The following is a list of free writing contests that pay the winners $5,000 or more. All of the contests are free to enter.
Included is an essay contest, two short story contests, a very large poetry fellowship, and a crime novel competition.
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- Glamour Magazine is currently hosting an essay contest. The theme: “Every woman has a moment in life that changes everything. What’s that moment for you?” Essays should be no more than 3,500 words. The deadline is November 1st. Learn more here.
- Writers & Illustrators of the Future has a regular writing contest with prizes of $1,00, $750 and, $500, plus an annual grand prize of $5,000. They accept submissions of science fictio, fantasy, and dark fantasy. The word limit is 17,000 words. It is not open to professionally published writers. Learn more here.
- The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is open to residents of the British Commonwealth, including the UK, Canada, Australia, and any commonwealth member country. (Not the US.) The prize is £2,500 each, and one overall winner, with a prize of £5,000. The deadline is November 1st. Learn more here.
- The Amy Lowell Traveling Poet Scholarship offers $54,000 to the winning writer. Upon acceptance of the prize, the writer is required to travel outside the United States for the entire year. The entry deadline is October 15th. Learn more here.
- St. Martin’s Minotaur / Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition. This is an annual mystery novel contest with a $10,000 prize. Entries must be longer than 220 typewritten pages, or 60,000 words. This contest is NOT open to novelists who have previously published a novel, unless that novel was self published. Learn more here.
