Writing Competitions 2024

Writing contests are a great way to practice your skills, hone your craft and get your name out there among fellow fiction writers. They’re also fantastic opportunities for those working in creative non-fiction, poetry, scripts, and sometimes even hybrid writing or multimedia projects.

As well as helping establish your name, many emerging writers and seasoned pros alike find writing contests a refreshing way to tackle a topic or theme that’s less familiar to them, or think more laterally about the topics they do like to write about. Plus, there’s often a nice cash prize and/or publication in a literary magazine to incentivize you!

There’s a competition for every kind of writer

Best of all, there are writing contests for all kinds of writing—poets can find many an annual poetry contest to enter, essayists will never be short of a stimulating essay contest, and there is every manner of creative writing contest that fiction writers could hope for.

Maybe you hope to write a short story or flash fiction, or perhaps you’re looking to enter something longer form into a writing contest. Whether you write for a Young Adult audience or you write more traditional adult fiction, whether your work is in literary fiction, science fiction, mystery or any other genre, you can bet there’s a great literary contest for you.

And it doesn’t matter where you are in your writing career because there are writing contests designed for young writers and emerging writers, others that cater to previously published authors, and plenty that will accept entries from everyone!

If you’re not quite earning a living from writing, don’t worry: there are lots of free writing contests you can enter.

Our selection of writing awards

Of course, all of this variety means that there are hundreds of writing contests you could consider. To try to make it easier for you, we’ve put together this list of writing contests for you to compare so that you can find the one best suited to you.

Because we’re all about novels at The Novelry (the clue is in the name), the focus of this blog will be on competitions centered around short stories and longer-form fiction, but you’ll find a couple of poetry contests and some creative non-fiction get a mention, too!

Read on for our round-up of awards and competitions, as well as some sage advice on entering writing contests. We’ve included the opening dates and/or deadlines where they have been advertised, but be sure to check any you like the look of throughout the year if the dates aren’t yet published.

Questions to ask yourself before entering a writing contest

If you’re looking into competitions, you’re probably raring to get started. You’re all set to select the writing contests you want to enter and start to put together submission packages. You can already imagine how you’ll feel when you win cash prizes and get published in the literary magazine of your dreams.

But before you scramble to send out your applications, it’s worth pausing to ask yourself some key questions. Here are a few of the ones we ponder before we dive into writing contests.

Should I be entering my novel into writing contests and prizes?

‘It’s not about winning, it’s the taking part that counts’—how many times did you hear that growing up? And yet, it’s true—often the experience of entering a competition can reap greater rewards than securing a place on the podium.

Entering your work for a writing contest takes courage; you’re putting yourself, and the creation to which you have no doubt dedicated hours of time, out into the world and you have no control over what happens once it’s out there. Is it me, or does that sound like... Publishing a novel?

The trusty team of writing coaches at The Novelry have shared their thoughts on entering writing competitions, and we were struck by the various reasons given for (but mainly, for not) submitting. A common thread was interrogating the motive for entering in the first place, and this is something that I’d recommend any writer considering submitting to a writing contest should do.

Entering your work for a writing contest takes courage; you’re putting yourself and your creation out into the world and you have no control over what happens once it’s out there.

Why do you want to enter writing contests?

Are you submitting to writing contests for a chance to get feedback? To make early industry connections? For potential prize money? Are you looking for validation?

All of these are completely legitimate reasons, but being honest with yourself about why you’re putting yourself forward will help you deal with the (potential) rejection that might come.

How will you feel if you don’t win?

If you aren’t someone who deals well with rejection (*shy wave*) then maybe a writing contest isn’t the right avenue for you to be getting feedback on your work. Consider, too, what stage you’re at with your writing—there’s a reason why here at The Novelry we don’t recommend sharing your writing when you’re at first draft stage.

A competition is also an unknown scenario—you have no control over what happens once you’ve hit send. While this is true of any type of submission, whether for a prize, competition, or to your dream literary agent, submitting to agents does come with a degree of control. You research and curate the agents you think will like your work, based on their stated interests or other authors on their lists, and so eliminate the potential bias that comes with submitting your romance novel to someone who lives for political thrillers.

Remember: not winning a writing contest does not mean you’re a bad writer. All it means is that on this one specific day, a specific person decided they preferred what someone else had written.

