, unpublished poems that evoke a connection to place. Submissions can include up to three poems per person, and simultaneous submissions are accepted.

Submission Guidelines:

  • Submit up to three poems as a single Word document
  • Include your name, address, phone number, and email in the document
  • Submit by email to poetry@zocalopublicsquare.org
Judging: Entries will be judged on originality, theme, style, and how well they connect to place. Honorable mentions will receive $100.


8. Frontier Poetry's 2025 Hurt & Healing Prize

Deadline: Open now, with no specified end date
Entry Fee: $20 per submission; free for poets from historically marginalized groups (now closed)

Prizes:
  • 1st Place: $3,000 and publication
  • 2nd Place: $300 and publication
  • 3rd Place: $200 and publication
Eligibility: Open to new and emerging writers (those with no more than one full-length published work forthcoming). Submissions must be unpublished poems (up to three poems, five pages max).

Submission Guidelines:

  • Submit up to three poems in a single file (max 5 pages)
  • Submit unpublished poems only
  • Include a brief cover letter with a short third-person bio and content warnings
  • $20 reading fee for each submission
  • Simultaneous submissions allowed (notify if accepted elsewhere)
What the Judge is Looking For: Poems that evoke hurt and healing, using language to create emotional experiences through indirect means like imagery, metaphor, and surprise.


9. The Nine Dots Prize 2024

Deadline: January 27, 2025, 11:59 a.m. GMT
Entry Fee: Free
Eligibility: Open worldwide to individuals aged 18 and over.

Submission Guidelines:

  • Submit three documents:
  • A 3,000-word summary response to the set question (to develop into a 25,000–40,000-word book).
  • A 1,000-word outline structure of the proposed book.
  • A 1,000-word justification statement on your ability to complete the book in seven months.
  • Entries must be in English and submitted as Word/Open Document files (max 5MB).
  • Prize:
  • Winner receives $100,000 and a book publishing deal with Cambridge University Press.
Late submissions will not be accepted. Winners notified after evaluation.


10. Calibre Essay Prize 2025

Prize: $10,000 total: Winner ($5,000), Runner-up ($3,000), Second Runner-up ($2,000).
Deadline: January 28, 2025 (11:59 PM AEST).
Eligibility: Open to all essayists worldwide writing in English.

Submission Guidelines:

  • Submit original, unpublished essays (2,000–5,000 words).
  • Entries must follow a blind submission process (no author name in the file).
  • Format: Word document (.doc/.docx), 1.5 line spacing, 12pt font.
  • Entry Fee: AU$30 (non-subscribers), AU$20 (ABR subscribers).
  • Submission: Online via the ABR website. Essays may be personal, literary, or experimental. Winners are announced in April 2025.

11. Nieman Fellowship 2025

Deadline:

International Applicants: December 1, 2024.
U.S. Applicants: January 31, 2025.
Prizes: $1,325/week stipend for fellows not supported by employers; free furnished apartment if required.

Eligibility: Open to journalists, publishers, technologists, academics, and others with projects advancing journalism. No academic prerequisites or age limits. Must reside in Cambridge, MA, for the fellowship.

Entry Fee: None.

Fellowship Duration: 4–12 weeks (Visiting) or one academic year.

Submission: Online application, résumé, and project proposal addressing how Harvard’s resources will benefit the project.

12.  Bristol Short Story Prize 2025

Deadline: January 31, 2025.

Eligibility: Open to all published and unpublished writers worldwide. Entries must be in English, either online or via postal submission.

Rules: Maximum of 4,000 words per story, no personal information should appear on the manuscript. Multiple entries allowed. Free online entries are available for low-income writers.

Prizes: 1st Prize: £1,000, 2nd Prize: £500, 3rd Prize: £250. Each of the 12 remaining shortlisted writers receives £50.

Results: Longlist of 30 stories by March 15, 2025; shortlist of 15 stories by May 15, 2025. Only shortlisted entrants will be notified.

Entry: Submit online or by post to Dr. Carrie Etter, University of Bristol. Follow submission guidelines on the official website.

13. Story Unlikely Annual Short Story Contest 2025

The Story Unlikely Annual Short Story Contest 2025 is open for submissions until January 31, 2025. Open to all writers, there are no genre restrictions, but stories cannot exceed 4,000 words (5,000 for members). Prizes include $1,500 for first place, $1,000 for second, and $500 for third. Winning stories will be published on Story Unlikely’s website and potentially featured in the annual magazine. Authors must be subscribed to Story Unlikely’s monthly magazine to qualify. The submission must be emailed to dan@storyunlikely.com by the deadline with the subject line 'Submission: TITLE/GENRE'.

Deadline: January 31, 2025

Eligibility: Open to all writers

Prizes: 1st - $1,500, 2nd - $1,000, 3rd - $500

Entry Fee: Free (subscription to Story Unlikely required for eligibility)


14. The Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest 2025

Deadline: January 31, 2025
Entry Fee: Free
Prize: $150 and publication on Jerry Jazz Musician (permanently archived). Winner may also be nominated for the Pushcart Prize.

Guidelines: Open worldwide to English-language short stories (3,000 words preferred; up to 4,000 words considered). Simultaneous submissions allowed. Submit via Word or PDF attachment to jerryjazzmusician@gmail.com with a brief synopsis, name, address, and phone number. Include “Short Fiction Contest Submission” in the subject line.

Eligibility: Open to human-created submissions only; no AI-assisted entries.

Additional Info: Winning stories may appear in an anthology, but all rights are retained by the author. Results announced around April 10, 2025.


February Writing Competitions USA 2025

1. St. Gallen Symposium Global Essay Competition 2025

Deadline: February 1, 2025 (UTC-12)
Entry Fee: Free
Prize: CHF 20,000 (split among three winners)

Topic: Propose an innovative solution to address a risk or opportunity related to the shift of global power, focusing on regions like Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The solution should span areas such as politics, business, economics, technology, sustainability, or security.

Guidelines: Submit an essay (max. 2,100 words, excluding abstract, bibliography, and footnotes) in English. No identifying details allowed in the essay file. Individual work required; no group submissions.

Eligibility: Open to graduate or postgraduate students (born in 1995 or later). Participants must be enrolled in a program at a regular university as of February 1, 2025.

Additional Info: All sources must be cited, and essays will be checked for plagiarism. Required documents: passport, matriculation confirmation, and essay file with no identifying information.

2. South Carolina Creative Sociology Writing Competition 2025

Eligibility: Open to undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in South Carolina colleges/universities (Spring 2025).

Theme: Family Matters – exploring family dynamics, traditions, unity, conflict, and broader societal impacts.

Categories: Poetry (≤40 lines), Short Fiction, or Creative Nonfiction (≤3,000 words).

Requirements: Include a 500-word exegesis linking the work to sociological concepts, theory, or research.

Prizes:
  • 1st Place: $500
  • 2nd Place: $300
  • 3rd Place: $200
Deadline: February 3, 2025.

Submit to: creativesoc@coastal.edu (PDF/Word document, blind submissions).

Winners may read their work at a virtual event (March 28, 2025) and be published in Waccamaw: A Journal of Contemporary Literature.


3. 3 Minutes Arts Competition 2025

Topic: Plays, stories, or songs suitable for a family audience. Entries must not exceed 3 minutes in performance. Stories have a maximum word count of 500.

Eligibility: Open to all; entries must be in English and family-friendly.

Prizes:
  • Overall winner: £50.
  • Additional prizes may vary depending on the number of entries.
Submission Guidelines:
  • Original and unpublished works (PDF format for stories, dramas, or lyrics).
  • Songs require an mp3 recording and lyrics in PDF format.
  • Use plain font (e.g., Arial or Times New Roman), 12-point, double-spaced.
  • No personal identification on the manuscript; entries will be judged anonymously.
Submission fee: £6 for the first entry in any category, £3 for subsequent entries.

Deadline: February 15, 2025.

Submit to: Entries must be submitted via the competition's official website.


4. 2025 Centre for African American Poetry and Poetics (CAAPP) Book Prize

Deadline: February 15, 2025
Entry Fee: Free
Prize: $3,000 and publication by Autumn House Press

Guidelines: Submit a manuscript (48-168 pages) in any genre intersecting with poetry, including hybrid work, speculative prose, or translation. Only one submission per person. Manuscripts should be in doc, docx, or pdf format.

Eligibility: Open to writers of African descent, including those with African American, African, or African diasporic experiences. This is for first or second books.

Final Judge: Cameron Awkward-Rich, poet and academic.

Additional Info: Previous winners include Carly Inghram and Jacqui Germain

5. Christopher Tower Poetry Competition 2025

The 25th Christopher Tower Poetry Competition is open for entries until February 20, 2025. The competition is free to enter for students aged 16-18 in the UK, challenging them to write a poem on the theme 'Roots'. Prizes include £5,000 for the best poem, £3,000 for second place, and £1,500 for third place. Ten runners-up receive £500 each and a spot on the Tower Poetry Summer School. Entries must be submitted via the website by 12 noon on the deadline date. Poems must be original, not previously published, broadcast, or submitted to another competition.

Deadline: February 20, 2025

Eligibility: 16-18 years old, UK-based students

Prizes: 1st - £5,000, 2nd - £3,000, 3rd - £1,500

Entry Fee: Free


6. Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition 2025

Deadline: February 28, 2025.

Eligibility: Open to all, published and unpublished authors worldwide. Story must be original, unpublished, and not previously shortlisted.

Entry Requirements: Short story of up to 3,500 words. Must follow Margery Allingham’s definition of a mystery.

Entry Fee: £18, paid via the CWA Shop.
Submission:

Entries must be anonymous, submitted online via the CWA website. The winner receives £500 and their story published on the CWA website.


7. Kelpies Prize for Writing 2025

Deadline: February 28, 2025.

Eligibility: Open to residents of Scotland. Submit work for children aged 3–13, including picture books, chapter books, and novels.

Entry Requirements: First five chapters of a book or complete picture-book story. A synopsis (100–300 words). A short piece (1,000–3,000 words) starting with a provided prompt. Information about the entrant’s aspirations. Save work as MS Word or PDF. Combine all pieces into one documents. Entries should be in English; they may include other languages or dialects.

Prizes:
Mentorship, publishing deal consideration, and £500.


8. Never Such Innocence Poetry Competition 2025

Deadline: February 28, 2025
Entry Fee: Free
Eligibility: Open to ages 9–18 in four age categories.

Theme: How Can We Prevent Future Wars?

Submission Guidelines: Poems (max 25 lines) must be original and not AI-generated. Entries can be in any language but must include a written and recorded version if not in English. One entry per category per individual is allowed.

Copyright remains with authors, but publication rights are granted to Never Such Innocence. Winners announced by May 1, 2025.

March Writing Competitions USA 2025

1. Deep Wild Journal's Waking to the Wild 2025 Student Contest

Deadline: March 1, 2025
Entry Fee: Free
Prize: 1st Place: $200, 2nd Place: $100, 3rd Place: $50, with publication in the 2025 issue of Deep Wild: Writing from the Backcountry

Guidelines: Submit up to 4 pages of poetry or up to 3,000 words of prose on the theme "Waking to the Wild." Mixed-genre submissions are accepted. Formatting: Prose must be double-spaced (11- or 12-point font); poetry should be single-spaced with double spaces between stanzas.

Eligibility: Open to undergraduate and graduate students. Only one entry per student; no multiple submissions allowed.

Additional Info: Winners receive cash prizes, five copies of the journal, and possible publication online. Entries must be submitted anonymously.

2. Write on the River Writers Competition 2025

Topic: Fiction or Nonfiction (memoir, short story, essay, etc.).
Eligibility: Open to residents of Eastern Washington (U.S.).

Prizes:
1st Prize: $1,200 (Cash Prize)
Submission Guidelines:

Submissions: Fiction (novel, short story, flash fiction) or Nonfiction (memoir, essay, humor, etc.), max 1,000 words.

Format: Double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman, 1-inch margins, PDF.

Entries must be unpublished and original work.
Include title, page number, and mark the genre (F for Fiction or N for Nonfiction) and entry type (Complete or Start).

$20 submission fee; $20 additional for 3 critiques.

Deadline: March 3, 2025.


3. The Christopher Salmon Poetry Competition 2025

Theme: Hope
Deadline: March 25, 2025
Eligibility: Entrants under 19 years of age, educated in Wirral.
Entry: Free

Prizes:

£100 for the winner of each age category:
Age 7 and under (KS 1)
Age 8-11 (KS 2)
Age 11-13 (KS 3)
Age 14-16 (KS 4)
Age 16-19 (in full-time education)
Deadline: 7 March 2025 (noon)

Submit entries via email to: chrissalmonpoetry@wirral.gov.uk or by post to:
FAO Diane Mitchell
Birkenhead Central Library,
Borough Road,
Birkenhead, CH41 2XB

Official entry forms are available on the website or at Wirral Libraries

4. The Plough Poetry Competition 2025

Eligibility: Open to all poets worldwide writing in English.

Prizes:
  • 1st Prize: £1,000
  • 2nd Prize: £500
  • 3rd Prize: £250
Submission Guidelines:
Poems: Up to 40 lines (excluding title/blank lines), typed on one side of A4, single-spaced.
Must be original, unpublished, and not previously awarded a prize.

Anonymous judging: Do not include your name on the poem.

Entry Fees: £5 per poem (online) or £6 per poem (postal).

Deadline: March 28, 2025, 5 PM (UK time).

Submit: Online or via post. Winners announced May 27, 2025.


5. The Caterpillar Poetry Prize 2025

Prizes:
  • 1st Prize: €1,000 + a week at Circle of Misse
  • 2nd Prize: €500
  • 3rd Prize: €250
Eligibility: Open to anyone over 16. Poems must be original, unpublished, and the author’s own work.

