Some of these contests have age and geographical restrictions, so read the instructions carefully.
If you want to get a jump on next month's contests go to Free Contests. Many of these contests are offered annually, so even if the deadline has passed, you can prepare for next year.
Good luck!
(Image: Pickpik)
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Mike Resnick Memorial Award: Best Unpublished Science Fiction Short Story by a New Author. Restrictions: Open to an author who has not had any work published (including short stories, novelettes, novellas, and novels in paper, digital or audio form) that has been paid a per-word rate of 6 cents a word or more or received a payment for any single work of fiction totaling more than $50. Genre: Science fiction short story, up to 7,499 words. Prize: $250.00 and publication. Deadline: April 1, 2024.
EACWP Flash Fiction Contest. Restrictions: The contest is open to any participant living in Europe (including countries culturally linked to Europe such as Russia, Turkey, and Israel). Eleven different European languages will be leading this year’s competition: English, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, French, German, Dutch, Finnish, Swedish, Hebrew and Czech. Genre: Flash fiction. Length: 100 words. The topic is "Incorrect." Prize: €600 top prize. Deadline: April 1, 2024.
The Great American Think-Off. Genre: Essay on the theme: “Is freedom of speech worth the cost?” Entrants should take a strong stand agreeing or disagreeing with this topic, basing their arguments on personal experience and observations rather than philosophical abstraction. Essay should be no more than 750 words. Prize: One of four $500 cash prizes. Deadline: April 1, 2024.
Gwenn A. Nusbaum / WWBA Scholarship. Restrictions: Open to poets at the beginning of their careers, ages 25-35 years. Prize: $1800 scholarship. Deadline: April 1, 2024.
The Marguerite and Lamar Smith Fellowship for Writers. Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians awards fellowships for writers to spend time in McCullers' childhood home in Columbus, Georgia. The fellowships are intended to afford the writers in residence uninterrupted time to dedicate to their work, free from the distractions of daily life and other professional responsibilities. Award: Stipend of $5000 to cover costs of transportation, food and other incidentals. Fellowship recipients will be required to introduce or advance their work through reading or workshop/forum presentations. The Fellow will work with the McCullers Center Director to plan a presentation near the end of the residency. Deadline: April 1, 2024.
PEN America’s U.S. Writers Aid Initiative. Restrictions: Applicants must be professional writers based in the United States, and be able to demonstrate that this one-time grant will be meaningful in helping address a short-term emergency situation. Prize: Grant, amount not specified. Deadline: April 1, 2024.
Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest. This contest seeks today's best humor poems, published and unpublished. Please enter one poem only, 250 lines max. Prize: $3,500 in prizes, including a top prize of $2,000, and publication on Winning Writers. Deadline: April 1, 2024.
The Maya Angelou Book Award was founded in 2020 to honor the legacy of Missouri-born author Maya Angelou by celebrating contemporary authors whose work has demonstrated a commitment to social justice in America and/or the world. Restrictions: Entrants must be U.S. Citizens and reside within the United States. Entrants must be at least 18 years of age. Prize: $10,000. Deadline: April 1, 2024.
Hurston/Wright Crossover Award. Restrictions: Open to unpublished, Black writers who are 18 years and older. Genre: Literary nonfiction. Submissions may be stand-alone essays or excerpts from a book in progress. Prize: $2000. Deadline: April 2, 2024.
Fabula Press Short Story Contest. Genre: Short Story. Word Count: Not less than 2500 words, and not more than 7000 words. Prize: First Prize: US$500 Second Prize: US$250 Third Prize: US$100. In addition, all authors selected for publication will be paid an honourarium of US$75. Deadline: April 3, 2024.
Creative Capital Award. Restrictions: Entrants must be US citizens or permanent residents, aged 25+, with 5+ years' professional writing experience, and not be full-time students. Genre: Visual arts, performing arts, literature, technology, and film. Grant: Up to $50,000. Deadline: April 4, 2024.
Bacopa Literary Review. Genres: Fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry. Prizes: First ($200) and Runner-Up ($160) prizes in each genre. All published will receive $20 and a copy of the print journal. After publication, Bacopa will be promoted online. Deadline: April 4, 2024.
Booker International Prize. The Booker International Prize for fiction translated into English is awarded annually by the Booker Prize Foundation to the author of the best (in the opinion of the judges) eligible novel or collection of short stories. Prize: £50,000 divided equally between the author and the translator. There will be a prize of £2,000 each of the shortlisted titles divided equally between the author and the translator. Deadline: For books published between April 1 and Sept 30, 2024 the entry form is due by April 4, 2024.
