By S. Kalekar
These are contests / awards / fellowships for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and journalism, up to approximately $75,000. They are, very loosely, divided geographically. A couple of the deadlines are in September.
INTERNATIONAL CONTESTS
Story Street Writers: Hundred Word Horror fiction contest
This is their annual Hundred Word Horrorfiction contest. Send a horror story of up to 100 words. It opened for entries on September 15 and will run through September 30, or until their submission cap is reached, whichever is earlier. Submission is via a form.
Value: $100; $25 for runners-up
Deadline: 30 September 2025, or until filled
Open for: All writers
Details here and here.
Gold Line Press Chapbook Contests
They are running contests for chapbook-length fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, with no-fee submissions from POC, Indigenous writers, and writers facing financial hardship. “We welcome a wide range of styles and approaches. In past years, Gold Line Press has published both writing that is innovative or genre-crossing, as well as writing that is more traditionally structured. While we have a particular interest in promoting the work of emerging writers, we welcome and celebrate submissions from writers in any stage of their career who are creating innovative and resonant chapbook-length texts.
We seek works of prose that are purposefully planned as chapbooks: novelettes, carefully curated collections of vignettes, short stories, essays, or other projects that take the chapbook format as an instrumental element of their design. Excerpts of novels or short story/essay collections should form a sustained and individual project in their foreshortened form.
For poets, we also recommend that manuscripts be cohesive and self-contained in the chapbook length.
Length: 20-30 pages of poetry, 7500-15000 words of prose.”
Value: $750 each
Deadline: 30 September 2025
Open for: No-fee submissions from POC, Indigenous writers, and writers facing financial hardships; other writers pay submission fees
Details here (see relevant categories).
Write Before Midnight: A Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Short Fiction Contest
Their guidelines say, “beyond its fact-based focus on science and security, the Bulletin has always had an affinity for and connection to the arts, high and low, from the artistic minimalism of the Doomsday Clock to the high satire of Dr. Strangelove and pop culture verve of The Who and Dr. Who. Now, to start the Bulletin’s 80th year of publication, we are launching a short fiction contest called “Write Before Midnight”. They want stories up to 7,000 words. “Submitted stories can be about any of the existential threats the Bulletin covers: nuclear weapons, climate change, biological and chemical weapons, artificial intelligence, killer robots, doomsday drone submarines, bioengineered zombies, the gray goo of nanotechnology gone wild, and so, so much more. The stories can be dystopian or utopian; pre-, post-, or non-apocalyptic. … Entries can be of any genre: high literature and potboiler noir will vie on a level playing field; scifi, fantasy, spy, detective, horror, and even romance tales will be not just allowed, but celebrated. The tales can be comic, tragic, ironic, satiric, or any kind of -ic at all … The stories do, however, need to have some conceivable connection to the Bulletin’s interest in (avoiding) the Apocalypse. The connection doesn’t necessarily have to be central to the story; a porkpie hat that Oppenheimer abandoned in a greasy diner might do the trick. But the existential-threat angle must be clear.”
Value: First prize $3,000, four runner-up prizes of $500 each
Deadline: 30 September 2025
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Speculative Literature Foundation: Working Class Writers Grant
This is awarded annually to speculative fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or drama writers who are working class, blue-collar, homeless or financially disadvantaged (see guidelines). “Speculative literature spans the breadth of fantastic writing, encompassing literature ranging from hard science fiction to epic fantasy, including ghost stories, horror, folk and fairy tales, slipstream, magical realism, and more. Any piece of literature containing a fabulist or speculative element would fall under our aegis. Unlike our other grants, you may choose to receive this grant anonymously or pseudonymously.” See guidelines for writing sample and other requirements.
Value: $1,000
Deadline: 30 September 2025
Open for: Working class, blue-collar, financially disadvantaged, or homeless writers
Details here and here.
(See all of Speculative Literature Foundation’s grants here.)
Cave Canem: Derricotte/Eady Prize
“The Derricotte/Eady Prize, named after Cave Canem co-founders Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady, spotlights chapbook-length manuscripts by Black poets.
Awarded to one poet annually, the Derricotte/Eady Prize recipient receives a monetary prize, the publication of their manuscript through O, Miami Books, a residency at The Writer’s Room at The Betsy Hotel-South Beach, and a featured reading at the O, Miami Festival in April.” They will open for applications soon.
Opens on: 1st October 2025 (the Submittable portal will be active for this category during the submission period)
Open for: Black poets
Details here (scroll down).
(Cave Canem runs other prizes too, see here.)
