34 Writing Contests in August 2018 - No entry fees

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There are more than two dozen writing contests in August, none of which charge entry fees. This month there are contests for short stories, essays, poetry, and for both published and unpublished full-length works. Prizes range from $50 to $25,000. As always, read the guidelines carefully. Many contests have geographical and age restrictions.

If you want to get an idea of what kinds of contests are offered throughout the year, take a look at Free Contests. The majority of these contests are yearly events. When it comes to contests, it's always a good idea to plan ahead.
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Bethune & Son Texas Short Story Competition. Genre: Unpublished short stories with the Texas theme: "Highway 90." Prize: up to $1,000. Deadline: August 1, 2018.

Transitions Abroad. Genre: Essay on living, working or moving abroad. Prize: $500. Deadline: August 1, 2018.

Let's talk emoticon. Genre: Flash fiction? (You'll just have to go to the site, because it's hard to explain.) Prize: $50. Deadline: August 1, 2018.

Epigram Books Fiction Prize. Restrictions: Authors must be Singaporean, Singaporean permanent resident or Singapore-born. Genre: A full-length, original and unpublished novel written in the English language. Prize: $20,000. Deadline: August 1, 2018.

Milwaukee Irish Fest. Genre: Poetry. Entries should have a culture/literary relation to either Ireland, Irish-America, or to Irish poetry. Prize: $100. Deadline: August 1, 2018.

The Governor General’s Literary Awards. Restrictions: Books must have been written, translated or illustrated by Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada. Genre: Best English-language and the best French-language book will be chosen in each of the seven categories of Fiction, Literary Non-fiction, Poetry, Drama, Children’s Literature (text), Children’s Literature (illustrated books) and Translation (from French to English). Prize: $1,000 - $25,000. Deadline: Nominations by publishers for books in English must reach the Canada Council no later than August 1, 2018.

Boardman Tasker Prize. Restrictions: Books published between 1st August 2017 and 31st July 2018 in the UK. Genre: Books with mountain,not necessarily mountaineering, theme whether fiction, non-fiction, drama or poetry, written in the English language. Prize: £3,000.00. Deadline: August 1, 2018.

Leeway Foundation Art and Change Grants. Restrictions: Writers living in Bucks, Camden, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, or Philadelphia counties Delaware who are 18 years of age or older and who are not full-time students in a degree-granting arts program are eligible. Genres: Poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction. Prize: $2500.  Deadline: August 1, 2018.

Delaware Division of the Arts Individual Artist Fellowships. Restrictions: Delaware poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers who have lived in Delaware for at least one year prior to application and who are not enrolled in a degree-granting program. Genres: Poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction. Prize: Established Professional Fellowships of $6,000 each and Emerging Artist Fellowships of $3,000 each. Deadline: August 1, 2018.

Costa Short Story Award. Restrictions: Residents of UK and Ireland. Genre: Short story.  Prize: £3,500.00. Deadline: August 3, 2018.

Essay Service Writer’s Encouragement Scholarship. Restrictions: Open to high school and college students. Genre: Essay. (See themes on site.) Prize: Up to $500. Deadline: August 14, 2018.

Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales Poetry Prize. Restrictions: Poets living in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington D.C., or West Virginia. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $500, publication by Broadkill River Press, ten author copies, and two cases of Dogfish Head craft beer. Deadline: August 15, 2018.

#SweekPride Writing Contest. Genre: Stories and poetry about the LGBTQ community. Prize: $75. Deadline: August 15, 2018.

Jack Pine Publishing. Genre: Chapbook. Proposals should include visual content, excellent writing, and great book design. This includes graphic novels, poetry, short essays. Literary merit, typography and binding techniques will be considered.. Prize: $1,500 grant to make a limited edition chapbook. You’ll also get paid a reading fee to present your work at a launch/poetry reading in Saskatoon, as well as an all-expense-paid trip to the Paris of the Prairies for JackPine’s next launch. Deadline: August 15, 2018.

Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. Restrictions: Emerging African American writers.  Genres: Short story collection or novel published in the current year. Prize: $10,000.   Deadline: August 15, 2018.

PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship. Restrictions: Candidates must have published one or more novels for children or young adults that have been warmly received by literary critics, but have not generated sufficient income to support the author. Genre: Book-length children's or young-adult fiction. Prize: $5000. Deadline: August 15, 2018.

