Writing Contests

Last Updated on July 18, 2020.

Recent Writing Contests

Contest Name: Munster Literature Centre Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition

Deadline: July 31, 2020 Rewards: 1st Prize €2,000, 2nd Prize €500 & 4 Runners-Up €250 Entry Fees: €18 per Story

The competition is open to original, unpublished, and unbroadcast short stories in the English language of 3,000 words or fewer. The story can be on any subject, in any style, by a writer of any nationality, living anywhere in the world.

Contest Name: Bard College Bard Fiction Prize

Deadline: July 30, 2020 Rewards: $30,000 Entry Fees: $0

The Bard Fiction Prize is awarded to a promising emerging writer who is an American citizen aged 39 years or younger at the time of application. In addition, the winner receives an appointment as a writer in residence at Bard College for one semester, without the expectation that he or she teach traditional courses.

Contest Name: Horror Writing Contest

Deadline: July 27, 2020 Rewards: $100 Cash Prize Entry Fees: $9.95

Write a horror or thriller story and share it in this writing contest to put readers on edge or terrorize them.

Contest Name: Sixfold – Poetry and Short Story Awards

Deadline: July 24, 2020 Rewards: $1,000 Entry Fees: $5

Sixfold Invites writers to upload a short story or poetry collection. Winner will be selected by reader’s votes and comments. Top-voted 20 short stories and 40 sets of poems are published.

Contest Name: University of Pittsburgh Press Drue Heinz Literature Prize

Deadline: June 30, 2020 Rewards: $15,000 Entry Fees: $0

The University of Pittsburgh Press calls application for Drue Heinz Literature Prize 2021. 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.

Contest Name: Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA) New Writers Awards

Deadline: June 25, 2020 Rewards: $500 Entry Fees: $0

Details: The GLCA invites literary submissions from publishers to its New Writers Awards (NWA) 2021 competition.  For this year’s program the NWA will accept entries that bear a publication imprint of 2019 or 2020.

 Contest Name: FIL Prize in Romance Languages

Deadline: June 22, 2020 Rewards: $150,000 Entry Fees: $0

FIL Literature Award given annually to honor a poet, a fiction writer, or a creative nonfiction writer who writes in Catalan, French, Galician, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, or Spanish. Cultural or educational institutions or groups interested in literature may nominate a candidate; individuals may not apply.

Contest Name: Western Connecticut State University Housatonic Book Awards

Deadline: June 15, 2020 Rewards: $1,000 Entry Fees: $25

The 2020 Housatonic Book Awards, hosted by the Western Connecticut State University Master of Fine Arts in Creative and Professional Writing program, are now open for submissions. The contest seeks authors and poets to submit their work published in 2019.

Contest Name: Bard College Bard Fiction Prize

Deadline: June 15, 2020 Rewards: $30,000 Entry Fees: $0

The Bard Fiction Prize offered to encourage and support young fiction writes, the prize is open to American citizens age 39 or younger at the time of application. Requires the applicant to submit a published book that shows their best work.

Contest Name: Minute Poetry Contest

Deadline: June 14, 2020 Rewards: $100 Entry Fees: $9.95

The poetry contest is about a Minute Poem. The Minute Poem is a poem that follows the “8,4,4,4” syllable count structure. It usually has 3 stanzas that are exactly the same. So the first line has 8 syllables and every line that follows has 4 syllables.

Contest Name: Mother’s Day Poetry Contest

Deadline: May 10, 2020 Rewards: $100 Cash Prize Entry Fees: $9.95

Write a poem about Mom or being a Mom for the Mother’s Day.

Contest Name: Share A Story In A Poem

Deadline: May 6, 2020 Rewards: $100 Cash Prize Entry Fees:  $9.95

This contest is challenged for poets to write a poem that tells a story and also rhymes.

Contest Name: Poetry Foundation: Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships

Deadline: April 30, 2020 Rewards: $25,800 Entry Fees: $0

Applications are now open for the Ruth Lilly Fellowship. To be eligible, poets must be between 21 and 31 years old and  must reside in the U.S. or be U.S. citizens.

Contest Name: Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest

Deadline: April 30, 2020 Rewards:  $3,000 for best story, $3,000 for best essay & 10 Honorable Mentions receive $200 each with any category. Entry Fees: $20.00

Welcome to the 28th annual Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest. This writing can be any short work of fiction, and an essay is any short work of nonfiction and the length limit is 6,000 words maximum.

Contest Name: Loop Poetry Contest

Deadline: April 12, 2020 Rewards: $100 Cash Prize Entry Fees: $9.95

Loop Poetry requires that the last word of each line becomes the first word of the next line.  There is a rhyme scheme which is abcb. There are no restrictions on the number of stanzas nor on the syllable count for each line.

Contest Name: Oberon Poetry Prize

Deadline: April 10, 2020 Rewards: $1,000 Entry Fees: $18

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Oberon, a literary journal published by the Oberon Foundation. Submit up to three poems with a $18 entry fee by April 10.

Contest Name: Rhyming Poetry Contest

Deadline: April 7, 2020 Rewards: $100 Cash Prize Entry Fees: $9.95

Wrote any type of rhyme scheme poem with personals styles to enter this contest.  

Contest Name: Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest

Deadline: April 01, 2020 Rewards: 1st prize $1,000, 2nd prize $250, 10 Honorable Mentions $100 each Entry Fees: No Entry Fee.

This contest seeks best humor published or unpublished poem. No restriction on age of author. Authors from all countries eligible except Syria, Iran, North Korea, and Crimea.

Contest Name: Writing Retreat

Deadline: April 01, 2020 Rewards: Not Specified! Entry Fees: £2.00

Submit Any type of fiction work such as finished, unfinished, barely written and send a plan for book, beginning to end, and at least a sample of writing. 5 finalists will stay at a writing retreat for a week in June 2020.

Contest Name: Bellingham Review Literary Awards

Deadline: March 15, 2020. Rewards: $1,000. Entry Fees: $20

Bellingham Review editors welcome submissions of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, flash, author interviews and hybrid works. They have no stated limitations on form or subject matter, but they strongly encourage to familiarize with their journal.

Contest Name: Robinson Jeffers Tor House Foundation Poetry Prize

Deadline: March 14, 2020. Rewards: $1,000. Entry Fees: $10

The annual Tor House Prize for Poetry is a living memorial to American poet Robinson Jeffers. Open to poetry in all styles ranging from experimental to traditional forms, including short narrative poems.

Contest Name: Colorado Review Nelligan Prize

Deadline: March 14, 2020. Rewards: $2,000. Entry Fees: $17

The Nelligan Prize for Short Fiction was established in 2004 in memory of Liza Nelligan. By giving an award to the author of an outstanding short story each year, they hope to honor Nelligan’s life, her passion for writing, and her love of fiction.

Contest Name: ABC Poetry Contest

Deadline: March 9, 2020. Rewards: $100 Cash Prize. Entry Fees: $9.95

ABC poetry is a short form of poetry that contains five lines. It may begin with any letter of the alphabet and the next three lines must follow the sequence. So if it starts with the letter “G” the next line must start with the letter “H”.