Because remember: not winning a writing contest does not mean you’re a bad writer. All it means is that on this one specific day, a specific person decided they preferred what someone else had written. That does not mean no-one will ever prefer your work. Even the most beloved bestselling writers get 1-star reviews.

Alternatives to entering writing competitions

How about entering a different sort of ‘competition’—one that might bag you the ultimate prize, a world-class literary agent? A great literary agent can represent you and your writing with a view to a career as a published author, securing you publishing contracts with major publishers and even foreign rights, audio, TV and film.

At The Novelry, we ensure our writers develop the storytelling skills that will help them achieve their ambition to become published authors with the complete pathway through to our carefully managed bespoke literary agent submission service via our Finished Novel Course, available in monthly installment payment plans and including one-on-one coaching with a bestselling author.

Bag the ultimate prize! Get a literary agent

Get on the pathway to becoming a published author with our bespoke literary agency submission service for those who have taken our courses. With affordable installment payment plans. Choose your course here.

Benefits of entering writing contests

A grand prize winner can often hook an agent’s interest. Being placed in a competition, particularly a well-regarded prize, can be a great way to ‘jazz up’ your writing CV, though it’s not a requirement—no agent or editor worth their salt is going to discard your novel because it hasn’t won, or been shortlisted for, a prize. The novel manuscript is always the most crucial part of any query package.

From a craft perspective, entering a competition can be a productive process, because it will make you review your work in a different light—you know your work is going to be read by strangers, which forces you to consider it with a third party in mind. As we often say—a first draft is for you, the second draft (and third, fourth, etc.) is for your reader. Polishing up a competition entry with a new reader in mind is no bad thing.

From a craft perspective, entering a competition can be a productive process, because it will make you review your work in a different light.

It’s also great for shifting your mindset. Getting your novel ready for writing contests is a step toward seeing your novel as one among many. This is only ever a good thing! (Think about walking into a bookstore and being confronted with shelves upon shelves of beautiful books! Your novel will be one among many.)

When drafting, the writer is often (and quite rightly) solipsistic; your novel is the only story in the world that matters, you think about it upon waking and dreaming... But putting it amid a competitive field reveals the unvarnished truth: you may love your story, but you might not have given readers a reason (yet) to love it, too.

There are hundreds of legitimate writing contests out there—always read through the fine print carefully to confirm eligibility and to check the terms and conditions around copyright before applying.

don't let an entry fee put you off a fiction or poetry contest whether you've written two or more novellas of american historical fiction or one cracking ghost story

Bath Novel Award

This is a great novelist award if you have a completed book to submit! The Bath Novel Award is an international annual prize for unagented emerging novelists, open worldwide. Submissions for 2025 will open on December 1, and for a chance to win you must submit a single document which includes the opening of your novel up to a maximum word count of 5,000 words (the entire novel must be at least 50,000 words long), along with a one-page synopsis.

Unlike many writing contests, entries aren’t limited to unpublished work: the novel you enter may be unpublished, self-published or independently published. However, if you have accepted an offer of publication with an advance for either the novel you’re submitting or any other novel, then sadly you’re not eligible.

Past winners include Abi Daré for the manuscript of international bestseller The Girl with the Louding Voice; new James Bond author Kim Sherwood for Testament, and Struan Murray for Orphans of the Tide.

This book award also includes a cash prize of £5,000, along with full manuscript feedback for shortlistees and extract feedback for longlistees. The entry fee is £29.99 per novel, with sponsored places available for writers on a low income.

Bath Children’s Novel Award

This is an award for children’s novels, YA novels, chapter books and picture book texts. The Bath Children’s Novel Award is an international annual prize for emerging writers, open worldwide. Entry closes on November 30, and for a chance to win you must submit a single document which includes the opening of your book up to a maximum word count of 5,000 words and a one-page synopsis, or up to three picture book texts with summaries.

Unlike many writing contests, entries aren’t limited to unpublished work: the book you enter may be unpublished, self-published or independently published. However, if you have accepted an offer of publication with an advance for either the book you’re submitting or any other novel, then sadly you’re not eligible.

The shortlist is chosen by Junior Judges aged 7 to 17 years, and past winners include Branford Boase winner Struan Murray for Orphans of the Tide, Matthew Fox for The Sky Over Rebecca, and Lucy van Smit for The Hurting.