Horror Writers Association: Diversity Grants
Horror Writers Association has scholarships which offer various amounts for assisting authors in professional development as horror writers. There are various amounts and requirements. Right now, they are open for Diversity Grants, which open close 1st October 2025, worth $500 each, which “will be open to underrepresented, diverse people who have an interest in the horror writing genre, including, but not limited to writers, editors, reviewers, and library workers. … the Diversity Grants have adopted the broadest definition of the word diversity to include, but not limited to, gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disabled, and neurodiverse.” They have other grants too with different application periods, some of which have recently closed.
Value: $500 for Diversity grants
Deadline: 1 October 2025
Open for: All writers
Details here.
(They also administer the Bram Stoker Awards for published works in various categories, which close end-November/end-December – see guidelines.)
The Camargo Fellowship
This is their flagship program; a residency at Cassis, France is for artists (including writers, playwrights and translators) and scholars/thinkers, to think, create and connect. Applicants should have a publication and/or grant track record. Teams of up to 3 people can apply. They also welcome spouses/partners and dependent minor children – see guidelines. Fellowships span 10 weeks.
Value: €350 per week (€3,500 for 10 weeks), basic coach class travel booked in advance for the fellow (see guidelines)
Deadline: 1 October 2025
Open for: All writers
Details here and here
(Camargo has several other programs, divided into various types; Stopovers, Incubators, Horizons, In the Long Run, and Impromptus; click on them to see the various programs they offer under each category. Their open calls are here.)
Getty Scholars Program
These grants are for researchers of all nationalities who are working in the arts, humanities, or social sciences, for established scholars and writers who have achieved distinction in their fields. Recipients can pursue their own projects free from academic obligations and make use of Getty collections. There are three-, six-, and nine-month residencies. The annual theme for this cycle is Provenance. Also see their FAQ.
Value: $21,500-65,000, residency
Deadline: 1 October 2025
Open for: Established scholars and writers
Details here and here.
(Also see the Getty African American Art History Initiative Fellowship; the deadline for that, too, is 1st October 2025).
Quarterly West Poetry and Prose Contests
Submissions for this poetry and prose (all prose: fiction, non-fiction, hybrid – see guidelines) contest are fee-free for all writers on 1st and 2nd of October; after that, they have a fee-free submission option for writers of color through the submission period, which runs until 1st November for poetry, and until a submission cap is reached, for prose.
Value: $500 and $200 each, for poetry and prose
Deadline: Fee-free on 1st and 2nd October 2025 for all writers; after that, fee-free for BIPOC writers through the prize submission period (see guidelines)
Open for: All writers
Details here and here.
(Quarterly West Magazine is also open to submissions of new media, translations, and book reviews year round – there’s no cash payment for these.)
American Antiquarian Society: Fellowships for Creative and Performing Artists and Writers
These are fellowships for historical research by the American Antiquarian Society at Worcester, Massachusetts, for those who wish to produce “imaginative, non-formulaic works dealing with pre-twentieth-century American history.” Typically, two Hearst Foundations Fellowships and two Robert and Charlotte Baron Fellowships are awarded annually. Fellowship projects may include (but are not limited to) historical novels, documentary films, TV programs, radio broadcasts, plays, screenplays, illustration and other graphic arts, magazine or newspaper articles, and non-fiction works of history for a general audience, either for adults or for children.
Value: $2,000, residency
Deadline: 5 October 2025
Open for: All writers
Details here and here.
One Story: Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship
This is for an early-career writer of fiction who has not yet published a book and is not currently nor has ever been enrolled in an advanced degree program – see guidelines. “We are seeking writers whose work speaks to issues and experiences related to inhabiting bodies of difference. This means writing that centers, celebrates, or reclaims being marginalized through the lens of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, religion, illness, disability, trauma, migration, displacement, dispossession, or imprisonment.” Apart from the $2,000 stipend and tuition to attend One Story’s week-long summer writers’ conference, it offers free tuition for all One Story online classes and programming; a full manuscript review & consultation with One Story Executive Editor Hannah Tinti (story collection or novel in progress up to 150 pages/35,000 words). A fiction writing sample of 3,000-5,000 words is part of the submission requirement.
Value: $2,000
Deadline: 8 October 2025
Open for: Early-career writer of fiction (see guidelines)
Details here and here (see the relevant category)
(And, One Story will open for fiction submissions in the Fall; see here. Their One Teen Story Contest for teenagers is also open now, with a deadline in early December, see their Submittable.)
