SEPTEMBER 2022
Puerto Del Sol Competitions Fiction and non-fiction, max 25 pages; up to 3 poems Prizes: $500 and publication in each category Entry fee: $9 Closing date: 1 September www.puertodelsol.org/submit
Academy of American Poets First Book Award Formerly the Walt Whitman Award, for book-length poetry manuscripts, 48 pages or more, by US residents. Prizes: $5,000 plus publication Entry fee: $35 Closing date: 1 September https://poets.org/academyamerican-poets/prizes/
Southampton Review Short Fiction Prize Short stories, up to 350 words Prizes: $500, $300, $200 Entry fee: $5 Closing date: 1 September www.thesouthamptonreview. com/short-short-fiction-contest
Diana Brebner Prize Best poem, up to 30 lines, by a resident of Canada’s National Capital Region Prizes: Can$500 Entry fee: $25 Closing date: 3 September http://arcpoetry.ca/contests-page/
Furious fiction 500-word short stories, written in 55 hours Prizes: Aus$500 Free entry
Closing date: 4 September, first Sunday of each month www.writerscentre.com.au/ furious-fiction/
KSP Writers Centre Short Fiction Competition Short stories, up to 2,500 words, by Australian residents or citizens Prizes: Aus$300, $150; $100, $50 for youths Entry fee: TBC Closing date: 8 September www.kspwriterscentre.com
Retreat West Micro Fiction Competition Fiction, 100 words exactly, to a prompt posted on the website at the start of each month Prizes: 50% of total entry fees received
Entry fee: £4 Closing date: 8 September, monthly www.retreatwest.co.uk
New Voices Competition First page of a novel and a onepage synopsis by a first-time writer Prizes: Start Up mentoring package worth £550 Entry fee: £10 Closing date: 14 September www.adventuresinfiction.co.uk
53-word Story Contest Stories of exactly 53 words, to a different prompt each month Prizes: Publication in Prime Number magazine; free book Free entry Closing date: 15 September, and 15th of each month thereafter www.press53.com/53word-storycontest
Frontier Poetry Open Up to 3 poems, any length Prizes: $5,000 and publication Entry fee: $20 Closing date: 15 September www.frontierpoetry.com
Gingko Prize for Ecopoetry Poems up to 54 lines on ecological themes Prizes: £5,000, £2,000, £1,000 Entry fee: £7, £4 for each subsequent entry Closing date: 15 September https://ginkgoprize.com
The Hal Prize Fiction and non-fiction, up to 2,000 words; poems, no more than a page, by US writers Prizes: $250, $100, $50; publication Entry fee: $10 for prose, $5 for poems Closing date: 15 September http://thehalprize.com
London Independent Story Prize Short stories, max 3,000 words; flash, 300 words; short screenplays up to thirty pages and feature screenplay Prizes: £100 for both categories Entry fee: Starts from £4 Closing date: 15 September www.londonindependent storyprize.co.uk
Moth Nature Writing Prize Poetry, fiction or nonfiction exploring the writer’s relationship with the natural world Prizes: €1,000 and a week at The Moth Retreat in rural Ireland Entry fee: €15 Closing date: 15 September www.themothmagazine.com
Surrey International Writers’ Conference Short stories, 2,500-5,000 words Prizes: Can$1,000, $150 Entry fee: $19 Closing date: 15 September www.siwc.ca/writing-contest/
Transitions Abroad Writing Contest Essays or guides, 1,200-3,000 words on living, moving or working abroad Prizes: $500, $150, $100; $50 for all finalists Free entry Closing date: 15 September www.transitionsabroad.com
Mslexia Women’s Fiction Awards For short stories, flash fiction, children’s and YA novel Prizes: £10,000+ prize pot Entry fee: £26 Closing date: 19 September www.mslexia.co.uk
Michael Marks Award for Poetry Pamphlets and the Michael Marks Poetry Publishers Award For poetry pamphlets up to 36 pages, and for the publishers of poetry pamphlets; now also Greek Bicentennial Poetry Prize for pamphlets on specific themes Prizes: £5,000 for each award; £10,000 and £5,000 for the Greek Bicentennial Prize Free entry Closing date: 23 September https://michaelmarksawards.org
Aryamati Poetry Prize Poems up to 40 lines, promoting peace and social change Prizes: A traditional pamphlet publication contact, 250 copies of your poem printed on special postcards, £100 worth of books, plus critiques Entry fee: £5, £3 concessions Closing date: 25 September www.flyonthewallpoetry.co.uk/ the-aryamati-poetry-prize
