Constance Rooke Creative Nonfiction Prize
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
Entry Fee: $35 CAD for Canadian entries and $45 CAD for each entry from elsewhere, plus $15 CAD for each additional entry submitted at the same time as the first entry (includes a one-year print subscription to The Malahat Review); each additional entry is $15 CAD but must be paid for at the same time
Deadline: August 1, 2026, at 11:59 pm PDT
Prize: $1,250 CAD and publication in The Malahat Review winter 2026 issue
Description: The entry must be no longer than 4,000 words and not previously published or accepted for publication. There are no restrictions to the subject matter or approach, so the entries may be personal essay, memoir, cultural criticism, nature writing, literary journalism, etc.
Details: https://www.malahatreview.ca/contests/contests_info.html
The Carla: The Crown Jewel of Books
Genre: Romance Books
Entry Fee: $35 USD
Deadline: August 1, 2026
Prize: First prize of $50 USD, a trophy, and publicity on the Mid America Romance Authors website and social media sites; all finalists will receive a Finalist Certificate and will be announced on the MARA Website and social media sites
Description: A maximum of 50 entries will be accepted. Open to any traditional/self- published author with an original copyright date of 2025. All hard
copy books must be perfect bound. Multiple entries allowed.
Details: https://marakc.com/contests
Writing Battle Solstice Raven 2026
Genre: Flash Fiction
Entry Fee: $28 USD
Deadline: August 6, 2026, at 10:00 pm ET
Prize: First prize of $500 USD; runner‑up prize of $250 USD; 16 finalist prizes of publication and community recognition; all participants receive peer‑reviewed feedback through the battle rounds
Description: Every Battle, you draw a hand of three cards: one Genre and two Prompts. Your story must weave all three together, but how you interpret them is up to you. Submit an up-to 500 word short story by August 9, 2026, at 10:00 pm ET.
Details: https://writingbattle.com/rules/en_solstice_raven_2026
Omnidawn 2026 Poetry Open Book Contest
Genre: Poetry
Entry Fee: $30 USD
Deadline: August 16, 2026, at 11:59 pm PT
Prize: $3,000 USD and 20 printed copies of the winning book
Description: This contest is open to all writers worldwide with no limitations on the amount of poetry a writer has published. Submissions are recommended to be between 40–120 pages, not including front and back matter, with most manuscripts received being between 40-80 pages long.
Details: https://www.omnidawn.com/contests/omnidawn-poetry-contests/
SKYKY Youth Writing Competition 2026
Genre: Short Story, Ages 9–12 and 13–16
Entry Fee: $40 CAD
Deadline: August 18, 2026
Prize: First prize of $2,000 CAD, a trophy, and gift card; second prize of $300 CAD, a medal, and a Certificate of Achievement; third prize of $50 CAD, a medal, and a Certificate of Achievement
Description: The SKYKY Writing Competition invites young writers to imagine what our world will look like in the year 2050. Students will explore future societies, technology, environment, culture, education, and human relationships through creative writing. The goal is to encourage imagination, critical thinking, storytelling skills, and global awareness. Group A (9–12): 600–1000 words. Group B (13–16): 800–1,200 words.
Details: https://www.skykyfoundation.ca/about-4-1
FFF Competition Thirty-Five
Genre: Flash Fiction
Entry Fee: £4.95 fee per entry/story via PayPal or Stripe and £3.50 fee per entry/story via BACS (only works with UK Entrants)
Deadline: August 26, 2026, at 10:00 pm GMT
Prize: First prize of £200 and publication; 2 highly commended prizes of £100 each and publication; 3 shortlist prizes of £80.00 and publication
Description: Submit a flash fiction piece between 100 and 300 words, on any theme. Entrants must be 16 years or over. There is no limit to the number of entries an entrant may make but multiple entries must be submitted separately. The competition is open to writers worldwide but stories must be written in English.
Details: https://creativewritingink.co.uk/competitions/fff-competition-thirty-five/
The Masters Review Summer Short Story Award for New Writers
Genre: Short Story
Entry Fee: $20 USD
Deadline: August 30, 2026
Prize: First prize of $3,000 USD; second prize of $300 USD; third prize of $200 USD; all prizes include online publication and agency review
Description: No style or genre preferences, however, this is a publication that focuses on literary fiction. Take chances and be bold! Previously unpublished stories under 6,000 words. Emerging writers only (self-published writers and writers with story collections and novels with a small circulation are welcome to submit, and writers with novels published with a circulation of fewer than 5,000 copies can also submit).
