UPCOMING SHORT STORY CONTESTS 

is open to previously unpublished works of fiction up to 5000 words. The winner will receive €3000 and prizes for second and third place are also offered. Entries close on 30 June.

is a short fiction contest open to writers worldwide. Entries must be between 1000 and 2000 words, with the winner to receive £1000 (US$1350). There are also two runners-up prizes and all winning and placed stories will be published in an anthology. Entries close on 1 July.

is an annual short story competition open to writers from around the world. First prize is €2000 (US$2100), publication in the literary journal Southword, and a week-long residency at Anam Cara Writer’s and Artist’s Retreat. Entries close on 31 July.

is accepting applications from US-based writers for three Emerging Writer Awards (for poetry, a novel-in-progress, and a short story). Prize packages include full registration and tuition support to attend its January Seminar and Writers’ Workshop Program, round-trip airfare to Key West, Florida, lodging, a $500 honorarium, and the opportunity to appear on stage during the Seminar. The deadline is Monday 30 July.

offers a first prize of US$1000 and publication. Writers can submit up to three pieces of writing up to 500 words each and there are no genre or form restrictions. Entries open are expected to open on 1 July and close on 15 August.

is a new prize launched by Aftermath, a magazine focused on climate change and environmental disaster. First prize is $1000 and there is no entry fee. Entries close on 31 August.

is a major international literary competition open to anyone aged 16 or over. The winner receives a cash prize of £10,000 (US$13,500). Stories can be up to 2500 words in length. Entries open in February and will close in September.

is the world’s richest short story competition, with the winner receiving £30,000 (US$40,000). The 2017 prize was won by Bret Anthony Johnston for his story ‘Half of What Atlee Rouse Knows About Horses’. The six stories shortlisted for the most recent prize are available here. Entries are expected to open at the end of June and close in late September.

has the aim of seeking out and encouraging talented writers, with the winning and runners-up’s work being forwarded to leading literary agents. A first prize of US$1000 is also offered. Stories can be up to 5000 words. Entries open on 1 July and close on 1 October.

celebrates writing that captures the strange, surreal, absurd, and magical. Open to stories up to 5000 words, entry is free and the first prize winner will win US$500 and publication in the winter issue of Yalobusha Review. Entries expected to close on 31 October.

is one of three prizes offered by Reed Magazine. This award is for a work of fiction up to 5000 words. The winner receives a cash prize of US$1000 and all entries are considered for publication. Entries open on 1 June and close 1 November.

is open to citizens of the 53 Commonwealth countries, the prize covers the five Commonwealth regions: Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, Caribbean and Pacific. One winner will be selected from each region, with one regional winner to be selected as the overall winner. The overall winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize will receive £5000 (US$6700) and the remaining four regional winners receive £2500. Entries close in November.

is open to short stories up to 4000 words. First prize is £1000 (US$1250) and the contest organisers will be planting a tree in Kenya for each entry received (when the contest closes they will email the GPS coordinates of your tree to you). Entries close in late December.

is open to unpublished pieces up to 7500 words in length including novel excerpts if the submission stands alone as a complete short story. The winner receives US$1000 and all submissions will be considered for publication. Submissions close 31 December

is open writers who have not yet published a book of fiction, poetry or creative non-fiction with a nationally distributed press. Stories may be up to 8000 words and must be previously unpublished. The winner will receive US$1500 and have his or her story published in the magazine. Entries close on 31 December.

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