May 2026 Competitions
April 21, 2026
I have updated my list of writing competitions to include ones with deadlines next month. There are some interesting ones this time. Good luck!
Tag: novel
January 2026 Competitions
December 21, 2025
Here is another monthly round-up, covering competitions with deadlines in January.
As always, these are contests I may enter myself, so generally no poetry or flash and no competition that isn’t open to an elderly bloke in the UK. Prizes and entry fees vary a lot, so check the benefits to see whether they appeal to you. There is no point in entering a competition if you don’t even want the prize! In some cases the entry fee amounts to a large slice of the prize, though there may be other benefits such as publication, trophies, free books or courses, etc.
Merry Christmas!
| Contest | Word Count | Fee | Prize | Deadline | Details |
| Exeter Novel Prize | 10k + synopsis | £20.00 | £1,000.00 | 01/01/2026 | |
| Disquiet Literary Prize | 25 pages | $15 | Lisbon Program or $1,000 | 05/01/2026 | First prize is a week-long lit program in Lisbon, but you can opt for cash |
| Storybottle | 10,000 | $15 | $1,000 | 15/01/2026 | |
| Cai Emmons | 25,000 word min | $25 | $5,000 | 15/01/2026 | |
| Georgia Review | Less than 9,000 | $25 | $1,500 | 15/01/2026 | Winners of story and essay sections compete for the top prize. |
| The Page is Printed | 1 A4 page | £5 | £100 voucher | 19/01/2026 | |
| LISP | 3,000 | £14.50 | £100 | 26/01/2026 | You can enter later but it costs more |
| Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize | 3,000 | $25 | $1,000 | 30/01/2026 | |
| Parracombe | 2,026 | £5 | £150 | 31/01/2026 | |
| The Ghost Story flash | 1,000 | $15 | $1,000 | 31/01/2026 | |
| Bristol Short Story Prize | 4,000 | £14.00 | £1,000 | 31/01/2026 | |
| Askew’s Word on the Lake | 2000 | $15(Ca) | $200(Ca) | 31/01/2026 |
December 2025 Competitions
November 20, 2025
Here is another monthly round-up, covering competitions with deadlines in December.
As always, these are contests I may enter myself, so generally no poetry or flash and no competition that isn’t open to an elderly bloke in the UK. Prizes and entry fees vary a lot, so check the benefits to see whether they appeal to you. There is no point in entering a competition if you don’t even want the prize! In some cases the entry fee amounts to a large slice of the prize, though there may be other benefits such as publication, trophies, free books or courses, etc.
If you do get anywhere with any of these, please do let me know.
| Contest | Word Count | Fee | Prize | Deadline | Details |
| Breakwater Review | 4,000 | $10 | $1000 | 01/12/2025 | |
| St Louis Writers Guild | 3,000 | $15 | $50 | 01/12/2025 | Poor value? |
| Neilma Sidney | 3,000 | $20 | $5,000 | 05/12/2025 | Travel |
| Chaotic Creators | 1,250 | £10.00 | £50 + pub | 06/12/2025 | Small prize? |
| Leopold Bloom Prize | 5,000 | $10 ($15 quicker) | $500 | 08/12/2025 | ‘Risk-adept narration’ |
| Masters Review Chapbook | 25-45p | $25 | $3000 +50 copies | 15/12/2025 | |
| Globe Soup | 8,000 | £16.00 | £2,000 | 16/12/2025 | |
| Ruth Rendell | 1,000 | £15.00 | £1,000 plus performance | 21/12/2025 | Interact Stroke Support (upbeat stories) |
| Letter Review | 5,000 | $20 | share $1,000 | 30/12/2025 | |
| Anthony Veasna So | 9000 (3 pieces) | $20 | $200 | 31/12/2025 | To become an ‘Anthony Veasna So Scholar’ |
| Boulevard | 8,000 | $18 | $1,500 | 31/12/2025 | |
| Danahy | 5,000 | $20 | $1000 | 31/12/2025 | |
| Lascaux Review | 10k | $15 | $1,000 + medallion | 31/12/2025 | |
| Write Time | 1,500 | £5 (£3 for £10) | £100.00 | 31/12/2025 | Older writers |
| Farnham First Five Pages | 5p + syn | £10.00 | £1,000 | 31/12/2025 | For draft novels |
| Inkitt Love at First Kick | Min 20k No Limit | Free | $300 + various | 31/12/2025 | Soccer Romance. Linked with Galatea. |
| ASP Anthology | 2-7k | £5.00 | £0.005/word | 31/12/2025 | UK only, no horror or disturbing content |
| Henshaw (Hobeck) | 2k | £6.00 | £200 | 31/12/2025 | The old warhorse, still going. |
November 2025 Competitions
October 20, 2025
Here is another selection of writing competitions I might enter with deadlines in the coming month.