Details: https://mastersreview.com/short-story-award-for-new-writers/
Anthology Personal Memoir Competition
Genre: Memoir
Entry Fee: Early Bird rate of €12 per entry and regular rate of €15 per entry
Deadline: Early Bird deadline of April 30, 2026; final deadline of August 31, 2026
Prize: €500 and publication in a future issue of Anthology
Description: Established to recognize and encourage creative writing and provide a platform for publication. Open to original and previously unpublished short stories in the English language by a writer of any nationality, living anywhere in the world. There is no restriction on theme or style. Stories submitted must not exceed the maximum of 1,500 words.
Details: https://anthology-magazine.com/awards/memoir-competition/
BookLife Prize in Fiction
Genre: Fiction
Entry Fee: $99 USD
Deadline: August 31, 2026
Prize: Grand prize of $5,000 USD and an author profile in Publishers Weekly; one finalist from each respective submission category will receive $1,000 USD worth of BookBaby’s Facebook + Instagram for Authors service, a promotional “blurb” from one of the guest judge’s for the Prize, and a mention in Publishers Weekly; all entrants receive a Critic’s Report (a brief critical assessment of their novel written by a Publishers Weekly reviewer)
Description: Unpublished or self-published novels in the English language. The BookLife Prize seeks to support independent authors and discover great written works in five fiction categories – Romance/Erotica, Mystery/Thriller, Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror, General Fiction, and Middle-Grade & YA Fiction. Novels submitted to the Middle Grade & YA Fiction category must contain 30,000-100,000 words. All other submissions must contain 40,000 to 100,000 words.
Details: https://booklife.com/about-us/the-booklife-prize.html
Canadian Authors Association (CAA) Fred Kerner Book Award
Description: Open to CAA members only. The Fred Kerner Book Award is awarded annually to a Canadian Authors member who has the best overall book published in the previous calendar year, including fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
Details: https://canadianauthors.org/national/awards/submit-for-an-award
Fool for Poetry International Chapbook Competition
Genre: Poetry
Entry Fee: €25 per manuscript
Deadline: August 31, 2026
Prize: First prize of €1,000; second prize of €500; both win a chapbook publication, 25 complimentary copies, and a featured reading at the Cork International Poetry Festival (with three-night hotel stay and full board)
Description: The competition is open to new, emerging and established poets from any country. One of these winners will be the highest scoring manuscript entered by a poet with no solo collection (full-length or chapbook) previously published. Up to 25 other entrants will be publicly listed as “highly commended”. Manuscripts can be between 24 and 36 pages in length, in the English language and the sole work of the entrant with no pastiches, translations or versions. The poems can be in verse or prose.
Details: https://munsterlit.ie/fool-for-poetry/
Storyhouse Biographical Nonfiction Contest
Genre: Nonfiction
Entry Fee: None
Deadline: August 31, 2026
Prize: First prize of $200 USD and automatic entry to the Winners Circle Contest; runner-up prize of $100 USD
Description: A biographical entry must be a true story of an individual(s) known to the author personally—not a fictional or historical character. Or, it could be autobiographical, a true story about the author’s life, the whole or an episode. Stories must be between 1,000–5,000 words in length. Language in the stories should be free of words or scenes not suitable for children. Stories can be submitted from any country, although they must be written in English. There is a limit of two contest submissions. No story may be entered in more than one contest. Stories entered in any of our previous contests will not be eligible for current year contests.
Details: https://www.storyhouse.org/contest2026.html
Uncharted Camp Summer Contest
Genre: Short Story
Entry Fee: $20 USD
Deadline: August 31, 2026
Prize: First prize of $2,000 USD and publication; second prize of $300 USD; third prize of $200 USD
Description: Your $20 reading fee allows 1 short story or novel excerpt of 1,001–5,000 words per entry. For this contest, send stories or excerpts of summer heat, secrets by the campfire, killer mosquitoes, and everything you love and hate about summer camp and the dangers of summer. Take the elements of this trope and put them in new settings: spaceships, faraway planets, mythical isles, and don’t forget the horrific beasts and the liminal shadows. Make it serious or campy, or any register in between. This award is for all Uncharted genres: Science Fiction/Fantasy, Thriller/Mystery/Horror, Young Adult, and Dystopian.
Details: https://uncharted.submittable.com/submit
ruth weiss Poetry Contest
Genre: Poetry
Entry Fee: $10 USD
Deadline: This contest is on indefinite hiatus contest
Prize: Maverick prize of $1,500 USD; emerging prize of $1,000 USD; youth prize of $500 USD
Description: Open to all poets and filmmakers. The ruth weiss Foundation invites poets, artists, and filmmakers to honor the ingenuity and artistic span of ruth weiss—a pioneering Beat Generation poet, playwright, filmmaker, and actress—through this annual call for creative works.
Details: https://www.ruthweissfoundation.org/2025-poetry-contest