70 Writing Contests in December 2019 - No entry fees

Maxpixel

December is a great month for writing contests. This month there are no fewer than 70 contests, and none charge entry fees. Prizes range from $30,000 to envy. (If you win a Pushcart, envy is quite enough.) As always, read the restrictions to make sure you qualify.

If you want to get a jump on next month's contests go to Free Contests. Most of these contests are offered annually, so even if the deadline is past, you can prepare for next year.

Good luck!

____________________


Green Stories Writing Competition. Genre: Interactive fiction about building a sustainable society. Prize: £750: 1st prize £500, 2nd prize £100, third prize £50 plus £50 for best student submission (18-25 years) and £50 for best < 18 year submission. Deadline: December 1, 2019.

Frightening First Line Contest. Genre: Scary first line. Prize: Free Gotham class. Deadline: December 1, 2019.

The David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction is offered annually to the best book in American historical fiction that is both excellent fiction and excellent history. Prize: $1.000.    Deadline: December 1, 2019.

Brooklyn Non-Fiction Prize is sponsored by the Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival. Genre: Non-fiction essay between 4 to 10 pages, set in Brooklyn about Brooklyn and/or Brooklyn people/characters. (Up to 2500 words). Prize: $500. Deadline: December 1, 2019.

Better Than Starbucks. Genre: Metrical poetry. Your sonnet can be shakespearean, petrarchan, spenserian, rhymed, or slant-rhymed. Blank verse is fine, as long as the sonnet form is clearly identifiable. They'll consider tetrameter, hexameter, etc. as well as pentameter. Prize: $100.  Deadline: December 1, 2019. Previously published work accepted.

The Pushcart Prize honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in small presses and literary magazines. Magazine and small press editors may nominate up to six works. Pushcart Press publishes yearly anthologies of the winning submissions. Prize: Publication. Deadline: December 1, 2019.

Poetry Center at Smith College Prize. Restrictions: Open to sophomore or junior high school girls in New England. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $500. Deadline: December 1, 2019.

Tony Quagliano Poetry Fund, International Poetry Award. Restrictions: Open to poets who have a published body of work over a period of years. Poems must be in English. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $1,000. Deadline: December 1, 2019. (Biennial award)

Arnold Adoff Poetry Awards. Genre: Poetry books for children and young adults. Novels in verse, memoirs in verse, collections of original poetry, and edited collections are all acceptable formats for the awards. Prize: $500. Deadline: December 1, 2019.

Fresh Ink. Genre: Fiction. Prize: Short-story — $1,000 Under 7,500 words; Novelette — $1,500 From 7,500 to 17,499 words; Novella — $2,000 From 17,500 to 39,999 words; Novel — $3,000 40,000 words and over. Deadline: December 1, 2019.

Law & Technology International Writing Competition. Restrictions: Open to all college and university students around the world. Genre: Essay. (See topics.) Prize: £2,000. Deadline: December 1, 2019.

The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poetry. Restrictions: Open to African poets who have not yet published a collection of poetry. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $1,000 and book publication through the University of Nebraska Press and Amalion Press in Senegal. Deadline: December 1, 2019.

The Schneider Family Book Award is sponsored by the American Library Association. The award honors an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences. Prize: Three annual awards each consisting of $5000 and a framed plaque, will be given annually in each of the following categories: birth through grade school (age 0-10), middle school (age 11-13) and teens (age 13-18). (Age groupings are approximations). Genre: May be fiction, biography, or other form of nonfiction. Deadline: December 1, 2019.

Thomas and Lillie D. Chaffin Award for Appalachian Writing. Restrictions: Open to published writers who are writing from the region. Genres: All. Prize: $1000. Deadline: December 1, 2019.

Flo Gault Student Poetry Prize. Restrictions: Full-time undergraduate college students in Kentucky. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $500. Deadline: December 1, 2019. 

The W.Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction honors the best fiction set in a period when the United States was at war. It recognizes the service of American veterans and military personnel and encourages the writing and publishing of outstanding war-related fiction. Genre: Military fiction. Prize: $5000. Deadline: December 1, 2019.

New York Encounter Poetry Contest. Genre: Poetry on the theme "Crossing the Divide." Prize:  Cash prizes of $300, $200 and $100 will be awarded to first, second and third place poems.  Deadline: December 2, 2019.