The Bridport Prize

With annual prizes for novels, flash fiction, short stories, memoir and poetry, The Bridport is one of the most prestigious writing contests around.

For the Peggy Chapman-Andrews First Novel Award, they ask for 5,000–8,000 words plus a 300-word synopsis. The novel does not have to be finished, though if you’re shortlisted you’ll need to submit 30,000 words.

Winners receive a cash prize of £1,500 with mentoring and literary agent introductions. The entry fee is £24 per novel.

The Lucy Cavendish Prize

Submissions for this prize are now closed for 2024 but will open again for 2025. This competition is for any woman over the age of 18 who’s writing a novel. They welcome entries that are literary fiction or genre fiction, and are open to novels written for a Young Adult audience or even children’s literature, as long as they aren’t picture books.

The great thing about entering this fiction contest is that you’re not just in with a chance to win the grand prize, you receive a valuable half-hour one-to-one consultation with competition sponsors PFD (subject to not already having an agent) if you make the shortlist! During the consultation, professional agents will give editorial feedback and discuss the marketability of the work you’ve submitted. In addition, the winner receives £1,500 in prize money.

To be considered, you need to pay the £12 entry fee (although there is a low-income option) and submit the first 40–50 pages of your novel along with a synopsis (3–5 pages long). Your novel need not be completed at the time of submission. However, here it does need to be entirely unpublished work: having posted even one chapter on a public blog, for example, disqualifies you.

The college also has other writing awards including an environmental essay contest, although several of the awards are only for students enrolled on courses at the college.

SI Leeds Prize

The SI Leeds Literary Prize is a biennial prize for unpublished fiction by U.K. Black and Asian women. To enter, you need to submit your full manuscript with a 500-word synopsis and a £10 entry fee. Both published and unpublished writers are eligible, but the manuscript submitted cannot have been published.

There is a cash prize and the opportunity for a manuscript assessment through The Literary Consultancy. Shortlisted entrants are supported through the Prize Plus programme of writer development. Submissions for this prize usually open from April to May.

The Page Turner Awards

This is a great collection of writing contests, comprising:

The Book Award for authors with a published book (mainstream or independently published)
The Screenplay Award for screenwriters with a completed script
The Writing Award for unpublished, completed manuscripts
The Young Writer Award for writers aged between 18 and 25
The Writing Mentorship Award for uncompleted manuscripts

Plus, there are lots of great subcategories, boosting your chance to win!

A panel of literary agents and publishers chooses a winner in each category in September, and entries open in January. You can win mentorship, editing support, manuscript evaluations and much more, making this an invaluable writing competition for those looking to develop their craft. The entry fee is £40.

First Pages Prize

This is another writing contest with an array of opportunities, awarding prizes in several categories of creative non-fiction and fiction.

It’s open to unagented writers worldwide and invites you to send your first five pages (1,250 words) of a longer work of fiction or creative non-fiction.

The winners receive cash prizes (1st place gets $2,000, 2nd gets $1,500, 3rd gets $1,000, and 4th and 5th each receive $750, in U.S. dollars), a tailored edit up to the first 100 pages to support the completion of their full manuscript (must be completed before the end of the prize year) and a consultation with an agent.

Entries are now closed for 2024 but will open in Spring of next year.

CWA Emerging Author Dagger

The Emerging Author Dagger (formerly the Debut Dagger) is a competition for the opening of a previously unpublished crime novel by a writer who:

isn’t represented by an agent by the time the competition closes
has never had a traditional contract for any novel of any length
has not self-published any novel of any length in the last five years

Entries from shortlisted writers are sent to U.K. literary agents and publishers. Every year, authors find representation this way. There’s also a £500 cash prize!

Entries open on October 1 and close on the last working day in February, and there is a £36 entry fee.

And if you’re looking for a short story prize, you can also consider the Short Story Dagger—although rather than celebrating previously unpublished short stories, this one identifies the best crime short stories that have been published in the U.K. in English during the judging period, whether as standalones or within an anthology or short story collection. To be considered, short stories must have been for sale to the public, either in print or ebook.