Furious Fiction. Genre: Flash fiction. "On the first Friday of every month, a new set of story prompts will be revealed. You will have 55 hours to submit your best 500-word (or fewer) story." Prize: $500AUD. Deadline: April 7, 2024. Opens on April 5.
Chief Minister's Northern Territory History Book Award 2024. Restrictions: You must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident to enter. Genre: The Chief Minister's Northern Territory History Book Award recognises the most significant historical book about the Northern Territory published in the previous 12 months. To apply, your book must be a work on Northern Territory history, written in English or one of the First Nations languages of the Northern Territory, available for general sale, and published between 1 January and 31 December 2023. Prize: Recognition. Deadline: April 8, 2024.
Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prizes. Restrictions: Open to writers of Taiwanese heritage (or writers with other significant connections to Taiwan), or have subject matter otherwise relevant to the Taiwanese or Taiwanese American experience. Submissions will be considered in four categories: Middle School (enrolled in 6th-8th grade as of the deadline), High School (enrolled in high school as of the deadline), College (enrolled in community college or as an undergraduate as of the deadline), Adult (in any stage of life beyond college). Genre: Any literary genre including fiction, poetry, personal essays or other creative non-fiction. Prize: Grand Prize Winner: $500 – one selection per age category. Finalist: $200 – three selections per age category. Honorable Mention: $75 – at judge’s discretion per age category. Deadline: April 13, 2024.
Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism. Genre: This prize seeks to honor the best book-length works of criticism published in the US in the prior calendar year, including biographies, essay collections, and critical editions that consider the subject of poetry or poets. Prize: $10,000. Deadline: April 15, 2024.
Dodge Poetry Festival. Genre: Poetry. Approximately 10-15 poets will be selected to participate in readings and conversations, in person in Newark, NJ, over the three-day Festival. Prize: Poets will receive an honorarium of $350 per day, and travel and lodging will be covered. Deadline: April 15, 2024.
Dancing Poetry Festival. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $100 top prize. Deadline: April 15, 2024.
53-Word Story Contest. Genre: Flash fiction of exactly 53 words. See prompt. Prize: Publication and a free book. Deadline: April 15, 2024.
Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships. Restrictions: Applicants must reside in the U.S. or be U.S. citizens. Applicants must be at least 21 years of age and no older than 31 years of age as of April 30, 2024. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $27,000. Deadline: April 15, 2024. Please register for the online portal by April 8, 2024 if you intend to apply.
The F. Sean Hodge Prize for Poetry in Medicine. Restrictions: Open to current medical students, residents, or fellows or physicians who have completed post-graduate training. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $250. Deadline: April 15, 2024.
Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction. Restrictions: The writer must be Canadian, and an entry must be the writer's first or second published book of any type or genre and must have a Canadian locale and/or significance. Genre: Print books and ebooks of creative non-fiction published in the previous calendar year. Prize: C$10,000.00. Deadline: April 15, 2024.
The Anonymous Was A Woman Environmental Art Grants (AWAW EAG). Genre: Environmental art projects led by women-identifying artists in the United States and U.S. Territories. Prize: A total of $300,000 in funding—up to $20,000 per project. Deadline: April 16, 2024.
Casa Africa: Purorrelato. Genre: Micro-stories related to Africa. Length: 1500 characters max. The micro-stories can be submitted in Spanish, English, French or Portuguese. Prize: First award: 750 euros, Second award: 375 euros, Third award: 225 euros. Deadline: April 16, 2024.
Arvon Award. Restrictions: Open to writers living in the North of England at the time of entering and planning to remain here for at least another 12 months. Genre: Full-length work of fiction, poetry or narrative non-fiction work in progress. Prize: Arvon course. Deadline: April 17, 2024.
Northern Promise TLC Awards. Restrictions: Open to people who may have faced barriers to seeing their work progress for financial reasons or issues connected to disability, ethnicity and/or sexuality. living in the North of England at the time of entering and planning to remain here for at least another 12 months. Genre: Full-length work of fiction, poetry, narrative non-fiction, or children's book in progress. Prize: In-depth editorial report on their work in progress. In addition to the Free Read, writers will receive £500 and access to the Northern Writers’ Awards Network. Deadline: April 17, 2024.
Scotiabank Giller Prize. Restrictions: Open to books published in Canada in English. Books must be published in Canada in English between March 1, 2024, and April 30, 2024 to be eligible for the 2024 Prize. 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: April 19, 2024.
Write the World Competition. Restrictions: Young writers ages 13-19.5. Genre: Nonfiction essay about the planet we call home. Prize: Best Entry: $100; Runner up: $50. Deadline: April 22, 2024. (Note: This is a monthly contest)
Whiting Foundation Creative Nonfiction Grant. Restrictions: Open to US citizens and residents only. Genre: Creative nonfiction. Whiting welcomes submissions for works of history, cultural or political reportage, biography, memoir, the sciences, philosophy, criticism, food or travel writing, and personal essays, among other categories. Writers must be completing a book of creative nonfiction that is currently under contract with a publisher. Prize: $40,000. Deadline: April 23, 2024.