Presented once again in a handy tabular form!
As always these are just the competitions I might enter myself, so they don’t generally include flash fiction or poetry. I hope, though, that there’s something that interests you.
| Prize | Length | Fee | Prize | Deadline | Comments |
| Commonwealth Short Story Prize | 2-5k | Free | £2,500 region, £5,000 overall | 01/11/2025 | |
| Ascent Novel Prize | first 3000 words, pitch and synopsis | £29.00 | £1,000.00 | 01/11/2025 | Feedback for all entrants + online community |
| Scribble Short Story | 3,000 | £5.00 | £100.00 | 01/11/2025 | Theme ‘Accused’ |
| F(r)iction | 1,001 – 7.5k | $15 | $1,000 | 07/11/2025 | |
| Galley Beggar Press | 6,000 | £11.00 | £2,500.00 | 08/11/2025 | |
| Curious Curls | 10,000 | $2.00 | $250 | 15/11/2025 | Theme ‘Hole’ |
| NORward | 20p | $21 | $750 | 15/11/2025 | |
| Writer’s Digest short short | 1,500 | $30 | $3,000 | 17/11/2025 | |
| Narrative Magazine | 15,000 | $27 | $2,500 | 21/11/2025 | |
| Fish short story | 5,000 | £24.00 | £3,000.00 | 30/11/2025 | |
| PrairieFire | 5,000 | CA$34 | CA$1250 | 30/11/2025 | |
| Tadpole Press | 100 | $15 | $1,000 | 30/11/2025 | |
| Inkspot | 2,500/5,000 | £10/£15 | £1,000.00 | 30/11/2025 |
If you get anywhere with any of these, please do let me know.
October 2025 Competitions
September 17, 2025
The tabular format seemed to work last time, so I think I’ll stick with it (feedback always welcome, though).
As always these are just the competitions I might enter myself, so they don’t generally include flash fiction or poetry. That said, there’s a range of prizes here, some generous, others less so.
| Prize | Word count | Fee | Prize | Comments | Deadline |
| Calvino Prize | 25p | $25 | $2000 | In the spirit of Calvino but not pastiche | 01/10/2025 |
| Zoetrope All-Story | 5,000 | $30 | $1,000 | 01/10/2025 | |
| Jeffrey E. Smith (Missouri Review) | 8,500 | $25 | $5000 | 01/10/2025 | |
| Letter Review | 5,000 | Free ($5 for extra) | Share of $1000 | 01/10/2025 | |
| Dzanc Books | 40,000 | $25 | $2,500 +pub | Collections | 01/10/2025 |
| Spokane Prize (Willow Springs Books) | min 92 pages | $25 | $2000 | There are some other rules about lengths. | 02/10/2025 |
| What the Wild Carries | 5,000 | $20 | $2000 + pub | Various genres | 05/10/2025 |
| Moonlit Getaway | 2,500 | $CAD8 | $CAD250 | 12/10/2025 | |
| Caledonia Novel Award | 20p +200 syn | £28.00 | 1500 + framed award | You don’t have to be Scottish. | 15/10/2025 |
| The Raven (Pulp Lit) | 2,500 | $35 | publication + $300 | 15/10/2025 | |
| Tennessee Williams Festival | 7,000 | $25 | $1,500 + Festival invite | 15/10/2025 | |
| Eyelands | 250k | €40.00 | Translation into Greek, pub + ceramic | Unusual comp based in Greece | 20/10/2025 |
| Bedford | 3,000 | £8.50 | £2,000.00 | 31/10/2025 | |
| Southport Writers Circle | 2,000 | £3.00 | £200.00 | 31/10/2025 | |
| Ironclad | 6,000 | £9.00 | £100.00 | Theme: ‘Switch’ | 31/10/2025 |
| The Hope Prize | 5,000 | $30 | $10,000 + pub | Stories of ‘Hope, courage, and resilience’ | 31/10/2025 |
If you get anywhere with any of these, please do let me know.