Submission Guidelines:
  • Any number of entries allowed (€15 per poem).
  • No line limit.
  • Entries must be typed, in English, with no identifying details on the poem itself.
  • Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but notify if published elsewhere.
  • Translations accepted (author and translator share the prize).
Entry Fee: €15 per poem (via PayPal or postal payment).

Deadline: March 31, 2025.

Notification: Winners notified by May 14, 2025; announced in June.

Submit: Online or by post.


April Writing Competitions USA 2025

1. Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest 2025

The Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest 2025 is open for submissions until April 1, 2025. Submit one humor poem (maximum 250 lines). Prizes include $2,000 for first place, $500 for second, and $250 for third, with ten honorable mentions receiving $100 each. Both unpublished and previously published work are accepted. The contest is free to enter and open to poets worldwide, except for Syria, Iran, North Korea, Crimea, Russia, and Belarus due to US government restrictions. Poems must be humorous and written in English. No AI-generated poems allowed.

Deadline: April 1, 2025

Eligibility: Open to all poets worldwide (excluding certain countries)

Prizes: 1st - $2,000, 2nd - $500, 3rd - $250, 10 honorable mentions of $100

Entry Fee: Free


2. The Rialto's Nature and Place Poetry Competition 2025

Prizes:
1st: £1,000
2nd: £500
3rd: £250

Deadline: 1 April 2025

Entry Fees:
1st poem: £7
Additional poems: £4 each
Submit up to 6 poems. Poems must be no more than 40 lines, excluding the title.

Open to anyone over 18. Poems must be original and unpublished. Winning poems will be published online and in print.

3. 12th Continental Essay Competition 2025

Deadline: April 2, 2025, at 3:00 PM
Entry Fee: None

Eligibility: Open to university and college students in Malawi.

Submission Guidelines:
  • Essays must include the author's postal, physical, telephone, and email address on the first page.
  • Attach a copy of the National ID or Passport and a completed registration form (available at MBS offices or online at www.mbsmw.org or www.arso-oran.org).
  • Submit entries via email to mbs@mbsmw.org or by hand to the Malawi Bureau of Standards Head Office in Blantyre.
  • Essays should focus on the assigned topic (details available on the competition’s websites).

4. The ISA Essay Competition 2025

The ISA Essay Competition 2025 offers pupils at ISA Members’ schools the opportunity to showcase their writing talent. Open to students in Years 5–13, entries are accepted across several categories, with specific themes for each age group.


Open for Entries: Thursday, 13 February 2025
Deadline: Thursday, 24 April 2025

Eligibility:
Open to pupils at ISA Members’ schools only.
Schools may submit a maximum of two entries per category, except for the Year 12–13 category, where up to six entries may be submitted.

Categories:

  • Year 5–6
  • Year 7–8
  • Year 9–11
  • Year 12–13
  • Sixth form students can write on any topic or genre.
  • Younger age groups have specific themes to choose from.

Judging Criteria:
  • Originality and creativity
  • Style and presentation
  • Use of language
  • Form and structure
Submission Guidelines:
  • All entries must be submitted via the online entry form on the ISA website by the deadline.
  • File format: PDF or Word document, named as follows: SchoolName_PupilName.
  • Essays may be handwritten or typed.
  • Essays should be unaided work and must include a final word count at the end.
  • Entries may be written in any language, provided an English translation is included.
Accessibility:
ISA welcomes applications from all pupils, including those with learning difficulties or disabilities. Alternative formats of these guidelines are available upon request.



5. Hogan/Smoger Access to Justice Essay Competition 2025

Deadline: April 30, 2025 (11:59 PM ET)
Entry Fee: None
Prize: $5,000

Eligibility: Open to current law students, master’s of law students, and post-2015 law graduates. Co-authored submissions are accepted, with the prize shared among authors.

Topic: Legal remedies to combat climate change, under the broader theme of Access to Justice.

Submission Guidelines:
  • Essays must be 6,000–25,000 words (excluding footnotes) with Bluebook citations on American law.
  • Submissions must be original, unpublished, and written in English.
  • Format: Microsoft Word document with footnotes (not endnotes).
  • Submit via email to Amanda Fleming at afleming@citizen.org.
  • Judging Criteria: Depth of analysis, originality, writing quality, and thoroughness.

Administered by Public Citizen and sponsored by Hogan Law Office and Smoger & Associates.

May Writing Competitions USA 2025

1. James Laughlin Award 2025

Deadline: May 15, 2025 (11:59 p.m. ET)
Entry Fee: Free
Prize: $5,000, week-long residency at The Betsy Hotel, Miami Beach, FL, and distribution of the book to 1,000 Academy of American Poets members

Eligibility: Open to U.S. citizens, residents, or those with certain immigration statuses. Poets must have published one book of poetry (48+ pages) and have a second book under contract for 2026 publication.

Guidelines: Submit a manuscript (48-100 pages) of original poetry in English. Entries must be submitted in PDF format, without the author’s name in the manuscript. No chapbooks or translations. Submissions are via publishers only.

2. Writer's Digest Annual Writing Competition 2025

Deadline: May 25, 2025
Entry Fee: Varies based on submission category and date.

Prizes:

Grand Prize: $5,000, publication, interview, conference trip, and pitch opportunity.

First Place (per category): $1,000 and publication.
Additional cash prizes for 2nd–10th places and discounts, subscriptions, and recognition for top winners and honorable mentions.

Categories: Include poetry, essays, short stories (various genres), humor, and children’s/YA fiction.

Submission Guidelines: Open to original works in 10 categories. Winners will be featured in Writer’s Digest (Nov/Dec 2025 issue) and online.


3. The SADC Secondary School Essay Competition 2025

The SADC Secondary School Essay Competition 2025 invites students from all 16 SADC Member States to submit essays on the topic: "How can innovation enhance SADC industrialization and sustainable economic growth and development?"

Deadline: 31 May 2025

Regional Prizes:
1st Prize: USD 1,500 | 2nd Prize: USD 1,000 | 3rd Prize: USD 750

National Prizes:
1st Prize: USD 500 | 2nd Prize: USD 300 | 3rd Prize: USD 200

Essays must be submitted via school head teachers. The competition aims to foster regional integration and socio-economic development through innovative thinking.


July Writing Competitions USA 2025

1. Anthology Short Story Competition 2025

Submit original, unpublished short stories (up to 1,500 words) by July 31, 2025, for a chance to win:

First Prize: €1,000 and publication in Anthology magazine
Second Prize: €250
Third Prize: €150

Deadline: July 31, 2025

Entry Fee:

Early Bird: €15 (Nov 2024 - Jan 2025)
Standard: €18 (Feb - Jul 2025)

No age limit or restrictions on theme or style. Stories must be judged anonymously; writer’s name should not appear on the story. Multiple entries allowed with separate fees.

September Writing Competitions USA 2025

1. Anthology Flash Fiction Competition 2025

The Anthology Flash Fiction Competition 2025 is open for submissions until September 30, 2025. Submit original, unpublished flash fiction pieces up to 250 words in any theme or genre for a chance to win a €300 cash prize and publication in Anthology magazine. There are multiple entry fees:

Very Early Bird fee: €8 (November - December 2024)
Early Bird fee: €10 (January - February 2025)
Standard fee: €12 (March - September 2025)

Prizes: €300 and publication in Anthology magazine

Deadline: September 30, 2025

Eligibility: Open to all writers worldwide, any age




2024 Writing Competitions

Writing Contests 2024 USA

Writing Contests 2024 USA January 

  • Defenestrationism's Lengthy Poem Contest 2024

Submit to Defenestrationism's Lengthy Poem Contest 2024, organized in memory of Christine Gawn Wick

A total amount of 300 U.S. dollars will be offered to a single winner of a Lengthy Poem Contest.

Submission for the 2024 Lengthy Poem Contest is now open.

Deadline: January 1st, 2024


  • Gemini Magazine Poetry Prize 2024


FIRST PRIZE: $1,000
Second Prize: $100
Four Honorable Mentions: $25
Entry Fee: $9 (up to 3 poems)

Deadline: January 2, 2024

All Six Finalists Will Be Published Online in our March/April 2024 Issue

Any Subject, Style or Length
Entries Must Be Unpublished
Poems on Personal Blogs OK
All Entries Are Read Blind

  • The Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies 2024

The Steinbeck Fellows Program, endowed through the generosity of Martha Heasley Cox, offers emerging writers of any age and background the opportunity to pursue a significant writing project during their fellowship tenure. The emphasis of the program is on helping writers who have had some success but have not published extensively, and whose promising work would be aided by the financial support and sponsorship of the Center and the University's creative writing program.

The Steinbeck Fellowship Program is named in honor of author John Steinbeck and is guided by his lifetime of work in literature, the media, and environmental activism. The program offers the opportunity to interact with other writers, faculty, and graduate students, and to share your work in progress by giving a public reading during the fellowship. Fellowships include a stipend of $15,000. 

Deadline: January 5, 2024


  • Quantum Shorts Flash Fiction Contest 2024

Writers, gear up for the last open call for Quantum Shorts's flash fiction. The contest is free to enter and is accepting submissions until 8 January 2024.  

Interested writers are required to craft a story no longer than 1000 words that takes inspiration from quantum physics. The story must also incorporate the phrase “nobody said this was going to be easy”. 

  • The Colorado Prize for Poetry 2024
The Colorado Prize for Poetry is an international poetry book manuscript contest established in 1995. Each year’s prizewinner receives a $2,500 honorarium and publication of his or her book by the Center for Literary Publishing

Submission Guidelines 
Manuscripts will be accepted between October 1, 2023, and the postmark deadline of January 14, 2024 (note that we observe a five-day grace period for both paper and online submissions).

The winner will be announced by May 2024.

The winning book-length collection of poems will be published by the Center for Literary Publishing and distributed by the University Press of Colorado in the fall of 2024. The author receives a $2,500 honorarium.

Deadline: January 14, 2024


  • The Gulliver Travel Grant 2023


Award: $1,000 USD.

Winner announced January 15, 2024.

Since 2004, the Gulliver Travel Grant has been awarded annually to assist writers of speculative literature in their non-academic research. These funds are used to cover airfare, lodging, and other travel expenses. Travel may be domestic or international. You may apply for travel to take place at any point in the following year.

This grant, as with all SLF grants, is intended to help writers working with speculative literature. Speculative literature spans the breadth of fantastic writing, encompassing literature ranging from hard science fiction to epic fantasy, including ghost stories, horror, folk and fairy tales, slipstream, magical realism, and more. Any piece of literature containing a fabulist or speculative element would fall under our aegis.

This grant is awarded on the basis of interest and merit. If awarded the grant, the recipient agrees to provide a brief report of their research experience (500-1,000 words) and an autobiographical statement describing themselves and their writing (500-1,000 words) for our files and for public dissemination on our website and mailing list.



  • Rattle Chapbook Prize 2024
While most chapbook contests offer maybe $500 and 25 copies of your chapbook, we’re going to give a few poets something special. Every year, three winners will receive:

$5,000.

500 copies.

Distribution to Rattle’s 8,000+ subscribers.

In a world where a bestselling full-length poetry book means 1,000 copies sold, the winners will reach an audience more than seven times as large on the first day alone—an audience that includes hundreds of other literary magazines, presses, and well-known poets. This will be a chapbook to launch a career.

And maybe the best part is this: Every Rattle subscriber will receive a copy of each winning chapbook. Beginning in 2018, each quarterly issue of Rattle includes a bonus chapbook delivered to every subscriber, most of which being selected through this annual competition.

DEADLINE:
January 15, 2024 (11:59 p.m. PST)


  • Chris O'Malley Prize in Fiction 2024 and Phyllis Smart-Young Prize in Poetry 2024
The Madison Review accepts contest submissions from November 1st, 2023 to January 22nd, 2024. Contests will have a submission fee of $10.

Phylis Smart-Young prize in poetry:

Phylis Smart-Young submissions should adhere to poetry submission standards, with the exception the 5-poem maximum. Submissions should be exactly three poems, no fewer and no more, with a maximum length of 15 pages.
Chris O'Malley prize in fiction:

Chris O'Malley submissions are to follow the same standards as all other fiction submissions.
Writers may submit one entry per genre (one short story and/or group of three poems). Updates on the contests can be found on our Instagram and our Twitter feed.

Chris O'Malley Prize in Fiction 2024 

The finest unpublished short story is awarded $1,000 and publication in the spring issue of The Madison Review!

Deadline: January 22, 2024


  • Askew’s Word on the Lake Writing Contest 2023


Whether you’re an established or emerging writer, the annual Askew’s Word on the Lake Writing Contest has a place for you.

Deadline: The contest submission period opens on January 2, 2024, and submissions can be emailed up to midnight Pacific time, January 31, 2024.

The contest offers prizes for nine winners overall, thanks to the generosity of contest sponsor Askew’s Foods:

$200 for First Place in each category (short fiction, nonfiction, and poetry), plus a 2024 festival registration package
$125 for Second Place in each category, plus a festival banquet package
$100 for Honourable Mention in each category, plus a festival banquet package
All winning entries will also be published in the 2024 edition of the Askew’s Word on the Lake Anthology. Everyone who enters the contest will receive a copy of the anthology in ebook format (epub, mobi, and PDF), and each contest winner also receives the anthology in print. The 2024 anthology, along with anthologies from previous years, will be available at the festival and online.

Each entry to the contest has a $15 Canadian entry fee, one hundred percent of which goes directly to supporting the Word on the Lake Writers’ Festival


  • Pawners Paper's Spoken Word and Poetry Contest 1.0 2024
The maiden edition of Pawners Paper's Spoken Word and Poetry Contest 1.0 is currently open for submission. We hereby invite submissions from poets and spoken word artists to submit their best pieces in contest for the cash prizes.

