WRITING COMPETITIONS AND SUBMISSION OPPORTUNITIES
For writey writing writers
**IMPORTANT NOTICE**
Writers’ HQ will now only be accepting listings from organisations offering accessible submission opportunities for low-income writers. If you run a literary journal or writing competition and would like to be listed on this page, please read our rules on accessible submission fees here.
January 2021
Every Day Fiction
Deadline: 27th January 2021
Word Limit: 1,000 words
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking seasonal flash fiction for February edition
More details and submissions info HERE
Another Chicago Magazine
Deadline: 31st January 2021
Word Limit: 3-5 poems
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking poetry
More details and submissions info HERE
Cheshire Prize for Literature
Deadline: 31st January 2021
Word Limit: 1,500 words / 100 lines / 15 minutes
Prizes: £500 for each category winner
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Open to writers who were born, live or have lived, study or have studied, work or have worked, in Cheshire
More details and submissions info HERE
Dragon Soul Press
Deadline: 31st January 2021
Word Limit: 15,000 words
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: Valliance, submissions must have an East Asian female warrior as the main character
More details and submissions info HERE
Inkett New Year, New Genre Writing Contest
Deadline: 31st January 2021
Word Count: 20,000 words (minimum)
Prize: $500
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Winners selected based on reader engagement – see website for details
More details and submissions info HERE
Masque and Spectacle Journal
Deadline: 31st January 2021
Word Limit: 8,000 words
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: civil rights
More details and submissions info HERE
Silver Stork Magazine
Deadline: 31st January 2021
Word Limit: 3,000 words / 4 poems
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: March
More details and submissions info HERE
February 2021
Crucible First Novel Award
Deadline: 1st February 2021
Word Limit: First 5,000 words of a completed novel
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking crime, thriller and mystery novels
More details and submissions info HERE
Cúirt New Writing Prize
Deadline: 1st February 2021
Word Limit: 3 poems / 2,000 words
Prize: €500
Submission Fee: €10 / 35 x subsidised entries
More details and submissions info HERE
The Full Harvest
Deadline: 1st February 2021
Requirements: Pitch
Payment: £500 per story plus £150 day rate
Submission Fee: Seeking to commission writers from South-East England on the subject of South Downs National Park
More details and submissions info HERE
The London Reader
Deadline: 1st February 2021
Word Limit: 5,000 words
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: Counterculture
More details and submissions info HERE
Raising Mothers
Deadline: 1st February 2021
Word Limit: 4,000 words
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking poetry, short fiction, essays and hybrid work from BIPOC on the theme “Every mother is a futurist”
More details and submissions info HERE
Room 204 Writer Development Programme
Deadline: 1st February 2021
Requirements: Portfolio – see website for details
Application Fee: FREE
Notes: Open to writers based in the West Midlands
More details and submissions info HERE
Society of Authors: Grants for a Work-in-Progress
Deadline: 1st February 2021
Requirements: See website for details
Grant: Varies
Application Fee: FREE
Notes: Open to previously published British authors under the age of 40
More details and submissions info HERE
Spread the Word Life Writing Prize
Deadline: 1st February 2021
Word Count: 5,000 words (can be stand alone or part of a longer piece)
Prize: £1,500, Arvon course and mentoring
Application Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
Volney Road Review
Deadline: 1st February 2021
Word Limit: 3-5 poems / 3,500 words of prose
Payment: $10
Submission Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
Creative Scotland: Our Voices
Deadline: 12th February 2021
Requirements: Initial application form
Prize: Feedback plus mentoring
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking submissions from writers who are disabled, LGBTQ+, care-experienced, BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic), and/or from a low-income household
More details and submissions info HERE
Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize
Deadline: 12th February 2021 (noon)
Requirements: First 40-50 pages of a novel, plus synopsis of the remainder
Prize: £1,500
Submission Fee: £12 / 14 x FREE sponsored entries available
Notes: Open to previously unpublished women only, who are residents of the UK or ROI
More details and submissions info HERE
Writers and Artists Short Story Competition
Deadline: 12th February 2021
Word Limit: 2,000 words
Prize: Arvon course
Submission Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
Penguin Michael Joseph Christmas Love Story Competition
Deadline: 14th February 2021
Requirements: 200-word pitch plus 1,000 words of a completed or in-progress manuscript
Prize: Publishing contract
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking novel-length love stories from UK and ROI residents
More details and submissions info HERE
Ambroggio Prize
Deadline: 15th February 2021
Word Limit: 48-100 pages
Prize: $1,000 plus publication
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking book-length poetry manuscripts by US residents, originally written in Spanish and with an English translation