September 2025 Competitions
August 21, 2025
This month I’m trying the experiment of just putting the competition information into a table. It’s slightly simpler for me and it’s probably easier for readers? Let me know if this causes problems. If you’re looking at this on a phone, I suggest holding it sideways.
Full disclosure: I am running Croydon Writers’ Michael Round Prize, which is listed below – not as a judge but as the administrator.
| Contest | Max Words | Fee | Prize | Deadline | Comments |
| River Styx | 3,000 | $20 | $1000 | 01/09/2025 | |
| American Literary Review | 8,000 | $15 | $1,000 | 01/09/2025 | |
| Terrain | 5,000 | $20 | $1,000 | 02/09/2025 | |
| Masters Review summer | 6,000 | $20 | $3000 | 07/09/2025 | |
| Aesthetica | 2,000 | £18.00 | £2500 +course etc | 08/09/2025 | |
| Santa Fe Writers Project Award | No limit | $30 | $1,500 | 15/09/2025 | |
| Paul Cave Prize | 1,000 | £15.00 | £75.00 | 30/09/2025 | |
| Write Time | 1,501 | £5.00 | £50.00 | 30/09/2025 | Only writers over 60 |
| NAWG | 500-2k | £5.00 | £200.00 | 30/09/2025 | |
| Hammond House | 1-5k | £10.00 | £1,000.00 | 30/09/2025 | Theme: Secrets |
| Henshaw (Hobeck) | 2,000 | £6.00 | £200.00 | 30/09/2025 | |
| Juniper | 55-75k | $30 | $1000 | 30/09/2025 | |
| Michael Round Prize | 2,000 | Free | £100.00 | 30/09/2025 | Theme: Far and Wide |
| Writer’s College | 2,000 | $15 | $1000 | 30/09/2025 | Theme: All the things we didn’t learn |
| The Ghost Story | 10,000 | $20 | $1,500 | 30/09/2025 | |
| Creative Writing Ink | 3,000 | £12.00 | £1,000.00 | 30/09/2025 | |
| Pudding Press Detritus | 20p | £10.00 | Publishing contract | 30/09/2025 | For stories rejected elsewhere |
| Letter Review Short Story | 5,000 | $20 | $333 | 30/09/2025 | |
| Crowvus ghost Story | 4,000 | £3.00 | £100.00 | 30/09/2025 | |
| George Garrett Prize | 100k | $28 | $2000 | 30/09/2025 |
And a quick mention for the good people at Chaotic Creators, who have a poetry competition going. Up to 40 lines, deadline 12th September, £10 entry, £50 prize plus publication and a printed copy of the magazine. Theme: autumnal, gothic, horror vibes.
August 2025 Competitions
July 19, 2025
A selection of writing competitions that I might enter with deadlines in August.
- The Robert Watson Literary Prize, worth $1,000 is from the Greensboro Review. The word limit is 7,500. Entry is only open to subscribers and a subscription is $15: deadline 1 August.