Harper-Wood Creative Writing & Travel Award for English Poetry and Literature. Restrictions: Open to any student who has graduated from any university in the UK, Ireland, the Commonwealth or the USA. Genre: The Award Holder is expected to engage in a course of study or research, and produce a piece of original fiction, drama or poetry. Prize: £18,600 is provided to cover accommodation and living expenses during the course of the year. Deadline: April 24, 2024.
Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors. Created by the Missouri Humanities Council, the Warrior Arts Alliance, and Southeast Missouri State University Press, this series of anthologies preserves and shares military service perspectives of our soldiers and veterans of all conflicts and of their families. It is not only an outlet for artistic expression but also a document of the unique aspects of wartime in our nation's history. Genres: Poetry, Short Fiction, Essay, Photography, Interview with a Warrior. Prize: $250 and publication. Deadline: April 26, 2024.
Natan Notable Books Award. Genre: Nonfiction book on Jewish themes published for the first time between September 1, 2023 and August 31, 2024. Prize: $5,000. Deadline: April 26, 2024.
The Sophie Coe Prize. Genre: Informative article or essay on any aspect of food history relating to any period, place, people or culture Prize: £1,500 top prize. Deadline: April 26, 2024.
Jane Austen Literacy Foundation Writing Competition. Genre: Original, fictional short story. "The theme of the competition is ‘The Art of Listening’ and you are invited to write an original, fictional short story. Your short story can be inspired by our theme in any way." Prize: "The winning stories (the winner and two runners up) will be recorded as an audiobook by multi-award winning and best-selling Austen narrator, Alison Larkin, published WORLDWIDE and promoted for all to hear!" Deadline: April 28, 2024.
Grouse Grind Lit Prize for V: Short Forms. Restrictions: No fee for black and Indigenous writers. Genre: flash fiction and nonfiction, hybrid forms and experimental work welcome. Prize: $500 top prize. Deadline: April 30, 2024.
#GWstorieseverywhere. Genre: Micro fiction. Your story must be no longer than 25 words, with a max of 280 characters, including spaces and the hashtag. See themes. Prize: Free Gotham class. Deadline: April 30, 2024.
October Project. Genre: Poetry. Prizes: To be announced. Deadline: April 30, 2024.
Witcraft Monthly Humour Competition. Genre: Humor with the emphasis on wit, word play, absurdity and inspired nonsense. Prize: First prize A$50, second prize A$20, third prize A$10, payable via Paypal only. Deadline: April 30, 2024.
Al Blanchard Short Crime Story Award. Genre: Crime short story. 5,000 words maximum, with a New England setting (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island) or by a New England writer. Mystery, thriller, suspense, caper, and horror genres all welcome. Prize: $100. Deadline: April 30, 2024.
Friends of Falun Gong, Poetry Contest. Genre: Poem. Submit one or two poems of no more than 50 lines each. Poems must encompass at least one of the following themes: Advocate for Falun Gong practitioner’s fundamental human rights. Expose the crimes against Falun Gong perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party. Share in the beauty, peacefulness and good nature of Falun Gong. Prizes: $500, $250, $100. Deadline: April 30, 2024.
The Letter Review Prize. Genre: Short Fiction (up to 5000 words), Poetry, and Unpublished Books. Prize: The top 2-4 winners share equally in the prize pool of $1000 USD. Deadline: April 30, 2024.
Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. Restrictions: Titles must be published in Canada and written by Canadians. No self-published works. Genre: Fiction. Prize: $60,000 will be awarded to a novel or short-story collection published between February 27, 2024 and April 29, 2024. Prizes of $5,000 will be awarded to each of the finalists. Deadline: April 30, 2024.
Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Non-Fiction. Genre: Literary non-fiction. Restrictions: Titles must be published in Canada and written by Canadians. Prize: $60,000 will be awarded to a literary nonfiction book published between February 27, 2024 and April 29, 2024. Deadline: April 30, 2024.
Writers' Trust Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ2S+ Emerging Writers. Restrictions: Open to Canadian LGBTQ+ writers. Genre: Debut book for books published between February 27, 2024 and April 29, 2024. Prize: $10,000. Deadline: April 30, 2024.
