Writing Contest: Birth Stories
Genre: Nonfiction or essay
Entry Fee: None
Deadline: August 1, 2020
Prize: First Place: $300 + publication; Second Place: $100 + publication; Third Place: $50 + publication; 15 Honorable Mentions: publication
Description: Birth experiences are as powerful and diverse as birthers are. As doulas, we know the joys, frustrations, surprises and struggles of giving birth. Each story is different. We want to hear yours. The top three winning stories and the 15 honorable mention stories will be published on the DSF’S website and we intend to create a Canadian Anthology of Birth Stories (paper and electronic book format) as well. All winners will be invited to participate in a Birth Sharing Circle in September 2020.
Details: https://www.doulasupport.org/birth-story-contest-2020
Constance Rooke Creative Nonfiction Prize
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
Entry Fee: $35 for Canadian entries, $40 USD for US entries, and $45 USD for entries from Mexico and outside North America (includes a one-year print subscription to The Malahat Review), plus $15 for each additional entry submitted at the same time as the first entry
Deadline: August 1, 2020
Prize: $1,000; a book prize to one lucky contest entrant
Description: The entry must be no longer than 3,000 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: http://www.malahatreview.ca/contests/creative_non-fiction_prize/info.html
2020 CRAFT Elements Contest: Conflict
Genre: Short Fiction
Entry Fee: $20 per entry
Deadline: August 3, 2020
Prize: Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in CRAFT
Description: Please send your well-crafted, well-rounded stories and standalone excerpts that hinge on conflict. Open to all writers. Short fiction only, including short stories and standalone excerpts of longer work such as longform stories, novellas, and novels (as long as the excerpt truly stands alone and functions like a story). Please submit work in English only. 6,000 word count maximum.
Details: https://roommagazine.com/contests
Room’s 2020 Poetry Contest
Genre: Poetry
Entry Fee: $35 for Canadian entries plus $7 for each additional entry, and $42 USD for entrants outside Canada plus $7 USD for each additional entry (includes a one-year subscription to Room)
Deadline: August 15, 2020
Prize: First prize of $1,000; second prize of $250; honourable mention prize of $50; all prizes include publication on Room’s website
Description: Open to women (cisgender or transgender), transgender men, Two-Spirit, and nonbinary people. One poetry entry includes up to three poems or 150 lines of poetry in a single document.
Details: https://roommagazine.com/contests
Dream Quest One Poetry and Writing Contest Summer 2020
Genre: Poetry, Short Story
Entry Fee: $5 USD per poem and $10 USD per short story
Deadline: August 15, 2020
Poetry Prize: First prize of $250; second prize of $125; third prize of $50
Short Story Prize: First prize of $500; second prize of $250; third prize of $100
Description: This poetry contest and writing contest is open to everyone international. Poems may be written on any subject, theme, style or form, and must be 30 lines or fewer. Short stories may be written on a maximum of five pages on any subject or theme.
Details: http://www.dreamquestone.com/index.html
2021 Omnidawn Open Poetry Book Contest
Genre: Poetry
Entry Fee: $27 USD
Deadline: August 16, 2021 at 12:00 am PDT
Prize: $3,000 USD, 100 copies of the winning book, publication of the winning book by Omnidawn, and extensive display advertising and publicity, including large display ads that will appear in Poets & Writers Magazine, American Poets Magazine, Rain Taxi Review of Books, etc.
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: http://www.omnidawn.com/contest/poetry-contests.htm#broadside-contest
The 2020 Palette Poetry Prize
Genre: Poetry
Entry Fee: $20 USD
Deadline: August 16, 2020
Prize: First prize of $4,000 and publication; second prize of $300; third prize of $200
Description: Seeking one excellent poem that speaks to what poetry is and can be for our world today. Send your incandescent heart on the page. The winner will be selected by the guest judge, the 2019 Pulitzer Prize Winner Forrest Gander. Submissions are open internationally, to any poet writing in English—other languages are okay to include, as long as the meat of the poem is in English. There is no page requirement, but submission must be no more than 3 poems. Please submit all your poems in one document. Multiple submissions are accepted but each submission will include the reading fee.
Details: www.palettepoetry.com/current-contest/
2020 Voyage First Chapters Contest
Genre: First Chapters of Young Adult Novels
Entry Fee: $20
Deadline: August 16, 2020
Prize: First prize of $3,000 and an hour-long consultation with literary agent Eric Smith of P.S Literary Agency; second prize of $300 and publication; third prize of $200 and publication; all finalists receive written feedback from one of partner literary agents, either Leah Pierre or Thao Le
Description: Voyage wants to see those first chapters of your Young Adult novels! One of the most difficult challenges in writing a book is getting that first chapter right—and the aim is to challenge you. Can you write a first chapter that captivates your audience enough to make them want to keep reading? If the answer is yes, then Voyage wants to read your first chapter. Submissions must be the first chapter of a Young Adult novel (full novel does not need to be completed), and from the point-of-view of a young adult. The chapter doesn’t have to be standalone. 5,000-word count maximum. Open to any genre or style. Previously unpublished work only please.