Pockets Fiction Contest. Genre: Children's fiction. Stories should be 750–1,000 words. Prize: $500 and publication. Deadline: August 15, 2018.

Scotiabank Giller Prize. Restrictions: Open to books published in Canada in English between July 1, 2018 and Sept 30, 2018. Must  be nominated by publisher. Genre: Fiction. Full-length novel or collection of short stories published in English, either originally, or in translation. Prize: $100.000 to the winner and $10,000 to each of the finalists. Deadline: August 15, 2018.

RBC Taylor Prize. Restrictions: Citizens or residents of Canada. Must be published author. Genre: Literary nonfiction. Prize: $25,000 (CAN). Deadline: August 23, 2018 for books published between June 1 and August 20, 2018.

Gotham Writers: Travel Caption Contest. Genre: An original, unpublished photo caption, no more than 15 words. Prize: Free Gotham Writers Class. Deadline: August 28, 2018.

Harvill Secker Young Translators' Prize. Restrictions: Open to anyone between the ages of 18 and 34. Genre: Short story translation from Korean to English. Prize: £1,000.00. Deadline: August 28, 2018.

Hollingworth Prize for Poetry. Restrictions: Open to UK poets. Genre: Poetry chapbook.  Prize: mentorship and critical feedback on their work from an established poet, followed by publication by Sine Wave Peak and Partus. Deadline: August 28, 2018.

Kindle Storyteller Award (UK). Restrictions: The prize is open to all authors who publish their book through Kindle Direct Publishing on Amazon.co.uk. Genre: Book. Prize: £20,000. Deadline: August 31, 2018.

Broken River Prize. Sponsored by Platypus Press. Genre: Poetry chapbook.  Prize: $250/£200.  Deadline: August 31, 2018.

Diana Woods Memorial Award in Creative Nonfiction. Genre: Essay, maximum 5,000 words. Prize: $250 top prize. Deadline: August 31, 2018.

Gabo Prize for Literature in Translation or Multi-Lingual Texts. Restrictions: Translators and authors of multi-lingual texts. Genres: Poetry and prose. Prize: $200. Deadline: August 31, 2018.

Jack Grapes Poetry Prize. Genre: Poetry. Prize: WINNERS will receive $200 each, plus publication. FINALISTS will receive $50 each, plus publication. Deadline: August 31, 2018.

Jacques Maritain Prize for Nonfiction. Genre: Essay, Catholic themes. Prize: $500 top prize.   Deadline: August 31, 2018.

Lee & Low Books New Voices Award is sponsored by Lee &Low Publishers. Restrictions: The contest is open to writers of color who are residents of the United States and who have not previously had a children’s picture book published. Genre: Children's books - fiction, nonfiction or poetry. Prize: $1,000 and publication. Deadline: August 31, 2018.

Preservation Foundation Essay Contest for Unpublished Writers. Restrictions: The contest is open to writers whose creative writing has never produced revenues of over $750 in any single year. Genre: Nonfiction: Biographical Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, Travel Nonfiction, and Animal Nonfiction.  Prize: First prize in each category will be $200. Runners-up will receive $100. Finalists will receive $50. Deadline: August 31, 2018.

Young Lions Fiction Award. Restrictions: Open to US citizens 35 years of age or younger. Genre: Novel or a collection of short stories published between January 2017 and December 2017. Submissions by publisher only. Authors may not submit their own work. Prize: $10,000.00.   Deadline: August 31, 2018.

The End of Our World Short Story Contest. Genre: Short story dealing with the many existential issues facing us. "No nonsense, no wild, impossible fantasies but strong, intelligent stories, based on realistic speculation, cautionary tales, plausible and thought-provoking." Prize: $1,000. Deadline: August 31, 2018.

VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Genre: First published novel. USA only. Prize: $5,000. Deadline: August 31, 2018.

On The Premises Short Story Contest. "For this contest, write a creative, compelling, well-crafted story between 1,000 and 5,000 words long in which one or more characters almost die, but do not. (Other characters in the story can die, but not the one(s) the story focuses on.)" Prize: Winners receive between US$60 and US$220, and publication. Deadline: August 31, 2018.