About Pawners Paper's Maiden Spoken Words and Poetry Contest 1.0 2024

The Spoken Words and Poetry Contest 1.0 2024 marks the maiden edition of an annual literary competition organized by Pawners Paper with the sole purpose of rewarding writers and other creatives for their outstanding brilliance, creativity, and hard work exerted in their different forms of knowledge production.

Hence, we seek works that showcase creativity, inspire expansive imaginations, and align with the designated themes for each category.

The contest is open to two genres: Spoken Word and Poetry. For each category, interested persons are to follow the submission guidelines below.

Cash Prizes: $40 plus publication of shortlisted entries.

Entry Fee: No entry fee.

Deadline: January 30


  • Story Unlikely Annual Short Story Contest 2024

Attention storytellers: we just want good stories! There are no restrictions on genre: fantasy, sci fi, memoir, fiction/nonfiction, etc - we don't care as long as it's written and told with quality and care. The story itself cannot exceed 4,500 words. There are no restrictions on age or location of participant, and no need to ask us for permission to participate in the contest - just follow the guidelines below.

What do I win?
      A $1,000 $1,500 prize package will be divvied up like so: $750 first place, $500 second place, $250 third place. The winning story will be featured on Story Unlikely's website, will be strongly considered for our annual (print) sample magazine, and may be sent out as the bonus story for signing up, which means a lot of exposure to the winner.

Deadline: January 31


Writing Contests 2024 USA February 

  • Dragonblade Publishing's Write Track Competition 2024

The “Write Track” (formerly “The Write Stuff”) Competition is an annual quest to find great talent and reward excellence. Both new and established authors are encouraged to participate for a grand prize of $1,000 and a publishing contract with Dragonblade Publishing.

Submissions cut off February 1, 2024


  • The Ambroggio Prize 2024
The Ambroggio Prize is a $1,000 publication prize given for a book-length poetry manuscript originally written in Spanish and with an English translation. The winning manuscript is published by the University of Arizona Press, which is nationally recognized for its commitment to publishing the award-winning works of emerging and established voices in Latinx and Indigenous literature, as well as groundbreaking scholarship in Latinx and Indigenous studies.

Established in 2017, the Ambroggio Prize is the only annual award of its kind in the United States that honors American poets whose first language is Spanish.

Deadline: Submissions for the 2024 Ambroggio Prize will be accepted from September 15, 2023 to February 15, 2024. The judge is Norma Elia Cantú. 



  • Harold Morton Landon Translation Award 2024
This $1,000 award recognizes the work of a translator for a poetry collection translated from any language into English and published in the previous calendar year. Established in 1976, it is given annually. A noted translator chooses the winning book.

Submissions for the 2024 Harold Morton Landon Translation Award will be accepted from September 15, 2023 through February 15, 2024. The judge is Valzhyna Mort.



  • The Tower Poetry Competition 2024
The Tower Poetry Competition offers the UK’s most valuable prize for young poets. The competition is free to enter and it is open to students between 16-18 years of age who are educated in the UK. 

The competition is judged anonymously by two guest judges, who are different each year, and the Christopher Tower Student. Each year the theme is chosen with the intention of giving entrants free rein to interpret it as widely as they like.

The Christopher Tower Poetry Prizes recently reached new heights with a newly increased first prize and a full set of awards worth more than £14000. 

This year, the poet who writes the best single poem on the theme of ‘Mirror’ receives £5000. There will be a second prize of £3000, and a third prize of £1500. Along with these, there will be ten runners up, who will each receive £500

Deadline: 23 February 2024


Writing Contests 2024 USA March

  • The 2024 New Poets Prize

The New Poets Prize is a pamphlet competition for writers between the ages of 17 and 24 (inclusive). This prize will run alongside the renowned International Book & Pamphlet Competition, also organised by The Poetry Business, which has now been established for 38 years.

Entrants are invited to submit short collections of twelve pages of poems. Winners and runners-up will be selected to receive a year of support from The Poetry Business, a publisher and writer development agency with a strong reputation for discovering, developing and promoting outstanding new writers.

Two winners will receive editorial support and help in extending their entry to 20 or 24 pages for pamphlet publication by Smith | Doorstop and their work will in appear in a feature in The North magazine.

Two runners-up will receive mentoring, including a place on a residential writing course, and their poems will appear in a feature in East of The North, the Poetry Business’s online poetry publication.

The winners and runners-up will also receive a subscription to The North magazine and will be invited to give a reading organised by The Poetry Business.

Deadline: March 6, 2024


Writing Contests 2024 USA April

  • Indignor House Writing Competition 2024

https://youtu.be/yQp3rUY2oOM?si=n7-EQVCgsF4-DArn

Entries accepted ~ September 2023 – March 2024
The 2023-2024 theme is “Fear.”

https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3Aea493d49-e1ab-3e44-91c9-3bf4457c7d78

Click the  text above to view a PDF about the annual short story competition, including all information regarding rules, regulations, and cash prize awards.

The Indignor House Writing Competition is the perfect place for new authors to practice their craft. Each piece is thoroughly edited and tweaked for perfection. Our feedback covers telling vs showing, the use of active verbs, and other issues that most new authors experience

Deadline: March 2024


  • Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest 2024

Now in its 23rd year, Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest is one of the most prestigious poetry competitions that are usually open annually. It's a poetry contest seeks today's best humor poems. No fee to enter. Submit published or unpublished work.

Cash Prizes: The selected winners Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest win $3,750 in total prize.

First Prize: $2,000 plus a two-year gift certificate from our co-sponsor, Duotrope (a $100 value)
Second Prize: $500
Third Prize: $250
Honorable Mentions: 10 awards of $100 each
Top 12 entries published online

Timeline 

Please submit one humor poem during
August 15, 2023-April 1, 2024
The results of our 23rd contest will be announced on August 15, 2024.



  • SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction 2024 | $4,000 Cash Prizes 

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

The grand prize winner of The Smokey is automatically nominated for The Best Small Fictions, The Pushcart, Best of the Net, and any other prize we deem appropriate. In addition to all this love, we will pay the grand prize winner $2500. Second place: $1000. Third place $500. Finalists: $100. All finalists and placers will be published in the special competition issue in June 2024.

Deadline: April 30, 2024


  • Tadpole Press 100-Word Writing Contest 2024 |$2000+ Cash Prize 

100 words or less per entry, including the title if you have one. We use Microsoft Word for the official word count, which treats hyphenated words as one word. We recommend plunking your entry into Word right before submitting it to determine the accurate word count. Just be sure to omit any other info such as your name or the date.

Prizes
1st place: $2,000 USD.

2nd place: Writing coaching package valued at $450 USD.

3rd place: Developmental and diversity editing package valued at $250 USD.

Deadline: April 30, 2024


  • Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize 2024 | $5,000 Cash Prize

Established in 1981, the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize is administered by the
University of Pittsburgh Press. Named in honor of Agnes Lynch Starrett, the Press’s
first director, the prize is awarded for a first full-length book of poems.

The prize carries a cash award of $5,000 and publication by the University of
Pittsburgh Press as part of the Pitt Poetry Series

Deadline: April 30, 2024


  • Poetry International Prize 2024 | $1000 Cash Prize 

THE POETRY INTERNATIONAL PRIZE 2024 is one of two annual contests sponsored by Poetry International to award a cash prize of $1000 and publication for a single poem of any length. Submit up to 3 poems with a $15 entry fee. You may submit additional poems for a $3 reading fee per poem. All entries are considered for publication. Please refer to our contest guidelines for more information.

Deadline: Contest opens in spring and runs from March 1 to April 30. Winners are announced in the fall.


  • 2024 Oversound Chapbook Prize | $1000 and 50 Copies

$1000 and 50 copies to winner.

$18 to enter. (or $21 to enter and receive a back issue or previously published chapbook)

Deadline: March 1-April 30, 2024


  • The Iowa Poetry Prize 2024

The Iowa Poetry Prize, open to new as well as established poets, is awarded for a book-length collection of poems written originally in English. Previous winners, current University of Iowa students, and current and former University of Iowa Press employees are not eligible.

Deadline: Manuscripts must be submitted during the month of April. Please note that the Submittable form opens at 12:00 am CST on April 1st, and closes at 11:59 pm CST on April 30th.


  • Own Voices, Own Stories Award 2024 | $2000+ Cash Prizes 

The submissions for the Own Voices, Own Stories Award 2024 are currently open. The award is annually made available to children’s picture book manuscripts written by new authors from historically marginalized groups with the intention of recognizing and amplifying new and diverse voices with underrepresented perspectives.

Prizes
Grand Prize winners will receive a $2,000 cash prize, in addition to a publishing contract with advance and royalties standard for new Sleeping Bear Press authors.

 Honor Award winners will receive a $500 cash prize as well as one consulting session with a Sleeping Bear Press editor. 

Submissions selected for the Sleeping Bear Press Own Voices, Own Stories collection will be offered a publishing contract.

Deadline: Submissions are open January 2 through April 30. 


  • Al Blanchard Award 2024 | $100 Cash Prize And More 

The New England Crime Bake Committee established the Al Blanchard Award in Al Blanchard's memory to annually honor the best crime short story by a New England writer or with a New England setting.

The Prizes
  • $100 cash award.
  • Publication in 2024’s Best New England Crime Stories anthology
  • Free admission to the Crime Bake Conference.
  • A handsome plaque.
  • The winner is not required to attend the conference.

Deadline: Deadline for submission is midnight, April 30, 2024.


  • The Author of Tomorrow Award 2024 | £1000+ Cash Prizes 

The Author of Tomorrow Award, a part of the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize is an annual competition designed to find the adventure writers of the future. The award is open to young people, aged 21 and under, who have completed a short piece of adventure writing in English. 

Categories 
Category 1: age 16-21 years

Prize: £1,000

Young writers must submit a short adventure story between 1,500-3,000 words in length.

Category 2: age 12-15 years

Prize: £250, plus £150 in book tokens for their school, library or charity of choice

Young writers must submit a short adventure story between 1,000-2,000 words in length.

Category 3: age 11 and under

Prize: £100, plus £150 in book tokens for their school, library or charity of choice

Deadline: The 2024 Author of Tomorrow Award will open for submissions on 1st March, 2024 and will close on 30th April, 2024. 

Writing Contests 2024 USA May

  • The Waterston Desert Writing Prize 2024 | $3000 Cash Prize 

The Waterston Desert Writing Prize 2024 is currently open for submission. The prize was established in 2014, inspired by author and poet Ellen Waterston’s love of the High Desert, a region that has been her muse for more than 40 years. The Prize provides financial and other support to writers whose work reflects a similar connection to the desert, recognizing the vital role deserts play worldwide in the ecosystem and the human narrative.

The recipient of this year's prize will be awarded $3000 cash prize and a reading and reception at the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon on September 26, 2024. 

Deadline: The deadline is 11:59 pm on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.


  • 15th Call for the Casa África Essay Awards 2024 | 2000 Euros Cash Prize
Casa África announces its 15th Essay Award on African themes and seeks submission from various writers with the sole purpose of recognizing, encouraging and disseminating original and unpublished essays that contribute to the knowledge of the African continent

The winning work will be published within our Essay Prize Collection and a prize of 2,000 euros will also be awarded subject to the Spanish tax legislation in force at the time of payment, regardless of the country of tax residence of the author or authors. that they are winners.

Deadline: The participation period is from February 2 to May 2, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. (GMT+0).

  • Montreal International Poetry Prize 2024 | $20,000 Cash Prize

The Montreal Prize 2024 is open for entries. The Montreal International Poetry Prize is committed to encouraging the creation of original works of poetry, to building international readership, and to exploring the world’s Englishes. 

The Montreal Prize awards one prize of $20,000 CAD to a poet for a single poem of 40 or fewer lines. A jury of internationally reputed poets and critics selects a shortlist of approximately 60 poems, from which a judge chooses one winner. The shortlist is published in The Montreal Poetry Prize Anthology.

The prize is run by the Department of English at McGill University in Montreal, Canada

Deadline: May 15, 2024


  • Academy of American Poets' James Laughlin Award 2024 | $5,000 Cash Prize and Sponsored Residency
Academy of American Poets' James Laughlin Award 2024 is given to recognize and support a second book of poetry forthcoming in the next calendar year. The award was endowed in 1995 by a gift to the Academy from the Drue Heinz Trust. It is named for the poet and publisher James Laughlin (1914-1997), who founded New Directions in 1936.

The winning poet receives a prize of $5,000, an all-expenses-paid weeklong residency at The Betsy Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, and distribution of the winning book to approximately one thousand Academy of American Poets members.

Deadline: Submissions for the 2024 James Laughlin Award are accepted from January 1, 2024 to May 15, 2024.


  • ABA Journal / Ross Writing Contest for Legal Short Fiction 2024 | $5,000 Cash Prize
The ABA Journal, the flagship magazine of the American Bar Association ("ABA"), sponsors the annual ABA Journal / Ross Writing Contest for Legal Short Fiction (the "Contest") and it's currently open for submission. 

The winner will receive a prize of $5,000.

Deadline: The ABA Journal will accept entries for the Contest through May 15, 2024. 


  • Academy of American Poets' Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize 2024 | $25,000 Cash Prize
Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize 2024 recognizes the most outstanding book of poetry published in the United States in the previous calendar year. The prize includes a ten-day residency at Glen Hollow in Naples, New York, and distribution of the winning book to hundreds of Academy of American Poets members.

Submissions for the 2024 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize are accepted from January 1, 2024 to May 15, 2024.


  • The Yeovil Literary Prize International Writing Competition 2024

The Yeovil Literary Prize international writing competition opens on 1st January 2024 and closes on 31st May 2024. Winners will be announced on their website on 30th September 2024. The categories are poetry, short story, novel, children and adult novel.


