Contest Database

View our curated results of the best free literary contests!

Name	Deadline	Type	Status	Top Prize	WW Rating
Gerard Rochford Poetry Prize	06/30/26	Individual Poems	Active	£200.00	Neutral
Deadline June 30 (must be received by this date; don't enter before March 21). Neutral free contest awards top prize of 200 pounds for a previously unpublished English-language poem, maximum 40 lines, on the theme of "Journey". Entrants must be age 18+. Winning entries will be published on sponsor's website, and winning poets will receive bespoke commemorative plates. Exclusive submissions only. Enter via email by sending your poem to the email address listed on the sponsor's guidelines page. Administrated by Aberdeen, Scotland-based Mist and Mountain Creative Residency.
L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest	06/30/26	Short Fiction	Active	$6,000.00	Highly Recommended
Deadlines March 31, June 30, September 30, December 31. Highly recommended free contest for emerging writers of short science fiction, fantasy, and horror awards quarterly prizes of $1,000 plus an annual $5,000 grand prize for one of the four winners. Send only one story per quarter, maximum 17,000 words. See website for eligibility rules. Entrants may not have professionally published a novel or short novel, or more than one novelette, or more than three short stories, in any medium.
Preservation Foundation Essay Contest for Unpublished Writers	06/30/26	Creative Nonfiction	Active	$200.00	Neutral
Deadlines April 30, June 30, August 31, October 31 (must be received by these dates). Neutral free contest gives prizes up to $200 and web publication for essays, 1,000-5,000 words, by unpublished writers, defined as those whose creative writing has never produced revenues of over $250 in any single year. Nonfiction categories are General, Biographical, Travel, and Animal. April 30 deadline is for entries in the Animal Nonfiction category; June 30 deadline is for entries in the General Nonfiction category; August 31 deadline is for entries in the Biographical Nonfiction category; and October 31 deadline is for entries in the Travel Nonfiction category. The Preservation Foundation is a Tennessee-based nonprofit with the goal of preserving the extraordinary stories of ordinary people. "Since our object is to preserve these stories for future generations, not to put them up one year and take them down the next, all contest entries will be posted on our website and must remain on the site for as long as the Preservation Foundation exists." Submit up to 2 entries in each of the 4 nonfiction categories via email.
Sargeson Prize	06/30/26	Short Fiction	Active	NZ$15,000.00	Recommended
Deadline June 30 (must be received by this date; don't enter before April 1). Recommended free contest from the University of Waikato awards prizes up to NZ$15,000 for previously unpublished short stories by New Zealand citizens or permanent residents aged 16+. Prizes are given in two categories: the Open Division (for New Zealand authors aged 18+) and the Secondary Schools Division (for students enrolled at New Zealand secondary schools who are 16-18 years old as of the contest deadline). A writer may submit in either the Open or the Secondary Schools Divisions, but not both. Stories must be under 5,000 words in the Open Division, and under 3,000 words in the Secondary Schools Division. No simultaneous submissions. Complete entry form online and upload your story, or send your completed form and entry by mail. Prize is named in memory of New Zealand novelist and short story writer Frank Sargeson.
Short Story Substack's Monthly Contest	06/30/26	Short Fiction	Active	$100.00	Neutral
Deadline January 31 (must be received by this date), subsequent deadlines on the last day of each month. Neutral free contest for short fiction gives a monthly prize of $100 plus 50% of the site's subscription revenue for that month, and publication in their monthly Substack newsletter that is archived on the website. Entries may be published or unpublished, as long as you have the reprint rights. Send one story, 6-10,000 words, by email to shortstorystack@gmail.com as an MS Word or Google Doc file.
SUSPECT Poetry Contest	06/30/26	Individual Poems	Active	$300.00	Neutral
Deadline June 30 (must be received by this date). Neutral free contest awards online publication in SUSPECT (formerly called the Singapore Poetry Blog) and prizes up to $300 for poetry containing a particular word or words that change annually. For 2026, poems must include "words 'minor' and 'destructions' or their variants in an imaginative fashion, together or separately". Submit 1-3 poems of any length, along with a brief bio, by email. No simultaneous submissions. Sponsored by Singapore Unbound, a New York City-based nonprofit that celebrates Asian authors. Prior to 2025, this contest was called the Singapore Poetry Contest.