Future Worlds Prize

Founded by Ben Aaronovitch in conjunction with publisher Gollancz, this fiction prize aims to find the best new talent for writers of color in the fantasy and science fiction genres. Not only is this one of the best free writing contests, but here we have another of our honorable mentions for short story competitions, because this award allows you to enter either a novel or short story as long as it’s science fiction, fantasy, dystopia or broadly speculative fiction.

Whatever you submit, you must provide a 5,000–10,000-word extract along with a covering letter/personal essay and a synopsis of your work (no more than 1,000 words).

The winner receives a prize of £4,000, while a runner-up gets £2,000. All those shortlisted, as well as the runner-up and winner, receive mentoring from the prize’s publishing partners.

Manchester Writing Competition

The Manchester Writing Competition offers the U.K.’s biggest literary awards for unpublished work. The competition was established in 2008 by Carol Ann Duffy (U.K. Poet Laureate 2009–19) and has awarded more than £220,000 to writers. Each year two £10,000 prizes are awarded: the Manchester Poetry Prize for best portfolio of poems and the Manchester Fiction Prize for best short story. Designed to encourage and celebrate new writing across the globe, the competition is open internationally to new and established writers.

The Morley Prize

This is an annual contest from Morley College and Rachel Mills Literary Agency for previously unpublished writers of color. There are two award categories: one for a novel and the other for life writing/creative non-fiction.

Shortlisted entrants get feedback from Rachel Mills Literary Agency (RML) and the winners receive £500 plus editorial consultations with an agent from RML. There are no entry fees. It is a fantastic opportunity for new writers!

The Cheshire Novel Prize

This prize is open to unagented authors around the world and accepts submissions in all genres, including memoirs and fictional memoirs. They don’t accept children’s fiction though.

One of the great things about the Cheshire Novel Prize is that every entrant receives feedback on their submission, making this a great opportunity to tighten up your writing whether or not you make the longlist or the shortlist.

The entry fee is £29, and you need to submit the first 5,000 words of your work (which should total at least 60,000 words in its complete form). Below your 5,000 words, you should provide a 500-word synopsis (in the same document)—including spoilers!

Entries closed on May 1, so check back in next year for 2025 submission dates.

Mslexia List of Writing Contests

Mslexia also offers a range of opportunities in the world of creative writing competitions, so whether you’re looking for a flash fiction contest or a poetry competition—and, of course, if you’re working on a novel—you’ll want to look over these amazing writing prizes.

The awards are:

Two annual poetry competitions (for single poem and poetry pamphlet)
Two annual short fiction competitions (for short story and flash fiction)
Two biennial novel competitions (for adult novels and novels for children and young adults)
One biennial memoir competition

To be eligible, you must self-identify as a woman, but there aren’t really any other criteria: Mslexia accepts entries from women of any nationality and age, including under-18s—making this a great opportunity for young adult writers and even high-school students.

If you submit short fiction (i.e., a short story or flash fiction), other works you have written can be published, but you can only submit previously unpublished short stories/flash fiction.

However, for the novel and memoir prizes, any authors who have had a novel/memoir published in any country by traditional means are ineligible. Authors who have self-published can submit their work as long as it has not sold more than 500 copies.

For the poetry contest in the pamphlet category, the manuscript may include previously published individual poems and individual poems that have won or been placed in previous competitions, but the poet cannot have a full-length collection (of over 48 pages) published.

Entry guidelines were announced in June 2024. Entry fees vary, but the fee for the Adult Novel contest is £26.

There is a sponsored entry scheme for low-income women. As well as generous checks, the prizes include publication, career mentoring, manuscript feedback, pitching workshops, and personal introductions to agents and editors.

‍Anthology Prizes

Anthology magazine runs a handful of writing awards, covering short stories, flash fiction, poetry and travel writing. Each competition comes with a cash prize and publication in the internationally distributed magazine. Entrants are welcome from all over the world, provided their writing is in English. For the short story competition, your submission must be previously unpublished and a maximum of 1,500 words.

The entrance fee is €18. Submissions closed in July 2024 and will reopen next year.

Bristol Short Story Prize

If you want a short story competition, this is one of the best. This annual international short story prize is open to all published and unpublished, U.K.- and non-UK-based writers. The 1st prize for the short story award is £1,000, 2nd prize is £500, and 3rd prize is £250.

Twenty stories will be shortlisted and published in the next volume of the Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology, which is circulated to agents. The remaining shortlistees receive £100.