  • The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing 2024|$10,000 and publication

The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing was created in 2015 to honor outstanding debut literary works by first-generation immigrants, awarded for fiction and nonfiction in alternating years. The winner receives $10,000 and publication by Restless Books. 

Deadline: Submissions for the 2024 Prize in Fiction will be accepted from January 1, 2024, through May 31, 2024.

Writing Contests 2024 USA June


  • Boulevard Emerging Poets Contest 2024 | $1,000 Cash Prize 

$1,000 and publication in Boulevard awarded for the winning group of three poems by a poet who has not yet published a book of poetry with a nationally distributed press. 

Deadline: All entries must be submitted online by midnight CT June 1.


  • Bard College's The Bard Fiction Prize 2025 | $30,000 and Writer Residency

The Bard Fiction Prize 2025 is awarded to a promising emerging writer who is an American citizen aged 39 years or younger at the time of application. In addition to a $30,000 cash award, the winner receives an appointment as writer in residence at Bard College for one semester, without the expectation that he or she teach traditional courses. The recipient gives at least one public lecture and meets informally with students.

Deadline: Applications for the 2025 prize must be received by June 1, 2024.


  • The Pattis Family Foundation Creative Arts Book Award 2024 | $25,000 Cash Prize
The Pattis Family Foundation Creative Arts Book Award at Interlochen is presented annually to a book that inspires, illuminates, or exemplifies the creative process in fields such as creative writing, dance, film and new media, music, theatre, and visual arts.

This inaugural award recognizes outstanding works of fiction or nonfiction. The winning author receives a $25,000 cash prize, and will conduct a multi-day residency at Interlochen Arts Academy and join the lineup of the National Writers Series in Traverse City, Michigan. Two runner-up awards of $2,500 may also be presented.

Deadline: The entry form opens on October 16, 2023 and closes on June 1, 2024.

  • Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition 2024

They offer unpublished and unagented writers of children’s fiction the chance to submit their work to the annual Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition. They are looking for original ideas, a fresh voice, a diverse range of entries and stories that children will love.

First prize is a worldwide publishing contract with Chicken House with a royalty advance of £10,000, plus an offer of representation by this year’s agent judge, Lydia Silver of Darley Anderson Children’s Book Agency.

The second prize, the Lime Pictures New Storyteller Award, is a publishing contract with a royalty advance of £7,500 plus an offer of representation by Lydia Silver. The prize will be awarded to a manuscript that shows great potential for film and TV development.

Deadline: Our annual competition opens on 1 December 2023. The deadline for entries will be at 23:59 UK time on 1 June 2024

  • The Bridport Prize 2024
Founded in 1973, the Bridport Prize is the Arts Centres flagship project. Attracting many thousands of entries from across the world each year, it has grown to become one of the most widely respected creative writing competitions in the English language.

The competition has four categories: Poetry, Short Story, Flash Fiction, Novel Award.

Deadline: June 2024

  • 2024 McLellan Poetry Competition

The competition is open to anyone except members of the McLellan Festival Team. You may enter any number of poems and on any subject. This year we shall be running both the main International Competition in English plus a separate competition for the best poems in the Scots language. 

Deadline: The closing date and time for all entries is midnight on Sunday 2nd June 2024.


  • The Goi Peace Foundation's International Essay Contest For Young People 2024 | $700+ Cash Prizes

This annual essay contest is organized in an effort to harness the energy, creativity and initiative of the world's youth in promoting a culture of peace and sustainable development. It also aims to inspire society to learn from the young minds and to think about how each of us can make a difference in the world.

This program is an activity within the framework of UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development: Towards achieving the SDGs.

“My Experience of Overcoming Conflict”

Awards

The following awards will be given in the Children’s category and Youth category respectively:

1st Prize: Certificate, prize of 100,000 Yen (approx. US$660 as of Feb. 2024) and gift ... 1 entrant

2nd Prize: Certificate, prize of 50,000 Yen (approx. US$330 as of Feb. 2024) and gift ... 3 entrants

3rd Prize: Certificate and gift ... 5 entrants
Honorable Mention: Certificate and gift ... 25 entrants

* 1st to 3rd prize winners will be invited to the Winners Gathering to be held online.

* Additional awards (Best School Award, School Incentive Award) will be given if applicable.

* All prize winners will be announced on October 31, 2024 (Japan time) on this website. Certificates and gifts will be mailed to the winners in January 2025.

Deadline: Entries must be received by June 15, 2024 (23:59 your local time)



  • University of Akron Press's Akron Poetry Prize 2024 | $1,500 and Publication
Each year, the University of Akron Press offers the Akron Poetry Prize, a competition open to all poets writing in English. The winning poet receives $1,500 and publication of their book as part of the Akron Series in Poetry. The final selection will be made by a nationally prominent poet. 

Other manuscripts may also be considered for publication in the series. 

Deadline: We will accept submissions for the 2024 Akron Poetry Prize competition from April 15, 2024 through June 15, 2024. The final judge for 2024 is Matthew Olzmann.

  • Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors Short Story Contest 2024 | No Entry Fee

Grist is excited to open submissions for the fourth year of our Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors short story contest. 

Imagine 2200 is an invitation to writers from all over the globe to imagine a future in which solutions to the climate crisis flourish and help bring about radical improvements to our world. 

There is no cost to enter.

Prizes
The winning writer will be awarded $3,000. The second- and third-place winners receive $2,000 and $1,000, respectively. An additional nine finalists will each receive $300. All winners and finalists will have their story published in an immersive collection on Grist’s website.

They are also partnering with Oregon State University’s Spring Creek Project, which will offer the winning writer (or a runner-up, in the case the winner cannot accept) the opportunity to participate in its Environmental Writing Fellowship and Residency, including a writing residency at the Cabin at Shotpouch Creek for the winner to spend up to four weeks in residence to continue their climate writing project. The Fellow will receive a $3,000 honorarium from Spring Creek Project.

Deadline:  Submissions close June 24, 2024, 11:59 p.m. U.S. Pacific Time.


  • The Griffin Poetry Prize 2025 | $130,000 Cash Prizes

The Griffin Poetry Prize 2025 is one of the world’s most generous poetry awards. As of 2023, the prize is worth C$130,000, making it the world’s largest international prize for a single book of poetry written in, or translated into English. The other shortlisted poets each receive $10,000. Explore the 22-year history of the Griffin Poetry Prize here.

The Griffin Poetry Prize is awarded annually for the best collection of poetry written in, or translated into, English. A longlist of 10 books is announced annually in March, and a shortlist of 5 books is announced annually in April. The winner is announced at the Griffin Poetry Prize readings held in Canada annually in June. The winner receives C$130,000 and the other shortlisted poets each receive C$10,000.

  • The 2024 Poetry London Prize | $8,000 Cash Prizes

The competition is open to poets anywhere in the world. Entries must be in English, your own unaided work, and not a translation of another poet. Entries must not have been previously published or self-published, in print or online, or have won a prize in another competition. The maximum length is 80 lines, not including titles or blank lines.

Prizes
First Prize £5,000
Second Prize £2,000
Third Prize £1,000. 

Deadline: June 30. The judge of the 2024 Prize is Hannah Sullivan.


  • Drue Heinz Literature Prize 2024 | $15,000 Cash Prize and Publication 
The Drue Heinz Literature Prize 2024 recognizes and supports writers of short fiction and makes their work available to readers around the world. The award is open to authors who have published a book-length collection of fiction or at least three short stories or novellas in commercial magazines or literary journals.

Manuscripts are judged anonymously by nationally known writers. Past judges have included Robert Penn Warren, Joyce Carol Oates, Raymond Carver, Margaret Atwood, Russell Banks, Rick Moody, and Joan Didion.

Winners receive a cash prize of $15,000, publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press, and support in the nation-wide promotion of their book.

Deadline: Manuscripts must be received during May and June. That is, they must be submitted on or after May 1 and on or before June 30.


Writing Contests 2024 USA July 

  • The Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize 2024 | $1,000 Cash Prize 

Exceptionally international in scope, the prize supports writers who have not yet published a book-length work, with no limits on age, gender, nationality, or background. The winners of each category will receive a £1,000 cash prize and publication in Wasafiri magazine. 

All winners and shortlisted writers will be offered the Chapter and Verse or Free Reads mentoring scheme in partnership with The Literary Consultancy (dependent on eligibility), and a conversation with The Good Literary Agency to discuss their career progression, as well as a one-year print subscription to Wasafiri.

Deadline: Entries must be completed through the submissions form no later than 5pm BST on 1 July 2024.

  • The Wanjohi Prize for African Poetry | $100, $50

The maiden edition of The Wanjohi Prize for African Poetry is currently open for submissions. The Wanjohi Prize for African Poetry is in honour of the remarkable contributions of Benny Wanjohi to African poetry.

Submission open from April 1 to July 1, 2024

Prize For The Wanjohi Prize for African Poetry

The winner receives $100.

First runner-up receives $50.



  • The HG Wells Short Story Competition 2024 | $1,000+ Cash Prizes and Publication 

The annual HG Wells Fiction Short Story Competition offers a £500 Senior and £1,000 Junior prize and free publication of all shortlisted entries in a quality, professionally published paperback anthology. The competition comprises two separate categories: The Margaret and Reg Turnill Competition & Senior Writing Competition

All entries must relate to the theme for this year’s Competition: The Fool

Deadline: The closing date is Monday 8th July 2024 and entries will be accepted up to 11pm (BST) on that date.


Writing Contests 2024 USA August 

  • The Aesthetica Creative Writing Award 2024 | Poetry and Short Story

The Aesthetica Creative Writing Award celebrates outstanding writers. The Award was launched after the publication of Aesthetica Magazine, as a way to support the next generation of literary talent. These were first published in the Creative Works Annual, a collection celebrating innovative poetry and short fiction from both established and emerging practitioners. Originally, it was an anthology of new writing and new artwork. However, as the Aesthetica Creative Writing Award and the Art Prize started to reach more audiences, the decision was made in 2013 to separate them into two Awards with their own prizes and publications.

Prizes
  1. £5,000 prize money
  2. (£2,500 for the Poetry Winner, £2,500 for the Short Fiction Winner)
  3. Publication in the Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual
  4. A five-day course from Arvon (Fiction Winner)
  5. Two online masterclasses with Arvon (Poetry Winner)
  6. One-year print subscription to Granta (Poetry & Fiction Winners)
  7. One-year digital subscription to Mslexia (Poetry & Fiction Winners)
  8. Six-week writing poetry course from Curtis Brown Creative (Poetry Winner)
  9. Full membership to The Poetry Society (Poetry Winner)
  10. A course from the Poetry School (Poetry Winner)
  11. Consultation with Redhammer Management (Fiction Winner)
  12. Six-week writing short stories course from Curtis Brown Creative (Fiction Winner)
  13. Full membership to Litopia (Poetry & Fiction Winners)
  14. One-year Deluxe Subscription to The London Magazine (Poetry & Fiction Winners)

Deadline: 1 December – 31 August: Entries Open


Writing Contests 2024 USA September 

  • Rattle Poetry Prize 2024 | $15,000 Cash Prize 

Rattle is a publication of the Rattle Foundation, an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the practice of poetry, and is not affiliated with any other organization.

One $15,000 Winner and ten $500 Finalists will be selected in an anonymized review by the editors of Rattle and printed in the Winter 2024 issue; one $5,000 Readers’ Choice Award will then be chosen from among the Finalists by subscriber and entrant vote.

Open to writers, worldwide; poems must be written primarily in English (no translations except by the original author). Rattle’s winter issue must be a potential first curation for all works submitted—meaning they can’t have appeared in any books, e-books, magazines, or similar collections, online or in print. The poems may have been self-published to personal blogs or social media. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but we must be notified immediately if any poems are accepted elsewhere. On Submittable, log in, click on the submission, and send us a message using that system to let us know. 


  • Tadpole Press 100-Word Writing Contest 2024 |$2000+ Cash Prize 

100 words or less per entry, including the title if you have one. We use Microsoft Word for the official word count, which treats hyphenated words as one word. We recommend plunking your entry into Word right before submitting it to determine the accurate word count. Just be sure to omit any other info such as your name or the date.

Prizes
1st place: $2,000 USD.

2nd place: Writing coaching package valued at $450 USD.

3rd place: Developmental and diversity editing package valued at $250 USD.

Deadline: September 30, 2024



Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poetry

 The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poetry is awarded annually to an African poet who has not yet published a collection of poetry. The winner receives USD $1000 and book publication through the University of Nebraska Press and Amalion in Senegal.

The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets will only accept “first book” submissions from African writers who have not published a book-length poetry collection. This includes self-published books if they were sold online, in stores, or at readings. Writers who have edited and published an anthology or a similar collection of other writers’ work remain eligible.

Deadline: Manuscripts are accepted annually between September 15th and December 1st.




List Of Writing Competitions USA 2023

The contests are organized based on the days and months of deadlines.

January Writing Competitions USA 2023

  • European Writing Prize 2023

The European Society of Literature hosts many writing competitions each year, but the European Writing Prize is the most prestigious of them all. The annual competition will help showcase a variety of writers from different backgrounds, and this year marks the first.

 The theme is usually quite vague so as to give authors room to add as much of their own individuality and creativity to their pieces as possible.

Submissions will open on 1 October 2022, and will close on 1 January 2023. The longlist will be published 2 weeks later, on 15 January 2023

Theme For The European Writing Prize 2022

The theme for this European Writing Prize is ‘Anxiety’. Writers should incorporate the notion of anxiety into their work however they see fit.

 What matters most is whether you submit a fine piece of writing — it isn’t so much about how close to the prize theme you make your work.

Who can submit?

Anyone! Despite ‘European’ being in the title, you can submit a piece of writing regardless of where you are in the world. We only ask that your submission be written in English, as our judges mostly speak that as their first language. 

