10 Writing Contests in April - No Entry Fee

Here are 10 great contests with deadlines in the month of April. (Some of these are annual events, so if you miss your perfect contest this year, you'll have another chance.) 

If I had to pick a favorite, I think it would be Wergle Flomp. I don't write humorous, or any other kind of poetry. But you gotta love that name!

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Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest. Now in its 14th year, this contest seeks today's best humor poems, published and unpublished. Please enter one poem only. Prize: $2000, Honorable Mentions: 10 awards of $100 each, and publication on Winning Writers. Deadline: April 1, 2015. Submission form HERE.


Descant: Fort Worth's Journal of Poetry & Fiction is published by the English Department of Texas Christian University. The Journal accepts submissions from Sept 1 - April 1. Prize: $500 in each category (poetry and short fiction) for the best poem or short story published in Descant. Deadline: April 1. How to enter: Submit to Descant.

The Great American Think-Off. Genre: Essay on the theme: Does Technology Free Us or Trap Us? Writers should ground their essays in personal experience rather than philosophical abstraction. Essay should be no more than 750 words. Prize: One of four $500 cash prizes.Deadline: April 1, 2015. Submission details are HERE.

Stony Brook Short Fiction Prize. Restrictions: Only undergraduates enrolled full time in United States and Canadian universities and colleges for the academic year 2014-15 are eligible. Genre: Fiction of no more than 7,500 words Prize: $1,000. Deadline: April 1, 2015. See submission details  HERE.

‘Dear You’: The Third Annual Common Good Books Poetry Contest is sponsored by Common Good Books, proprietor Garrison Keillor. Genre: Single poem entries to “Dear You” should be in the form of a letter to a specific real person--but love is not required. Prizes: Three poets will receive grand prizes of $1000 each, and four poets will receive $500 for poems of particular merit. Deadline: April 4, 2015. Submission details are HERE.

Chautauqua Editors Prize. Awards will recognize the writing that best captures both the issue’s theme and the spirit of Chautauqua Institution. Prizes: $500, $250, and $100 for each issue. Deadline: April 15, 2015. Submission form HERE.

The Waterman Fund Essay Contest. Genre: "The 2015 essay contest invites emerging writers to explore the question of who the stewards of wilderness are. Statistically, more men than women explore professional careers in the stewardship of wilderness and public land management. What, if any, bearing does the gender of stewards have on our shared and individual perceptions of, and relationship to, wilderness?" Prizes: The winning essayist will be awarded $1500 and published in Appalachia Journal. The Honorable Mention essay will receive $500. Deadline: April 15, 2015. Submission details are HERE.

University of Arkansas Arabic Translation Award 2015. Genres: Book-length translation of Arabic literature from any of the following genres: poetry, novel, short story collection, drama, or literary non-fiction such as autobiography or memoir. Submitted translations must be previously unpublished in book form. All translation rights must be cleared for publication. Prize: $5,000. Publication by Syracuse University Press. Deadline: April 30, 2015. Submission guidelines are HERE.

Toronto Book Awards. Genres: All genres accepted. Restrictions: Submission "must evoke the city itself, that is, contain some clear Toronto content (this may be reflected in the themes, settings, subjects, etc.). Authors do not necessarily have to reside in Toronto. Ebooks, textbooks and self-published works are not eligible. Prize: A total of $15,000 CD will be awarded. Each shortlisted author (usually 4-6) receives C$1,000 and the winning author is awarded the remainder. Deadline: April 30, 2015. Submission guidelines are HERE.

The Jan Garton Prairie Heritage Book Award will be given to the best book of the year that illuminates the heritage of America’s mid-continental prairies, whether of the tall-grass, mid-grass, or short-grass regions. Authors’ first books receive extra consideration. Books published in 2014 may be nominated by publishers, authors, or readers. Genre: Books may be in any genre, and topics may include but are not limited to social or natural history; prairie culture of the past or in-the-making; and interactions between society and ecology.Prize: $1000 and a sponsored book-signing. Deadline: April 30, 2015. Submission guidelines are HERE.