More details and submissions info HERE
Ballard Spahr Prize for Poetry
Deadline: 15th February 2021
Word Limit: 48 pages (minimum)
Prize: $10,000 plus publication
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking book-length poetry manuscripts by residents of Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, or Michigan
More details and submissions info HERE
CAAPP Book Prize
Deadline: 15th February 2021
Word Limit: 48-168 pages
Prize: $3,000 plus publication
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking first or second books from writers of African descent
More details and submissions info HERE
National Flash Fiction Day Microfiction Competition
Deadline: 15th February 2021
Word Limit: 100 words
Prizes: 1st: £150 / 2nd: £100 / 3rd: £50
Submission Fee: £2
More details and submissions info HERE
Persimmon Tree
Deadline: 15th February 2021
Word Limit: 500 words
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking submissions from women aged 60 or over
More details and submissions info HERE
Salt Hill Journal
Deadline: 15th February 2021
Word Limit: 5 poems / 30 pages of prose
Submission Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
Northern Writers Awards
Deadline: 18th February 2021
Word Limit: See website for details
Prize: See website for details
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Various awards available for different genres, open to writers from the north of England only
More details and submissions info HERE
Puchi Award
Deadline: 18th February 2021
Requirements: Book proposal
Prize: €8,000 plus publication
Submission Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
Free Flash Fiction Competition
Deadline: 23rd February 2021
Word Limit: 300 words
Prize: £75
Submission Fee: £1
More details and submissions info HERE
It Gets Even Better: Stories of Queer Possibility
Deadline: 27th February 2021
Word Limit: 15,000 words
Payment: $0.08 per word plus 50% royalties
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking speculative fiction on the theme of queer possibility
More details and submissions info HERE
Blinkpot Flash Fiction Award
Deadline: 28th February 2021
Word Limit: 100 words
Prize: £200
Submission Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
Bridge House Annual Anthology
Deadline: 28th February 2021
Word Limit: 5,000 words
Payment: 50% royalties split between anthology authors
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: Resolutions
More details and submissions info HERE
Humana Obscura
Deadline: 28th February 2021
Word Limit: 3-5 poems / 2,000 words of prose
Submission Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
Once Upon a Time Twice
Deadline: 28th February 2021
Word Limit: 3,000 words
Payment: $0.08 per word
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking mash-up re-tellings of two fairy tales, in any genre
More details and submissions info HERE
Reflex Fiction Flash Fiction Contest
Deadline: 28th February 2021
Word Limit: 180-360 words
Prizes: 1st: £1,200 / 2nd: £600 / 3rd: £300 / 4th: £150
Submission Fee: Choose your own
More details and submissions info HERE
Rolling deadlines
Asymptote Journal
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 5,000 words
Submission Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
Awakenings Review
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 5,000 words
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking work from writers who have had a personal experience with mental illness
More details and submissions info HERE
Blue Marble Review
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 3 poems / Prose: 1,500 words
Payment: $25 per piece
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking poetry, fiction, non-fiction, essays, opinion pieces, travel writing, photography and art
More details and submissions info HERE
Blue Moose Books
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: send the first three chapters of a novel, plus synopsis
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking novels from unpublished writers. No children’s, YA or poetry
More details and submissions info HERE
Book of Matches
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 2,100 words
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking poetry, fiction, nonfiction and translation
More details and submissions info HERE
Brevity Magazine
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 750 words
Payment: $45
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking extremely brief essays
More details and submissions info HERE
Carve Magazine
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: none
Payment: $50-$100
Submission Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
CHILLFILTR
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 3,000 words
Payment: $20/1,000 words (up to $60)
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Looking for poetry, memoirs, short stories and personal essays
More details and submissions info HERE
The Common Tongue Magazine
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 600 – 6,000 words
Payment: $0.03/word
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking submissions of dark fantasy
More details and submissions info HERE
Creative Nonfiction
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 4,000 words
Payment: $125 + $10 per printed page
Submission Fee: $3
Notes: Seeking all types of creative nonfiction
More details and submissions info HERE