Sleeping Bear Press: Own Voices, Own Stories Award. Restrictions: Contest is open to new authors who identify as BIPOC and/or LGBTQ+. Applicants must be United States residents and at least 18 years of age. Genre: Short fiction. Submissions should be for ages four through ten and may be fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. Text must come in at under 1,300 words. Prize: Grand Prize winners will receive a $2,000 cash prize, in addition to a publishing contract with advance and royalties standard for new Sleeping Bear Press authors. Honor Award winners will receive a $500 cash prize as well as one consulting session with a Sleeping Bear Press editor. Deadline: April 30, 2024.
Baen Fantasy Adventure Award. Genre: Adventure fantasy, 8K words max. Prize: Winner will be published as the featured story on the Baen Books main website and paid at industry-standard rates for professional story submittals. The author will also receive a handsome engraved award and a prize package containing $500 of free Baen Books. Deadline: April 30, 2024.
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, 2024. (For books published between May 1, 2023, and May 31, 2024)
Erbacce-prize for Poetry (UK) Genre: Poetry collection. Prize: Winner will be given a publishing contract with erbacce press who will publish a perfect-bound collection of the winner's book. "We will pay all costs including the legal registering of the book and supplying copies to the major libraries. The book will be sold through our sales/shop pages and the poet will be paid 20% royalties." Deadline: April 30, 2024.
Jessamy Stursberg Poetry Contest for Canadian Youth. Restrictions: Open to Canadian citizens or residents attending junior high or high school. Genre: Poetry. Prize: C$400 in each of two age categories: Junior (grades 7-9) and Senior (grades 10-12). Deadline: April 30, 2024.
Author of Tomorrow. Restrictions: Open to children and youth up to age 21. Genre: Adventure writing. Prize: 11 and Under | 500 words | Prize: £100 plus £150 book tokens for your school; 12-15 years | 1,500 - 5,000 words | Prize: £100 plus £150 book tokens for your school; 16-21 years | 1,500 - 5,000 words. Prize: £1,000. Deadline: April 30, 2024.
E-waste Scholarship. Restrictions: You must be a high school freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior or a current or entering college or graduate school student of any level. Home schooled students are also eligible. There is no age limit. You must also be a U.S. citizen or legal resident. Genre: 500- to 1,000-word essay about e-waste. Prize: $1000 scholarship. Deadline: April 30, 2024.
Miami Book Fair’s Emerging Writer Fellowship. Genre: Fiction, nonfiction, poetry. "EWF supports developing writers who demonstrate exceptional talent and promise by providing them with time, space, and an intellectually and culturally rich artistic community. The program’s goal is to actively support these writers – who are working to complete a book-length project within a year – and help them launch their literary careers. Emerging Writer fellows are granted professional experience in arts administration, teaching creative writing, and other opportunities; a $50,000 stipend; and strong literary community support to allow for 12 glorious months of uninterrupted time to craft their works." Deadline: April 30, 2024.
Preservation Foundation Essay Contest for Unpublished Writers. Restrictions: The contest is open to writers whose creative writing has never produced revenues of over $250 in any single year. Genre: Animal Nonfiction. “Stories should be factual and true accounts of an encounter or encounters by the author with a wild animal or animals. These include, but are not limited to, birds, fish, butterflies, snails, lions, bears, turtles, wombats, etc., as long as it is not a pet.” Prize: First prize is $200. Runners-up will receive $100. Deadline: April 30, 2024.
Claudia Ann Seaman Awards For Young Writers. Restrictions: High school students. Genre: Stories and poems. Prize: $200. Deadline: April 30, 2024.
CNO Naval History Essay Contest. Genre: Scholarly essay on naval history. Prize: First Prize: $5,000. Second Prize:$2,500. Third Prize: $1,500. Deadline: April 30, 2024.
The Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction. Genre: A book-length work of imaginative fiction written by a single author published in the U.S. in English or in translation to English. (In the case of a translated work winning the Prize, the cash prize will be equally divided between author and translator) Publication date between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024. Prize: $25,000. Deadline: April 30, 2024.
Rattle's Ekphrastic Challenge. Genre: Poetry responding to visual art. (See site) Prize: $100 and publication. Deadline: April 30, 2024.
Furphy Literary Award. Genre: Short stories up to 5000 words, Theme: Australian Life in all its diversity. Prize: First prize of $15,000 in the open category (2nd prize - $ 3,000, 3rd prize - $2,000. A junior & youth category with a prize pool of $1800 will seek entries for short stories and poetry. Deadline: April 30, 2024.
Ralph Angel Poetry Prize. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $250 and publication. Deadline: April 30, 2024.
Substack runs a monthly short story competition. Their mission is to "revive the art of the short story, support artists, and produce something wonderful." Genre: Short story. Length: 6000- 10,000 words. Prize: $100 plus 50% of subscription revenue to be sent by Paypal, Zelle, or check. Deadline: April 30, 2024. Reprints are ok so long as you still have the rights to distribute.
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