Washington State Book Awards. Restrictions: Open to Washington State writers. Genre: Published book, all genres. Prize: $500. Deadline: December 2, 2019. 

Literature Matters. Restrictions: UK residents. Genre: "Awards will be given to individual writers or other literary creators, recognising their past achievements and providing them with financial support to undertake a proposed new piece of writing or literary project. Launched as part of the RSL’s new Literature Matters programme, priority will be given to proposals which (a) will help connect with audiences or topics outside the usual reach of literature, and/or (b) will help generate public discussion about why literature matters." Award: £20,000. Deadline: December 5, 2019.

Polar Expressions Publications Competition. Restrictions: Open to Canadian students in kindergarten through grade twelve. Genre: Short Story. Prize: $300, $200, $100. Deadline: December 6, 2019.

J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award. Genre: Uncompleted work of nonfiction on a topic of American political or social concern. Prize: $30,000 fellowship. Deadline: December 9, 2019.

Nobrow Short Story Competition. Genre: Short story or CNF on theme of ‘The Censor’. "You can interpret this in any way you wish – it could represent censoring of the past, present and future; the self; the state; or the effects of censorship on everyday life." Prize:  £2000. Deadline: December 9, 2019.

Friends of American Writers. Restrictions: The author must be a resident (or previously have been a resident for approximately five years) of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota or Wisconsin; or the locale of the book must be in a region identified above. The author must not have published more than three books under his/her own pen name. Genres: Books can be fiction or creative non-fiction and published in 2017. Self-published and e-Books are not eligible. Prize: $4000. Deadline: December 10, 2019.

The Sunday Times Audible Story Award. Restrictions: Open to any author who has been published in the UK or Ireland. Genre: Short stories of 6000 words or less. Prize: £30,000. Deadline: December 13, 2019.

Four Way Books: It's No Contest. Restrictions: Book-length manuscript written in English by a New York City resident (5 boroughs) emerging writer for a first or second collection of poems, stories, or a novella.. How to submit: Email your manuscript in one Word or PDF file and include all contact information on your cover page. If you would like, you may include acknowledgments, bio, and notes. You should include a table of contents. Pagination suggestions: aim for at least 45 pages of text for poetry and between 80-150 pages of text for a novella, and 150-250 pages of text for story collections. Kindly send your manuscript to us at editors@fourwaybooks.com. Simultaneous submissions are allowed. Prize: Publication, royalties. Deadline: December 15, 2019.

Wick Poetry Center: Call for Poems for Peace and Conflict Transformation. Genre: Poetry. "The poems should resonate with the themes of peace, conflict transformation, and student advocacy." They are accepting submissions in three categories: youth (K-12), adult student, or adult non-student.Prize: $500 in each category; $250 for two poets. Deadline: December 15, 2019.

Commonwealth Club of California Book Awards. Restrictions: Open to residents of California.   Genre: Book of poetry, fiction or nonfiction. Prize: Gold medal. Deadline: December 15, 2019.

Hefner Heitz Kansas Book Award in Literary Nonfiction (Kansas Book Award). Restrictions: Author must establish a connection to Kansas by birth, education, employment, residence or other significant claim. Genre: Novel or collection of short stories published within the last three years. Prize: $1,000. Deadline: December 15, 2019.

Kent State University Peace Poetry Contest. Genre: Poems, maximum 100 lines, on "themes of peace, conflict transformation, and student advocacy". Prize: $500. Deadline: December 15, 2019.

Bronx Recognizes Its Own (BRIO) provides direct support to individual Bronx artists who create literary, media, visual, and performing works of art. Prize: 25 BRIO grants of $3,000 each are awarded to Bronx artists. BRIO award winners complete a one-time public service activity. Deadline: December 16, 2019.

Be Animal Essay Contest. Genre: Essay. Narrate an account of an experience in your life that brought you closer to nature. (OR) Write a short piece on your ideal utopia and some of the things you would find there. (OR) Write an informational piece on something that we could all adopt to live a happier, healthier life - whether it’s an ideology, dietary improvements or physical activity! Prize: Trip to India and 599€. Deadline: December 16, 2019.

Spark Award: Held by SCBWI , open to members of SCBWI who are self-published. Genres: Fiction and nonfiction. Prize: Envy. The SCBWI is our most prestigious national organization (US) for children's book and YA writers. Deadline: December 19, 2019.

