All the top writing contests.

The Moth Short Story Prize is an international prize, open to anyone over the age of 16.
You can enter as many stories as you like.

The entry fee is 15 € per story.

• 1st prize: 3,000 €
• 2nd prize: a week-long writing retreat at Circle of Misse in France
• 3rd prize: 1,000 €

The Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize is an annual short fiction competition organized by the Australian Book Review.

Entries must be a single, original story of 2,000 to 5,000 words.

Entry fee: AU$ 30

• 1st prize: AU$ 6,000
• 2nd prize: AU$ 4,000
• 3rd prize: AU$ 2,500

The competition is open to anyone aged 18 and above. This year's theme is ''Fear''. All genres of writing are permitted, including fiction, non-fiction and non-academic essays. The competition is free to enter. The winner will receive a cash prize of £3,000.

The competition is open to writers over the age of 18.

The entry must be a full-length children's novel for readers aged between 7 and 18.

The entry fee is £20.

The main prize is a worldwide publishing contract with Chicken House with a royalty advance of £10,000.

The competition is organized by The Missouri Review, a literary magazine published at the University of Missouri. All submissions must engage with health and medicine in some way. The entry fee is $15. Prizes: • Poetry: $1,000 • Fiction: $1,000 • Nonfiction: $1,000

The Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize is awarded to an original work of fiction under 2000 words.

The competition is organized by Desperate Literature, an international bookshop in Madrid, Spain.

The entry fee is €20 for the first submission and €10 for each subsequent submission.

First prize: €2,000 and a week’s residency at the Civitella Ranieri Foundation.

The competition is open to anyone over the age of 18.

The theme is free, although the micro-stories should be related to Africa in some way.

The competition is free to enter.

• 1st Prize: 750 €
• 2nd Prize: 375 €
• 3rd Prize: 225 €

The Yeovil Literary Prize is open to anyone over the age of 16. There are five categories: • Novel (1st prize: £1350) • Short Story (1st prize: £625) • Poetry (1st prize: £625) • Children's and Young Adult Novel (1st prize: £625) • Writing Without Restrictions (1st prize: £275). Entry fees: from £8 to £18.50.

The Plough Poetry Prize is an international competition for a poems in English up to 40 lines on any subject.

The entry fee is £5 per poem.

• 1st prize £1,000
• 2nd prize £500
• 3rd prize £250

Entrants must be 16 years or over. Stories can be on any theme or subject but must be original and written in English. Maximum length is 2,200 words. There is a fee of £9 for each story submitted. • 1st prize: £1,000 • 2nd prize: £300 • 3rd prize: £100

The competition is open to writers who have not previously published or self-published a full-length book of prose. Entrants must reside in the British Commonwealth or Eire.

The submitted work can be fiction, non-fiction, children’s or short stories.

The competition is free to enter.

The winner receives £10,000 and the two shortlisted authors £1,000 each.

The competition is open to all authors writing original works in English for adult readers.

There are four prizes:
• Donald Hall Prize for Poetry: $5,500
• Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction: $5,500
• Sue William Silverman Prize for Creative Nonfiction : $2,500
• James Alan McPherson Prize for the Novel: $5,500

Entry fees: $30 for nonmembers and $20 for AWP members

Authors must be first-generation immigrants. ''First-generation'' can refer either to people born in another country who relocated, or to residents of a country whose parents were born elsewhere.

The competition is open to both fiction and nonfiction submissions.

The entry fee is $20.

The winner receives $10,000 and publication by Restless Books.

The competition is open to anyone aged 16 and over.

You may submit an essay on any theme, up to 2,000 words.

• First Prize: £1,000
• Second Prize: £500
• Third Prize: £250

Deadline: 28 February 2025

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 essay will each receive $3,500.
Ten Honorable Mentions will receive $500 each.

The competition is open to anyone. There are two categories: Poetry and Short Fiction. Entry fees: from £12 to £18. Prizes: • £2,500 for the Poetry Winner • £2,500 for the Short Fiction Winner

The prize is for unpublished poems written by an adult for children aged 7–11. The entry fee is €15 per poem. • 1st prize: €1,000 • 2nd prize: €500 • 3rd prize: €250

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 £11 to £24.

The competition is open to all writers worldwide, published and unpublished, who are over 16 years of age. Short stories can be on any theme or subject but must be written in English. The entry fee is £10 per story. • First prize: £3,000 • Second prize: £500 • Third prize: £250

The competition is open to anyone over the age of 18. `Poems are invited that deal with any aspect of nature and place – these terms will be given a wide interpretation by the judge Helen Mort.` Entry fees: £7 for your first poem £4 for each subsequent poem • 1st prize: £1000 • 2nd prize: £500 • 3rd prize: £250

You may submit one humor poem, in English. Your poem should not exceed 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