Here are 24 fee-free contests, awards, and grants/fellowships for fiction, non-fiction, poetry, journalism, and graphic stories. Prizes range from $50 to $45,000. The list is very broadly arranged according to geographic divisions. – S. Kalekar
CONTESTS OPEN FOR INTERNATIONAL SUBMISSIONS
Bennington College Young Writers Award
This is an international contest for young writers, and the categories are poetry (a group of three poems), fiction – a short story (1,500 words or fewer) or one-act play (run no more than 30 minutes of playing time), and nonfiction – a personal or academic essay (1,500 words or fewer). 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, ranging from $10,000 to $15,000 each year (see guidelines).
Value: $1,000, $500, $250 each in fiction, non-fiction, and poetry categories
Deadline: 1 November 2021
Open for: Students in 9th to 12th grades
Details here.
Defenestrationism: 2021 Flash Suite Contest
This is a contest for at least three flash fiction pieces (up to 1,000 words each) that co-relate in some way. A single piece of the suite may have been published before, otherwise, no previously published material. Finalists will be published daily on the site, followed by at least two weeks of Fan Voting – winners will be selected by a judging panel, with Fan Voting counting as an additional judge vote.
Value: $75, $60
Deadline: 1 November 2021
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Brunel International African Poetry Prize
This 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. Writers need to submit 10 poems exactly. These poems, though, may have already been published.
Value: £3,000
Deadline: 1 November 2021
Open for: African poets
Details here and here.
The William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grants for Unpublished Writers
This is given to an unpublished writer (see guidelines) in the Malice Domestic genre at each year’s Malice Domestic convention. The grant may be used to offset registration, travel, or other expenses related to attendance at a writers’ conference or workshop within a year of the date of the award. In the case of non-fiction, the grant may be used to offset research expenses. The Malice Domestic genre is loosely described as mystery stories of the Agatha Christie type—i.e. “traditional mysteries.” These works usually feature no excessive gore, gratuitous violence, or explicit sex. See guidelines for additional details and submission requirements. Apart from the cash award, the prize covers a comprehensive registration for the upcoming convention and two nights’ lodging at the convention hotel, but does not include travel to the convention or meals.
Value: $2,500, and other expenses – see above
Deadline: 1 November 2021
Open for: Unpublished writers in the Malice Domestic genre
Details here.
Black Mountain Institute: Shearing Fellowship
This is a residential fellowship for emerging and distinguished writers who have published at least one book with a trade or literary press. Apart from the cash stipend, this fellowship includes: a semester-long letter of appointment; eligibility for health coverage; office space in the BMI offices on the campus of UNLV; free housing (fellows cover some utilities) in a unique and vibrant arts complex in the bustling district of downtown Las Vegas. While there are no formal teaching requirements, this is a “working fellowship” (see guidelines). The Believer magazine has been associated with this institute. (However, please see this report from Poets & Writers, which links to troubling events and the announced closure of this magazine).
The page also has details of City of Asylum fellowships, now closed, which provides safe haven for writers whose voices are muffled by censorship, or who are living with the threat of imprisonment or assassination; these are associated with the International Cities of Refuge network, which serves as an umbrella organization and information clearinghouse for local asylum programs worldwide – also see their Residencies, Scholarships, and Grants list; some information is dated, but it is a great resource for artists at risk.)
Value: $20,000 over 4 months, residency
Deadline: 1 November 2021
Open for: Unspecified
Details here.
The Rain Short Story Contest: Ghosts of the Past
Their website says, “The Rain is an atmospheric podcast that aims to realize the vision of the lesser-known authors and writers in the world by creating a one-of-a-kind audio experience to fully immerse listeners in the world of the fiction.” This is the inaugural short fiction contest for their podcast. Their guidelines say, “Submit a short story about a character who is re-confronted with an artifact from a past that they thought was long gone—buried, forgotten, outgrown—that requires them to face a past that they never thought they would have to face again. Maybe they are running from a terrible secret, or hiding from an old fear, but just as they were beginning to feel as though they had escaped their past, it shows up again at their doorstep. How does being confronted by a past they thought dead-and-gone change their present, and how will they face it?” Send stories of 1,800-2,200 words.