The McGraw Business Journalism Fellowship
The McGraw Fellowship provides editorial and financial support to journalists who need the time and resources to produce a significant investigative or enterprise story that provides fresh insight into an important business, financial or economic topic. They accept applications for text, photo, audio, or short-form video pieces, and they encourage proposals that take advantage of more than one storytelling form to create a multimedia package. This is not a residency Fellowship. All Fellows work from their own offices. It is open to anyone with at least five years professional experience in journalism (you do not have to be a business journalist to apply; many of their many of their previous Fellows have been generalists, or cover beats such as health care, education, environment, corporate accountability or inequality). Freelance journalists, as well as reporters and editors currently working at a news organization or a journalism non-profit, may apply. The application includes a story proposal. Generally, they do not accept book proposals. They consider proposals of interest to U.S. readers from both foreign and American journalists based abroad, as long as the work is published in English in a U.S.-based media outlet. They accept applications twice a year. The October deadline is for the Fall fellowship. They will also consider time-sensitive projects on a case-by-case basis outside of the deadline periods. Also see their FAQ.
Value: Grants of up to $15,000
Deadline: 13 October 2025
Open for: Anyone with at least five years of experience in journalism
Details here.
Hand to Mouth Books: Charles Potts Poetry Award
This is for a poet’s debut poetry manuscript, of at least 85 pages. The award is a cash prize and publication. Please read their T&C, the contest may be cancelled for this year if they do not receive enough entries.
Value: $1,000
Deadline: 15 October 2025
Open for: All poets
Details here.
Poetic Justice Institute: Editor’s Prize for BIPOC writers
This is a prize for a poetry manuscript. While there is a submission fee for the general category, there is no fee for BIPOC writers. The suggested manuscript length is 50-100 pages (approximate). Apart from the cash prize, the winning volume will be published by Fordham Press.
Value: $1,000, publication
Deadline: 15 October 2025
Open for: Fee-free for BIPOC writers
Details here and here.
Journalismfund Grants: Investigation Grants for Environmental Journalism
This is an investigative journalism opportunity for European environmental affairs. Applicants must be “cross-border teams of at least two journalists and/or news outlets can submit a proposal for a journalistic investigation about an issue that concerns the environment — environmental protection, destruction, biodiversity, impact of climate change on the nature, etc. The investigation proposal must concern cross-border environmental investigative journalism on European affairs — in or outside Europe. This means that the investigation has (also) to be of relevance for Europe. Next to investigations into environmental issues that transcend borders, this grant can also support comparative investigations into local environmental issues and policies between two or more countries, regions or cities.” Only applicants who are legally residing in at least two different countries are permitted to receive funding. Successful applicants who need support in a specific aspect of the investigation can request a mentor. The overall grant pool for each cycle is €400,000 and grants will be split between projects. According to their FAQ, grants “could vary from e.g. €2,000 for smaller investigations to €20,000 or even more for very large investigations that involve newsrooms in many countries, require a lot of research and expenses, data access, legal screening, etc., and yield a large series of publications.”
Value: See above
Deadline: 16 October 2025
Open for: Journalists working on European environmental issues
Details here and here.
Preservation Foundation Essay Contest: Travel Nonfiction
They want essays, 1,000-5,000 words, by unpublished writers (see guidelines). They are currently reading for the Travel Nonfiction category – “Stories should be factual and true accounts of a trip taken by the author or a person or persons known by the author.” Please read the guidelines carefully; “contest runners-up and winners are expected to remain on the site for as long as the Preservation Foundation exists.”
Value: $200; $100
Deadline: 30 October 2025
Open for: All unpublished writers (see guidelines)
Details here.
The Society of Authors: The McKitterick Prize
This prize is for an author over the age of 40 for a debut fiction novel, published or self-published in the UK (see guidelines), or unpublished. The author must not have had a novel published before, barring works for children. For unpublished manuscripts, submit the first 30 pages; longlisted authors will be asked to provide the full manuscript. And, “The novel must be a full length work in the English language by one author (not a translation, poetry, or short story collection and not a work for children).
The work must be a work of ‘fiction or imagination or substantially of fiction or imagination’.”
Value: £4,000, £2,000, £1,000
Deadline: 31 October 2025
Open for: Debut novelists over 40
Details here.
The Society of Authors: The ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Awards
This award is for a short story of up to 5,000 words, published or unpublished. Applicants must have had at least one short story published or accepted for publication.
Value: £2,000, £1,000, £500
Deadline: 31 October 2024
Open for: UK, Ireland, or Commonwealth based authors
Details here.
