June 2026 Competitions
May 20, 2026
I have once again updated my list of writing competitions to include ones with deadlines next month. Good luck!
Tag: short story
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!
April 2026 Competitions
March 18, 2026
I have updated my list of competitions… Rather slim pickings in April, but there are quite a few coming up in May. Surprisingly, there are no competitions for writing a good April Fool story. Someone should organise that.
March 2026 Competitions
February 20, 2026
I have updated my list of competitions…
February 2026 Competitions
January 20, 2026
I have now collected the competition details from previous months and put them all together on a new page, which I will update rather than making separate posts. February’s info is already there. You’ll see there’s also a direct link from the front page to the new one. I think this will make the list a little easier to find and consult. The idea is also that in due course there will be a full rolling twelve months on the page, which should make it easier to look at old details to get an idea of what’s probably coming up beyond next month.
I hope this is helpful. Feedback is welcome, (but don’t write to say you’d like all the competitions to be free, for I am powerless in that respect).
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 |
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.
Presentation on writing competitions
September 9, 2025
I did a presentation on writing competitions! Regular entrants will know all this stuff already, but here it is if you’re interested.
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.
Seen and Done 