Daily Science Fiction
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 1,500
Payment: $0.08 per word
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Especially seeking flash sci-fi
More details and submissions info HERE
The Decolonial Passage
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 3,000 words
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: See mission statement for guidelines on theme
More details and submissions info HERE
Driftwood Press
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: None
Payment: Novellas: $400 plus royalties / Short stories: $100 / Poetry: $15 / Poetry collections: $500 plus royalties / Visual arts, comics and graphic novels: varies
Submission Fee: Fiction: £3.99 / Poetry: $2.99 / Novella: $20 / Poetry collection: $20 / Visual arts, comics and graphic novels: free
More details and submissions info HERE
Fairlight Books
Deadline: Rolling
Word Count: Novel: 50,000+ / Novella: 25,000 – 50,000 words
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Accepting submissions of literary fiction only. Please send no more than 10,000 words
More details and submissions info HERE
The Fiction Desk
Deadline: Rolling
Word Count: 1,000 – 20,000 words
Payment: £20 per 1,000 words
Submission Fee: £4 / free when you buy an anthology
More details and submissions info HERE
Fictive Dream
Deadline: Rolling
Word Count: 500 – 2,500 words
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking short stories
More details and submissions info HERE
Frontier Poetry
Deadline: Rolling
Word Count: 5 poems or 10 pages
Payment: $50 per poem (up to $150)
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Open to new and emerging poets only (no more than one full-length published work)
More details and submissions info HERE
Gasher Journal
Deadline: Rolling
Word Count: 8 poems or 500-3,000 words
Submission Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
The Good Literary Agency
Deadline: Rolling
Word Count: none
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking book-length submissions in any genre from writers who are part of groups under-represented in mainstream publishing
More details and submissions info HERE
Grand Little Things
Deadline: Rolling
Word Count: none
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking formal poetry only
More details and submissions info HERE
Hindsight 2020
Deadline: Rolling
Word Count: 2,000
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking personal stories of 2020
More details and submissions info HERE
Hip Mama Magazine
Deadline: Rolling
Word Count: none
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking articles on the subject of alternative parenting
More details and submissions info HERE
HOOT Review
Deadline: Rolling
Word Count: 150 words
Submission Fee: $2
Notes: Seeking fiction, non-fiction, memoir, poetry, and book reviews
More details and submissions info HERE
Kissing Dynamite Poetry
Deadline: 1st – 10th of each month
Word Limit: One poem
Submission Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
Lavender Review
Deadline: Rolling
Word Count: 3-6 poems
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Open to submissions of work by, about and for lesbians
More details and submissions info HERE
Lumiere Review
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 2,000 words / 2 pages of poetry
Submission Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
The Missouri Review
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: Prose: 2,000-9,000 words / Poetry: 8-20 pages
Submission Fee: $4
More details and submissions info HERE
Microverses
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: Poetry: 8 lines / Narrative pieces: 280 characters or fewer
Payment: Poetry: $1/line / Other: $2.80/piece
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Experimental and interactive forms welcome
More details and submissions info HERE
Motherwell
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 1,200 words
Payment: Paid
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking personal essays on a variety of parenting topics
More details and submissions info HERE
Murderous Ink Press
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 10,000 words
Payment: 1,000-5,000 words: £10 / 6,000-10,000 words: £20
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking crime fiction
More details and submissions info HERE
Mutha Magazine
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 1,500 words
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking nonfiction on all aspects of parenthood
More details and submissions info HERE
Neon Magazine
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 6 poems / Prose: 5,000 words
Payment: Prose: 1p per word / Poetry: 10p per line (minimum payment £10)
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: Horror
More details and submissions info HERE
New Walk Editions
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 12 – 20 pages
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking poetry pamphlets
More details and submissions info HERE
Nightmares and Phantasms Podcast
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 1,000 – 6,000 words
Payment: $5
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: One story per submission and one submission per month
More details and submissions info HERE
One Hand Clapping
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: none
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Please submit writing as a Word document