The Open Notebook Early Career Fellowship Program
This is an international opportunity for early-career science journalists. The fellowship is remote and part-time. Fellows will pitch, report and write four articles for publication at The Open Notebook with the guidance of a mentor who will help shape story ideas, provide reporting and writing guidance, edit final copy, and offer career-development mentoring. Each fellow will receive a stipend. The fellowship is open to early-career science writers with less than three years of regular professional science writing experience. (Internships and student work do not count toward this requirement). Please note, though this is part-time, it requires significant time commitment – see their guidelines for details.
Value: $6,000
Deadline: 31 October 2025; letters of recommendation due 7th November 2025.
Open for: Early-career science journalists
Details here.
The African Poetry Book Fund: Evaristo Prize for African Poetry
The African Poetry Book Fund (APBF) runs writing contests, and the deadline for the Evaristo Prize is in November. The Evaristo Prize for African Poetry was formerly called the Brunel International African Poetry Prize. It is for poets born in Africa, or who are nationals of an African country, or whose parents are African, and who have not yet had a full-length poetry book published (self-published poetry books, chapbooks, and pamphlets are exempt). These poems, though, may have already been published. Writers need to submit 10 poems exactly, of up to 40 lines each. Only poems written in English can be considered, but they accept poems in translation too. In the case that the winning work is translated, a percentage of the prize money would be awarded to the translator. The submission category for this contest will open on Submittable during the submission period.
Value: £1,500 their
Submission period: 1 October to 1 November 2025
Open for: African poets
Details here (guidelines).
(APBG is currently open for Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry for poetry manuscripts published last year, deadline 1 October, see here; and also for the Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets, deadline 1 December 2025, see here and here.)
Bennington College Young Writers Award
This is an international contest for young writers (two categories, grades 9-11 and grade 12), and the categories are fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. See guidelines for word limits/requirements. There are first, second, and third prizes in each of the three categories. Young Writers Award finalists and winners are also eligible for undergraduate scholarships at Bennington of varying degrees, up to $60,000 per year (see here).
Value: $2,000, $1,000, $500, $250 each in each category, and scholarships
Deadline: 1 November 2025
Open for: Students in 9th to 12th grades and 12th grade
Details here and here.
John Updike Tucson Casitas Fellowship
This is a cash award and a two-week residency at the Mission Hill Casitas in Tucson, Arizona. Writers with any type of literary project are welcome to apply, as are scholars working on Updike criticism. Multimedia projects will also be considered. A proposal and writing sample are part of the application (see guidelines).
Value: $1,000, residency
Deadline: 1 November 2025
Open for: All writers
Details here (scroll down for the Tucson Casitas Fellowship – the page also has details of all grants, scholarships, and awards by the John Updike Society.)
The Commonwealth Short Story Prize
This is a contest for writers from the Commonwealth, see the list of eligible countries here – send a piece of unpublished short fiction, in any genre, of 2,000-5,000 words. They take entries in several languages apart from English, as well as translated stories.
Value: £5,000, regional prizes are £2,500 each
Deadline: 1 November 2025
Open for: Writers in Commonwealth countries
Details here.
BONUS: Writers Omi Residency
This residency is at Ledig House, a couple of hours north of New York City. It has an impressive alumni list, including Booker, PEN/Faulkner Award and Commonwealth Prize winners. Guests may select a residency of one week to two months; about ten writers at a time gather to live and work in a rural setting overlooking the Catskill Mountains. There is no cash award. They also have a translation lab. Published writers and translators can apply. The application deadline is 15 October 2025. Details here.
BONUS: The Young Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction
This is a prize for young UK writers for two categories, ages 11-15 and 16-19. They want historical fiction of 800-2,000 words. The fiction can be in any form – a story or an extract from a longer work, a poem or drama script, a fictional diary, letters, or reportage. The story can be set at any time in history, as long as it is an identifiable period before the author was born, in a world recognisably different from the present. They want mailed entries only. Winners get a £500 travel voucher, and their work published. The deadline is 31 October 2025. Entries have to be mailed. Details here (download entry form / T&C).
(A few contests with later deadlines are:
— PEN/Robert J Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers
This is an award for 12 emerging fiction writers for their debut short story published during a given calendar year in a literary magazine, journal, or cultural website. Submitted stories must be published in the calendar year prior to the corresponding awards ceremony (see FAQ – scroll down on the guidelines page). The award is $2,000 each, and the deadline is 25 November 2025. Details here and here.