- The Cream City Review (Milwaukee’s leading literary journal) does it the other way round: entry is $15 and comes with a year’s free subscription. The word limit is 9,000 and the top prize is $500. Enter by 1 August.
- The Aurora Prize from Writing East Midlands takes up to 2,000 words and charges £9 for entry, with a prize of £500 and a year’s membership of the Society of Authors. The deadline is 6 August.
- The H.G.Wells Prize looks for stories up to 5,000 words on the theme ‘The Middle Ground’. £10 entry, prize £1,000, deadline 8 August.
- The Craft First Chapters competition wants your first 5,000 words: entry is $20 and the prize $2,000, closing on 10 August.
- The Bournemouth Writing Prize looks for up to 3,000 words and will charge you £10, with a prize of £1,000, deadline 15 August.
- The Black Warrior contest will accept stories up to 6,000 words and it’s $20 to enter. The winning story will be published and there is a cash prize, but I have been unable to find out how much it is, which sort of suggests they’re not proud of it. The deadline is 16 August.
- Book Pipeline wants your first 5,000 words plus a synopsis. Entry is $45 and the category prize is $2,500. Enter by 20 August.
- Pen and Quill’s competition is free to enter: you could win $200 plus books and a subscription. They look for 1,500 words on the theme Afterlight/Afterglow (which they explain further on their website). The deadline is 21 August.
- The Scottish Association of Writers brings us the Westerwood Prize, with a word limit of 2,500 and a £10 entry fee. This year instead of £100 the top prize is dinner, bed and breakfast at the Westerwood Hotel, Cumbernauld’s classiest spa and golf resort. The contest closes on 24 August.
- A bit of a departure now. Not Quite Write is known for its Flash Fiction contest: now there’s a Flesh Fiction one for erotic stories. Up to 1,500 words, free to enter, with a prize of $500 plus a trophy (not sure what form the trophy takes).
- Those fine folk at the World History Encyclopaedia are back with their Ink of Ages prize, for stories about history or mythology. Up to 2,000 words, free to enter, and you could win $1,000. In addition one of their artists will do some nice work for your book or story. Enter by 29 August.
All the rest have a deadline of 31 August.
- First I have to mention the Ajuda Foundation prize, which promotes the worthy cause of mental health support in Wales. Stories, which can be up to 2,000 words, must be related to themes of mental health and wellbeing. £10 to enter, a prize of £100.
- The Oxford Flash Fiction competition takes pieces up to 1,000 words: it’s £7 to enter and the prize is £1,000.
- Aesthetica is back yet again looking for 2,000 words and an entry fee of £18. Win £2,500 plus subscriptions and a course.
- Publishing Lab, from New Orleans, wants a novel or collection and for a $28 fee offers a hefty $10,000 prize.
- Saveas wants stories up to 3,500 words on the theme ‘Facing the Storm’, entry fee £5, first prize £200.
- The Cisco Writers Club have a limit of 2,500 words, fee of $5 and prize of $100.
- The LA Review has the same word limit but charges a little more, at $20: however, their prize is a full $1,000
If you get anywhere with any of these, do let me know.
July 2025 Competitions
June 18, 2025
Here’s another look at writing competitions I might enter during the coming month.
- The Goldenberg Prize from Bellevue Literary Review is for stories up to 5,000 words, the entry fee is $20 and first prize $1,000. Enter by 1 July.
- The Slice from Forkapple Press wants a collection of at least 5 stories amounting to 150-200 pages. It’s $20 to enter: the winner gets $500, some copies, and 25% of profits on publication. Like the sound of that. Again the deadline is 1 July.
- For Hastings Book Festival you need a story up to 2,500 words. It’s a strangely precise £8.25 to enter with a prize of £250 and the deadline is 8 July.
- The H.G.Wells prize is back, looking for 1,500 to 5,000 words on the theme ‘The Middle Ground’. £10 entry, prize £500. Again the deadline is 8 July.
