These 22 contests and fellowships are for writers of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and plays. Prizes range from $100 to £30,000 ($38,000 USD). None of these charge an entry fee, and some of the deadlines are approaching rapidly. – S. Kalekar
Shambhala Publications: Bala Kids & The Khyentse Foundation Children’s Book Prize
This is for the best Buddhist children’s picture book manuscript. Stories should be for children ages 0–8, both fiction and non-fiction, from all Buddhist traditions. This year, the prize will be offered to the best Buddhist book about one or more of the following foundational Buddhist topics: The Four Noble Truths; Dependent Arising; Karma; Rebirth; Impermanence. Generally the story should range between 20 and 40 pages, not exceeding 2,000 words. New authors are especially encouraged to apply. The prize is intended only for book manuscripts; and not for illustrations.
Value: A $5,000 publication offer from
Bala Kids
Deadline: 1 December 2019
Open for: All writers
Details here
Better than Starbucks
Sonnet Contest
This contest accepts metrical sonnets. Their guidelines say,
“Your sonnet can be shakespearean, petrarchan, spenserian, rhymed, or
slant-rhymed. Blank verse is fine, as long as the sonnet form is clearly
identifiable. We’ll consider tetrameter, hexameter, etc. as well as pentameter.
Some metrical variation is fine, but don’t forget the volta!” Poets can submit
up to two sonnets.
Value: $100, $50, $25
Deadline: 1 December 2019
Open for: All poets
Details here
Sillerman First Book
Prize for African Poets
This
is a poetry contest for African writers.
Manuscripts must be at least 50 pages long.
Value: $1,000
Deadline: 1 December 2019
Open for: African writers (see guidelines)
Details here
fresh.ink
writing contest
This contest is for
short stories, novelettes, novellas, and novels. Writers can enter as many
times as they like, and entries can be from anywhere in the world. Writers are
free to publish already-published stories. Read the guidelines carefully –
fresh.ink is a platform that will connect your writing to beta readers for
ratings, engagement analytics, and feedback. According to guidelines, “Our
judging process works the same way. Rather than using a small team of editors
to decide, we’ll match your work with a subset of readers on our fresh.ink
mobile reading app.” Writers are rated by the average ‘completion rate’
(the number of readers who finished reading your story) and star rating. All
submissions have to be in US English. They do not offer publishing deals.
Value: $3,000 for novels, $2,000 for novellas, $1,500 for novelettes, and
$1,000 for short stories
Deadline: 1 December 2019
Open for: All writers
Details here
Brooklyn Non-Fiction
Prize
They
want an essay which is set in Brooklyn, is about Brooklyn, and/or Brooklyn
people/characters. They want work from writers all backgrounds and ages, “who
can render Brooklyn’s rich soul and intangible qualities through the writer’s
actual experiences in Brooklyn.”
Value: $500
Deadline: 1 December 2019
Open for: Unspecified
Details here
New York Encounter 2020 Poetry Contest
New York Encounter, an annual three-day public
cultural event in the heart of New York City, is sponsoring its fourth annual
poetry contest to celebrate its 2020 theme: ‘Crossing the Divide’ (see
guidelines for details). They invite all poets writing in English to submit up
to 3 poems (maximum 40 lines each), related in some way to the theme. The
winners will be invited to read their poems on the New York Encounter stage at
Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street during the 3-day festival which
will take place February 14–16 (Presidents’ Day Weekend). They can accept only
up to 250 submissions per month during the contest period.
Value: $300, $200, $100
Deadline: 2
December 2019
Open for: All
poets
Details here.
J. Anthony Lukas
Work-in-Progress Awards
Two
awards are given for non-fiction works in progress which deal with a topic of
American political or social concern, to aid their completion. Writers must
already have a contract with a US-based publisher. There is no fee for the
work-in-progress award. The prizes are run by Columbia Journalism School – they
also have the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize and the Mark Lynton History Prize,
and these awards have an entry fee.
Value: $25,000
Deadline: 9 December 2019
Open for: Unspecified
Details here and here
Nobrow Short Story Competition
For this contest, they
want a piece of fiction or nonfiction on the theme of ‘The Censor’. They will
select up to 12 entries for their anthology.
Value: £2,000 for one winner; £150
for all other potential contributors
Deadline: 9 December 2019
Open for: Unspecified
Details here
The Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award 2020
The award is for a short story of
up to 6,000 words, and is open to any novelist or short story writer from
around the world who has been published in the UK or Ireland.
Value: £30,000
Deadline: 13 December 2019
Open for: Those who’ve been published in the UK or Ireland
Details here
International Young
Theatre Playwriting Contest
This
prize is for bold and powerful plays for young audiences, written in any
official European language. Performance time for Category A is 60-120 minutes
and for Category B, 30-60 minutes. They accept plays co-authored by more than one
writer. Writers can send up to three entries. The play must be a new and
original piece of work.
Value: €2,400 for Category A,
€1,000 for Category B + other prizes
Deadline: 15 December 2019
Open for: All playwrights
Details here
Wick Poetry Center: Call for Poems for Peace and Conflict Transformation
Their guidelines say,
“The Wick Poetry Center is now accepting poetry submissions as part of the
commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the May 4 shootings. The poems should
resonate with the themes of peace, conflict transformation, and student
advocacy. We are accepting submissions in three categories: youth (K-12),
adult student, or adult non-student.” There’s also a possibility for winners to
read their poems at Kent State during the May 4 Music and Poetry Event on April
21. All winners will have their poems set to a musical composition by students
in the Kent State University School of Music.