— ServiceScape Short Story Award: For this award, any genre or theme of short story is accepted. All applicants should submit a work of short fiction or non-fiction, 5,000 words or fewer. Read the guidelines carefully – they reserve the right to modify or terminate the contest at any time without prior notice. The winner gets $1,000, deadline 30 November 2025, and it is open for all writers. Details here.
— Minotaur Books/Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition: This is an international contest for novel manuscripts in the malice domestic genre, for writers who have never been the author of any published mystery novel. “Murder or another serious crime or crimes is at the heart of the story. Whatever violence is necessarily involved should be neither excessive nor gratuitously detailed, nor is there to be explicit sex. The suspects and the victims should know each other. There are a limited number of suspects, each of whom has a credible motive and reasonable opportunity to have committed the crime. The person who solves the crime is the central character. The “detective” is an amateur, or, if a professional (private investigator, police officer) is not hardboiled and is as fully developed as the other characters. The detective may find him or herself in serious peril, but he or she does not get beaten up to any serious extent. All of the cast represent themselves as individuals, rather than large impersonal institutions like a national government, the mafia, the CIA, etc.” The work must be at least 65,000 words. The prize is $10,000 advance against royalties, and the deadline is 30 November 2025. Details here. Minotaur is an imprint of Macmillan.
Minotaur is also running a First Crime Novel Competition, the deadline for that is 14th December 2025.
— One Teen Story Contest: This is a fiction contest for writers ages 13-19 by One Story Magazine; there are three categories divided age-wise for this contest. The deadline is 1 December 2025, and the prize is $500. See this page for details about this prize, and go to One Story’s Submittable page to submit, and also for all open calls.
— And journalists wanting to apply for the Nieman Fellowships at Harvard should keep an eye on their website; applications will open in October. Fellows get $85,000 over a nine-month fellowship and other expenses, see their FAQ. The deadlines to apply are 1 December for international journalists, and 31 January for U.S. journalists; there are also the Nieman Visiting Fellowships for short-term research projects designed to advance journalism.)
CONTESTS FOR THE US/CANADA
(US writers should also see the American Antiquarian Society’s fellowships, McGraw Business Journalism Fellowship,
Nieman Fellowships, and Writers Omi Residency; and Canadian writers should see the awards for Commonwealth writers – the ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Awards and the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in the international section.)
Changes Book Prize
The Changes Book Prize gives a cash award and publication for a poet’s first or second poetry manuscript of 48-96 pages – it is open to US residents who have not published (or committed to publishing) more than one book-length collection of poetry with a registered ISBN.
Value: $10,000
Deadline: 1 October 2025
Open for: US residents, for a first or second poetry book
Details here.
PEN America: US Writers Aid Initiative
This is intended to assist fiction and non-fiction authors, poets, playwrights, screenwriters, translators, and journalists. To be eligible, applicants must be based in the United States, be professional writers, and be able to demonstrate that this one-time grant will be meaningful in helping them to address an emergency situation. They have various deadlines through the year; the next one is in October, according to their website. The submission form is not open yet; possibly, it will open / appear on the website closer to the deadline. Writers do not have to be PEN members to apply.
Value: Unspecified
Deadline:1 October 2025
Open for: US writers
Details here.
Neal Peirce Foundation Journalism Travel Grants
These grants are for freelance and fully employed journalists to cover under-told stories about ways to make cities and their metro regions work better for all their people. “An ideal project for us to support is one where a journalist aims to inform a critical local debate by reporting on how a promising approach in another city is working.” The grants enable journalists to travel to cities within the U.S. to produce one or more stories for publication.” And, “Reporters, writers, editors, and photographers working in print, online, radio, television and multimedia are eligible for travel grant awards if they have had stories published or aired in the previous 3 years. We especially welcome applicants early in their journalism careers or from backgrounds underrepresented in today’s news media.”
Value: Up to $1,500
Deadline: 7 October 2025
Open for: Freelance as well as employed journalists
Details here and here.
Latino Voices in Children’s Literature Writing Contest
Free Spirit and Con Todo Press are now open for a Latino Voices in Children’s Literature contest. “The contest is open to Latino authors who are at least 18 years of age or older and residing anywhere in the United States. The contest’s mission is to elevate authentic, culturally relevant children’s stories written by and about Latino people. Every entry is considered for publication and three cash prizes will be awarded.” It is for children’s books; there are two categories, 0-4 and 4-8; see their detailed guidelines. Apart from cash prizes, there are non-cash prizes as well.