The entry fee is £9, though there are 250 free online entry places available. More information will be released in Fall.

The maximum word count is 4,000 words, and there is no minimum length. Stories can be on any theme or subject and are welcome in any style including graphic, verse, prose poetry or genre-based (e.g. crime, science fiction, fantasy, historical, horror, romance, children’s).

The Green Stories Novel Prize

Organized by the University of Southampton, Green Stories is a free writing competition project with a range of categories for novelists and short story writers. They have quite unique entry criteria—chiefly that in place of an entry fee, entrants have to read at least one of the books from the project that provide an example of entertaining fiction showcasing green solutions (not just problems). They even discount the ebooks by 25% for entrants!

Unsurprisingly, the entries themselves should also conform with positive visions of more sustainable futures and/or the inclusion of green solutions, but needn’t have an explicitly green theme.

To enter, you should submit three chapters (4,000–10,000 words, though they do allow you to submit more than three chapters if necessary to reach 4,000 words).

In a single document, you should submit:

The first chapter
Another chapter that best showcases how your novel meets the Green Stories criteria
A third chapter (the final chapter if possible)
A synopsis between 500 and 1,000 words that covers genre, plot, characters, and details of how it meets the Green Stories criteria of showcasing positive visions of a more sustainable society or incorporating green solutions into the context of an otherwise mainstream story.

This prize is awaiting sponsorship details for this year.

Newfound Prose Prize

The Newfound Prose Prize is an annual prize for chapbook-length works of exceptional fiction or creative non-fiction. You can submit work in the form of a long story or essay, or a collection of short pieces (60 pages max).

Other than the page limit, the only requirement is that the writing should somehow explore the effect of place on identity, imagination and understanding.

These rather generous requirements mean that simultaneous submissions and previously published works are acceptable.

The entry fee is $15, although you can get in touch to arrange a waiver if necessary. The deadline to submit is March 15, 2025.

Clay Reynolds Novella Prize

This novella prize for short fiction—longer than a short story, but shorter than a novel—was established in 2001. The winner receives a cash prize of $500, a standard royalty contract and 20 copies of the published book.

Submissions open each year on January 1 and close on March 31.

Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award

For poetry writers who hope the next contest they enter has a big grand prize to get excited about, the Tufts are an excellent option.

Each year, two outstanding poets are chosen to win the Kingsley and Kate Tufts Awards, awarded for poetry volumes published in the preceding year.

Not only are they highly prestigious prizes, they also come with hefty cash prizes: $100,000 for the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award and $10,000 for the Kate Tufts Discovery Award. This makes the Kingsley Tufts Award the world’s largest monetary prize for a single collection of poetry.

The Kingsley Tufts is generally for more experienced writers, while the Kate Tufts poetry contest is for the first book of poetry published by a writer.

VCU Cabell First Novelist Award

This is a great fiction prize for new writers who have published a novel—the submission must be the author’s first novel, and it must have been published in this calendar year. If you’ve published previous books in a different form (e.g., poetry collections or short stories), you’re still eligible.

The book award is co-sponsored by Virginia Commonwealth University, which also sponsors the Rebecca Mitchell Tarumoto Short Fiction Prize if you’re looking for a short story contest!

Submissions close at the end of 2024, with winners announced in the summer of 2025.

Drue Heinz Literature Prize

This is another great short story award with a sizeable cash prize. The award is open to writers who have published a book-length collection of fiction or at least three short stories or novellas in commercial magazines or literary journals. The award is open to any writers working in English—you needn’t be a citizen of the United States.

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

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

The submissions window runs from the start of May until the end of June.

The SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction

If you love to work with short fiction, this biennial flash fiction contest is a good bet!

It offers the grand prize winner $2,500, second place $1,000 and third place $500, as well as $100 for all other finalists. On top of that, all finalists and placers get to be published in the SmokeLong Quarterly!

Entrance is fairly accessible: it’s open to anyone on the planet aged over 18, as long as the flash fiction you submit is previously unpublished. You can write in any language—you just need to make sure an English translation accompanies your entry.

Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America Best First Novel Competition

Another great writing competition for first-time novelists working in the crime genre, the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America Best First Novel Competition is open to any writer of any nationality as long as they’re over 18 and have never had any novel published.