What’s the prize if I win?
  • The prize for the winner will be as follows:
  • 50 euros paid via PayPal or bank transfer
  • Automatic lifetime membership into The European Society of Literature
  • Publication in the following quarterly literary journal of TESL
  • Potential talks with literary agents — they may scout the shortlist and winners.
  • The prestige associated with being victorious! An unmatched opportunity to get your foot in the burgeoning literary industry of Europe and the Americas.
There is no entry fee



  • International Student Essay Competition 2023

The international student essay competition for 2023 has been announced open to students all over the world. To submit your essay for the contest, read further on the prescribed guidelines and form of submission.

The competition is open to students who are between the age of 7-18 years

Each student is invited to submit one essay in English, entitled: “How can young people be better supported to thrive in green jobs?”

Prizes For The International Student Essay Competition 2023

One overall Grand Prize trophy winner will receive a free international trip to a TSL Summit, including £500 spending money. 

The Top 10 essay medallists will receive eco-friendly e-medals with redeemable gift tokens.

 All participating Teacher Champions, Essay Finalists & Honourable Mentions, and International Debate participants, will receive personalised e-certificates.

Deadline: 11 January 2023




  • In Profile In Courage Essay Contests 2023

In Profiles in Courage, John F. Kennedy recounted the stories of eight U.S. senators who risked their careers to do what was right for the nation. These leaders demonstrated political courage by taking a stand for the public good in spite of pressure by interest groups, their political party, or even their constituents. The Profile in Courage Essay Contest challenges students to write an original and creative essay that demonstrates an understanding of political courage as described by John F. Kennedy in Profiles in Courage.

The maximum word count is 1,000 with a minimum of 700, not including citations and bibliography. Use at least five varied sources such as government documents, letters, newspaper articles, books, and/or personal interviews.

All submissions must adhere to contest requirements.

The contest deadline is January 13, 2023.


RECOGNITION AND AWARDS

The winner receives a $10,000 cash award. If the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation holds the 2023 Profile in Courage Award event in person, the winner and her/his/their family will be invited to travel to Boston to accept her/his/their award in May 2023. Travel and lodging expenses will be paid for the trip to Boston for the winning student and her/his/their parents.

Second-place winner receives $3,000.

Five finalists receive $1,000 each.

Eight semifinalists receive $100 each.

Ten students receive honorable mentions.

The nominating teacher of the first-place winner is also invited to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library to receive the John F. Kennedy Public Service Grant in the amount of $500 for school projects encouraging student leadership and civic engagement. Travel and lodging expenses will be paid for the trip to Boston.

All participants receive a Certificate of Participation.

Winners and finalists will be notified by April 30. 
All participants will receive a letter announcing the winners and finalists by the end of May.




  • Ballard Spahr Prize for Poetry 2023


The Ballard Spahr Prize for Poetry supports outstanding poets from the upper Midwest and brings their work to a national stage. Expanding on the Lindquist & Vennum Prize for Poetry, which was established in 2011, this prize awards $10,000 and publication by Milkweed Editions to a poet residing in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, or Michigan. Selected from a small number of finalists by an independent judge, the prizewinning poet will also receive a standard royalty contract, national distribution, and a comprehensive marketing and publicity campaign.

A public book launch and celebration for the winning poet will be held in Minneapolis around publication.

 
Submissions Open: December 1–January 15
Finalists & Winner Announced: April

Publication: January



  • Stacy Doris Memorial Poetry Award 2023


We are now accepting submissions for the Stacy Doris Memorial Poetry Award. The winning poet will receive $500 and publication in the Spring 2023 issue of Fourteen Hills. There is no submission fee. Poems not chosen for the award will be considered for publication in Fourteen Hills.


About Stacy Doris

Stacy Doris was a poet, translator, and an Associate Professor in San Francisco State University's Department of Creative Writing, where she taught for ten years. Her poetry is widely recognized; Fledge: A Phenomenology of Spirit, published shortly after her death, is available from Nightboat Books. Poet Maxine Chernoff has referred to it as “a miracle of attentiveness.” 

She was also highly regarded for her writing in French and her contribution to interactions among contemporary French and American poetry and poets.

Doris created new worlds with her unexpected poetics. Following upon her spirit of creative invention, engaging wit and ingenious playfulness, discovery in construction, and radical appropriations based on classical forms, pastiche, etc., and love, the Stacy Doris Memorial Poetry Award is given to a poet with a truly inventive spirit.

Deadline: January 15, 2023



  • The Elie Wiesel Prize In Ethics Essay Contest 2023


The Elie Wiesel Prize In Ethics Essay Contest 2023 is announced open for submissions. The competition is organised by Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity.


2023 Writing Contest Prompt


What challenges awaken your conscience?

Is it the conflicts in American society? An international crisis? Maybe a difficult choice you face or a hard decision you had to make?

Engage us. Enlighten us. Explore the ethics of any problem, question, or issue, whether close to home or in the world at large. We are eager to learn from you.

Submission Guidelines For Elie Wiesel Prize In Ethics Essay Contest 2023


Students are eligible to enter the 2023 contest if:

They are registered undergraduate full-time juniors or seniors at accredited four-year colleges or universities in the United States during the Fall 2022 semester, or

They fulfill the guideline requirements and are studying abroad during the Fall 2022 semester, as long as they are registered as full-time juniors or seniors at their home schools in the U.S., or

They are international or non-citizen students who fill the guideline requirements and are attending schools in the U.S.

  • Nine Dots Prize 2023

The Nine Dots Prize has now revealed the question it will pose as part of a global problem-solving competition, offering US$100,000 and a book deal with Cambridge University Press for the winning response. 

The question for the 2023/2024 cycle is: ‘Why has the rule of law become so fragile?’

First launched in 2016 and now in its fourth cycle, the Nine Dots Prize encourages innovative thinking and engaging new writing that confronts some of the most significant issues of our time. The Prize is judged entirely anonymously and seeks submissions from both established names and emerging talent, including those who may not have been published before.

Entrants must respond to the set question in 3,000 words and provide an outline showing how they would expand their response into a short book of between 25,000-40,000 words, backed up with relevant research and evidence. 

The winner will receive editorial support from Cambridge University Press as well as the opportunity to spend a term at the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH), at Cambridge University, to help develop their ideas and focus on their writing.

Deadline: Monday 23rd January 2023



  • Zocalo Poetry Prize 2023

Since 2012, the Zócalo Public Square Poetry Prize has recognized the U.S. writer of a poem that best evokes a connection to place. Zócalo is currently accepting submissions. The deadline for entries is January 23, 2023 at 11:59 PM PST. There is no fee required to enter the contest.

According to the organizers of the Zocalo literary prize:


Since 2012, the Zócalo Public Square Poetry Prize has recognized the U.S. writer of a poem that best evokes a connection to place. Zócalo is currently accepting submissions. The deadline for entries is January 23, 2023 at 11:59 PM PST. There is no fee required to enter the contest.

We are on the lookout for that rare combination of creativity and clarity, excellence and evocation. The prize interprets “place” in many ways: A location may possess historical, cultural, political, or personal importance, and may be literal, imaginary, or metaphorical.

Our 12th annual winner will be selected by the Zócalo staff, working in conjunction with a poetry prize selection committee. The winner will receive $1,000 and will have the opportunity to deliver their poem at the Zócalo Book Prize event in the spring. Zócalo will also publish the poem on our site alongside an interview with the poet. In addition, we plan to recognize our honorable mention submissions.

Entries will be judged based on originality of ideas, theme, and style. Judging is at the sole discretion of Zócalo Public Square and our poetry prize committee. 

The winner will be announced in spring 2023, and the winning poet will receive $1,000, a published interview, and an opportunity for a public reading hosted by Zócalo.

 The winning poem will be published on zocalopublicsquare.org. They will also be celebrating our honorable mention submissions

Deadline: January 23, 2023.



  • Welkin Writing Prize 2023
From the organizer:

I’m running this competition as a thank you to the writing community which has done so much to support both my writing and my freelance work over the past few years. In September 2022, I was lucky enough to receive a DYCP grant from Arts Council England to fund paid research and writing time, and this competition feels like a small thing that I can do to pay forwards my good fortune. As such, the competition is free to enter and I hope it will be a welcoming space for all writers. The competition is open to all forms of narrative prose, be that flash fiction, short-short, vignette, haibun, hermit crab, prose poem or work that sits outside such labels. There is a whole universe (or welkin) of possibilities.


Prizes For Welkin Writing Prize 2023

The competition will award prizes for:

  1. 1st place (£150 + annual membership of Writers' HQ worth £190)
  2. 2nd place (£75 + AdHoc Fiction book voucher worth £25)
  3. 3rd place (£50 + a copy of "Deflection" by Roberta Beary)
There are additional prizes of £25 for the best non-placed:

writer with a disability or chronic health conditionL, GBTQ+ writer, working class writer, writer whose first (or home) language isn't English carer for an adult dependent, new writer (for a writer with five or fewer publishing credits).

Deadline: 28th February 2023 at 11:59pm GMT.



  • Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest 2023

Three times a year, Jerry Jazz Musician awards a writer who submits, in our opinion, the best original, previously unpublished work of short fiction.

The Jerry Jazz Musician reader has interests in music, social history, literature, politics, art, film and theater, particularly that of the counter-culture of mid-twentieth century America. Our newsletter subscribers include publishers, artists, musicians, and fellow writers. While your writing should appeal to a reader with these interests and in these creative professions, all story themes are considered.

No entry fee is required. One story entry only. Simultaneous submissions are accepted.

The contest is open to entrants from anywhere in the world (English language only please)

A prize of $150 will be awarded for the winning story.

Deadline: January 31, 2023



  • Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest 2023

Celebrate and participate in the 10th Anniversary of LTHS’ popular program with your fictional story about Little Tokyo. Winners of Adult, Youth (18 and under) and Japanese language categories will receive a special prize of $1,000. 

Story submission deadline is January 31, 2023.

The story must be original, fictional, written in either Japanese or English by the submitting author and never been published (even online).



  • Jack Hazard Fellowship For Fiction 2023

Jack Hazard Fellows are fiction, creative nonfiction, and memoir writers who teach full-time in an accredited high school in the United States. We provide a $5,000 award that enables these creative writers who teach to focus on their writing for a summer.

Applications for the Jack Hazard Fellowship is now open.
 
Below, you will find the eligibility requirements, an FAQ, and the link to the online application.

ELIGIBILITY FOR A JACK HAZARD FELLOWSHIP 2023

Three years minimum of full-time grades 9-12 teaching experience.

Teaching full-time grades 9-12 in the 2022-2023 school year in an accredited high school in the United States and committed to return to that school in 2023-2024.




February Writing Competitions 2023 USA

  • Deep Wild 2023 Graduate Student Poetry Contest 


Grad students, send us your three best poems that are backcountry infused and inspired, and that together add up to no more than 100 lines. There are no fees to submit, and the top three winners will receive cash awards.

 The winners will receive: The 1st Place prize is $300, 2nd Place $200, and 3rd Place $100. 

The editors of Deep Wild: Writing from the Backcountry invite students currently enrolled in graduate studies to submit work for our 2023 Graduate Student Poetry Contest. 

Timeline For Submission: Submissions will be accepted from November 1 through February 1 2023


  • Global Essay Competition 2023

Compete in our Global Essay Competition and qualify for participation as a Leader of Tomorrow in the world’s premier opportunity for cross-generational debates: The St. Gallen Symposium.

Meet 300 of society’s brightest young minds. Present and debate your ideas with 600 senior leaders. Be inspired by some of the world’s most impressive speakers. Gain a unique and new perspective on this year’s topic. Become a member of a unique global community. Participate in the symposium with us. Win prize money of CHF 20,000 split amongst the three winners.

Topic Question For Global Essay Competition 2023

The best or worst legacy from previous generations: How to preserve or replace it?

Deadline: 1 February 2023, 11:59 p.m. last time zone (UTC-12)


  • Center For African American Poetry and Poetics Book Prize 2023

Founded in 2020, the CAAPP Book Prize is a publishing partnership between the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for African American Poetry and Poetics and Autumn House Press with the goal of publishing and promoting a writer of African descent. The prize is awarded annually to a first or second book by a writer of African descent and is open to the full range of writers embodying African and African diasporic experiences.

The book can be of any genre that is, or intersects with, poetry, including poetry, hybrid work, speculative prose, and/or translation. The winning manuscript will be published by Autumn House Press and its author will be awarded $3,000. 

Deadline: February 15, 2023


  • The Diana Woods Memorial Award 2023

The Diana Woods Memorial Award in creative nonfiction was established in Diana’s memory by her family, friends, and the Antioch University Los Angeles MFA community. Diana Woods Memorial Award serves as a special opportunity for authors worldwide to be published in the literary journal Lunch Ticket. Launched in the spring of 2012, Lunch Ticket is produced by the Antioch University Los Angeles MFA program, an innovative creative writing graduate program devoted to the education of literary artists, community engagement, and the pursuit of social justice.

Twice each year an author of a work of creative nonfiction will be selected for the Diana Woods Memorial Award award by a special guest judge. One author will be chosen for the Summer/Fall issue of Lunch Ticket and one in the Winter/Spring issue. The winning submissions will be published in Lunch Ticket and the recipient will receive $250.


  • Academy of American Poets Ambroggio Prize 2023

The Ambroggio Prize 2023 is a $1,000 publication prize given for a book-length poetry manuscript originally written in Spanish and with an English translation. 

The winning manuscript is published by the University of Arizona Press, which is nationally recognized for its commitment to publishing the award-winning works of emerging and established voices in Latinx and Indigenous literature, as well as groundbreaking scholarship in Latinx and Indigenous studies.