Value: $1,000, $500, $300
Deadline: 13 October 2025
Open for: Latino authors in the US
Details here and here.
Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship
This is for a poet of American birth, who is willing to spend a year outside the continent of North America. While many recent winners have been published poets, there is no requirement that applicants have previously published their work. Applications have to be mailed. One of the requirements is a poetry sample.
Value: Approximately $76,000 adjusted for inflation; if there are two winners, each will receive the full amount
Deadline: 15 October 2025 (must be received by this date)
Open for: Poets of American birth (see guidelines)
Details here (application instructions), here (FAQ – includes link to application form), and here (home page).
Raleigh Review Flash Fiction Contest
This is a flash fiction contest; send a story up to 1,000 words. Please note, they invite entries from US writers; and while international entries are welcome, only US winner can get a cash prize; if the winner is outside the US, the prize is magazine copies. They will close to submissions on 31st October or earlier, if they receive too many submissions. Shortlisted stories will also be published, and get $15 (see guidelines).
Value: $300 (if in the US – see guidelines)
Deadline: 31 October 2025, or until filled
Open for: See above
Details here.
U.S. Naval Institute General Prize Essay Contest
This prize is for an essay of up to 3,000 words on rethinking how the US Sea Services will have to address national, strategic, and operational challenges in an era of intense global competition, and how they will have to fight – see guidelines for the theme details/suggestions. The contest is open to “all contributors – active-duty military, reservists, veterans, and civilians”, according to their guidelines.
Value: $6,000, $3,000, $2,000
Deadline: 31 October 2025
Open for: “All contributors – active-duty military, reservists, veterans, and civilians”
Details here and here.
(See all of their contests that are currently open here.)
Drinking Gourd Chapbook Prize
This is a prize for a poetry chapbook of 25-35 pages. It is for poets of color withUS citizenship who have not previously published a book-length volume of poetry (inclusive of chapbooks). Apart from a cash prize, winner also gets publication by Northwestern University Press and fifteen copies of the book.
Value: $500
Deadline: 31 October 2025
Open for: Poets of color with US citizenship, for debut poetry works (see guidelines)
Details here and here (download the entry form).
CONTESTS FOR THE UK/IRELAND
(Writers should also seethe McKitterick Prize, the ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Awards, the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, and Walter Scott Prize in the international section.)
Dinesh Allirajah Prize for Short Fiction: Fandoms
This prize is run by Comma Press and the University of Lancashire. Send a short story between 2,000 – 7,500 words, on the Fandoms theme. “The theme for this year’s prize is Fandoms, paying homage to Dinesh’s dedication to jazz and love of cricket. Your story could feature characters raving about a football team, mad about a boyband or deeply committed to their favourite hobby, be it chess, crochet or stamp collecting.
We encourage writers to think outside the box and consider both the positive and negative aspects of fandom and fanaticism. Feel free to play with style and genre as you navigate this all-encompassing world.” The winning story, and shortlisted stories, will be published in an anthology.
Value: £500 for the winning story
Deadline: 13 October 2025
Open for: UK writers
Details here.
The Society of Authors: The Eric Gregory Awards
These are for young UK poets. The work submitted may be a published or unpublished volume of poetry (up to 30 poems), drama-poems or belles-lettres. The prize purse for these awards is unspecified. “Winners of the Eric Gregory Awards are invited to a free solo week residency at Thomas Cottage. Part of a historic farmhouse in the Lake District hamlet of Hartsop, the cottage is in a beautiful location in the rising fells just south of Ullswater.”
Value: Unspecified, residency
Deadline: 31 October 2025
Open for: Poets who are British nationals or living in the UK/North Ireland aged 30 or under
Details here.
(The Society of Authors also has other awards, including those with end-October deadline – The Queen’s Knicker Awards for children’s picture books published in the UK; the Gordon Bowker Volcano Prize for a published novel focusing on the experience of travel away from home; Somerset Maugham Awards, enabling young writers to enrich their work through experience of foreign countries, for a published work of fiction, non-fiction, or poetry; see all of SOA’s prizes here and grants here.)
The Society of Authors: The Betty Trask Prize
This is for UK, Ireland, or Commonwealth (see guidelines) based writers under 35, for a debut novel. Writers can enter a published or self-published book or an unpublished manuscript which must be in a traditional or romantic, and not experimental, style.
Value: £10,000 for the winner, and a fund of £16,200 will be divided equally between shortlisted authorsDeadline: 31 October 2025
Open for: UK, North Ireland, Commonwealth writers (see guidelines)
Details here.
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.