Rider University Annual High School Writing Contest. Restrictions: Open to high school students. Genres: Essays, poetry, fiction. Prizes: 1st-$100, 2nd-$50, 3rd-$25. Deadline: December 20, 2019.

Yardley Fantasy Song Competition (For Published Authors). Genre: Songs written as a part of a published fantasy story of typical length by any author. Prize: $250 plus 1% royalties. Deadline: December 20, 2019.

Christmas Terror. Genre: Horror and dark poetry. Prize: Complete formatting of your book, original artwork, and a month of promotion. Deadline: December 20, 2019.

The Four Quartets Prize. Genre: unified and complete sequence of poems published in America in a print or online journal, chapbook. Poems in the sequence may have been published in different journals provided that they were brought together and they form a complete sequence. Prize: Three finalists will receive $1,000 each. The winner will receive an additional $20,000. Deadline: December 23, 2019.

Alice Fay Di Castagnola Award.  Restrictions: Only Poetry Society of America members may enter free of charge. Others must pay a $15 entry fee. Genre: Poetry, unpublished and published. Prize: $1,000. Deadline: December 23, 2019.

Cecil Hemley Memorial Award. Restrictions: Only Poetry Society of America members may enter free of charge. Others must pay a $15 entry fee. Genre: Poetry, unpublished and published. Lyric poem that addresses a philosophical or epistemological concern. Prize: $500. Deadline: December 23, 2019.

Lucille Medwick Memorial Award. Restrictions: Only Poetry Society of America members may enter free of charge. Others must pay a $15 entry fee. Genre: Poetry, unpublished and published. Original poem in any form on a humanitarian theme. Prize: $500. Deadline: December 23, 2019.

Lyric Poetry Award. Restrictions: Only Poetry Society of America members may enter free of charge. Others must pay a $15 entry fee. Genre: A lyric poem on any subject. Prize: $500. Deadline: December 23, 2019.

The Writer Magazine/Emily Dickinson Award. Restrictions: Only Poetry Society of America members may enter for free. Others must pay a $15 entry fee. Genre: A poem inspired by Dickinson though not necessarily in her style. Prize: $250. Deadline: December 23, 2019.

George Bogin Memorial Award. Restrictions: Only Poetry Society of America members may enter for free. Others must pay a $15 entry fee. Genre: Poetry that takes a stand against oppression. Prize: $500. Deadline: December 23, 2019.

Robert H. Winner Memorial Award. Restrictions: Only Poetry Society of America members may enter for free. There is a charge of $15 for non-members. Open to mid-career poets who have not had substantial recognition, and is over forty, and who have published no more than one book. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $2,500. Deadline: December 23, 2019.

VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Genre: First novel published in 2019. No self-published books. Prize: $5,000. Deadline: December 30, 2019.

Writers' HQ Flash Quarterly Contest. Genre: Unpublished flash fiction, 500 words max. Prize: 450 pounds. Top three winners win membership to Writers' HQ, a British writing resource site, and admission to three WHQ writing retreats. Winners outside the UK can substitute a manuscript critique for the retreats. Deadline: December 31, 2019.

Solution Loans Short Story Contest. Restrictions: Open to UK residents 18 years and up. Genre: Short fiction on theme of "Coins." Prize: £200 and publication on the Solution Loans website. Deadline: December 31, 2019.

Lilith Magazine Fiction Competition. Genre: Story of interest to Jewish women. Prize: $250.  Deadline: December 31, 2019.

Ezra Jack Keats Children's Book Award. Genre: Published or self-published picture books that portray the universal qualities of childhood, a strong and supportive family, and the multicultural nature of our world. Prize: $3,000. Deadline: December 31, 2019.

The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards recognizes outstanding works that contribute to our understanding of racism and our appreciation of the rich diversity of human cultures. Awards are given for both fiction and nonfiction. Prize: $10,000. Deadline: December 31, 2019.

Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry, Griffin Poetry Prize. Restrictions: One prize goes to a living Canadian poet or translator, the other to a living poet or translator from any country, which may include Canada. Genre: Poetry. Books must have been published in English during the calendar year preceding the year of the award. Prize: C$200,000, is awarded annually in two categories – International and Canadian. Each prize is worth C$65,000. Deadline: December 31, 2019.