Established in 2017, the Ambroggio Prize is the only annual award of its kind in the United States that honors American poets whose first language is Spanish.

Deadline: February 15


  • The Graywolf Press African Fiction Prize 2023
January 3, 2023—Graywolf Press is pleased to announce that the submission period for the fourth Graywolf Press African Fiction Prize 2023 will run from February 1-28, 2023. 

The prize will be awarded for a first novel by an African author primarily residing in Africa and will be judged by Tsitsi Dangarembga, author of the Booker Prize short-listed This Mournable Body and the forthcoming Black and Female, in conjunction with the Graywolf editors.

Graywolf Press, a nonprofit American publisher, publishes work that is distinctive, artistically singular, and of a high literary quality. For this prize, the judge and the Graywolf editors are seeking novels that are engaged with the current moment and that approach contemporary issues with innovative prose and fresh perspectives.

Submissions must be full-length, previously unpublished first novels, or first novels published in Africa that have not been distributed or available for sale outside of the continent of Africa.


Deadline: February 28


  • Black Caucus of ALA (BCALA) Self-Publishing Literary Awards 2023

Black Caucus of ALA (BCALA) Self-Publishing Literary Awards 2023. Through this contest, the BCALA honors the best self-published eBooks by an African American author in the U.S. in both fiction and poetry genres.

These awards acknowledge outstanding achievement in the presentation of the cultural, historical and sociopolitical aspects of the Black Diaspora. The purpose is to encourage the artistic expression of the African American experience via literature and scholarly research including biographical, historical, and social history treatments by African Americans. The judging committee will be comprised of a BCALA-appointed panel, which will select one winner in each genre.


Each genre prize winner shall receive: $2,500.00, formal recognition at the Black Caucus of ALA Literary Awards, and a BCALA Literary Award Seal to use in their marketing.

Deadline: February 28






March Writing Competitions 2023 USA

  • Annual BSFS Poetry Contest 2023
The contest deadline is March 1.

Entries should address the themes of science fiction/fantasy/horror/science.

1st prize: $100; 2nd prize: $75; 3rd prize: $50.


Limit: 3 poems/person, maximum 60 lines each. 

No entry fee.

  • Please no previously published submissions.
  • Winners will receive a cash prize, convention membership and be invited to read their winning entries at Balticon. Attendance at Balticon is not required to win.
  • Winning poems will be published one time in the BSFAN, the Balticon convention souvenir book. In addition, a pdf version of the winning poems as they appear in the BSFAN will be available on the Balticon Poetry Contest website. Writers retain all rights to their work. By submitting to the contest, entrants agree to these terms



  • Pen America Free Expression Essay Competition 2023


PEN America is inviting submissions for a national student essay competition 2023 about the role of free expression in today’s world. If you’re in high school or college, PEN America wants to know what you think about the threats to this crucial right! Essays will be judged for their originality, clarity of thought, and relevance to free expression by experts at PEN America and prominent guest judges. Winning essays will be published on PEN America’s website, and promoted on our social media channels. We are very pleased to offer a total of $7,500 in prizes to the competition winners.

The submission window will close on March 1, 2023. Winners will be announced in May 2023.

For each competition level, we will honor 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. The top three college-level essayists will receive $2,000, $1,500, and $1,000 respectively; and the top three high school-level essayists will receive $1,500, $1,000, and $500 respectively.



  • The Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Awards 2023

The Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Awards 2023 recognize outstanding translations into English of modern Italian poetry through a $10,000 book prize and a $25,000 fellowship, given in alternating years.

The Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Awards Fund was established in 1995 through a bequest to The New York Community Trust by Sonia Raiziss Giop, a poet, translator, and long-time editor of Chelsea. The Trust has selected the Academy to administer the award.

The Raiziss/de Palchi Fellowship will be given in 2023 to enable an American translator to travel, study, or otherwise advance a significant work-in-progress. The Academy invites applications from American translators currently engaged in the translation of twentieth-century Italian poetry. The winning translator will receive an award of $25,000 and a five-week residency at the American Academy in Rome.

The judges for the 2023 Raiziss/de Palchi Fellowship are Graziella Sidoli, Jennifer Scappettone and John Taylor. Submissions are accepted from September 30, 2022, to March 1, 2023 (11:59 p.m. ET).



  • The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Literature Fellowships 2023

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Literature Fellowships program offers $25,000 grants in prose (fiction and creative nonfiction) and poetry to published creative writers that enable recipients to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career advancement. Applications are reviewed through an anonymous process in which the criteria for review are the artistic excellence and artistic merit of the submitted manuscript.

 Through this program, the NEA seeks to sustain and nurture a diverse range of creative writers at various stages of their careers and to continue to expand the portfolio of American art.

The program operates on a two-year cycle with fellowships in prose and poetry available in alternating years. For FY 2024, which is covered by these guidelines, fellowships in prose (fiction and nonfiction) are available. Fellowships in poetry will be offered in FY 2025 and guidelines will be available in January 2024. You may apply only once each year.

Competition for fellowships is extremely rigorous. We typically receive more than 1,600 applications each year in this category and award fellowships to fewer than 3% of applicants.



July Writing Competitions 2023 USA

  • Stephen Spender Prize 2023
The Stephen Spender Prize is the leading annual prize for poetry in translation, with categories for pupils, teachers and individual young people in the UK and Ireland, as well as an Open category for adults from all over the world. The rules are simple: translate into English any poem from any language – from French to Farsi, from Spanish to Somali—and win publication and cash prizes!

Deadline: July 14


  • 2023 Helen Schaible International Sonnet Contest

Helen Schaible was a poet, mother, teacher, classicist. The Helen Schaible International Sonnet Contest was established in her memory in 1998 by the Poets Club of Chicago and funded by a gift from Helen's daughters Jane Edwards, Lucy Parker, and Katherine Martin, and her son, the late David Schaible. 

First Prize: $50. Second Prize: $30. Third Prize: $20. 

Three Honorable Mentions and three Special Merits will be named per category, ranked.

Contest Rules & Submission Period

Submission Period: June 1 – July 15, 2023. Free and open to all!

  • The Black Voices in Children’s Literature: Writing Contest 2023
Us&Canada
The Black Voices in Children’s Literature: Writing Contest 2023 is sponsored by Strive Publishing and Free Spirit Publishing.

Open for submissions from June 19 to July 24, 2023.

First Place: $1,000 cash prize, a T-shirt from Strive, a tote bag from Free Spirit, and a meeting with Mary Taris, founder of Strive, and an editor from Free Spirit to discuss the winner’s project.

 The winning submission will be seriously considered for publication by Free Spirit, cobranded with Strive; however, publication is not guaranteed.

Second Place: $500 cash prize, a T-shirt from Strive, and a tote bag from Free Spirit

Third Place: $250 cash prize, a T-shirt from Strive, and a tote bag from Free Spirit

  • Winchester Poetry Prize 2023

First Prize: £1,000, 2nd Prize: £500, 3rd Prize: £250.

A prize is also available for the best poem written by a Hampshire-based poet.

Closing Date: 31 July 2023 (11:59pm)


  • The 1729 Book Prize in Poetry 2023

In collaboration with The Ivy Bookshop, the 1729 Prize is an annual contest provided by Mason Jar Press. Free to enter, with a $1,000 award and guaranteed publication, the Prize seeks the finest unpublished manuscripts of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. 

The 1729 Prize alternates yearly between Poetry and Prose. Our inaugural Prize in Poetry is currently being judged by Diane Zinna and our forthcoming Poetry Prize will be judged by Chen Chen. More details within

Deadline: July 31


  • SURGING TIDE: THE ANNUAL SUMMER WRITING CONTEST

Surging Tide is pleased to launch our Second Annual Writing Contest 2023 this summer. 
​Please find below a more detailed prompt as well as guidelines on how to submit.

Surging Tide editors will shortlist 3-5 writers in each category (poetry and prose). 

We will forward this list onto the judges, who will select a winner and a runner-up. All shortlisted writers and artists will be guaranteed publication in Surging Tide Issue 10, though all pieces submitted will be considered. 

In addition, the winner and runner-up will receive written commentary from their respective contest judges. 

Entrants can submit ONE piece per category per submission or up to FIVE pieces with a donation to Surging Tide. Multi-genre submissions allowed (i.e. you can submit one poem and one flash fiction, but not six poems.) 

In addition to publication, the winner of each category will be awarded $100 and each runner-up will also be awarded $25.

Deadline: July 31


  • 2023 Platt Family Scholarship Essay Contest
1st Prize $1500 | 2nd Prize $750 | 3rd Prize $500

The scholarship essay contest is designed for students who are FULL TIME, undergraduate students in an AMERICAN COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY during the Spring 2023 semester.

Topic for Platt Family Scholarship Essay Contest 2023

“2023 is the 160th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. Does Abraham Lincoln deserve the title of ‘The Great Emancipator’? Why or why not?”

Deadline: July 31



  • 3rd Singapore Unbound Awards for the Best Undergraduate Critical Essays on Singapore and Other Literatures 2023
3 Awards of USD250 each
Submission deadline: July 31, 2023

For the third year running, Singapore Unbound, a NYC-based literary non-profit, will be giving out three awards of USD250.00 each for the best three undergraduate critical essays on topics in Singapore and other literatures. The purpose of these awards is to encourage the teaching and study of Singapore literature at college level and the cultivation of general appreciation for the character and achievements of Singapore literature.



August Writing Competitions 2023 USA

  • The Granum Foundation Prize 2023

The Granum Foundation Prize will be awarded annually to help U.S.-based writers complete substantive literary works—such as poetry books, essay or short story collections, novels, and memoirs—or to help launch these works. 

Additionally, the Granum Foundation Translation Prize will be awarded to support the completion of a work translated into English by a U.S.-based writer.

Funding from both prizes can be used to provide a writer with the tools, time, and freedom to help ensure their success. For example, resources may be used to cover basic needs, equipment purchases, mentorship, or editing services.

Prize: One winner will receive $1,500 or more

Deadline: August 1

  • The Yale Drama Series 2023
The Yale Drama Series is seeking submissions for its 2024 playwriting competition. The winning play will be selected by the series’ current judge, Jeremy O. Harris. The winner of this annual competition will be awarded the David Charles Horn Prize of $10,000, publication of their manuscript by Yale University Press, and a celebratory event. 

The prize and publication are contingent on the playwright’s agreeing to the terms of the publishing agreement.

Deadline: August 15


  • Lucky Jefferson Poetry & Prose Summer Contest 2023

Lucky Jefferson is currently accepting submission for its inaugural poetry and prose competition. Interested writers are to read further on the guidelines for submissions.

20 finalists will receive publication in Lucky Jefferson's digital 365 Collection. 

Two finalists from that group (one poetry and one prose) will each receive $100, publication, and a swag box.

Deadline: August 1


  • Palette Poetry's Chapbook Prize 2023

Poetry chapbook manuscripts of all styles are accepted with no specific theme or aesthetic preference in request. 

The winner will receive $2,000 and Summer 2024 publication, which includes a free, downloadable digital chapbook on their website, fifty physical author copies to share and sell, and the option to enable drop-shipping sales at Amazon, Bookshop.org, and Barnes & Noble, earning 50% royalties on your chapbook. 

Additionally, thousands of readers, editors, and journals will receive chapbook access through our newsletter. 

The winner will have creative agency over cover art/design, and also be offered the opportunity to work with Palette editors to revise the manuscript.

According to the Palette Poetry, there is an extended editorial process for any book that they believe in, so please feel welcome to submit promising work that may not be fully polished yet. 

Deadline: August 20


  • The Kari Howard Fund for Narrative Journalism 2023

Journalists are invited to apply to The Kari Howard Fund for Narrative Journalism 2023 for the grant of $5,000. Kari’s family and friends, together with the International Women’s Media Foundation, are honored to offer grants to support the narrative journalism she championed. 

Deadline: August 20



  • RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards for Non-Fiction 2023

Three annual awards — of £10,000, £5,000 and £2,500 — are available for authors engaged on their first commissioned works of non-fiction

These Awards are for writers with a publishing contract for their first work of non-fiction and can be entered by publishers, agents or writers. This year’s judges are Tom Burgis, Fiona St Aubyn and Kieran Yates.

Deadline: The closing date for entries is Friday 25 August 2023 at 5pm (BST).



  • Nan Shepherd Prize 2023

We’re delighted to announce that the 2023 Nan Shepherd Prize is now open to entries. Between now and 25 August 2023, unpublished nature writers are invited to submit their book proposals.

The prize is open to previously unpublished writers based in the UK and Ireland who consider themselves underrepresented in nature writing, whether through ethnicity, disability, class, sex, gender, sexuality or any other circumstances. 

Deadline: August 25




  • The Masters Review’s Short Story Award for New Writers 2023

It’s time for the Summer Short Story Award for New Writers! The Masters Review’s Short Story Award for New Writers is a biannual contest that recognizes the best short prose from today’s emerging writers. 

We welcome submissions of previously unpublished fiction or creative nonfiction up to 6,000 words. 

Prize: The first-place winner of this contest, selected by our guest judge, will receive a $3,000 grand prize, along with online publication. Second- and third-place winners will receive $300 and $200 respectively, along with online publication. 

Deadline: August 27

  • The Edinburgh Award for Flash Fiction
The Edinburgh Award for Flash Fiction 2024 is open to writers for submissions. £2,000 prize for writers worldwide and stories on any topic up to 250 words.

Deadline: Open for entries, 1 June to 31 August 2023

First Prize £2,000
Second Prize £300
Third Prize £150 


  • Aesthetica Creative Writing Award 2023
Aesthetica is looking for the best new writing talent. The £5,000 international literary prize is open to poetry and short fiction entries on any theme, celebrating innovation in content and form.

