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20 writing competitions in 2019

Jess Lawrence

Image of confetti and title '20 writing competitions in 2019'

Whether you’re looking for fame or a few bob, writing competitions are a great way to flex your creative muscles and put yourself out there. From novels to flash fiction, here is a list of 20 decent creative writing competitions you can enter in 2019.

Good luck!

[Updated 16th April 2019]

Novels

1. Virginia Prize for Fiction

What you need to know:

  • Females only, aged 18 or over from any country

  • Novel must be completed and unpublished

  • Submit full MS

  • Welcomes novels for adults or YA of at least 45,000 words

Entry fee: £15 (Early Bird) / £20 (Standard)

Closing date: 1st October 2019

Top prize: Editorial guidance and conditional publishing deal from Aurora Metro Books

2. The Bath Novel Awards

What you need to know:

  • Open worldwide to unpublished and indie published authors

  • You can get sponsored entry

  • Submit the first 5000 words of novel plus one-page synopsis

  • Any genre welcome

Entry fee: £25

Closing date: 2nd June 2019

Top prize: £2500 cash, plus literary agent introductions and MS feedback

3. North Street Book Prize

What you need to know:

  • For self-published books

  • Mainstream, lit fic, genre fic, creative non-fic – all welcome

  • 200k words max word count

  • No age or country restrictions

Entry fee: $60

Closing date: 30th June 2019

Top prize: $3000 and more.

4. Kindle Storyteller 2019

What you need to know:

  • Must be published in English

  • Any genre welcome

  • Book must be previously unpublished

  • Has to be available as an ebook on KDP

  • To enter: Add the keyword 'StorytellerUK2019' in the keywords metadata field

Entry fee: None

Closing date: Entries welcome between 1st May and 31st August 2019

Top prize: £20,000 and award ceremony in London

5. Flash 500 Opening Chapter Competition

What you need to know:

  • Up to 3000 words

  • Open to published, self-published and unpublished authors

  • Entry itself must be unpublished

Entry fee: £10 / €13

Closing date: 31st October 2019

Top prize: £500

Short stories

6. Hastings Litfest

What you need to know:

  • Submit up to 1500 words (short story), 40 lines (poem) or 500 words (flash)

  • Must follow the theme: In other words

  • No age limit

Entry fee: £5

Closing date: 30th June 2019

Top prize: £100

7. Ploughshares Emerging Writer's Contest

Website:

What you need to know:

  • Accepting fiction, non-fiction and poetry

  • Up to 6000 words for short stories, 3-5 pages for poetry

  • Must be unpublished

Entry fee: $24 (free for subscribers)

Closing date: 15th May 2019

Top prize: $2000 and more

8. Bristol Short Story Prize

What you need to know:

  • Submit original work up to 4000 words

  • Can be on any theme and in any genre

  • Must be 16 or over with no geographical restrictions

Entry fee: £9

Closing date: 1st May 2019

Top prize: £1000

9. Raymond Carver Contest

What you need to know:

  • Max word count 10,000

  • Global entrants accepted but story must be in English

  • Literary fiction only

  • Story must be unpublished

Entry fee: $17

Closing date: 15th May 2019

Top prize: $1500

Flash Fiction

10. Edinburgh International Flash Fiction Competition

What you need to know:

  • Global entrants welcome

  • Any genre and theme

  • Story must be previously unpublished

  • Max 250 words

Entry fee: £5

Closing date: 30th April 2019

Top prize: £500

11. The Bridport Flash Fiction Prize

What you need to know:

  • Max 250 words

  • Open to any nationality and country

  • Entries must be in English

Entry fee: £9

Closing date: 31st May 2019

Top prize: £1000

12. Microcosms – Mini Universes in 300 Words or Fewer

What you need to know:

  • Max 300 words

  • Uses a generator to give inspiration (character, location and genre)

  • You get 24 hours from the prompt to submit

Entry fee: Free

Closing date: Competition runs weekly

Top prize: Pride and glory

Poetry

13. The Bridport Poetry Prize

What you need to know:

  • Max of 42 lines per poem

  • Open to any nationality and country

  • Entries must be in English

Entry fee: £10 per poem

Closing date: 31st May 2019

Top prize: £5000

14. Winchester Poetry Prize

What you need to know:

  • Open to anyone aged 16 and over

  • Poems can be in any form or style and on any subject

  • Max of 40 lines

Entry fee: £5 for first poem, £4 for subsequent

Closing date: 31st July 2019

Top prize: £1000

15. Poetry Space Competition

What you need to know:

  • Open to anyone aged 16 and over

  • Poems must be previously unpublished

  • Max of 40 lines

Entry fee: £5

Closing date: 30th June 2019

Top prize: £500

16. Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award

What you need to know:

  • Must be aged 11-17

  • Poems can be any length and any theme

  • Poem must be previously unpublished

Entry fee: Free

Closing date: 31st July 2019

Top prize: Publication

Drama

17. Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting

What you need to know:

  • Full-length plays only (run time of 60 minutes)

  • Entries must be anonymous

  • Entrants from UK and Ireland welcome, no age limit or experience required

Entry fee: Free

Closing date: 5th June 2019

Top prize: £16,000

Bit of everything

18. Book Pipeline 2019 Fiction Contest

What you need to know:

  • Open to books, graphic novels, plays and short stories

  • Available for published and unpublished authors

  • Entrants must be 18 years or over

Entry fee: $40

Closing date: 15th November 2019

Top prize: $10,000

19. Leapfrog Press Fiction Contest

What you need to know:

  • Accepts adult, YA and MG novels, novellas and short story collections

  • Minimum word count of 22,000

  • Global entrants welcome

Entry fee: $33

Closing date: 1st May 2019

Top prize: Publication contract from Leapfrog Press

20. Creative Writing Ink Writing Prompts

What you need to know:

  • Entries must be based on the weekly prompt

  • Post your entry to a blog page then submit the link

  • No word limit

Entry fee: Free

Closing date: Weekly (Thursdays)

Top prize: £10 Amazon voucher


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