Washington State Book Awards	06/30/26	Published Poetry Book Published Prose Book	Active		Neutral
Deadlines June 30, September 15, November 15, January 16 (must be received by these dates). Neutral free contest recognizes seven authors for published books of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction/memoir, and general nonfiction/biography for adults, along with children's book awards for picture, young reader, and young adult books, that were published during the calendar year. Authors must currently reside in Washington. An author who lives in Washington part of the year and considers Washington to be home is eligible. Publisher or author should complete entry form online and submit 6 copies of book (4 copies for children's books). Sponsored by The Washington Center for the Book at The Washington State Library.
ALCS Educational Writers' Award	07/01/26	Published Prose Book	Active	£2,000.00	Recommended
Deadline July 1. Recommended free contest awards 2,000 pounds prize for an outstanding example of a traditionally published, English-language, single-volume nonfiction book (with or without illustrations) that stimulates and enhances learning for either 5-11 year olds (in odd-numbered years) or 11-18 year olds (in even-numbered years). For 2026, titles must be for ages 11-18. Books must have been first published in the UK within the previous two calendar years (2024 or 2025 of the current deadline year). For multi-author works, the prize will be divided equally between the authors; for works illustrated by a named illustrator, the prize is divided between the author and illustrator. Complete the entry form online, mail 5 copies of the book, and email a digital copy of the text and book cover. Co-sponsored by the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) and the Society of Authors.
BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Award for Writers in the Caribbean	07/01/26	Short Fiction	Active	$1,750.00	Recommended
Deadline July 1 (must be received by this date; don't enter before May 1). Recommended free contest from the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival gives $1,750 cash prize, publicity, and other awards for previously unpublished, English-language short fiction, 3,000 words maximum, by a writer age 18+ who was born/raised and holding nationality in the Caribbean. Writers currently on temporary assignment elsewhere in the world (except the US and Canada) are eligible to enter. Writers can be at any stage in their career. Limit one entry per writer. Enter online. Prize is named in honor of award-winning author and creative writing professor Dr. Elizabeth Nunez.
BCLF Elizabeth Nunez Caribbean-American Writer's Prize	07/01/26	Short Fiction	Active	$1,750.00	Recommended
Deadline July 1 (must be received by this date; don't enter before May 1). Recommended free contest from the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival gives $1,750 cash prize, publicity, and other awards for previously unpublished, English-language short story, 3,000 words maximum, by a writer of Caribbean heritage or a Caribbean-descended writer residing in the US or Canada. Writer must be aged 18+, and their work must not have appeared in a nationally distributed publication. Limit one entry per writer. Enter online. Prize is named in honor of award-winning author and creative writing professor Dr. Elizabeth Nunez.
Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature	07/01/26	Published Poetry Book Published Prose Book	Active	£3,000.00	Recommended
Deadline July 1 (must be received by this date). Recommended free contest gives 3,000 pounds for the best published book on the theme of mountains, first published or distributed in the UK between July 1 of the previous year and July 1 of the deadline year. Entries must be submitted by publisher, and may be poetry, fiction, nonfiction, or drama. Early entries are encouraged. Send entry form, 4 copies of the work, the book cover image, and a 40-word summary of the book for use on the sponsor's website.
Kate Tufts Discovery Award	07/01/26	Published Poetry Book	Active	$10,000.00	Highly Recommended
Deadline July 1. Highly recommended free contest awards $10,000 for a first published book of poetry, 48 pages minimum, by a US citizen or legal resident. Books must have been published between July 1 of the previous year and June 30 of the deadline year. Send 8 copies of book and entry form from website. Judges seem to favor books that have already won prizes and/or come from the top literary presses. Sponsored by Claremont Graduate University in California.
Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award	07/01/26	Published Poetry Book	Active	$100,000.00	Highly Recommended
Deadline July 1. Highly recommended free contest awards $100,000 for a published book of poetry by a US citizen or legal resident. This award is presented for a full-length work by a poet who is past the very beginning but has not yet reached the acknowledged pinnacle of their career. "While some poetry prizes discover and honor new voices and others crown an indisputably major body of work, this award aims to sustain a poet who is laboring in the difficult middle between these extremes." Books must have been published between July 1 of last year and June 30 of the deadline year. Winner must agree to spend a week in residence at Claremont Graduate University for lectures, workshops, and poetry readings in Claremont, CA and the greater Los Angeles area. Send 8 copies of book and entry form from website.
Richard J. Margolis Award	07/01/26	Creative Nonfiction	Active	$10,000.00	Highly Recommended
Deadline July 1 (must be received by this date). Highly recommended free contest awards a $10,000 stipend and a month-long residency at the Blue Mountain Center, a writers' and artists' colony in the Adirondacks in Blue Mountain Lake, New York, to a promising new journalist or essayist whose work "combines warmth, humor, and wisdom and sheds light on issues of social justice". Send 2 or 3 nonfiction pieces (published or unpublished), up to 30 pages total, with a short biographical note including a description of your current and anticipated work. Note that at least one sample must be non-memoir material. Sponsor accepts entries via email or postal mail.
Utah Original Writing Competition	07/01/26	Poetry Manuscript Prose Manuscript	Active	$1,500.00	Recommended
Deadline July 1 (must be received by this date; don't enter before May 25). Recommended free contest for Utah residents aged 18+ awards prizes up to $1,500 for previously unpublished book-length novels, creative nonfiction and history, poetry or short story collections, and juvenile literature, plus smaller awards for individual poems, stories, and essays. Manuscript prizes are for authors with no published books in the genre they are entering; other prizes are open to all. Enter online only. See full terms and conditions on sponsor's website. Formerly sponsored by Salt Lake Community College, now managed by Utah Humanities.
Hubert Butler Essay Prize	07/03/26	Scholarly Essay	Active	£2,500.00	Neutral
Deadline July 3 (must be received by this date). Neutral free contest awards 2,500 pounds for English-language essays, maximum 3,000 words, by UK or European Union citizens aged 18+ on a theme that changes annually. For 2026, the theme is "Poetry makes nothing happen". Email your completed entry form along with your essay. Named after Irish essayist Hubert Butler, the prize is sponsored by the Ireland-based Kilkenny Arts Festival.
Giles St Aubyn Awards for Nonfiction	07/06/26	Prose Manuscript	Active	£10,000.00	Highly Recommended
Deadline July 6 (must be received by this date). Highly recommended free contest gives top prize of 10,000 pounds to residents of the UK or the Republic of Ireland, who are writing their first major commissioned works of nonfiction for a general audience. Entries must be scheduled for publication in the UK or Ireland by a UK- or Ireland-based publisher, and the manuscript should be due to the publisher no earlier than April 1 of the year following the deadline. Applications should include a completed entry form, a draft chapter from the book (maximum 20 pages), a 2-page book synopsis with time frame for completion, a 2-page statement regarding your writing and your financial circumstances, a signed copy of the publishing contract, and a supporting letter from the editor. Author, agent, or publisher/editor may submit application online. Sponsored by the Royal Society of Literature and named after nonfiction author, history professor, and RSL Fellow Giles St Aubyn. Known as the Jerwood Awards prior to 2017.
Vincent Buckley Poetry Prize	07/06/26	Fellowship	Active	A$20,000.00	Recommended
Deadline July 6 (must be received by this date; don't enter before April 13). Recommended free contest sponsored by the Australian Centre at the University of Melbourne is offered alternately to enable Irish poets to visit Australia and Australian poets to visit Ireland. Approximate A$20,000 stipend is included. 2026 deadline award is for an Irish poet to visit Australia. Submit application, poetry manuscript, and supporting materials online.
Donn Goodwin Poetry Prize	07/14/26	Individual Poems	Active	$100.00	Neutral
Deadline July 14 (must be received by this date; don't enter before June 1). Neutral free contest from Milwaukee Irish Fest awards $100 prize for a previously unpublished poem reflecting Irish or Irish-American poetic traditions. Open to all authors. Email or send one poem, of any length.
