Writing Competitions To Inspire You

We share a selection of writing competitions to inspire you. Contests offer great opportunities for both beginner and experienced writers.

Writing competitions are a great way to keep you on your writing toes. Contests offer great opportunities for both beginner writers and experienced scribes.

The nice thing about them is that publication and prizes go to good fiction – not to famous names. Contests are a good way to break through into a world of writing possibilities.

You may even want to enter some of your stories from the Twelve Short Stories challenge.

Here is a list of competitions, anything from a 16-word memoir to a 5 000 word short story. (Read: What Exactly Is A Short Story And How Do I Know If I Am Writing One?)

Consider the competitions carefully and choose ones that will suit or challenge you as a writer.

Writing Competitions To Inspire You

1. American Short(er) Fiction Contest
2. Bath Short Story Award
3. Commonwealth Short Story Prize
4. Andromeda Magazine Short Stories
5. Curt Johnson Prose Award
6. Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize
7. Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction
8. Gotham Writers Contest
9. John Steinbeck Short Story Award
10. Keats-Shelley Prize
11. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest
12. Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition
13. Manchester Fiction Prize
14. Montreal International Poetry Prize
15. Mslexia Women’s Short Fiction Competition
16. Ploughshares Emerging Writer’s Contest
17. Raymond Carver Short Story Contest
18. Reader’s Digest 100-Word-Story Competition
19. Next Generation Short Story Awards
20. The Letter Review Prize
21. Short Sharp Stories
22. Spotlight First Novel Competition
23. The Caine Prize for African Writing
24. The Claret Press Short Story Contest
25. Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest
26. Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Competition
27. Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook Short Story Competition
28. Zoetrope All-Story’s Annual Fiction Contest
29. The Forbidden Ink Story Competition
30. The Bristol Short Story Prize

The Last Word

• Looking for workbooks on the craft? Buy The Short Story Checklist and How To Show And Not Tell In Short Stories.
• Want to learn how to write a short story? Sign up for our online course.
• If you’re still looking for more competitions, visit Dystopian Stories.