Value: $500 in each category; $250 for two poets
Deadline: 15 December 2019
Open for: All writers
Details here
Homebound
Publications: The Prism Prize for Climate Literature
This is for a work of fiction, non-fiction, or poetry
manuscript in the genre of climate literature. The final manuscript of up to
75,000 words (for fiction and non-fiction) and a market assessment and/or
statement of marketing intentions are part of the submission requirement. The
contest is for authors living in the US or UK.
Value: $1,000, publication contract
Deadline: 15 December 2019
Open for: US and UK authors
Details here
and here
Poetry Society of America: The Four Quartets Prize
This is for a unified and complete sequence of poems published in America in a print or online journal, chapbook, or book in 2019. Poems in the sequence may have been published in different journals provided that they were published in 2019 and that brought together, they form a complete sequence. The minimum requirement is 14 pages of published poems unified by subject, form, and style. Entire books composed of a unified sequence, however long, are also welcome. Submissions will have to be mailed. Self-published work is not eligible. They have other upcoming awards also, though these have an entry fee.
Value: $1,000 for three finalists, an additional $20,000 for the winner
Deadline: 23 December 2019
Open for: Unspecified
Details here
The Society of Classical Poets: 2020
Poetry Translation Competition and High School Poetry Competition
–This is for poetry translations, which should
not exceed 108 lines. Translated poetry should be from the Romantic period or
earlier. Translations should be metered. Include the poem in its original
language. Rhyme
and other traditional techniques are encouraged as well, but not required.
–There is also a High
School Prize; send one to three poems on any topic. Poems must contain meter.
Counting the number of syllables and ensuring there are a similar number in
each line is sufficient. All together, the poems should total 108 lines or
less. Students should also include their grade level and high school name.
They have another classical poetry contest that has a bigger prize, and an
entry fee.
Value: $100 Translation Prize; $100 High School Prize
Deadline: 31 December 2019
Open for: Unspecified
Details here
U.S. Naval Institute
General Prize Essay Contest
This
prize is for an essay of up to 3,000 words to “advance the professional,
literary and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to
national defence.” The contest is open to all persons eligible for membership
(including those already members) in the Naval Institute.
Value: $6,000, $3,000,
$2,000
Deadline: 31 December 2019
Open for: Those eligible for membership in the Naval Institute
Details here
Blue Mountain Arts:
Poetry Card Contest
This
biannual contest is for poetry for the greeting card company. Poems can be
rhyming or non-rhyming, though they find non-rhyming poetry reads better. Poets
can enter the contest as often as they like.
Value: $350, $200, $100
Deadline: 31 December 2019
Open for: All poets
Details here.
Lilith
Magazine Fiction Contest
This magazine publishes work of
interest to Jewish women. They like work with both feminist and Jewish content.
Submit up to 3,000 words.
Value: $250
Deadline: 31 December 2019
Open for: All writers
Details here
9th Annual Drinking Gourd
Chapbook Poetry Prize
This poetry chapbook
contest is for poets of color who have
not previously published a book-length volume of poetry. Simultaneous
submissions to other contests should be noted. Apart from publication and a
cash prize, the winner also gets a featured reading at The Poetry Foundation.
The winner must be available for a reading in Chicago in January of 2021.
Value: $350
Deadline: 31 December 2019
Open for: Unspecified
Details here
Ouen Press Short Story Competition
For this short fiction
contest, they want a story of 4,000-10,000 words on the theme of ‘The Gift’.
Their guidelines say, “The short story must be a work of fiction involving a
‘Gift’ of any type (a present, a capability) at any time (past, present day,
future) or in any place (this world or another) within its theme. For the purposes of this competition, the term
‘Gift’ will be viewed by the judges in the widest possible sense related to
both setting and context. They will focus on well-written compelling storylines,
thoughtful plots and engaging characters.” Read the guidelines carefully –
they reserve the right to change the rules without notice.
Value: £300; two prizes of £100 each
Deadline: 31 December 2019
Open for: All writers
Details here
Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies: Steinbeck Fellowships
These
are fellowships to help
writers complete a book project. Up to six Steinbeck Fellows are selected each
year from disciplines including fiction, creative non-fiction, biography,
drama, and Steinbeck studies.
Value: $15,000,
residency at San José State
University
Deadline: 2 January 2020
Open for: Unspecified
Details here
Minotaur Books: The
Tony Hillerman Prize for Best First Mystery Set in the Southwest
This
is for US and Canadian writers, for a first novel (manuscript) of mystery – in
which a serious crime or crimes is at the heart of the story, and the emphasis
is on the solution rather than the details of the crime – of approximately
60,000 words. The story’s primary setting must be one or more
of the following states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico,
Oklahoma, Texas and/or Utah. Each manuscript will be assessed based on the
following criteria, weighted as indicated: publishable quality
of manuscript (60%); creativity (20%); and originality (20%). In the event of a
tie, the tie will be broken based on the higher score in the “publishable
quality of manuscript” category. Minotaur is an imprint of St Martin’s Press, which
is part of Macmillan.
Value: $10,000 advance
against royalties
Deadline: 2 January 2020
Open for: US and Canadian writers
Details here
St.
Martin’s Minotaur/ Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition
This
is an international contest for crime novel manuscripts, for writers who have never been the author of any published novel
in any genre. The writing should be no less than 220 pages, or approximately
60,000 words. Minotaur is an imprint of St Martin’s Press, which
is part of Macmillan.
Value: $10,000 advance
against royalties
Deadline: 3 January 2020
Open for: Unpublished writers (see guidelines)
Details here
Author Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She is the author of 182 Short Fiction Publishers. She can be reached here.