- The Doris Gooderson prize from Wrekin Writers looks for 1,200 words: £5 and a £200 prize. You have until 14 July to enter.
- For the New American Fiction competition you need a full work of at least 100 pages, but it can be a collection of short stories or even flash fiction. It costs $25 to enter and you can win $1,500. The deadline is 15 July.
- The Adrift short story competition from Driftwood Press has the same deadline and a word limit of 6,000. The prize is $500 which perhaps doesn’t look the best value given the entry fee of $30.
- The Petrichor prize (for finely crafted fiction), from Regal House Publishing looks for somewhere between 100 and 375 pages. $25 to enter for a prize of $1,000. Again the deadline is 15 July.
- The Lazuli Literary Group want up to 150 pages of thoughtful, intelligent and beautiful writing of any kind. $15 to enter and the winner gets $500 – there may be multiple winners if the entries are good enough. Once more the deadline is 15 July.
All the rest have a deadline of 31 July.
- Southlands Arts has a maximum of 2,000 words, a fee of £3 and a prize of £100.
- Leicester Writes takes up to 3,500 words and charges £7 for a prize of £200.
- The Anthology Short Story competition is for a mere 1,500 words, and it will cost you €18, but for a prize of €1,000.
- The Olga Sinclair competition from Norwich is for stories up to 2,000 words on the theme ‘Weave’. £5 entry and a prize of £200.
- The Plaza Prizes First Chapters looks for 5,000 words from the beginning of your ms + a 300-word synopsis. Entry costs £20 and the prize is £1,500.
- Over in Munster they are again honouring Séan Ó Faoláin, master of the form, with a short story contest. Up to 3,000 words, €10 entry and besides a nice €2,000 prize you’ll be invited to do a reading in Cork.
- By far the biggest prize on offer comes from The Novelry with their unusual offer, The Next Big Story Prize. They want your first 1,500 words: the novel need not be finished. If you’re from the UK it’s £15 to enter and the top prize is £75,000. If you’re from the USA, Canada, or Australia it’s US$15 to enter and the prize is US$100,000. In effect, this is two parallel competitions. If you’re from anywhere else, you can’t enter at all. Eight people from the shortlist get free entry to a course to polish up their offerings, with the final winner walking off with the prize. I assume this is intended to promote the Novelry’s courses, but it does seem a lot of money.
- Finally, Wild Atlantic Words wants up to 3,000 words, it’s €10 to enter and the prize is €500.
If you get anywhere with any of these, do let me know.
May 2025 Competitions
April 23, 2025
Here again are some writing competitions with deadlines during the coming month. The list is not comprehensive (I don’t bother with flash much, for example), but I hope it might be of interest.
- Folly Journal takes stories between 800 and 2,500 words: NZ$10 to enter and first prize is NZ$1,000 – but the deadline is 1 May, so you need to be quick.
- F(r)iction is looking for 1,000 to 7,500 words and it’s $10 to enter with a $1,000 prize. The good news is, you’ve got until 2 May. Incidentally, the same publisher is running Dually Noted, where people submit short (500 word) self-contained episodes which can continue the main story arc or be incidental episodes fitting the overall theme, a new addition every week. At the moment the overall theme, which continues until December, is A Night Club for the Newly Departed. No prize except online publication, but it’s free.
- The Australian Book Review’s Elizabeth Jolley prize looks for up to 5,000 words. AU$30 to enter, a nice $5,000 prize, and the deadline is 5 May.
- Old stalwart Writer’s Digest is back with a word limit of 4,000, a fee of $30 and a $5,000 prize. Enter by 5 May.
- Ironclad want stories on the theme ‘Planted’. Up to 6,000 words, it’ll cost you £9 and you can win a comparatively unexciting £100. The deadline is 10 May.
- Lush Triumphant offers a prize of $1,000 for stories up to 3,000 for a fee of $30 – deadline 15 May. I entered one of these a couple of years ago and could never seem to find out who won.