The prize is publication of the submitted novel, with an advance against future royalties of $10,000. For the 2025 competition, the submission deadline is December 15, 2024.

The Bedford Writing Competition

If you want short story contests or poetry prizes, look no further. This is a wonderful way to get published, earn some money and be charitable, all at once!

This international competition is open to anybody aged 17 or over and offers prizes totaling £3,000, including special awards for young writers.

All winning and shortlisted entries are published by Ostrich Books, and all proceeds are donated to charities that support literary and literacy skills.

The short story competition is for stories up to 3,000 words. Poems submitted to the poetry competition can be up to 40 lines.

And you have some time to prepare—submissions are open until October 31, 2024.

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2025

This short story contest is open to citizens of any country in the Commonwealth, and currently receives submissions from nearly all 56 such countries!

There is never any entry fee and stories can be submitted in Bengali, Chinese, Creole, English, French, Greek, Kiswahili, Malay, Portuguese, Samoan, Tamil, Turkish, and the Creole languages of the Commonwealth, as well as in translation into English from any language.

Around 20 unpublished short stories are shortlisted, from which five regional winners are chosen. Each regional winner is awarded £2,500, and they get their short stories published online by Granta, the magazine of new writing. One of the regional winners is then selected as the overall winner. On top of online publication, the winner receives £5,000—one of the highest amounts for an international prize for unpublished short stories.

Submissions are currently open and will close on November 1, 2024.

The Moth Short Story Prize

This is another international short story contest, run by The Moth magazine. It’s open to anyone from anywhere in the world, provided the story they submit is original and unpublished and they are at least 16 years of age. Short stories also need to be within the 3,000-word limit.

There’s a €15 entry fee per story. Submissions are currently closed for 2024 and will reopen next year.

The winning story will be published as part of the summer fiction series in the Irish Times and receive €3,000. The 2nd and 3rd placed stories will be published in the Irish Times online, and the 2nd place story also gets a week at Circle of Misse and an open travel stipend, while 3rd prize is €1,000.

Masters Review Novel Excerpt Award

Do you hate the idea of having to submit only the opening of your novel? The Masters Review might have the perfect option for you. They welcome excerpts from any point in your novel (note they recommend that the excerpt should make sense without needing a synopsis to explain)—and the work can be completed or still in progress. What they’re looking for is style and craft in your narrative, characters and plot. Your submission has to be from an unpublished novel and less than 6,000 words.

The winner receives $3,000, publication, and consultation with an agent, while second and third place get $300 and $200 respectively, publication, and agent feedback.

Globe Soup Competitions

Globe Soup offer a range of great competitions with prizes ranging from £200 to £1,500. Some are genre-specific, requesting science fiction or historical stories, for example. Others are broader, like their Titles and Book Cover competition, or the Show Don’t Tell prize. Plus, several of them are free to enter!

2025 dates vary for each competition, so if this sounds like your cup of tea be sure to check their website.

Aurora Prize for Writing – Writing East Midlands

The Aurora Prize seeks outstanding new writing in short fiction and poetry.

Since 2016, Aurora has provided a platform for writers, offering a prize that is truly national (and international) with its heart in the East Midlands of England.

Their judges have included some of the region’s leading literary lights, with names such as Mahsuda Snaith, Alison Moore, Jon McGregor, Malika Booker, Helen Mort, Debris Stevenson, Shreya Sen-Handley and Georgina Wilding. The judges for 2023 were bestselling author Joanna Cannon and writer, poet, performer and Birmingham Poet Laureate in 2022, Casey Bailey.

They receive hundreds of entries each year, with the best 25 in each category making it to a published longlist and the best 10 in each category on published shortlists. As well as receiving a cash prize, winners receive feedback on a piece of work of their choice from a matched literary agent or editor. There are also prizes for second and third places in each category, plus prizes for the best work from the East Midlands region.

They will be running two online masterclasses, one with each of the judges. Shortlisted writers will receive a free ticket to the masterclass relating to their category.

The prize submissions dates are coming soon.

The Letter Review Prizes

Letter Review believes in the power of literature and the importance and magic of new writing, and they offer writing prizes in three categories every two months: short fiction, flash fiction and poetry. Their prizes are open to all writers worldwide and offer a range of cash sums for winners and runners-up.

