All the top writing contests.
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Aesthetica Creative Writing Award 2024
Deadline: 31 August 2024
The Aesthetica Creative Writing Award is an international literary prize for established and emerging poets and writers. Entry fees: • Poetry: £12 • Short fiction: £18 Prizes: • £2,500 for the Poetry Winner • £2,500 for the Short Fiction Winner
Edinburgh Short Story Award 2024
Deadline: 29 February 2024
The competition is open to all writers worldwide, published and unpublished, who are over 16 years of age. Short stories may be on any topic. The entry fee is £10 per story. • First prize: £3,000 • Second prize: £500 • Third prize: £250
The Rialto Nature and Place Poetry Competition 2024
Deadline: 1 April 2024
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 Zaffar Kunial.'' Entry fees: £7 for your first poem £4 for each subsequent poem • 1st prize: £1000 • 2nd prize: £500 • 3rd prize: £250
Magma 2023/24 Poetry Competition
Deadline: 31 January 2024
There are two contests, one for short poems of up to 10 lines, and one for poems of 11 to 50 lines. The entry fees are £5 for the first poem, £4 for the second and £3.50 for the third. • Editors' Prize (poems of up to 10 lines) 1st prize: £1,000 • Judge's Prize (poems of 11 to 50 lines) 1st prize: £1,000
The Bridport Prize 2024
Deadline: 31 May 2024
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.
2024 Calibre Essay Prize
Deadline: 22 January 2024
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.
Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest 2023/2024
Deadline: 1 May 2024
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 $22. The winning story and essay will each receive $3,500. Ten Honorable Mentions will receive $300 each.
Kent and Sussex Poetry Society Open Poetry Competition 2024
Deadline: 31 January 2024
The competition is open to anyone aged 16 and over. Poems may be on any subject and in any form or style. 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 2024
The Tampa Review Prize for Poetry 2023
Deadline: 31 December 2023
The competition is organized by Tampa Review, a literary magazine produced at The University of Tampa in Tampa, United States. Entrants should submit a collection of poems. Manuscripts must be at least 48 typed pages. The entry fee is US$25. The winner receives a cash prize of US$2,000 and book publication.
The 2024 Colorado Prize for Poetry
Deadline: 14 January 2024
The Colorado Prize for Poetry is an international poetry book manuscript contest. Manuscripts must be at least 48 pages but no more than 100 pages. There is a $28 online entry fee, which includes a one-year subscription to Colorado Review. The winner receives a $2,500 honorarium and publication of his or her book by the Center for Literary Publishing.
The Moth Poetry Prize 2023
Deadline: 31 December 2023
The Moth Poetry Prize is one of the biggest prizes in the world for a single unpublished poem. The competition is open to anyone over the age of 16. The entry fee is €15 per poem. • 1st prize: 6,000 € • 3 runner-up prizes of €1,000 • 8 prizes of €250 for commended poems
The 2023 Society of Classical Poets Poetry Competition
Deadline: 31 December 2023
The competition is open to anyone. You may submit 1-3 poems on any topic. Poems must contain meter (beginners and students may simply count syllables). The entry fee is $20. The winner will receive $2,000.
The Masters Review Chapbook Open 2023
Deadline: 17 December 2023
The competition is open to emerging writers. Entries can be collections of flash fiction, creative nonfiction essays, short stories, and anything in-between. Manuscripts should be between 25-45 pages. The entry fee is $25. The winning writer will receive $3000, manuscript publication, and 75 contributor copies.
Mslexia Women's Poetry Competition 2023
Deadline: 4 December 2023
The competition is open to women of any nationality from any country. Poems may be in any style, of any length, on any subject. Entry fee: £10 for three poems. The winner will receive £2,000.
2024 Rattle Chapbook Prize
Deadline: 15 January 2024
The competition is organized by the Rattle, an American poetry magazine. Each poet may submit 15 – 30 pages of poems. The $25 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.
2024 Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest
Deadline: 1 April 2024
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
Troubadour International Poetry Prize 2023
Deadline: 10 December 2023
The competition is open to poets from any country. All entries must be in English. Poems must each be no longer than 45 lines. Entry fee: £6 per poem. 1st Prize: £2,000 2nd Prize: £1,000 3rd Prize: £500
2024 Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition
Deadline: 15 December 2023
You may submit only one manuscript written in the English language. Murder or another serious crime or crimes is at the heart of the story. The competition is free to enter. The winning manuscript will be published by Minotaur Books. The winner will receive an advance against future royalties of $10,000.