- Ploughshares wants up to 6,000. The competition is free to subscribers, or you can pay $30 to enter (for which you also get a year’s subscription – see what they did there?). Enterr by 15 May.
- The Ghost Story wants – well, have a wild guess – of up to 10,000 words. $20 entry gets you a chance at a $1,500 prize. Deadline 30 May.
All the rest have a deadline of 31 May.
- The lively Frome Festival wants between 1,200 and 2,000 words: it’s £8 to enter and the top prize is £625.
- You do not want to miss the prestigious Bridport competition. £5,000 for 5,000 words, with entry £14. This year a new Never Too Late prize will be awarded to the best entrant across all categories who is over 60 (discreet cough).
- The Goldfinch Novel competition wants your first 3,000 words, plus a synopsis. £10 entry, and the winner gets £500.
- Yeovil’s short story competition is for stories up to 2,000 words, entry £10.50 and the prize £625. It seems they don’t believe in round figures.
- The Blue Pencil Agency First Novel competition asks for your first 5,000 words plus a 300-word synopsis. It’s £25 to enter and the prize is £1,000, but if you place you also get an introduction to one of their literary agents: I suppose you finally get to use that elevator pitch.
- Finally I really have to mention the Robert Traver Fly Fishing Writing Award. (J.R. Hartley! Thou shouldst be living at this hour.) The word limit is 3,000, the fee $25 and the prize $2,500. Judges will look for three key things in the writing: the joy of fly-fishing (personal and philosophic experience); ecology (knowledge and protection of the natural world); and humour (piscatorial friendships and fun on the water). Apparently this has been going on since 2019, and long may it continue.
If you enter any of these and get anywhere, do let me know!
February 2025 Competitions
January 24, 2025
Here is a look at writing competitions I might enter which have deadlines in February.
- The Jim Baen Memorial prize is free to enter: the winner is published and paid commercial rates. Entries should be upbeat, realistic space stories up to 8,000 words – you need to get them in by 1 February.
- The same tight deadline applies to the American Short Fiction competition (you need not be American, or short). Entries can be up to 1,500 and for the $18 fee you can have two. The prize is $1,000
- The Masters Review once again looks for up to 6,000 words: $20 entry and a $3,000 prize. Enter by 2 February.
- The Writers and Artists prize, from the handbook of the same name, is free and offers an Arvon course as its top prize: they want 2,000 words on the theme ‘Wonder’, and you have until 14 February.
- The Mary McCarthy Prize is for a collection of stories of 150 to 250 pages. The fee this time is up from $29 to $34 (somebody there clearly thinks round numbers sound bigger). You can win $2,000 and publication and you have until 15 February.
- The Elmbridge Literary Competition asks for 1,500 words on the theme ‘The River’. £8 to enter and a prize of £250. The deadline is 21 February.
- The Next Generation award is for a story up to 5,000 words long. Entry is $25and you could win $500 plus a medal. Enter by 27 February.
All the rest have a deadline of 28 February.
- The Brink prize is for hybrid or cross-genre writing up to 15 pages. $25 to enter, with a prize of $1000 and publication.
- Bridge House is not actually running a competition as such but accepting submissions for its anthology. No fee, therefore, and your reward will be royalties if published. They are looking for up to 5,000 words on the subject of ‘Magi’, interpreted however you wish.
- Exeter Writers want 3,000 words maximum: for £7 you get a chance at a prize of £700. Unusually, they don’t allow simultaneous submissions.
- The Grace Paley award is for a collection of stories, between 150 and 300 pages. $30 to enter, $5,500 plus publication as the prize.
- The NOWW competition from Ontario wants pieces between 2000 and 3,500 words. $CA10 to enter, and the prize is $CA125
- The Edinburgh Short Story award has a maximum word count of 2,000: it’s £11 to enter and first prize is £3,000
If you get anywhere with any of these, please do let me know!
Seen and Done 