MARCH 2023

Bridgend Writers’ Circle Open Short Story Comp

Stories between 1,500 and 1,800 words on any theme Prizes: £100, £50, £30 Entry fee: £5, £7.50 for two Closing date: 1 March, TBC www.bridgendwriters.org

Katherine Paterson Prize for YA and Children’s Writing

Writing for children, up to 10,000 words Prizes: $1,000, $100, publication Entry fee: $20 Closing date: 1 March https://hungermtn.org

May Day Mountain Chapbook Series

30-50 pages of fiction, short stories, poetics, nonfiction, hybrid, short scripts, (auto-) biography, journalism, scholarship or critique Prizes: $100 and fifty handmade copies of your manuscript Entry fee: $10 Closing date: 1 March https://hungermtn.org

Moon City Short Fiction Award

Collections of short fiction, 30,000-65,000 words Prizes: $1,000 and publication Entry fee: $25 Closing date: 1 March, TBC http://moon-city-press.com/fiction-contest/

Poetry Business Book & Pamphlet

For short poetry collections (20-24 pages), no restrictions on theme, form or style Prizes: Prizes include publication by Smith/Doorstep Books, a share of £2,000 cash, publication in The North magazine and launch readings hosted by the Poetry Business Entry fee: £28, £25 for subscribers Closing date: TBC, was 1 March in 2022 www.poetrybusiness.co.uk

Poetry Business New Poets Prize

Pamphlets by young poets between 16 and 22 Prizes: Publication by Smith/ Doorstep for overall winner, publication in The North magazine and mentoring for four shortlisted poets Entry fee: £8 Closing date: TBC, was 1 March in 2022 www.poetrybusiness.co.uk

Rialto Nature and Place Poetry Competition

Nature poems up to 40 lines Prizes: £1,000, £500, £250 Entry fee: £7 for the first poem in a batch of six, £4 thereafter Closing date: 1 March, TBC www.therialto.co.uk

Searchlight Writing for Children Award

Illustrated picture book texts Prizes: £500, agent/publisher pitch book publication Entry fee: £9 Closing date: 1 March www.searchlightawards.co.uk/

Christopher Tower Poetry Competition

Poems by poets aged 16 to 18 on a theme TBA Prizes: £3,000,£1,000, £500, 4 x £250. Winners’ schools receive £150 and winners are eligible to attend a Tower Poetry Summer School worth £500. Free entry Closing date: 2 March, TBC www.chch.ox.ac.uk/researchand-academia/enter-towerpoetry-competition

Wicked Young Writers

Short stories up to 750 words, by writers aged 5-25 Prizes: Books and workshops Free entry Closing date: 2 March, TBC, still on hold after Covid www.wickedyoungwriterawards.com

Jane Martin Poetry Prize

Up to four poems by poets aged 18-30 Prizes: £700, £300 Free entry Closing date: 5 March, TBC www.girton.cam.ac.uk/news

Windsor Fringe Kenneth Branagh Award For New Drama Writing

Unpublished and unperformed one-act plays (30 minutes or less, no more than six actors) by amateur playwrights Prizes: Three scripts will be performed at the Windsor Fringe Festival, with £500 for an overall winner Entry fee: £10 Closing date: 5 March, TBC www.windsorfringe.co.uk

Neil Gunn Writing Competition

Short stories up to 2,500 words and poetry up to 40 lines, interpreting a quote from Scottish writer Neil Gunn Prizes: £500, £300 and £200 in each category Entry fee: £8 Closing date: 4 March www.neilgunntrust.org

Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize and Author of Tomorrow Prize for a short story by a writer aged 21-21

Published and unpublished (at least 50,000 word) adventure novels Prizes: £15,000 in the published category, £15,000 advance and publication in the unpublished category; £1,000, 2x£100 in the junior category Free entry Closing date: 7 March, TBC www.wilbur-nisosmithfoundation.org

Forward Prizes for Poetry

Best Collection, Best First Collection, Best Single Poem, books must be submitted by publishers and single poems by magazine editors and competition administrators Prizes: Best collection £10,000, best first collection £5,000, best single poem £1,000 Free entry Closing date: 8 March, TBC www.forwardartsfoundation.org

Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story

Short stories, up to 750 words, to be recorded by Selected Shorts

for Public Radio Prizes: $1,000 and a 10-week Gotham Writers course Entry fee: $25 Closing date: 10 March www.symphonyspace.org/ selected-shorts/the-stellakupferberg-memorial-shortstory-prize

Evesham Festival of Words Short Story Competition

Competition for short stories on any theme up to 2,500 words Prizes: £150, £50 and £30 Entry fee: £5 Closing date: TBC, March http://eveshamfestivalofwords.org

Alice Munro Festival Short Story Competition

Fiction, up to 2,500 words, by Canadian citizens or residents Prizes: $1,500 adult, $500 youth; two $250 runners-up in each Entry fee: $25 ($10 youth) Closing date: 15 March, TBC http://alicemunrofestival.ca/?page_id=1317

BBC National Short Story Award

Short stories, up to 8,000 words Prizes: £15,000,4x £600 Entry fee: Free entry Closing date: 15 March, TBC www.bbc.co.uk/nssa

Ellen S. Jaffe Humanist Award for Poetry

Poem suites, 12-15 pages, up to 60 lines each, on humanist issues, by US/Canadian poets Prizes: Can$500, 5x$100 Entry fee: $20, $10 each extra Closing date: 15 March www.theontariopoetrysociety.ca

Cloudbank 17 Competition

Flash fiction up to 500 words, and poems Prizes: $200 Entry fee: $15 for up to five pieces Closing date: 15 March, TBC http://cloudbankbooks.com

Eludia Prize

Unpublished first novels by women over 40 Prizes: $1,000 and publication Entry fee: $20 Closing date: 15 March, TBC https://hiddenriverarts. wordpress.com/awardsdeadlines-and-guidelines/eludiaguidelines/

Fourth Genre Steinberg Essay Prize

Creative non-fiction, up to 6,000 words Prizes: $1,000 Entry fee: $20 Closing date: 15 March https://fourthgenre.byu.edu/steinberg/

James Jones First Novel Fellowship

A novel in progress by an unpublished US writer Prizes: $10,000; $1,000 Entry fee: $30 Closing date: 15 March www.wilkes.edu/academics/ graduate-programs/mastersprograms/creative-writing-mamfa/james-jones-fellowshipcontest.aspx

Kraken Book Prize for Middle-Grade Fiction

Middle-grade books, 120-350 pages Prizes: $750 and publication

Entry fee: $25 Closing date: 15 March https://regalhousepublishing.com

Room Fiction Contest

Short stories, up to 3,500 words Prizes: Can$1,000, $250, $50 and publication Entry fee: international entries $42 Closing date: 15 March https://roommagazine.com/contests

South Carolina Novel Prize

Unpublished novels by writers from South Carolina Prizes: $1,000 and publication Entry fee: $35 Closing date: 15 March, TBC https://hubcity.org/press/newsouthern-voices-poetry-prize

Word Works Washington Prize

Poetry collections, 48-80 pages, by US or Canadian poets Prizes: $1,500 and publication Entry fee: $25 Closing date: 15 March www.wordworksbooks.org/submissions/washington-prize/

Fowey Festival Short Story Competition

Short stories up to 1,500 words on a given theme Prizes: £100, £75 Entry fee: £5 Closing date: 16 March, TBC, March www.foweyfestival.com

KSP Writers Centre Spooky stories Competition

Spooky short stories, up to 2,500 words, by Western Australian residents or citizens

Prizes: Aus$300, $150; $100, $50 for youths Entry fee: $10 Closing date: 24 March www.kspwriterscentre.com

Donald Hall Prize for Poetry

Unpublished book-length poetry collections, minimum 48 pages Prizes: $5,500 plus publication Entry fee: $30 Closing date: 28 March, TBC www.awpwriter.org/contests/awp_award_series_overview

Edna Staebler Personal Essay Contest

One personal essay, no limit but usually around 2,000-5,000 words, by a Canadian writer Prizes: $1,000 and publication Entry fee: $40 Closing date: 28 March https://tnq.ca/contests/

Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award

Short stories, 1,500-10,000 words, with supernatural themes, broadly defined Prizes: $1,000, 2x$250 Entry fee: $20 Closing date: 30 March, TBC www.theghoststory.com

Axe to Grind Flash Fiction Competition

Short stories, 1,000 words max, any topic Prizes: $200 prize (minimum; it goes up with entries, $870 total prize money last year) Entry fee: $5 Closing date: 31 March, TBC https://darlingaxe.com/pages/axe-to-grind

Antivenom Poetry Award

A first or second poetry collection manuscript Prizes: $1,000 and publication Entry fee: $30 Closing date: 31 March http://elixirpress.com/guidelines/antivenom-poetryaward

Black Lawrence Press Hudson Prize

An unpublished collection of poems or short stories Prizes: $1,000 and publication Entry fee: $25 Closing date: 31 March www.blacklawrence.com/ submissions-and-contests/thehudson-prize/

Blue Mountain Novel Award

An unpublished novel Prizes: $1,000 and publication Entry fee: $20 Closing date: 31 March, TBC https://hiddenriverarts.wordpress.com/

Caterpillar International Poetry Prize

Poems for children aged 7-11 Prizes: €1,000 plus publication in The Caterpillar Entry fee: €15 Closing date: 31 March www.thecaterpillarmagazine.com

Charles Brasch Young Writers Essay Competition

Essays, up to 1,500, by New Zealand citizens aged 16-21 Prizes: $500 Free entry Closing date: 31 March www.otago.ac.nz/press/landfall/awards/otago625789.html

Cinnamon Press Poetry Pamphlet Prize

Short poetry collections of 15-25 poems up to 50 lines each Prizes: Publishing contract and 30 copies of the pamphlet for each of two poets Entry fee: £12 Closing date: 31 March, TBC www.cinnamonpress.com

Cleveland State University Poetry Center

Full-length poetry collections, over 48 pages, by poets who have had no, or one, collection published; essay collections, 100-300 pages

Prizes: 3x$1,000 and publication Entry fee: $28 Closing date: 31 March, TBC www.csupoetrycenter.com

Darling Axe Clash of the query letters

A one-page query letter as would be sent to pitch a fiction manuscript Prizes: Can$700, $200, $100 Entry fee: $5 Closing date: 31 March, TBC https://darlingaxe.com/pages/contest

For poems, up to 60 lines Prizes: First €1,000, 2nd a week in residence at Anam Cara Writers Retreat, third €200 Entry fee: €14 Closing date: 31 March www.fishpublishing.com

Four Way Books Levis Prize in Poetry

Poetry collections, 48-100 pages Prizes: $1,000 and publication Entry fee: $30 1C0:2lo0sing date: 31 March https://fourwaybooks.com/site/guidelines/

Gemini Magazine Short Story Contest

Short stories of any length Prizes: $1,000, $100, 4x$25, and publication Entry fee: $7 Closing date: 31 March, TBC www.gemini-magazine.com

Indiana Review Fiction Prize

Short stories, up to 6,000 words Prizes: $1,000 and publication Entry fee: $20

Closing date: 31 March https://indianareview.org/prizes

Indiana Review Poetry Prize

Up to 3 poems Prizes: $1,000 and publication Entry fee: $20 Closing date: 31 March https://indianareview.org/prizes

International Rubery Book Award

Independently published or selfpublished books Prizes: £2,000, £150 category winners Entry fee: £44 Closing date: 31 March www.ruberybookaward.com

Plough Prize

Open category, poems up to 40 lines Prizes: £1,000, £500, £250 Entry fee: £5 Closing date: 31 March, TBC, 31 March in 2023 www.theploughprize.co.uk

Red Hen Press Non-Fiction Award

A non-fiction manuscript, over 150 pages Prizes: $1,000 and publication Entry fee: $25 Closing date: 31 March https://redhen.org/

Red Shed Open Poetry Competition

For poems up to 50 lines Prizes: £100, £50, £25 Wakefield postcode prize Entry fee: £3, £2 each subsequent Closing date: 31 March, TBC www.currockpress.com