All the top writing contests.
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Kent and Sussex Poetry Society Open Poetry Competition 2026
Deadline: 31 January 2026
The competition is open to anyone aged 16 and over.
Poems may be on any subject.
Entry fees:
• up to two poems: £5 per poem;
• three or more poems: £4 per poem.
• 1st prize: £1,000
• 2nd prize: £300
• 3rd prize: £100
• 4th prize: 4 x £50
Deadline 31 January 2025
2026 Bristol Short Story Prize
Deadline: 31 January 2026
The competition is open to all published and unpublished writers. Entrants must be over 16 years old.
Stories can be on any theme or subject. The maximum length of submissions is 4,000 words.
The entry fee is £14.
• 1st prize is £1,500
• 2nd prize is £500
• 3rd prize is £250
The Bridport Prize 2026
Deadline: 31 May 2026
The competition is open to writers of any nationality, aged 16 years old and over.
The competition has four categories:
• Poetry (1st prize: £5,000);
• Short story (1st prize: £5,000);
• Flash fiction (1st prize: £1,000);
• Novel (1st prize: £1,500).
Entry fees: from £12 to £26.
Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest 2025/2026
Deadline: 1 May 2026
You may submit stories and essays on any theme, up to 6,000 words each. For this contest, a story is any short work of fiction, and an essay is any short work of nonfiction.
The entry fee is $25.
The winning story and the winning essay will each receive $3,500.
Ten honorable mentions will receive $500 each.
2025 Rattle Chapbook Prize
Deadline: 15 January 2026
The competition is organized by the Rattle, an American poetry magazine.
Each poet may submit 15 – 30 pages of poems.
The $30 entry fee is a one-year subscription to Rattle magazine.
The three winners will each receive $5,000 and 500 author copies of their chapbook.
2026 Calibre Essay Prize
Deadline: 2 February 2026
The competition is open to all essayists writing in English.
Entries must be a single non-fiction essay of 2,000 and 5,000 words.
Each entry must be accompanied by an entry fee of AU$30.
The winner will receive AU$5,000. The runner-up will receive AU$3,000. Third place will receive AU$2,000.
The Moth Poetry Prize 2025
Deadline: 31 December 2025
The Moth Poetry Prize is one of the biggest prizes in the world for a single unpublished poem.
The competition is open to anyone aged 16 or over.
The entry fee is €16 per poem.
• 1st prize: €6,000
• 3 runner-up prizes of €1,000
• 8 prizes of €250 for commended poems
2026 Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest
Deadline: 1 April 2026
You may submit one humor poem written in English, up to 250 lines in length.
The competition is free to enter.
• 1st prize: $2,000
• 2nd prize: $500
• 3rd Prize: $250
• 10 honorable mentions, $100 each