Troubadour International Poetry Prize Poems, up to 45 lines Prizes: £2,000, £1,000, £500, plus smaller prizes Entry fee: £5, €6, $7 per poem Closing date: 26 September www.coffeehousepoetry.org
KSP Writers Centre Poetry Award Poems, up to 50 lines, by Western Australian residents or citizens Prizes: Aus$300, $150; $100, $50 for youths Entry fee: TBC Closing date: 29 September www.kspwriterscentre.com
Acheven Book Prize Young adult fiction, 120-350 pages Prizes: $750 and publication Entry fee: $25 Closing date: 30 September https://regalhousepublishing. com
Arc Award of Awesomeness Poems up to 100 lines, in response to a given monthly theme Prizes: Half the entry fees plus a ‘vintage doo-dad’ from an Ontario flea market Entry fee: Can$2 Closing date: 30 Sept, monthly http://arcpoetry.ca/contestspage/
Biographers’ Club Tony Lothian Prize An uncommissioned biography by a first-time biographer. Submit a proposal of no more than 20 pages, including synopsis, sample chapter (both double-spaced), CV, sources and a note on the market for the book. Mandatory entry form available on the website. Prizes: £2,000 Entry fee: £15 Closing date: 30 September https://thebiographersclub.com
Bracken Bower Prize Best proposal for a business book on the challenges and opportunities for growth from a writer under 35 Prizes: £15,000 Free entry Closing date: 30 September www.ft.com/brackenbower
César Egido Serrano Foundation Flash Fiction Contest Flash fiction, no more than 100 words, in English, Spanish, Arabic or Hebrew Prizes: $20,000, $2,000 each for the best entry in each of the remaining three languages Free entry Closing date: 30 September www.fundacionces aregidoserrano.com
Crowvus Christmas Ghost Story Competition Spooky stories, up to 4,000 words, by adults or children Prizes: £100, £75, £50; £50 gift card for best under-16 entry Entry fee: £3, £5 for two; free for under-16s Closing date: 30 September www.crowvus.com/competition
Dream Quest One Poetry and Writing Contest Stories in any format, double spaced, max 5 pages; poems, up to 30 lines Prizes: $500, $250, $100 for writing category; $250, $125, $50 for poetry Entry fee: $10 writing, $5 poetry Closing date: Biannual, closing 30 March and 30 September www.dreamquestone.com
Darling Axe First Page Challenge First double-spaced page of a novel Prizes: Can$700, $200, $100 Entry fee: $5 Closing date: 30 September https://darlingaxe.com/pages/ contest
Dzanc Prizes Novels (40,000+ words) and book-length short story collections Prizes: $5,000 for novels, $2,500 for ss collections Entry fee: $25 Closing date: 30 September https://dzancbooks.submittable. com/
FanStory Busy programme of competitions, closing every few days, for flash, short stories, poetry and more Prizes: $100 each comp Entry fee: Free, but for (paid) site members only Closing date: 30 September, constant www.fanstory.com
Flash 500 Flash Fiction Competitions Quarterly competition for flash fiction, up to 500 words Prizes: £300, £200 and £100 Entry fee: £5, £8 for two Closing date: 30 September; quarterly, also 31 Dec, 30 June www.flash500.com
Hammond House International Literary Prize Short stories, 1,000-5,000 words, poems up to 40 lines and scripts, up to 10 pages, on a theme TBC Prizes: Short stories £500, £100, £50; poems £100, £30, £20; scripts, £100 Entry fee: £10 Closing date: 30 September www.hammondhouse publishing.com
Henshaw Short Story Comp Quarterly competition for short stories up to 2,000 words, any theme Prizes: £200, £100, £50 Entry fee: £6 Closing date: 30 September; quarterly, 31 Dec, 31 March www.henshawpress.co.uk
Inkitt Short Story and Fanfic Contests Monthly competitions for short stories, 5,000-10,000 words, and fanfic, over 7,500 words Prizes: $150, $50, $30 Free entry Closing date: 30 September; last of each month www.inkitt.com
Iowa Short Fiction Award Short story collections of at least 150 pages by authors who have not had a book published Prizes: Publication by University of Iowa Press under a standard contract Free entry Closing date: 30 September www.uipress.uiowa.edu/authors/ iowa-short-fiction.htm
L Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Quarterly competition for fantasy and SF short stories
Prizes: $1,000, $750, $500 each quarter; overall $5,000 for best of year Free entry Closing date: 30 Sept; quarterly, 31 Dec, 31 March, 30 June www.writersofthefuture.com/ enter-writer-contest/