Deadline: August 31


  • Aesthetica Creative Writing Award 2023
Aesthetica is looking for the best new writing talent. The £5,000 international literary prize is open to poetry and short fiction entries on any theme, celebrating innovation in content and form.

Deadline: August 31


  • The Val Wood Prize for Creative Writing 2023: The Hungry Tide 30th Anniversary Special

This year, in celebration of Val Wood, they are back with a brand new theme and a brand new judging panel. Having previously been associated with Hull Libraries, the competition is now solely independent and all of its entries will be received by and judged directly by the competition’s namesake, Val Wood. 

The winner of the competition will receive £100 and a signed copy of The Hungry Tide. The winning entry will be published on the website valwood.co.uk and shared via various social media outlets.

There will be two further prizes and the winners will receive signed copies of the Hungry Tide upon it’s re-release in October. 

Deadline: Entries should be submitted by 5.00pm (BST) 31st August 2023


  • The Toni Beauchamp Prize in Critical Art Writing

The Toni Beauchamp Prize in Critical Art Writing is currently open for submission. The entry is free. The 2023 Beauchamp Prize will be judged by Micki Meng.

Entries for the Toni Beauchamp Prize in Critical Art Writing should be a single piece of prose, written in English, not exceeding 1,500 words.

There will be one first place prize of $3,000 dollars, and two runners up, awarded $1,000 each. The winning essay will be featured in GC's printed journal, and the two runners-up will be considered for publication. For previous winners, see the sidebar.

Deadline: August 31st


  • The Amazon Kindle Storyteller Award 2023
The Amazon Kindle Storyteller Award 2023 is a £20,000 literary prize recognising outstanding writing. It is open to writers publishing in English in any genre, who publish their work through Kindle Direct Publishing. Readers play a significant role in selecting the winner, helped by a panel of judges including various book industry experts.

Deadline: The Kindle Storyteller Award 2023 is open for entries between 1st May and 31st August 2023.


September Writing Competitions 2023 USA
  • Academy For Teachers: Stories Out of School Flash Fiction Contest 2023
We hold periodic contests that help us highlight the rich, challenging, and underappreciated world of the teachers. Judged by accomplished experts, these contests are open to everyone. Enter for a chance to win a cash prize!

“STORIES OUT OF SCHOOL” FLASH FICTION CONTEST

Teachers have the most fascinating, difficult, and important job on the planet, and their workdays are filled with stories. Yet teachers seldom appear in fiction. This annual contest was created to inspire great stories about teachers and the rich and crazy world of schools.

Deadline: September 1


  • Source Writing Prize 2023
We are always looking for new writers to contribute to Source. If you've not written for Source before we invite you to send us an article. If we like it we will either publish it or commission you to write articles for us in the future.

 As an incentive we will give £500 to the person whose article we like the best.

Deadline: September 20

  • Mslexia Women's Fiction Competition 2023
This competition is for unpublished complete short fiction of up to 3,000 words. 

Prizes
The winner will receive £3,000.

Three additional finalists will each receive £100.

The winning entry and three finalists will be published in the December 2023 edition of Mslexia.

The winning entry, three finalists and eight additional shortlisted stories will also appear in Mslexia’s ebook anthology, Best Women’s Short Fiction 2023, published in December 2022.

Deadline
The deadline for all entries is 23.59GMT, 18 September 2023.



  • The Gabo Prize for Literature in Translation & Multilingual Texts 2023 

Lunch Ticket is honored to host The Gabo Prize for Literature in Translation & Multilingual Texts. The Gabo Prize is funded by writers, translators, and Antioch University Los Angeles MFA Alumni Allie Marini and Jennifer McCharen, who launched the prize to support the work of peer translators.

The winner, selected by a guest judge, will receive $200, and the winning piece will be published alongside two semi-finalists in the upcoming issue of Lunch Ticket. The Gabo Prize is awarded twice each year.

Deadline: September 1


  • The Gabo Prize for Literature in Translation & Multilingual Texts 2023 

Lunch Ticket is honored to host The Gabo Prize for Literature in Translation & Multilingual Texts. The Gabo Prize is funded by writers, translators, and Antioch University Los Angeles MFA Alumni Allie Marini and Jennifer McCharen, who launched the prize to support the work of peer translators.

The winner, selected by a guest judge, will receive $200, and the winning piece will be published alongside two semi-finalists in the upcoming issue of Lunch Ticket. The Gabo Prize is awarded twice each year.

Deadline: September 1

  • The Diana Woods Memorial Award in Creative Nonfiction, Issue 24
Lunch Ticket is honored to serve as the host for the Diana Woods Memorial Award in Creative Nonfiction 2023. The submission window for Lunch Ticket’s Issue 24 is August 1st to September 1st. 

The winning submissions will be published in Lunch Ticket and the recipient will receive $250


  • The New York Labor History Association’s Bernhardt Prize 2023
The New York Labor History Association’s Bernhardt prize awards $1,000 to an article that exemplifies great writing for a general audience and furthers the understanding of the history of working people. The prize and the forum honor the vision of the late Debra E. Bernhardt, who worked in so many different realms to share the hidden histories of working people.

The deadline for the 2022-2023 contest is Tuesday, September 5, 2023.


  • Frontier Poetry's Roots and Roads Prize 2023

Frontier Poetry is currently open for submission for its Root and Roads inaugural prize. Read further on the submission guidelines.

The submission is free for BIPOC writers. A total amount of $3000 will be awarded to the first place prize winner, $300 to second place, and $200 to third place.

About The Roots & Roads Prize

The organizers of the prize has the following to say about the prize:

"Not only are root systems vital for a tree to channel sustenance from the soil, but they are also communicators, connecting the plant to its environment and to other plants. Roads, too, are connectors, telling a story of movement and distances. This year, for our inaugural Roots & Roads Prize, Frontier Poetry invites you to imagine your poems as roots and roads, reaching both inward and outward.

We are in search of work that explores the tensions between these ideas, the relationships we have between origin and becoming, between our foundations and the possibilities that are sustained and/or troubled by them. We encourage you to interpret these words loosely and expansively, to let the poem take you where it wants. Bring us your ghosts, your maps, your homes, your alienations, your dreams of the future—lead us somewhere unexpected!"

Deadline: September 18

  • The César Egido Serrano Foundation 2023
The César Egido Serrano Foundation periodically calls for an International Short Story Contest that is part of the activities that the Foundation carries out to achieve its objective, which is none other than that the word is the tool against all violence and harmony between different cultures, religions and ideologies.

This contest is the best endowed by word in the world with a first prize of $20,000 and three second prizes of $2,000 each. In the last edition, 43,185 authors from 172 countries participated in the contest. On this occasion and as the main novelty, it will be the participants themselves who will have the opportunity and responsibility to choose the winners, through a computerized, random and anonymous voting system.

Deadline: September 30



  • The Iowa Short Fiction Award & John Simmons Short Fiction Award 2023

The Iowa Short Fiction Award & John Simmons Short Fiction Award 2023 is currently open for submission. The awards are organized by the University of Iowa Press, and are open to previously published writers of prose fiction.

Deadline: September 30


October Writing Competitions 2023 USA

  • Jeffrey E. Smith Editors' Prize 2023

The 33rd Annual Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize 2023 is open for submission. Read below to know about the submission guidelines, cash prizes and deadlines for submissions.

$5,000 Fiction | $5,000 Nonfiction | $5,000 Poetry

Winners receive publication, promotion, and a cash prize.

Deadline: October 1

  • The Peter Poetry Prize 2023
The Peter Porter Poetry Prize is one of Australia’s most lucrative and respected poetry awards. It honours the life and work of the great Australian poet Peter Porter (1929–2010), an honoured contributor to ABR for many years. All poets writing in English are eligible to enter.

First prize: AU$6,000
Four other shortlisted poets: AU$1,000


Deadline: October 9


  • The National Poetry Competition 2023
The National Poetry Competition is now open for entries until 31 October 2023

Judges: Jane Draycott, Will Harris, Clare Pollard

Run by The Poetry Society since 1978, The National Poetry Competition is one of the world’s most prestigious prizes for an unpublished poem of up to 40 lines, open to all poets worldwide aged 18 or over




November Writing Competitions 2023 USA

  • The ServiceScape Short Story Award 2023

The ServiceScape Short Story Award 2023 is currently open for submission. The award is open to short story writers who wants to contest for the cash prize of $1,000.00 USD.

For this award, any genre or theme of short story is accepted. All applicants should submit their original unpublished work of short fiction or nonfiction, 5,000 words or fewer, to be considered. 

Along with receiving an award for $1,000.00 USD, the winner will have his or her short story featured within the organizers' blog, which reaches thousands of readers per month. Rules and exclusions apply.

Deadline: November 20


  • Frontier Poetry's Award For New Poets 2023

Submissions are open to new and emerging writers (for this contest, we define this as poets with no more than one full-length published work forthcoming at the time of submission).

As part of our dedication to the pursuit of a more inclusive publishing world, there is a free submission window for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, person of color) poets at the beginning of the contest until our cap of fifty.

This is one of the poetry competitions organized by Frontier Poetry. According to the organizers:

"This fall, we’re delighted to bring back our Award for New Poets! We’re looking to uplift an up-and-coming poet, with no more than one full-length collection forthcoming or published at the time of submission. We award $3,000 for the winning poem, selected by our guest judge. Our second- and third-place winners receive $300 and $200, respectively. All three winners will be published.





  • The Benjamin Franklin Essay Competition 2023
The Benjamin Franklin Essay Competition 2023 is currently open to entrants in UK. Each year a question or quote exploring Benjamin Franklin’s relevance in our time is open for interpretation in 1000-1500 words. 

 The competition is open exclusively for young writers, aged 18-25, with a first prize of £750, and a second prize of £500. Winning entries will be published online at www.BenjaminFranklinHouse.org and https://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Deadline: Wednesday 15th November at 23:59


  • 2024 Treehouse Climate Action Poem Prize

The Treehouse Climate Action Poem Prize is given to honor exceptional poems that help readers recognize the gravity of the vulnerable state of our environment.

Established in 2019 with generous support from Treehouse Investments, the prize will honor three poets. First place will receive $1,000; second place, $750; and third place, $500. In addition, all three poems will be published in the popular Poem-a-Day series, which is distributed to 500,000+ readers. Poems may also be featured in the award-winning education series Teach This Poem, which serves 40,000+ educators each week. 

Deadline: Submissions for the 2024 Treehouse Climate Action Poem Prize are accepted from September 15, 2023 through November 15, 2023. 

The judges are poet Elizabeth Bradfield and climate scientist Kate Marvel, PhD


  • Happiful Poetry Prize 2024 

Submit your poems that explore mental health and wellbeing for the Happiful Poetry Prize 2024
We’re looking for poems that explore the topic of mental health and wellbeing in relatable, original, and empowering ways. The competition is free to enter, and welcomes new and seasoned writers alike. No prior experience is necessary, the only thing we require is a passion for writing!

The winner will receive £100, and four shortlisted poets will receive a £25 National Book Token. All five poems will be published in issue 84 of Happiful.

Deadline: November 20, 2023



  • The Poetry.com Contest 2023
Enter our monthly poetry contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and gain worldwide recognition for your talent!

Poetry.com prides itself in supporting and encouraging all writers, regardless of background, education or experience. All poets, whether just starting out or with many years of practice, are encouraged to use our monthly contests as an opportunity to gain motivation, inspiration, exposure and most importantly, build passion and enjoyment for the written word!

What about the awards?

When it comes to the awards, we offer exciting prizes for our contest winners. The top three winners will receive cash prizes, with the first-place winner receiving $500, the second-place winner receiving $300, and the third-place winner receiving $200. 

Furthermore, five runners-up will receive a personalized mug featuring their winning poem. And that's not all - at the end of the year, the twelve monthly winners will compete for the Poem of the Year grand prize of $1,000.


  • One Teen Story Contest 2023
One Teen Story publishes 3 stories a year and accepts submissions from teen writers ages 13-19. For a list of writers we have published in the past and short samples of their stories, please visit our past issues page.

For our One Teen Story contest, we ask writers ages 13-19 to enter their original, unpublished fiction. We are interested in great short stories of any genre about the teen experience—literary, fantasy, sci-fi, love stories, horror, etc. What’s in a great short story? Interesting teen characters, strong writing, and a beginning, middle, and end.

The winning stories will be published in forthcoming issues of One Teen Story, which will reach over ten thousand readers. The contest winners will receive $500 upon publication and 25 copies of the magazine featuring their work. 

The contest winners will also have the opportunity to work with a One Teen Story editor prior to publication. Honorable mentions will be chosen in three age categories: 13-15, 16-17, and 18-19, and each will be announced on our website, by email announcement, and on social media.

Deadline: November 27th, 2023


  • 2024 Minotaur Books/Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition
To enter the 2024 Minotaur Books/Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition, ensure read all of the rules and guidelines before submitting your entry. You can find the complete rules and guidelines at us.macmillan.com/minotaurbooks/writing-competitions.

To enter, you must complete this form and upload an electronic file of your Manuscript.

Only electronic submissions, uploaded through this entry form, will be considered; do not mail or e-mail manuscript submissions to Minotaur Books.

Before uploading, please ensure that your Manuscript is formatted as follows:

1) The Manuscript must be either a Microsoft Word document or a PDF
2) Text must be double spaced
3) Pages must be numbered consecutively from beginning to end
4) The Manuscript must be saved as “Manuscript Title_Entrant Name”

Because of the great volume of submissions we receive and the fact that judges are volunteers with full-time responsibilities elsewhere, it is important that you submit your Manuscript as early as possible. Submissions will get a more careful reading if the judge does not have to contend with a flood of last-minute entries.

Deadline: To be considered for the 2024 competition, all submissions must be received by 11:59pm EST on November 30, 2023.


