A curated, filterable list of writing contests, grants, and prizes with live deadlines. Filter by genre, region, whether the prize is cash, and the year the contest closes. Each entry links directly to the organiser's page.
| Contest / grant | Type | Genre | Fee | Prize | Deadline | Status | Eligibility |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Poetry Competition (The Poetry Society) | Contest | Poetry | £8 first poem, £6 after | £5,000 first prize | 31 Oct 2026 | 31 Oct 2026 | Open worldwide, 18+, unpublished poem, max 40 lines |
| Rattle Poetry Prize verify link | Contest | Poetry | $30 (incl. subscription) | $15,000 + ten $500 finalists | 15 Jul 2026 | 13 days left | Open worldwide, English, unpublished poems (up to 4) |
| Tom Howard / Margaret Reid Poetry Contest | Contest | Poetry | See website | $12,000 total | 1 Oct 2026 | 1 Oct 2026 | Open worldwide; published and unpublished work |
| Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest | Contest | Poetry | Free | $3,750 total | 1 Apr 2027 est. | 1 Apr 2027 | Open worldwide; published and unpublished work |
| The Moth Poetry Prize | Contest | Poetry | €16 per poem | €6,000 first; €11,000 total | 31 Dec 2026 est. | 31 Dec 2026 | Open worldwide, 16+, previously unpublished, no line limit |
| Gregory O'Donoghue International Poetry Prize | Contest | Poetry | €7 single / €30 for five | €2,000 + publication + festival reading | 30 Nov 2026 est. | 30 Nov 2026 | Open worldwide, poems up to 40 lines |
| Magma Poetry Competition | Contest | Poetry | £5 first poem, £4 after | £1,000 first, £300 second, £150 third | 31 Jan 2027 est. | 31 Jan 2027 | Open worldwide; previously unpublished poems |
| Ledbury Poetry Competition | Contest | Poetry | £6 per poem | £1,000 + Arvon course (1st), £500 (2nd), £250 (3rd) | 27 Jul 2026 | 25 days left | Open worldwide; up to 10 poems, max 40 lines each |
| Frontier Poetry — Frontier OPEN verify link | Contest | Poetry | See website | $5,000 + nine $100 finalists + publication | 12 Jul 2026 | 10 days left | Open internationally, all poets regardless of publication history |
| The Bridport Prize — Poetry verify link | Contest | Poetry | £13 per poem | £5,000 first, £1,000 second, £500 third | 31 May 2027 est. | 31 May 2027 | Any nationality writing in English, 16+, unpublished, max 42 lines |
| The Bridport Prize — Short Story verify link | Contest | Short Story, Fiction | £15 per story | £5,000 first, £1,000 second, £500 third | 31 May 2027 est. | 31 May 2027 | Any nationality writing in English, 16+, unpublished, max 5,000 words |
| The Bridport Prize — Flash Fiction verify link | Contest | Flash Fiction | £12 per flash | £1,000 first, £500 second, £250 third | 31 May 2027 est. | 31 May 2027 | Any nationality writing in English, 16+, unpublished, max 250 words |
| Bridport Peggy Chapman-Andrews First Novel Award verify link | Contest | Novel, Fiction | £26 per entry | £1,500 + mentoring / agent package | 31 May 2027 est. | 31 May 2027 | Unpublished novelists; 8,000-word opening + synopsis |
| Bristol Short Story Prize | Contest | Short Story, Fiction | £14 (free low-income entries) | £1,500 first, £500 second, £250 third | 31 Jan 2027 est. | 31 Jan 2027 | Open worldwide, 16+, published & unpublished, max 4,000 words |
| Commonwealth Short Story Prize | Contest | Short Story, Fiction | Free | £5,000 overall; £2,500 per regional winner | 1 Nov 2026 est. | 1 Nov 2026 | Citizen of a Commonwealth country, 18+, 2,000–5,000 words |
| Aesthetica Creative Writing Award | Contest | Poetry, Short Story, Fiction | £12 poem / £18 story | Two £2,500 prizes + anthology publication | 31 Aug 2026 | 31 Aug 2026 | Open worldwide; poetry ≤40 lines, fiction ≤2,000 words |
| Bath Flash Fiction Award | Contest | Flash Fiction | See website | £1,000 first, £300 second, £100 third | 4 Oct 2026 est. | 4 Oct 2026 | Open worldwide; up to 300 words |
| Bath Short Story Award | Contest | Short Story, Fiction | £9 per entry | £1,200 first, £300 second, £100 third | 26 Apr 2027 est. | 26 Apr 2027 | Open worldwide; max 2,200 words |
| Reedsy Prompts Weekly Short Story Contest | Contest | Short Story, Fiction | Free | $250 weekly | 3 Jul 2026 | 1 day left | Open worldwide; respond to weekly prompts |
| SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction | Contest | Flash Fiction | $15 per entry | $2,500 first, $1,000 second, $500 third | 10 May 2027 est. | 10 May 2027 | Open worldwide, 18+; flash fiction |
| Galley Beggar Press Short Story Prize | Contest | Short Story, Fiction | £11 per story (free hardship entries) | £2,500 winner; £200 shortlist | 8 Nov 2026 est. | 8 Nov 2026 | Open worldwide, English; max 6,000 words |
| National Flash Fiction Day Micro Competition | Contest | Flash Fiction | Free | Publication + small cash prizes | 15 Feb 2027 | 15 Feb 2027 | Open worldwide; micro fiction (typically ≤100 words) |
| L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest | Contest | Speculative, Short Story, Fiction | Free | $1,000/$750/$500 per quarter + $5,000 annual grand prize | 30 Sept 2026 | 30 Sept 2026 | Emerging writers; SF/fantasy/light horror ≤17,000 words; no AI |
| Mslexia Novel Competition | Contest | Novel, Fiction | See website | £5,000 + manuscript feedback + agent intros | 21 Sept 2026 | 21 Sept 2026 | Women, any nationality, unpublished novels ≥50,000 words |