Lascaux Prize for creative non-fiction Creative non-fiction, up to 10,000 words Prizes: $1,000 and publication Entry fee: $15 Closing date: 30 September http://lascauxreview.com/ contests/
Miller Williams Poetry Prize Poetry manuscripts, 60-90 pages Prizes: $5,000 and publication Entry fee: $28 Closing date: 30 September www.uapress.com/prizes/
Moment Magazine Karma Foundation Short Fiction Contest Short stories, max 5,000 words, with Jewish themes Prizes: $1,000 Entry fee: $25 Closing date: 30 September https://momentmag.com/ contests/moment-magazinekarma-foundation-short-fictioncontest/
Mudfish Poetry Prize Up to three poems, any length Prizes: $1,200 Entry fee: $20, $3 each additional Closing date: 30 September, on hold www.mudfish.org
Norwich Writers’ Circle Olga Sinclair Open Short Story Competition Short stories up to 2,000 words, open theme this year Prizes: £500, £250 and £100 Entry fee: £9, £7 each subsequent Closing date: 30 September http://norwichwriters.wordpress. com
Ovacome Writing Comp Short stories, up to 1,500 words, theme ‘perspective’ Prizes: £250, £50 Waterstones voucher Entry fee: £5 Closing date: 30 September www.ovacome.org.uk
Patricia Eschen Poetry Prize Poems on any theme, up to 40 lines, by adults and under-16s Prizes: £1,000, £300, £200; children’s, £150, £100, £50 Free entry Closing date: 30 September https://morrablibrary.org.uk/ poetryprize/
Poetry Kit Ekphrastic Competition Poetry of any length based on a painting Prizes: £100, £50 Entry fee: £3.50, £8 for 3, £10 for 5 Closing date: 30 September www.poetrykit.org
Red Hen Press Fiction Award Book-length fiction manuscripts, 150 pages minimum Prizes: $1,000 and publication Entry fee: $25 Closing date: 30 September https://redhen.org/
Retreat West Themed Flash Fiction Prize Fiction, up to 500 words, themed each quarter. September is ‘Amok’. December is ‘When the mighty fall’. § Prizes: £200, 2x£100 Entry fee: £8 Closing date: 30 Sept; quarterly, 31 Dec, 31 March, 30 June www.retreatwest.co.uk
Scribble Quarterly Short Story Ongoing quarterly competitions for short stories, up to 3,000 words Prizes: £75, £25, £15 in each issue Entry fee: £3 (£5 with critique); free for annual subscribers Closing date: 30 Sept; quarterly, 31 Dec, 31 March, 30 June www.parkpublications.co.uk
Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest Poems in two styles: open and traditionally rhymed. Up to 250 lines. Prizes: $3,000 and ten $100 honourable mentions, in each category Entry fee: $20 Closing date: 30 September www.winningwriters.com/ tompoetry
World Around Us Chapbook AnthologyContest Poems, no longer than 36 lines Prizes: Can$100, $75, $50, $25x2 Entry fee: $5, 3 for $10 Closing date: 30 September www.theontariopoetrysociety.ca
WriteTime competitions Short stories up to 1,500 words by writers over 60 Prizes: £50, 2x£25; anthology publication Entry fee: £3, £5 for two Closing date: 30 Sept; quarterly, 31 Dec, 31 March, 30 June https://writetime.org/
Writing Quarter Monthly; short stories, 1,000- 3,000 words Prizes: Aus$30 Free entry Closing date: 30 September, last of each month https://writingquarter.com.au
OCTOBER 2022
American Literary Review Awards Short stories, up to 8,000 words, creative non-fiction, up to 4,000, and poems, up to 3 Prizes: $1,000 and publication in each category Entry fee: $15 Closing date: 1 October https://americanliteraryreview. com/contest/
Boulevard Emerging Writers Competition Non-fiction up to 8,000 words, by a writer who has not had a book published Prizes: $1,000 Entry fee: $16 Closing date: 1 October https://boulevardmagazine.org/ nonfiction-contest/
Christopher Smart, now Joan Alice, Poetry Prize Poetry collections, 48-120 pages Prizes: $2,000 and publication
Entry fee: $25 Closing date: 1 October https://store.eyewearpublishing. com/
Cranked Anvil Prompt Competition Stories inspired by set writing prompts, 700-1000 words. Prizes: £150, £75, £30 Entry fee: £5, £3 for second, £2 for third Closing date: 1 October; quarterly, 1 Jan, 1 Apr www.crankedanvil.co.uk
Grindstone Novel Prize Submit the first 5,000 words of an unpublished manuscript over 50,000 words Prizes: £1,000, £500, 4x£125 Entry fee: £8 Closing date: 1 October www.grindstoneliterary.com
Mary C Mohr Awards Short fiction and$2,000 and publication in each category $20 1 October