All entries are considered for publication, submission to the Pushcart Prize, and for further anthologies. The contests are judged blind to ensure fairness. Visit their website to get the next prize entry dates and details.

Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest

Sponsored by Winning Writers and co-sponsored by Duotrope, this annual contest is open to short stories and short non-fiction pieces (a story is any short work of fiction, and an essay is any short work of non-fiction) with a maximum of 6,000 words. Both categories offer a first prize of $3,500, online publication for the top 12 entries, and 10 honorable mention awards of $500.

The contest is open internationally with an entry fee of $25. Submissions are open from October 15, 2024 to May 1, 2025.

The Lascaux Prizes

The Lascaux Review seeks accessible fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction of literary quality, and hosts competitions in each of these categories. Stories may be previously published or unpublished, all genres and styles are welcome. For short stories, the maximum length is 10,000 words.

There is an entry fee of $15 and the winner receives $1,000, a bronze medallion, and publication in The Lascaux Review.

‍Entries this year close on December 31.

Scottish Arts Trust Story Awards

The Scottish Arts Trust celebrates writers through awards for short stories, flash fiction and true flash.

Hosted by The Scottish Arts Trust, the Edinburgh Short Story Award is open to writers worldwide for stories of up to 2,000 words in any genre.

Entries are open from December 1, 2024 to February 28, 2025.

The winner will receive a prize of £3,000, and publication in their anthology is offered to the top 20 stories. There is an entry fee of £10.

Aesthetica Magazine Creative Writing Award

The Creative Writing Award is open to poetry and short fiction submissions on any theme, however, there is a particular interest for works that reflect upon our ever-changing world. Winning pieces have reflected upon both social and political structures, human relationships and experiences.

Submissions are open from December 1, 2024 to August 31, 2025. The standard entry fee for poetry is £12, and £18 for short fiction.

There is a prize of £2,500 available for both the poetry winner and the short fiction winner, as well as publication in the Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual.

The Book Edit Writers’ Prize

This award is open to British and/or U.K.-based unpublished novelists from backgrounds and communities currently underrepresented in U.K. publishing.

Submission requirements include the first 1,000 words of your novel, a (500-word max) synopsis, and a brief note on your writing experience to date.

Eight winners are selected to read their work at a live Zoom showcase event for invited industry guests taken from The Book Edit’s wide industry network. The winning entries are published on The Book Edit’s website.

There is no entry fee. The deadline for submissions is October 15.

Kurt Vonnegut Speculative Fiction Prize

For speculative fiction writers, this annual competition aims to recognize and celebrate the finest speculative fiction, which may include (but is not limited to) work influenced by science-fiction author Kurt Vonnegut. All forms of previously unpublished fiction are eligible, and writers from all over the world may enter.

The winner, runners-up, and any honorable mentions may be offered publication in the North American Review’s summer issue. The winner will receive $1,000.

The deadline for submissions is November 2. There is an entry fee of $23 per submission.

Don’t shape your writing life around these competitions

While having your work recognized—and remunerated—is undeniably wonderful, it’s important not to let writing competitions rule your writing life or dictate your sense of self-worth as a writer. Plus, remember that this is by no means even close to an exhaustive list of the countless great prizes out there, so feel free to do your own research to find a competition that better fits your needs; be that in terms of timing, word count, experience, award or anything else!

If you do decide to enter, try not to get too disheartened if you don’t take the top spot (or indeed any spot). Remember that rejection is part and parcel of the life of a creative, as many young artists learn in their fledgling days. Developing resilience is a key part of the writing process, and having a strong community to support and buoy you through the ups and downs is crucial.

Also keep in mind that there are lots of other routes to publication, and other channels to get professional feedback on your work. You can submit fiction to literary magazines even when they aren’t running competitions, and many of them will pay to publish your work. You can also look at online fiction writing courses to get some guidance as you write, or editing courses where professional editors provide feedback and suggestions for your manuscript. Plus, if you opt for The Novelry’s offerings, you also get the benefit of our partnerships with leading literary agencies, who love to receive our submissions (and often take on our graduates as clients)!

So while writing competitions are extremely rewarding in all kinds of ways, the most important thing is always your writing, and the joy it brings you.

‍

For more tips on writing and editing your novel, join us on a creative writing course at The Novelry today. Sign up for courses, coaching and a community from the world’s top-rated writing school.