The following is a list of seven writing competitions that offer award of $1,000 or more. Included are contests for short stories, poetry, novels, and general funding for artists.

The BBC National Short Story Award, open to residents of the U.K., offers a grand prize of £15,000, £3,000 for the runner-up and £500 for three further shortlisted. The stories will be read on the BBC.The deadline for submission is March 12th, 2018. To learn more, read the guidelines here.

The Mississippi Arts Commission Artist Fellowship awards up to $5,000 to Mississippi artists who “demonstrate the ability to create exemplary work in their chosen field.”(If you are not from Mississippi it is worth looking into the regional fellowships that may be available to you. Most states and major cities have funding opportunities for artists and writers.)

The deadline is March 1st, 2018. To learn more, read the guidelines here.

The Writers Trust of Canada offers the Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers. The award is for $10,00, twice that of last year’s award. They also give $2,500 to two finalists. Writers must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. The deadline is March 5, 2018. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.

The L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest is open for submissions. Emerging writers of fantasy or science fiction can submit prose of up to 17,000 words. Writers must be relatively unpublished (see number 5 on the guidelines). The first place winner will receive $1,000; second place will receive $750; and third place will receive $500. Winners will also receive trophies. At the end of the year, a Grand Prize winner will be announced and awarded $5,000.The next deadline is March 31, but the contest is held every quarter. To learn more, read the contest guidelines.

The University of Pittsburgh Press is holding the Drue Heinz Literature Prize. Published writers may submit a collection of short fiction for consideration. The winner will receive $15,000 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press.The deadline is June 30, but the submission period begins on May 1. To learn more, read the prize guidelines.

Winning Writers is currently hosting the Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest. Poets can submit one humorous poem for consideration. The first place winner will receive $1,000; second place will receive $250; and 10 honorable mentions will receive $100 each. All winners will be published online.

Deadline (appropriately) is April 1. To learn more, read the contest guidelines

The Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize offers awards for published and unpublished (including self published) manuscripts of adventure writing. All manuscripts must exceed 50,000 words. The writing should take the reader on an epic journey, exploring new horizons – be they historical or geographical, explore the themes of courage, endurance and resourcefulness, and allow readers to connect with a different reality or culture.
Value: £15,000 for the published category; £7,500 grant allocated for the unpublished category, to travel to undertake research for their next story, literary agency mentorship. Learn more here.