  • The Betty Trask Prize 2023
The Betty Trask Prize is currently open for submission to entrants from UK, Ireland and Commonwealth countries. It is open to first novels by authors under 35.

Betty Trask left a bequest to the Society of Authors in 1983 to fund prizes for first novels written by authors under the age of 35 in a traditional or romantic style.

Each year a single prize winner receives £10,000 and the remaining fund is split between the shortlist.  

Deadline: The 2024 Betty Trask Prize will close for submissions on 30 November 2023.

The winner of the Betty Trask Prize will receive £10,000 and a fund of £16,200 will be divided equally between shortlisted authors.


  • Gregory O’Donoghue International Poetry Competition 2023


The Gregory O’Donoghue International Poetry Competition was first held in 2010. It is a poetry prize for a single poem, open to writers from around the world from September to November annually. Sponsored by the Munster Literature Centre, the prize is named in honour of the late Irish poet long associated with the Centre.

Open for entries 1 September – 30 November

Line limit: 40
Closing date: 30th November (midnight)
Entry fee: €7 per poem or €30 for a batch of five

The competition is open to original, unpublished and unbroadcast poems in the English language of 40 lines or fewer. The poem can be on any subject, in any style, by a writer of any nationality, living anywhere in the world.

 Translated work is not in the scope of this competition. Once entered, no alterations can be made to the submission. Simultaneous submissions are accepted but please notify us immediately should your work be accepted elsewhere

Prizes For Gregory O’Donoghue International Poetry Competition 2023

1ST PRIZE
€2,000
Featured reading at the Cork International Poetry Festival (with four-night hotel stay and full board)
Featured on the Southword Poetry Podcast
Publication in Southword

2ND PRIZE
€500
Publication in Southword

3RD PRIZE
€250
Publication in Southword

TEN RUNNERS-UP
€50
Publication in Southword


  • Cafe Writers Poetry Competition 2023


CAFE WRITERS POETRY COMPETITION 2023 IS NOW OPEN

Closing Date 30th November 2023 (Midnight GMT)

PRIZES
1st £1000
2nd £300
3rd £200
Five Commended Prizes of £50
Norfolk Prize £100
For the best poem from a permanent Norfolk resident not winning another prize.

ENTRY FEE

£4 per poem; or £10 for 3 poems & £2 per poem thereafter.

Concessions: We are offering the free entry of one poem to any UK resident with a household income of less than £16,000 for whom the cost of entering would be prohibitive. Your status to claim this will be taken on trust

Deadline: 30th November 2023 (Midnight GMT).



  • Tadpole Press 100-Word Writing Contest 2023


We are now accepting submissions through November 30, 2023.

The first-place prize has doubled to $2,000 USD.

Word Limit: 100 words or less per entry. Word limit includes the title and introduction, though these are not required.

Entry Limit: You may submit as many entries as you'd like.

Writers: All ages. All genders. All nationalities. All writers welcome.


Genre / Theme: Any genre.


Prizes: 1st place: $2,000 USD.

              2nd place: Writing coaching package valued at $450 USD.

              3rd place: Developmental and diversity editing package

valued at $250 USD.

​

Entry Fee: $15 USD.

Deadline: November 30, 2023.



 
  • 2023 Information Warfare Essay Contest


The Nation’s adversaries and competitors are proving to be formidable in the digital battlespace—using online platforms, social media, malicious code, disinformation, and cyberattacks to undermine elections, steal intellectual property, spy on governments, sow discord, and weaken alliances. 

Essayists can choose to answer any of the following questions or write on another information warfare topic that interests them:

  1. How might the opening salvoes of the next war begin in the information space,and what should be done now to defend against those attacks? How might our adversaries be planning to win without fighting by using information warfare?
  2. What specific information warfare technologies (offensive and defensive) should the U.S. military be investing in now?
  3. How can the military recruit, educate, train, and retain the information warriors it needs to prevail in the information environment?
  4. Are there any recent case studies (that went well or poorly) that can provide lessons to guide strategy, operations, tactics, or acquisition over the next three to five years?
  5. What role will electronic warfare and emissions control play in the future of naval warfare?
Prize
First Prize: $5,000

Second Prize: $2,500

Third Prize: $1,500

Deadline: 30 November, 2023



  • J.F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction 2023


The 2023 J.F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction is currently open for submission. All writers can submit their best short fiction works in contest for cash prizes.

“One foot in this world and one in the next”: that’s how J.F. Powers described the Midwestern priests he wrote about in his fiction. Having one foot in another world can be awkward, and Powers’ characters are known not for their graceful mysticism, but for the humiliating and mordantly entertaining stumbles they make while trying to live their faith. We’re looking for carefully crafted short stories with vivid characters who encounter grace in everyday settings—we want to see who, in the age we live in, might have one foot in this world and one in the next.


Cash Prizes 
1st place: $500
2nd place: $250
Up to 8 honorable mentions: publication in the journal and a one-year subscription





December Writing Competitions 2023 USA

  • The Sarah Maguire Poetry in Translation Prize 2023
The Sarah Maguire Poetry in Translation Prize is offered biennially for the best book of poetry in English translation by a living poet from beyond Europe, published anywhere in the world. £1,500 is awarded to the winning poet and £1,500 to the winning translator (or shared if there is more than one translator).

Deadline: December 31





  • The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poetry

The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poetry is currently open for submission till December 2023. The Sillerman Prize is awarded annually, with submissions open between September 15th and December 1st. 

The African Poetry Book Series is made possible through the generosity of philanthropists Laura and Robert F. X. Sillerman, whose generous contributions have facilitated the establishment of the APBF. In recognition of their invaluable support of our work, Mr. and Mrs. Sillerman have welcomed the use of their name for the First Book Prize for African Poets.

The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poetry is awarded annually to an African poet who has not yet published a collection of poetry. The winner receives USD $1000 and book publication through the University of Nebraska Press and Amalion in Senegal

Deadline: December 1


Love Letters to London returns for its third year with thousands of pounds in cash prizes . Dust off the keyboard or get tapping on your mobile, because there is more than £4,000 of prizes in the London Society’s free to enter writing competition “Love Letters to London”.

Now in its third year, this competition is open to everyone to celebrate our wonderful, fantastic, infuriating city in prose or poetry. 

Open to all ages, and to all writing styles - fiction, poetry, essays and reportage - whether you live in the capital or not. There are special categories for under 18s, as well as prizes for schools.

The theme this year is: Love Letters to London of the Future.

What does your London of the future look like – what are your passions, hopes, dreams and aspirations for this most wonderful of cities?

Deadline: The closing date for entries is midday (UK time) December 1st 2023, and prizes will be presented at an awards ceremony next Spring.



  • Mslexia Women's Poetry Competition 2023

This competition is open to unpublished poems of any length, on any subject. Your £10 entry fee allows you to submit up to three poems.

Prizes
1st: £2,000; 2nd: £500; 3rd: £250

Unpublished Poetry Prize for the best poem by a previously unpublished poet: £250.

The four winners, plus sixteen additional finalists will have their poems published in the March 2024 issue of Mslexia.

Deadline:
The deadline for all entries is 23.59GMT, 4 December 2023

  • Troubadour International Poetry Prize 2023
Troubadour International Poetry Prize 2023 is currently open for submission and is to be judged by mona arshi & tom sleigh. The poetry competition offers the following cash prizes to the winners:

  • first prize £2,000
  • second prize £1,000
  • third prize £500
  • plus 20 commendeds
  • plus – winners & commendeds will be invited to read with judges (live & online) at the Bedford Park Festival ‘Yeats Birthday’ poetry event in June 2024.
The poems can be on any theme

Deadline: submit via email by sun 10 dec 2023

  • Afritondo Short Story Prize 2024
Another edition of the annual short story competition, Afritondo Short Story Prize 2024, is currently open for submission. This is the 5th year of the Afritondo Short Story Prize and a special landmark for Afritondo. 

This year, the organizers want writers to respond to the theme of “fate”. You are welcome to give the theme your own personal interpretation.

As always we are looking for stories that surprise us, that take risks with imagination and language. A good story for our theme will offer unique insight into the theme and explore characters in refreshing and imaginative ways.

The winner will receive a cash prize of $1000. Four other shortlisted writers will get $100 each. The longlist will be published in an anthology in August 2024.

Deadline: December 15, 2023.


  • The Masters Review Chapbook Competition 2024

The Masters Review Chapbook Competition 2024
For the fourth year, The Masters Review is open for submissions of literary prose chapbooks! We’re interested in collections of flash fiction, creative nonfiction essays, short stories, and anything in-between. We encourage you to be bold, to experiment with style and form, as long as you stay under 45 pages. One chapbook will be selected as our winner by our guest judge, Michael Martone! 

The winner receives a $3,000 cash prize, along with manuscript publication and 75 contributor copies. Our chapbooks are distributed internationally and are available through Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon. A digital version of the chapbook will be made available to our newsletter subscribers six months to a year after the print publication.

Timeline 

Submissions will be accepted between September 1 and December 17, 2023



  • The 2023 Society of Classical Poets International Poetry Competition
The 2023 Society of Classical Poets International Poetry Competition is currently open for submission.


First Prize:
$2,000. Publication on the Society’s website and Journal.

Deadline:
December 31, 2023, 11:59 p.m. EST. Winners announced February 1, 2024 on our e-Newsletter and on the Society’s homepage. (Annual submission dates Sept. 1 – Dec. 31.)


  • Kinsman Quarterly’s Iridescence Award 2023


The Iridescence Award is currently open for submission. Submissions are open for short stories and poetry by BIPOC authors for Kinsman Quarterly’s Iridescence Award. Themes should include the supernatural, extraterrestrial, or the paranormal. Prizes include publication in the Iridescence anthology with cash awards up to $500 USD. No fee required. 

Deadline is December 31st. 


Those eligible must submit an original, unpublished work in English. Genres include, but are not limited to, fantasy, folk mythology, science fiction, and the paranormal. Winning submissions will also be featured in the Kinsman Quarterly, its social media sites, and printed promotions. Copyrights of the individual submissions remain with the authors and artists. However, copyrights for the anthology as a collection are reserved to Kinsman Avenue Publishing, Inc



  • The Fourth Quartets Prize 2023

The Four Quartets Prize is for a unified and complete sequence of poems published in the United States in a print or online journal, chapbook, or book in 2023. Poems in the sequence may have been published in different journals provided that they were published in 2023 and that brought together, they form a complete sequence.

Three finalists will receive $1,000 each. The winner will receive an additional $20,000.

The announcement of the winner and finalists will take place in Spring, 2024.

DEADLINE
October 1-December 31, 2023

PRIZE: $20,000


  • 2024 Elizabeth Alexander Creative Writing Award 

The Elizabeth Alexander Creative Writing Award celebrates an author whose work embodies the lyrically powerful and historically engaged nature of Dr. Alexander’s writing. We aim for this award to highlight different forms of knowledge production that emerge from the artistic, political, and cultural advocacy undertaken by women of color nationally, transnationally, and globally.

The award is open to all genres, including: poetry, fiction, play scripts, and non-fiction. All submissions will be judged blind, please do not include any identifying information or contact information in your manuscript. A separate title page may be included with your submission, but is not required. 


  • The Lyric College Poetry Contest 2023
The Lyric College Poetry Contest is open to undergraduates enrolled full time in an American or Canadian college or university

First Prize ~ $500
Second Prize ~ $200
Third Prize ~ $100
Honorable Mention ~ Year’s subscription and bragging rights


  • The Writivism Literary Prizes 2023
The Writivism Literary Prizes announce the opening of the submission window and a seven-member panel of judges for 2023. 

The prize includes poetry, fiction and nonfiction genres.

The deadline for receiving entries is November 30, 2023, at 11:59PM, East African Time.

The winner of the prize will be awarded $1000 USD and each shortlisted writer will receive $50 USD and a copy of the resulting anthology comprising all the shortlisted work.

  • The Tony Quagliano Poetry Award 2023
This award is established in partnership with the Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities. This award honors Tony Quagliano’s legacy as an experimental poet and editor. It recognizes an accomplished poet with an outstanding body of innovative, cutting-edge work pushing the boundaries of poetic craft, such as experimental approaches to form and/or language. This award also recognizes a poet who contributes meaningfully to a literary community. Preference is given to poets with connection to Hawai‘i and/or the Pacific.

The biennial Tony Quagliano Poetry Award is for $1000.

Deadline: December 1, 2023



  • Harbor Editions' Laureate Prize 2024

The entry period runs from October 1st to January 31st, 2024.

Full length books should be between 50-80 pages. Manuscripts should include a title page, table of contents, and a list of acknowledgments for previously published poems. Books centered around a unifying theme will be given preference.

Individual poems from the manuscript may have been published previously in magazines or chapbooks but not full length books. The collection as a whole must be unpublished.
Simultaneous submissions are permitted. Please let us know immediately if your manuscript is accepted by another publisher while under our consideration. We do not accept translations

Harbor Editions will publish 1 book from the contest. Finalists may be considered or publication. The winner will receive $500 and 20 copies of their book. All entrants will be notified about the status of their submission after the submission period.

  • Lilith Magazine Annual Fiction Contest 2023

Deadline: December 31, 2023

Gifted fiction writers! Lilith magazine—independent, Jewish & frankly feminist—seeks quality short stories with heart, soul and chutzpah, 3,000 words or under, for our Annual Fiction Contest. 

First prize: $300 and publication. We especially like fresh fiction with feminist and Jewish nuance, and are eager to read submissions from writers of color and emerging writers of any age




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Pawners Paper: Writing Competitions 2025 USA : Poetry, Short Stories, Fiction
Writing Competitions 2025 USA : Poetry, Short Stories, Fiction
Submit your work to writing contests 2025 USA. The 2025 writing competitions USA are open to US writers or residents. Submit before the deadline.
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