Competitions and Prizes : Words - Writing

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Below is a list of organisations which offer competitions or prizes in writing.  Click on the title for more details. 

See also:- Awards and Bursaries: Words - Writing

PLEASE NOTE: while every effort has been made to ensure an accurate listing, neither culture.Info or EUCLID accepts responsibility for any errors - please double-check deadlines via the website accessible through the hyperlink provided.

Ireland

Bill Naughton Short Story Competitio n
Deadline: September
Prize: £200 -65
More info: Maximum length of story is 2500 words.

Fish Publishing Prizes
Deadline: various
Prize: various
More info: Includes the One Page Story Prize; Historical Short-Fiction Prize; Fish International Short Story Prize; and the Fish Unpublished Novel Award. 

Sean O'Faolain Short Story Competition (Ireland)
Deadline: July
Prize: 1500
More info: Open to original unpublished short stories in the English language of 3000 words or less 

UK

JR Ackerley Prize for Autobiography
Deadline: see website
Prize: £1000 + pen
More info: Annual award is made to an outstanding autobiography written in English by an author of British nationality.

Ayr Writers Club Competition
Deadline: May
Prize: £250 - 50
More info: Maximum length 2000 words

David Berry Prize
Deadline: October
Prize: £250
More info: Annual award for an essay of not more than 10,000 words on Scottish history.

Birmingham Short Story Competition
Deadline: March
Prize: £500 - 200
More info: Open to all writers - scripts should be at least 1500 words and not exceed 3000.

Biscuit Publishing Short Fiction Competition
Deadline: May
Prize: £1000 - 100
More info: Maximum of 3000 words.

James Tait Black Memorial Prize
Deadline: September
Prize: £3000
More info: Two prizes go to the same author.

Booktrust Teenage Prize
Deadline: November
Prize: £1500
More info: Prize open to works of fiction for young adults.

Bridport Prize
Deadline: June
Prize: £3000 - 500
More info: For stories of no more than 5000 words.

British Academy Book Prize
Deadline: see website
Prize: £2500
More info: Celebrates accessible scholarly writing

British Czech and Slovak Association Prize
Deadline: June
Prize: £300
More info: Annual prize for the best piece of original writing in English on the links between Britain and the Czech/Slovak republics.

Caine Prize for Afrcan Writing
Deadline: January
Prize: $15000
More info: Awarded for a short story by an African writer published in English, whether in Africa or elsewhere.

Sid Chaplin Short Story Competition
Deadline: see website
Prize: £300 - 75
More info: Annual short story competition.

Children's Writers' and Artists' Story Competition
Deadline: March
Prize: £1000 - 500
More info: For children's stories of no more than 2000 words.

David Cohen Prize for Literature
Deadline: see website
Prize: £52 000
More info: To encourage reading or writing among young people.

Commonwealth Short Story Competition
Deadline: May
Prize: see website.
More info: To promote teh Commowealth through high quality short stories.

Commonwealth Writer's Prize
Deadline: November
Prize: £10 000.
More info: To encourage and reward the upsurge of new Commonwealth fiction and ensure that works of merit reach a wider audience outside their country of origin.

Rose Mary Crawshay Prize
Deadline: July
Prize: £500
More info: Prizes given to a woman who has written an historical or critical work of sufficient value on any subject connected with English Literature.

Dark Tales Short Story Competition
Deadline: May
Prize: £100 - 20
More info: Entries must be no longer than 2500 words.

The Rhys Davies Short Story Competition
Deadline: April
Prize: £1000 plus 10 x prizes of £100.
More info: Each sumission must be no more than 3000 words in length

Diagram Group Prize
Deadline: October
Prize: Bottle of champagne
More info: Awarded to the oddest title of the year.

Daphne Du Marier Festival Short Story Competition
Deadline: May
Prize: £2 000 - 300
More info: Stories should be no more than 3000 words.

Dundee Book Prize
Deadline: March
Prize: £6000
More info: Entry must be a novel and an original work of fiction.

Frome Festival Short Story Competition
Deadline: May
Prize: £300 - 50
More info: see website

The Tom-Gallon Trust Award and the Olive Cook Prize
Deadline: October
Prize: £1000
More info: One short story of up to 5000 words can be entered.

Glastone History Book Prize
Deadline: December
Prize: £ 1 000
More info: Made to an original work on any historical subject which is not primarily related to British history.

Sir Israel Gollancz Prize
Deadline: see website
Prize: see website
More info: Biannual prize.

Philip Good Memorial Prize
Deadline: Sugust
Prize: £300 - 75
More info: Prize for short stories of less than 5000 words in any style or genre except childrens.

Doris Gooderson Short Story Competition
Deadline: May
Prize: £80 - 20
More info: Entries must not exceed 1200 words, be in the form of a short story and be written in English.

BBC Four Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction
Deadline: May
Prize: £ 30 000
More info: Aims to reward the best non-fiction.

International Sonnet Competition
Deadline: October
Prize: £1400
More info: see website

Kelpies Prize
Deadline: February
Prize: £2 000
More info: Encourages and rewards new contemporary Scottish writing for children.

Lady Short Story Competition
Deadline: see website
Prize: £1000
More info: see website

LIBBON Premier Competition
Deadline: April
Prize: £100 - 25
More info: Entries must be no longer than 2500 words and must be original.

Lichfield Prize
Deadline: April
Prize: £5000
More info: Biennial award made to the best new novel set in the Lichfield district.

John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
Deadline: see website
Prize: £3000
More info: Entries can be any works of literature written by a British or Commonwealth writer under the age of 35 at the time of publication.

Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography
Deadline: unsolicited submissions not accepted
Prize: £3000
More info: Awarded annually for a historical biography published in the year preceding the prize.

