
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Novel must be completed and unpublished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
Website: https://bathnovelaward.co.uk/2019-2/
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Open worldwide to unpublished and indie published authors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Book must be previously unpublished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Open to published, self-published and unpublished authors
Entry itself must be unpublished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Must be unpublished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
Website: https://www.bristolprize.co.uk/
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
Website: http://microcosmsfic.com/
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
Website: https://foyleyoungpoets.org/
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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