| Bath Novel Award | Contest | Novel, Fiction | £33 per novel | £5,000 | 31 May 2027 est. | 31 May 2027 | Unagented emerging writers, adult/YA; 5,000-word opening + synopsis |
| Bath Children's Novel Award | Contest | Children, Novel, Fiction | £33 per novel | £5,000 | 30 Nov 2026 | 30 Nov 2026 | Emerging, unagented authors of children's / YA books |
| The Caledonia Novel Award verify link | Contest | Novel, Fiction | £28 per novel | £1,500 first + £500 second + writing course | 15 Oct 2026 | 15 Oct 2026 | Unpublished or self-published novelists; first 20 pages + synopsis |
| The Times / Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition | Contest | Children, Novel, Fiction | See website | Publishing contract + £10,000 royalty advance | 1 Jun 2027 est. | 1 Jun 2027 | Unpublished & unagented writers; novel for ages 7–18 |
| Fish Publishing Short Story Prize | Contest | Short Story, Fiction | €24 / €16 subsequent | €3,000 first + workshop; €300 second & third | 30 Nov 2026 est. | 30 Nov 2026 | Any nationality writing in English; max 5,000 words; unpublished |
| Fish Publishing Flash Fiction Prize | Contest | Flash Fiction | €16 / €11 subsequent | €1,000 first; course + €300 second; €300 third | 28 Feb 2027 est. | 28 Feb 2027 | Any nationality writing in English; max 300 words |
| Fish Publishing Short Memoir Prize | Contest | Memoir, Nonfiction | €22 / €15 subsequent | €1,000 first; course + €300 second & third | 31 Jan 2027 est. | 31 Jan 2027 | Any nationality writing in English; max 4,000 words; unpublished |
| Fish Publishing Poetry Prize | Contest | Poetry | €16 / €11 subsequent | €1,000 first; course + €300 second; €300 third | 31 Mar 2027 est. | 31 Mar 2027 | Any nationality writing in English; poems ≤60 lines |
| Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize | Contest | Essay, Nonfiction | Free | £4,000 + residency + publication | 16 Mar 2027 est. | 16 Mar 2027 | Unpublished writers in UK & Ireland, no book deal; essay proposal ≥25,000 words |
| The Nine Dots Prize | Contest | Essay, Nonfiction | Free | US$100,000 + book deal | 24 Jan 2027 est. | 24 Jan 2027 | Open worldwide; 3,000-word response to the set question |
| Wells Festival of Literature — Poetry Competition | Contest | Poetry | £8 per poem | Share of £5,000 across sections | 30 Jun 2027 est. | 30 Jun 2027 | Original, unpublished poems up to 40 lines |
| Wells Festival of Literature — Short Story Competition | Contest | Short Story, Fiction | £8 per entry | Share of £5,000 across sections | 30 Jun 2027 est. | 30 Jun 2027 | Original, unpublished short stories 1,000–2,000 words |
| Wells Festival of Literature — Book for Children Competition | Contest | Children, Novel, Fiction | £8 per entry | Share of £5,000 across sections | 30 Jun 2027 est. | 30 Jun 2027 | First three chapters + synopsis; book for ages 7–YA |
| Arts Council England — Developing Your Creative Practice (DYCP) verify link | Grant | Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction, Essay | Free to apply | £2,000–£12,000 for creative development | 2 Jul 2026 | Closes today | England-based individual creative practitioners; rolling rounds; limits on repeat applicants |
| NEA Creative Writing Fellowships (USA) verify link | Grant | Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction | Free to apply | $25,000 fellowship | 15 Mar 2027 est. | 15 Mar 2027 | US citizens / permanent residents; published creative writers meeting thresholds |
| Guggenheim Fellowship (US & Canada) | Grant | Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction | Free to apply | Grant amount varies; ~175 fellowships/year | 15 Sept 2026 est. | 15 Sept 2026 | US/Canada citizens or permanent residents; mid-career practitioners |
| Arts Council of Ireland — Literature Bursary Award | Grant | Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Children | Free to apply | €7,500 / €10,000 / €15,000 / €20,000 | 11 Feb 2027 est. | 11 Feb 2027 | Professional literary writers based in Ireland |
| Irish Writers Centre — National Mentoring Programme (Words Ireland) | Grant | Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Children | Free | Mentoring with an established Irish writer (min 35 places) | 15 Jan 2027 est. | 15 Jan 2027 | Emerging writers 18+ resident on the island of Ireland |
| PEN America — Emerging Voices Fellowship | Grant | Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry | Free to apply | $1,500 each (nine fellows) + mentorship | 31 Jan 2027 est. | 31 Jan 2027 | Early-career US writers from underrepresented communities; no book published/under contract |
| Speculative Literature Foundation — Grants | Grant | Speculative, Fiction | Free to apply | $500–$1,000 depending on grant | 31 May 2027 est. | 31 May 2027 | International speculative-fiction writers; multiple grants year-round |
| Amazon Literary Partnership Grants | Grant | Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry | Free to apply | $5,000–$20,000 per organization | 1 May 2027 est. | 1 May 2027 | US-registered nonprofit literary organizations only — not individual writers |
No contests match these filters. Try widening the genre or region.
Deadlines are hand-curated from official sources and verified by automated link checks. Entries verified on 2026-07-02. Recurring contests show the next known cut-off; projected dates (est.) are estimated from each contest's prior annual cycle. Always confirm dates, fees, and rules on the organiser's own page before entering.