Value: $50
Deadline: 7 November 2021
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Washington College: Patrick Henry Writing Fellowship
This is a full-time residential writing fellowship, for writing on American history and culture. Applicants should have a book currently in progress. Their guidelines say, “The project should address the history and/or legacy – broadly defined – of the American Revolution and the nation’s founding ideas. It might focus on the founding era itself, or on the myriad ways the questions that preoccupied the nation’s founders have shaped America’s later history. Work that contributes to ongoing national conversations about America’s past and present, with the potential to reach a wide public, is particularly sought.”
Value: $45,000, other allowances, residency
Deadline: 15 November 2021
Open for: Published writers
Details here.
Weird Christmas Flash Fiction Contest
This is an annual contest, and the theme is ‘Weird Christmas’; there are also three prompts the writers can choose. Stories have to be about Christmas, and have to be weird in some way. Writers can send multiple entries. Stories have to be up to 350 words.
Value: $75, $50; and $5 for honourable mentions
Deadline: 15 November 2021
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Apex Magazine: Holiday Horrors Flash Fiction Contest
They want stories of 250 words or less, The theme is Halloween. “Tell us tales of trick-or-treating gone wrong, monsters lurking in the darkness to grab kiddies on their way home, or teens who accidentally raise the dead.
Halloween is the scariest holiday of them all, so finding a way to twist it into something new and exciting will be a trick, and will definitely give us all a treat!”
Value: $25 and $10
Deadline: 15 November 2021
Open for: All writers
Details here.
(General speculative fiction submissions are also open for Apex Magazine – pay is $0.08/word for stories up to 7,500 words.)
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. Also see their scholarship for students.
Value: $1,000
Deadline: 30 November 2021
Open for: All writers
Details here.
Dappled Things: The J. F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction
Dappled Things is a space for emerging writers to engage the literary world from a Catholic perspective. For this contest, they want stories of up to 8,000 words “with vivid characters who encounter grace in everyday settings—we want to see who, in the age we live in, might have one foot in this world and one in the next.”
Value: $500, $250
Deadline: 30 November 2021
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!” They do accept previously published work, as long as the poet holds the rights (see guidelines). Submit up to two sonnets. The first prize is higher this year because of a donation.
Value: $500, $100, $50
Deadline: 30 November 2021
Open for: All poets
Details here.
Poets for Human Rights: Two contests
They have two contests, one for adults and another for poets who are 17 years or younger.
— The 2021 Anita McAndrews Award Poetry Contest: For this contest, the theme is Human Rights. Familiarity with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is recommended. Submit up to three poems in any poetic style or form; multilingual poems are welcome (include translation in English).
Value: $250, $100, $50
Deadline: 30 November 2021
Open for: All poets
Details here (scroll down).
— Renee Duke Youth Award poetry contest: This is for poets 17 years or younger. Send up to three poems. The theme is Universal Declaration of Human Rights or any of the 30 articles of the UDHR. Poems can be in any poetic style or form, and multilingual poems are welcome (include translation in English).
Value: $200, $75, $25
Deadline: 30 November 2021
Open for: Poets ages 17 years or younger
Details here (scroll down).
Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets
This is a debut poetry book contest for African writers (someone who was born in Africa, who is a national or resident of an African country, or whose parents are African). Manuscripts must be at least 50 pages long.
Value: $1,000
Deadline: 1 December 2021
Open for: African poets
Details here.
A couple of contests with later deadlines are:
The Tratt Fiction Award for US-based writers, for a debut short story manuscript – it must be the writer’s first collection of short fiction; the prize is $1,000, and the deadline is 31 December 2021.
Submissions are also open for the Steinbeck Fellows Program of San José State University – it awards writers of any age and background a $15,000 fellowship to finish a significant writing project, and residency. Fellowships are currently offered in Creative Writing (excluding poetry) and Steinbeck Studies; Fellows may be appointed in many fields, including literary scholarship, fiction, drama, education, science and the media, and the deadline is 3 January 2022.
And submissions are still open for César Egido Serrano Foundation’s microfiction contest, open to writers over 14 years of age – they have extended an earlier deadline. Their rules say that they will close the contest within five days of announcing a new closing date. Entries have to be up to 100 words, and the prize is $20,000.
CONTESTS OPEN TO WRITERS IN THE US AND CANADA
(Also see Commonwealth category for Canadian writers)
Academy of American Poets: Treehouse Climate Action Poem Prize
This prize is given to honor exceptional poems that help make real for readers the gravity of the vulnerable state of our environment at present; poets may submit one poem. It is for US writers (see guidelines). In addition to the prize money, all three poems will be published in the popular Poem-a-day series.