Helen Schaible Sonnet Contest	07/15/26	Individual Poems	Active	$50.00	Neutral
Deadline July 15 (must be received by this date; don't enter before June 1). Neutral free contest gives two top prizes of $50 apiece for the best sonnets (one Shakespearean or Petrarchan and one Modern). One poem per category per person. Submit your previously unpublished entry via the sponsor's online submission form. Be sure to specify which sonnet type (Shakespearean, Petrarchan, or Modern) you're submitting on each entry. No simultaneous submissions. Sponsored by the Poets & Patrons of Chicago, an organization that fosters an appreciation of poetry through writing workshops and other activities.
Stone Canoe Awards	07/15/26	Individual Poems Short Fiction	Active	$250.00	Neutral
Deadlines July 15 (fiction), August 18 (poetry) (must be received by these dates). Neutral free contest gives prizes of $250 apiece for previously unpublished poetry and fiction by writers who live or have lived in upstate New York and who have not yet published full-length books. Winners will be published in Stone Canoe literary journal. Awards are for work already published in the journal. No separate application process; all submissions are automatically considered for the prizes. An entrant may submit one entry in each of the two genres. Submit 1-5 poems and/or one story (up to 7,500 words), through the sponsor's online submissions portal. Be sure to include a biographical note clearly detailing your current or past residency in the eligible region of New York State.
Roscommon New Writing Award	07/16/26	Individual Poems Short Fiction	Active	€500.00	Neutral
Deadline July 16 (must be received by this date). Neutral free contest awards two top prizes of 500 euros for a poem, 30 lines maximum, or a short story, 2,000 words maximum, by a writer aged 18+ with a strong connection to Roscommon, Ireland: e.g. birth, current or former residency, education, or employment. Winning entries will be published in the Roscommon Herald. Send up to two entries (one per genre) along with an explanation of your connection to the county by email. Sponsored by the Roscommon County Council.
Peter Blazey Fellowship	07/27/26	Fellowship	Active	A$20,000.00	Recommended
Deadline July 27 (must be received by this date; don't enter before April 27). Recommended free contest sponsored by the University of Melbourne gives an Australian writer a fellowship of up to A$20,000 to further a work-in-progress in the nonfiction fields of autobiography, biography, or life writing. Applicant must have a publishing record. Manuscript cannot be part of a submission for a higher degree. Submit 2-page CV, 1-page synopsis, and 5,000-word writing sample from the manuscript online. Fellowship is named in honor of journalist, author, and gay activist Peter Blazey.
Alocasia Microgrant for Queer Nature Writers	07/31/26	Fellowship Fellowship	Active	$500.00	Neutral
Deadline July 31 (must be received by this date). Neutral free contest from Alocasia, an online journal of queer plant-based writing, gives two fellowships of $500 for authors' future creative endeavors. Contest is open to LGBTQ writers in the US. Send 1-5 pages of nature writing, personal statement of 1,000 words max, and brief bio via email.
Col. Darron L. Wright Memorial Writing Awards	07/31/26	Individual Poems Short Fiction & Creative Nonfiction	Active	$250.00	Neutral
Deadline July 31 (must be received by this date; don't enter before June 1). Neutral free contest gives prizes up to $250 and anthology publication for poetry, fiction, and essays by current and former US military service members and their immediate family (parents, siblings, children). Send 1-5 poems or one prose piece up to 5,000 words. Contest sponsor Line of Advance is a literary journal founded by veterans of the war in Afghanistan.
Fountainhead Essay Contest for Middle and High School Students	07/31/26	Scholarly Essay	Active	$25,000.00	Highly Recommended
Deadlines July 31, October 31, January 31 (must be received by these dates). Highly recommended free contest for middle and high school students in grades 8-12 awards $25,000 annual grand prize, three $3,000 top seasonal prizes, and other large prizes, for essays on Ayn Rand's novel 'The Fountainhead'. After registering for the contest online, student will receive instant access to the book, the essay prompt(s), as well as the word limit. The winning essays in the three seasonal contests are eligible to win the annual grand prize. A student can enter any or all of the three seasonal rounds. Submit your essay online. Contest is looking for entries that are sympathetic to Rand's rationalist, libertarian philosophy. See sponsor's website for other student contests.
Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award	07/31/26	Individual Poems	Active		Highly Recommended
Deadline July 31. Highly recommended free contest for unpublished poems, 40 lines maximum, by authors aged 11-17 gives winners anthology publication, tuition to a week-long Arvon writing class, and other prizes. Online entries accepted. Poets aged 11-12 must submit a signed parent/guardian permission form to enter. Submissions can be made by the individual poet, a parent/guardian, or a teacher. Sponsored by the Poetry Society of the UK, a prestigious literary society.
Landfall Tauraka Essay Prize	07/31/26	Creative Nonfiction	Active	NZ$3,000.00	Recommended
Deadline July 31 (must be received by this date). Recommended free contest for New Zealand citizens or permanent residents gives NZ$3,000 and possible publication for the best essay on any topic connected to New Zealand culture, maximum 4,000 words. Sponsored by the literary journal Landfall. The purpose of the competition is "to encourage New Zealand writers to think aloud about New Zealand culture, and to revive and sustain the tradition of vivid, contentious, and creative essay writing in this country". One entry per person. Send via email.
Northwind Writing Award	07/31/26	Individual Poems Short Fiction & Creative Nonfiction	Active	$100.00	Neutral
Deadline July 31 (don't enter before May 1). Neutral free contest from Alaska-based small press Raw Earth Ink gives prizes of $100 per genre and anthology publication for poetry, short fiction, prose-poems, and essays. Maximum 2 entries per person. Writers must be aged 16+ and reside in the United States to participate. Enter by mail or email. Previously published work is acceptable if you have reprint rights.
Protopian Prize	07/31/26	Short Fiction	Active	$5,000.00	Recommended
Deadline July 31 (must be received by this date; don't enter before May 1). Neutral free contest awards $5,000 and publication for an original short story of 500-6,000 words in one of two categories: Public AI or Democratic Futures. Submit one story in a single category via sponsor's online form. Co-sponsored by Metagov and Public AI Network. Winning stories will be published in 'In the Loop: Stories from the Future of People, Power, and Machines', an anthology forthcoming from MIT Press and edited by judging leads Gideon Lichfield and Ruthanna Emrys, alongside invited stories by professional science fiction authors.
Short Story Substack's Monthly Contest	07/31/26	Short Fiction	Active	$100.00	Neutral
Deadline January 31 (must be received by this date), subsequent deadlines on the last day of each month. Neutral free contest for short fiction gives a monthly prize of $100 plus 50% of the site's subscription revenue for that month, and publication in their monthly Substack newsletter that is archived on the website. Entries may be published or unpublished, as long as you have the reprint rights. Send one story, 6-10,000 words, by email to shortstorystack@gmail.com as an MS Word or Google Doc file.
Sisters in Crime Pride Award for Emerging LGBTQIA+ Crime Writers	07/31/26	Short Fiction Novel Excerpt	Active	$2,000.00	Recommended
Deadline July 31 (must be received by this date; don't enter before June 1). Recommended free contest from Sisters in Crime awards $2,000 grant for unpublished crime fiction, 2,500-5,000 words, by an emerging writer in the LGBTQIA+ community who has not published more than ten pieces of short fiction or two books. (Preference is given to previously unpublished authors.) Entries may be aimed at readers of all ages (from children's chapter books through adults). Winner may be asked to share thoughts on their win and the impact the award has made as well as serve as a member of next year's award selection committee. Send short story or first chapter(s) of a manuscript-in-progress, resume, and cover letter describing how the applicant is emerging in the genre and how the grant money would be used. Submit application materials via sponsor's online portal.
Tilted House 1BR/3BATH Chapbook Prize	07/31/26	Poetry Chapbook	Active	$200.00	Neutral
Deadline July 31 (must be received by this date; don't enter before June 1). Neutral contest gives $200 prize, a publication run of 150-200, and 15 author copies to poets for an "innovative, sonic, omissive, dislocated, explorative, cryptic, and/or transgressive" poetry chapbook, between 16-35 pages. This contest has a sliding scale reading fee, and you can pay zero. Excerpts may have been previously published, but MS. must be unpublished. Author can submit multiple entries online. Sponsored by Tilted House, a New Orleans-based mico-press that publishes experimental works.