More details and submissions info HERE
The Other Stories Podcast
Deadline: Rolling
Word Count: 2,000 words
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking short themed horror for professional narration and broadcast – see website for themes and deadlines
More details and submissions info HERE
Pidgeonholes
Deadline: 1st – 10th of each month
Word Limit: 1,000 words / 5 poems
Submission Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
Pithead Chapel
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 4,000 words
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking short fiction, nonfiction and prose poetry
More details and submissions info HERE
Pocketfire
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 1-3 poems
Submission Fee: Video: $5 / print: $3 / online: $2 (all reimbursed on acceptance)
Notes: Seeking submissions of poetry for video performance, print and online publication
More details and submissions info HERE
Poetry Birmingham Literary Journal
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: Up to 3 poems
Submission Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
Poetically Magazine
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: Poetry: 2 pages / prose: 2,000 words
Submission Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
Poetry Ireland Review
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 6 poems or 10 pages
Payment: €40
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Submissions from women and people from diverse ethnic backgrounds are actively encouraged
More details and submissions info HERE
Poetica Magazine
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: None
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Looking for poetry and prose centred on the Jewish experience. Interested in personal stories – not historical or political views
More details and submissions info HERE
Post Quarantine
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: None
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: Letters to open when all this is over
More details and submissions info HERE
The Rambling
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 500 – 1,500 words
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking work relating to the eighteenth century
More details and submissions info HERE
Ruminate Magazine
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 1,500 words
Submission Fee: FREE
Payment: $20/page for poetry (with a maximum of $80 per poem), $20/400 words for prose
Notes: Various submission windows for each genre – please see website for full details
More details and submissions info HERE
Sand Hills Magazine
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 1,000 words / 3 poems
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking submissions from writers currently residing in the US only
More details and submissions info HERE
Shirley Magazine
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 3,000 words
Submission Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
Smokelong Quarterly
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 1,000 words
Payment: $50
Submission Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
The Spectator
Deadline: Wednesdays at midday
Word Limit: 150 words
Payment: £25
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Weekly themed writing competition – see website for latest theme
More details and submissions info HERE
Split Lip Magazine
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: Submit one piece only
Payment: $50
Entry Fee: October, December: Tip Jar / November: FREE
Notes: Free submissions are available to Black writers for the rest of the year
More details and submissions info HERE
Stand Magazine
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 4-6 poems / Fiction: 3,000 words
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Does not accept simultaneous submissions
More details and submissions info HERE
Stinger Stories
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 300 words
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: sci fi/fantasy/experimental
More details and submissions info HERE
The Treason Show
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: None
Payment: Share of box office
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking parody songs, one-liners and topical sketches
More details and submissions info HERE
Tuna Fish Journal
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 30 lines / 5,000 words
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: New theme each calendar month. Click here for schedule
More details and submissions info HERE
Vela Press
Deadline: Rolling
Word Count: 80,000+ words
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking science fiction, technothrillers and fantasy
More details and submissions info HERE
The White Pube Writers Grant
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: None
Award: £500
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Open to working-class writers based in the UK
More details and submissions info HERE
Wyldblood Press
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: Flash: 300 – 1,000 words / Novels: 40,000 – 120,000 words
Payment: short fiction: 1p per word / Novels: royalty only
Submission Fee: FREE
Notes: Seeking speculative and literary fiction
More details and submissions info HERE
Yours Magazine
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 3,200 words
Payment: £25-£125 depending on length
Submission Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