Details: https://voyage.submittable.com/submit
TU Dublin Short Story Competition 2020
Genre: Short Story
Entry Fee: None
Deadline: August 19, 2020 at 12:00 am GMT
Prize: First prize of €500; second prize of €250; third prize of €150; winning and shortlisted entries may be published in an anthology, or other format
Description: The TU Dublin Short Story Competition is run by the Library, Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) – Tallaght Campus, in conjunction with South Dublin County Council, in association with the Red Line Book Festival, and is free to enter. Entries must be in short story format (a short work of fiction) between 1,500 and 2,000 words long, and should be completely the entrant’s own work written in English (high standard), original, unpublished. There is no restriction on theme or style, however the planned 2020 anthology will be called ‘”Creation, Cosmos, & Caboodle” and we are looking for strong stories that (even loosely) reflect this title.
Details: https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/5646953/TU-Dublin-Short-Story-Competition-2020-form
Dandelion Press Micro Fiction Contest
Genre: Micro Fiction
Entry Fee: None
Deadline: August 28, 2020
Prize: The winner’s story will be featured on the Dandelion blog and FaceBook page, receive a bouquet of Dandelion products and be placed on the short-list of possible authors for Dandelion’s next book publication
Description: Open to all ages, to writers published and unpublished. Four times a year, Dandelion Press will post a new image with the question, “What’s the story of this painting?” Maximum word count of 1,000. Please note your age category of either Adult or Young writer (18 and under).
Details: https://dandelionpreusch.squarespace.com/current-contest
The Masters Review Summer Short Story Award for New Writers
Genre: Short Story
Entry Fee: $20 USD
Deadline: August 30, 2020
Prize: First prize of $3,000; second prize of $300; third prize of $200; 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 6000 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 5000 copies can also submit).
Details: https://mastersreview.com/short-story-award-for-new-writers/
The BookLife Prize in Fiction
Genre: Fiction
Entry Fee: $99 USD
Deadline: August 31, 2020
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 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
Fool for Poetry International Chapbook Competition
Genre: Poetry
Entry Fee: €25 per manuscript
Deadline: August 31, 2020
Prize: First prize of €1000; second prize of €500; both win a chapbook publication, 25 complimentary copies, and are offered a reading and three nights’ accommodation at the Cork International Poetry Festival (Spring 2021)
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 16 and 24 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: http://munsterlit.ie/Fool%20for%20Poetry.html
The 2nd Melody Richardson Memorial Contest
Genre: Short Fiction, Flash Fiction
Entry Fee: $10 for Muskoka Authors Association members or $25 for non-members
Deadline: August 31, 2020
Prize: Short fiction – first prize of $300; second prize of $100; honorable mention prize of publication on MAA website
Flash fiction – first prize of $200; second prize of $75; honorable mention prize of publication on MAA website
Description: Flash fiction submissions have a 500 word maximum and fiction submissions have a 1,500 word maximum.
Details: https://muskokaauthors.ca
Storyhouse Biographical Nonfiction Contest
Genre: Nonfiction
Entry Fee: None
Deadline: August 31, 2021
Prize: First prize of $200 and automatic entry to the Winners Circle Contest; runner-up prize of $100; all winners receive certificates of recognition suitable for framing
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 1000–10,000 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: http://www.storyhouse.org/contest2021.html
The Alcott Award for Young Adult Fiction
Genre: Book-length YA Fiction
Entry Fee: $22 USD
Deadline: 2020 deadline not yet posted
Prize: $1,000 and publication by Many Frog Press
Description: Hidden River announces the inaugural Alcott Award for an unpublished book-length work of young adult fiction featuring at least one strong female lead character. The Alcott Award is offered for a YA novel that, in the tradition of Little Women, offers us at least one central female character. Style is open – the book may be any form of fiction (historical, fantasy, literary, etc.) as long as its protagonist is female. This competition is open to international submissions for all writers in English.
Details: https://hiddenriverarts.wordpress.com/awards-deadlines-and-guidelines/the-alcott-award-for-young-adult-fiction/
Glass Buffalo 2020 Short Fiction Contest and 2020 Poetry Contest
Genre: Poetry and Short Story
Entry Fee: $30 per short story or $30 for up to two poems (includes a one-year subscription or extension to Glass Buffalo)
Deadline: 2020 deadline not yet posted
Prize: $500 and publication in the Glass Buffalo Fall 2019 issue
Description: Open to all Canadian writers. Short stories must be under 750 words. There is no minimum or maximum word count for poetry.
Details: https://www.glassbuffalo.com/contest/