Man Booker Prize for Fiction
Deadline: April/July
Prize: £50 000
More info: Prestigious award aiming to reward the best novel of the year.

McKitterick Prize
Deadline: December
Prize: £4 000
More info: Awarded for the best novel by an author under the age of 40.

NAWG Creative Writing Competition
Deadline: April
Prize: various
More info: Offers various prizes.

Nestle Smarties Book Prize
Deadline: July
Prize: £2500 - 500
More info: Seeks to find the nation's best children's books to inspire and develop literacy skills for children under eleven.

The New Writer
Deadline: October
Prize: £300 - 50
More info: see website

Orange Prize for Fiction
Deadline: March
Prize: £30 000
More info: Celebrates excellence, innovation and accessiblity in women's writing.

Park Publications Competitions
Deadline: see website
Prize: see website
More info: Publishers of the magazines, "Scribble" and "Countryside Tales", holding quarterly competitions for original, unpublished short stories and poems, some open, some limited to specific themes.

Pencil Short Story Competition
Deadline: October
Prize: 300 - 50
More info: Stories may be based on any subject but may not exceed 2500 words. 

Ben Pilmott Prize for Political Writing
Deadline: March
Prize: £3000
More info: Prize is for a biographical sketch of any figure, past or present, which best illustrates the political challenges of our age.

Portico Prize
Deadline: submission by publisher only
Prize: £3000
More info: Biennial award given to a book of general interest and literary merit set primarily in the north-west of England.

VS Pritchett Memorial Prize
Deadline: April
Prize: £1000
More info: Awarded to an unpublished short story of between 2000 and 5000 words.

Pulitzer Prize
Deadline: see website
Prize: 21 categories
More info: Awarded for journalism in US newspapers and for published literature, drama, and music by American nationals.

Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize
Deadline: October
Prize: £10 000
More info: Chooses outstanding winners, often early in their careers.

Sagittarius Prize
Deadline: December
Prize: £4000
More info: Awarded for the best published novel by an author over the age of 60.

The Scotsman and Orange Short Story Prize
Deadline: January
Prize: £7 500
More info: Awarded for a short story of up to 3000 words.

Theatre Book Prize
Deadline: February
Prize: £400
More info: Award made to books of original research into any aspect of the history and technique of the British theatre.

Dylan Thomas Prize
Deadline: March
Prize: £ 60 000
More info: Rewards writing in English by authors under 30 from anywhere in the world.

Hessell Tiltman Prize
Deadline: see website
Prize: £3000
More info: For books of a high literary merit.

Whitbread Prize
Deadline: December
Prize: £1000
More info: For an original work on any historical subject in a field of British history.

Riaymond Williams Community Publishing Prize
Deadline: see website
Prize: £5000
More info: Awarded annually for work of outstanding creative quality.

Wingate Jewish Quarterly Literary Prizes
Deadline: see website
Prize: £4 000
More info: Awrads for both fiction and non-fiction.

David T Wong Prize for Short Fiction
Deadline: September
Prize: £7500
More info: International biannual prize to promote literary excellence in the short story written in English.

Writers Bureau and Short Story Writing Competition
Deadline: July
Prize: £1000 - 50
More info: Work may be on any theme but should not have been previously published. Maximum 2000 words.

Writers Digest Competitions
Deadline: May
Prize: various
More info: Offers various competitions and prizes.

Writers' Forum Short Story Competition
Deadline: see website
Prize: £1000
More info: Preffered length is 1500 - 3000 words.

Writers of the Year Competition
Deadline: April
Prize: various
More info: welcomes prose and poetry in all styles, forms and subjects

Writers' Week Literary Competitions
Deadline: March
Prize: various
More info: Some competitions are restricted to Irish writers - see website for further details.

Yeovil Literary Prize
Deadline: March
Prize: £250- 50
More info: Offers various prizes.

USA

Harry Bowling Prize
Deadline: see website
Prize: $1000
More info: Stories should not exceed 4000 words and must be previously unpublished.

Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest
Deadline: April
Prize: see website
More info: San Jose State University sponsors this yearly challenge "to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels". No entry fee.

ByLine Magazine Contests
Deadline: various
Prize: various
More info: Writers magazine offers a large number of contests throughout the year, including poetry, fiction, non-fiction. Open to all. Modest cash prizes.

Kiriyama Prize (USA-based)
Deadline: see website
Prize: $30 000
More info: Promotes outstanding books that will contribute to the greater understanding of the peoples and nations of the Pacific Rim and South Asia. 

L Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest
Deadline: January, April, June, October
Prize: $1000
More info: Ongoing competition designed to discover new and amateur writers of science fiction and fantasy. 

Macmillan Writer's Prize for Africa
Deadline: June
Prize: various - see website
More info: Biennial competition devoted to previously unpublished works of fiction by African writers. 

Man Booker Prize
Deadline: see website
Prize: see website:
More info: Official site for the annual contemporary fiction award, to writers from the British Commonwealth and Ireland. Offers information about the prize, judges, and history.

Playwriting Contest
Deadline: see website
Prize: $1 000 royalty advance
More info: Annual contest seeks original, unproduced plays, open in theme, but suitable in both subject, and language, for family-oriented amateur groups. The winner receives a $1,000 royalty advance, and publication.

Southeastern Writers Association Contests
Deadline: see website
Prize: see website
More info: These contests and awards are restricted to writers attending the annual week-long Southeastern Writers Conference, held in June at St. Simons Island, Georgia.

Swackhamer Peace Essay Contest (International)
Deadline: June
Prize: $3000 - 1000
More info: Open to high school students throughout the world. 

Word Smitten Annual Literary Fiction Contest
Deadline: July
Prize: £1 010
More info: Offers a prize of $1,010 for the best on-line submission of literary (no genre) fiction totaling exactly 1,010 words.