L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest. Genre: Speculative fiction prose, up to 17,000 words. Prize: $1,000 with $5,000 grand prize. Deadline: December 31, 2019. Read details HERE.

Blue Mountain Arts Poetry Card Contest. Genre: Poem. Prize: $300. Deadline: December 31, 2019. Read details HERE.

Best Translated Book Awards for Fiction. Genre: All original translations published between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018 are eligible. Reprints and retranslation are ineligible. Prize: $5,000.00. Two awards of $5,000: one apiece for the author and translator of the winning book in fiction. Deadline: December 31, 2019.

Natan Notable Books Award. Genre: Recen­t­­ly pub­­lished or soon to be pub­lished nonfic­­tion book on Jew­ish themes. Prize: $5,000. Deadline: December 31, 2019.

Society of Classical Poets, High School Poetry Competition. Restrictions: Open to high school students. Genre: Poetry. Three poems not exceeding 108 lines. The poems must be within the four themes used by the Society. Prize: First Prize: $100. Deadline: December 31, 2019.

Society of Classical Poets, Poetry Translation Competition. Genre: Poetry not exceeding 108 lines. Prize: First Prize: $100. Deadline: December 31, 2019.

Ouen Press Short Story Competition. Genre: Short story on theme of "The Gift." Prize: £300 top prize. Deadline: December 31, 2019.

Viva la Novella. Restrictions: Open to Australian and New Zealand writers. Genre: Novella. Prize: $1,000 and publication in Seizure. Deadline: December 31, 2019.

Black Caucus of the American Library Association. BCALA presents four awards to an African American writer published in the United States during the previous year: one for adult fiction, one for nonfiction, one for a first novelist and one for poetry. These awards acknowledge outstanding achievement in the presentation of the cultural, historical and sociopolitical aspects of the Black Diaspora. Prize: Four $500.00 awards. Deadline: December 31, 2019.

Lex:lead Essay Competition. Restrictions: Finalists must show citizenship in an eligible country and enrollment in studies with at least one law class in an eligible country to be confirmed for award. Genre: Essay on topic: How can access to justice reduce poverty and support economic development? Prize: $500. Deadline: December 31, 2019. You must register by October 31.

The Lyric College Poetry Contest. Restrictions: Open to undergraduates enrolled full time in an American or Canadian college or university. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $500. Deadline: December 31, 2019.

Drinking Gourd Chapbook Poetry Prize. Genre: Poetry chapbook. Prize: $350. Deadline: December 31, 2019.

Daily News Prize. Genre: Poem, of any length, written by a US or UK Virgin Islands resident accepted for publication by The Caribbean Writer during the deadline year. Prize: $300. Deadline: December 31, 2019.

Dapim: Studies on the Holocaust Article Prize Competition. Genre: Nonfiction of 7,000-10,000 words about the Holocaust. Prize: $1,000 top prize. Deadline: December 31, 2019.    Questions/submissions: dapim_h@univ.haifa.ac.il

Best Translated Book Awards for Poetry. Genre: All original translations published between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019 are eligible. Reprints and retranslation are ineligible. Prize: $5,000.00. Two awards of $5,000: one apiece for the author and translator of the winning book in fiction. Deadline: December 31, 2019.

Neil Postman Award for Metaphor. Sponsored by Rattle. Genre: Poetry. All published submissions during the year are considered for the prize. Follow their regular submission guidelines. Prize: $1,000. Deadline: December 31, 2019.

USNI General Prize Essay Contest. Restrictions: Authors must be USNI members or those eligible for membership. Genre: Essay "to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to national defense.” Prize: $6,000. Deadline: December 31, 2019.

William Carlos Williams Poetry Competition. Restrictions: Open to students enrolled in programs leading to the Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathy degree. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $300.   Deadline: December 31, 2019.

The Caribbean Writer Prizes. Genre: Poetry, short stories, personal essays, and one-act plays of up to 3500 words/10 pages by any author. The work must relate to the Caribbean in some way. The theme is “Dignity, power, and place in the Caribbean space.” Multiple awards categories. The work must be accepted into The Caribbean Writer, where it will automatically be considered for this prize. Prize: Up to $500. Deadline: December 31, 2019.

Center Field of Gravity Award. Genre: Science-fiction, fantasy, and horror short stories or long-form poems up to but not exceeding 17,000 words. Prize: $200. Deadline: December 31, 2019.