Value: $1,000, $750, $500
Deadline: 15 November 2021
Open for: US poets (see guidelines)
Details here.
Grist Fellowships
These are opportunities for US-based early-career journalists. The fellowships are paid writing opportunities for six months – the fellowships are in Climate Solution, Data, Environmental Justice, Indigenous Affairs, Midwest, and News & Politics. See guidelines for writing samples, and other submission requirements for each fellowship. Applicants should have a four-year degree, or equivalent professional experience, and strong understanding of Grist’s brand. Writers can work remotely from anywhere in the US.
Value: $3,334/month for six months, other benefits, and mentorship
Deadline: 15 November 2021
Open for: Early-career US journalists
Details here and here.
Polar Expressions: Student Contests for Short Story and Poetry
Polar Expressions has announced their annual short story and poetry contests for Canadian students, from kindergarten to grade 12. Poems should be up to 32 lines and stories up to 450 words, on any topic.
Value: First prizes of $60-100 (Canadian) for students of various grades, as well as second and third prizes; additional cash prizes for schools
Deadlines: 26 November 2021 for poetry, 3 December 2021 for short stories
Open for: Canadian students
Details here.
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. Writers do not have to be PEN members. The U.S. Writers Aid Initiative is not intended to subsidize writing-related expenses, such as equipment, printing, shipping, travel, or publicity services. They have a few deadlines through the year, and the upcoming one is 1st December.
Value: Unspecified
Deadline: 1 December 2021
Open for: US-based writers
Details here.
Pulitzer Center: 2021 Connected Coastlines Grants
This is an opportunity for US-based journalists. The Pulitzer Center is seeking applications from journalists who want to report stories as part of Connected Coastlines, a nationwide climate reporting initiative in U.S. coastal states. Started in 2019, this initiative is building a consortium of newsrooms and independent journalists across the U.S. to report on the local effects of erratic weather patterns on coastal populations using the latest climate science. Their guidelines say, “We are eager to receive proposals from staff journalists and freelancers who wish to report on coastal stories, underpinned by recent climate science, data, or research, for publication or broadcast by small and regional news outlets in U.S. coastal states.” They prioritize proposals that can be completed in 1-4 months. The ideal range for most awards will be between $2,000 to $8,000. Grants are open now and approved on a rolling basis.
Value: $2,000-8,000
Deadline: Open now, approved on a rolling basis
Open for: US-based journalists
Details here.
CONTESTS OPEN TO WRITERS IN THE UK & IRELAND, AND THE COMMONWEALTH
Commonwealth Writers Short Story Prize
This is for writers in the Commonwealth regions of Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, Caribbean, and Pacific. Entries can be in the Bengali, Chinese, Creole, French, Greek, Kiswahili, Malay, Portuguese, Samoan, Tamil and Turkish languages. Translated entries from any language into English are also eligible.
Value: £5,000; £2,500 for regional winners
Deadline: 1 November 2021
Open for: Writers in the Commonwealth (see guidelines for the list of countries)
Details here.
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. The prestigious Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction (for books published in the UK, Ireland, or the Commonwealth) is also open for submissions, with a later deadline.
Value: £500 travel and research grant for two category winners, an invitation to the Borders Book Festival in Melrose, Scotland, in June 2022 (Covid permitting)
Deadline: 1 November 2021
Open for: UK residents aged 11-19
Details here.
The Society of Authors: The Betty Trask Prize and The Betty Trask Awards
This is for UK-based writers under 35, for a debut novel. Writers can enter a published book or an unpublished manuscript which must be in a traditional or romantic, and not experimental, style.
Value: Unspecified
Deadline: 30 November 2021
Open for: UK, North Ireland, Commonwealth writers (see guidelines)
Details here.
The Graphic Short Story Prize
This is an opportunity for UK-based aspiring graphic novelists, or a team of writer and artist, for a graphic story. The prize is organized by Jonathan Cape and Comica, together with The Observer. Stories can be fiction or non-fiction, in black and white or color, and with or without words. Entries have to be mailed.
Value: £1,000, £250
Deadline: 10 December 2021
Open for: UK-based aspiring graphic novelists/graphic novel writer and artist teams
Details here (scroll down) – download the entry form from here for terms & conditions, acceptable format, and other details.
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.
