August, you great big glorious beast, why do you tempt us with your summery wiles when we should be locked away in the darkness, crafting fictional worlds and torturing our imaginary friends with angst and chaos?
Resist! Turn your back on the burning orb and commit yourself to one (or more) of the 60+ writing opportunities and competitions below. Take the #Submit2019 challenge and beat your personal best for submissions this year. Save yourself from sunburn and sweaty underboob and wasps in your Pimms and stay indoors. Where you belong. WRITING.
Aaaand then reward yourself with an ice cream and plonk your feet in the paddling pool. (Come on, we’re not monsters.)
Oh, and don’t forget about the Writers’ HQ Flash Quarterly Contest! It’s free to enter and you could win a bunch of awesome WHQ stuff, like membership (woo!), courses (whee!) and retreats (oooh!). (P.S. The next deadline is the end of September and yeah yeah this is a blog about August listings but we’re allowed to plug the heck out of our own dang competition, okay?)
The Alcott Award for Young Adult Fiction
Deadline: 1st August 2019
Requirements: An unpublished book-length work of Young Adult fiction featuring at least one strong female lead character
Prize: $1,000 + publication by Many Frog Press
Entry Fee: $22
Notes: All submissions must include name, address, telephone number, email, website (if you have one), a brief biography, synopsis, outline, and full manuscript in that order.
More details and submissions info HERE
Benedict Kiely Short Story Competition
Deadline: 1st (early bird entry) – 22nd August 2019
Word Limit: 2,000 words
Prize: 1st prize: £300 / 2nd prize: £100 / 3rd prize: £50
Entry fee: £5 (before 1st August) / £7 (until 22nd August)
Notes: Winners will also receive two weekend passes to the Omagh Literary Festival on the 12-14th October 2019 (attendance not mandatory for entry) as well as being published in the festival Chapbook.
More details and submission info HERE
Blood Bath Literary Zine: Issue 3
Deadline: 1st August 2019
Word Limit: 50-2,500 words
Payment: £20 per 1,000 words for prose / £20 per 15 lines for poetry
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: ‘hauntings‘ – the only criteria for written submissions is that there must be a ghost (or a character’s belief in a ghost) that is linked to an object, place or person.
More details and submission info HERE
BlueHouse Journal: Open Call
Deadline: 1st August 2019
Word Limit: Poetry: up to 5 poems, max 150 lines / Prose: up to 3 pieces, max 2,500 words total (includes micro fiction: 300 words and flash fiction: 1,000 words)
Entry fee: FREE
Notes: BlueHouse is an online literary journal exploring the use of the “I voice” by emerging and established writers, and are looking for experimental and intersecting form.
More details and submission info HERE
Costa Short Story Award
Deadline: 1st August 2019
Word Limit: 4,000 words
Prize: £3,000
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Open to residents of the UK
More details and submissions info HERE
Curtis Brown First Novel Prize
Deadline: 1st August 2019
Requirements: The opening (up to) 10,000 words of your novel (including any prologue) + a one-page synopsis of up to 400 words
Prize: 1st prize: £3,000 + an offer of representation by Curtis Brown / 2nd prize: 3-month novel writing course + mentoring session / 4x shortlisters: 6-week online course + mentoring session
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Entrants must be a resident of the UK and Ireland and not currently represented by a literary agent. Submitted novels must be unpublished.
More details and submissions info HERE
Dark Peninsula Press: Negative Space
Deadline: 1st August 2019
Word Limit: 3,000-8,000 words
Payment: $25 + a digital copy of the anthology
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Negative Space will focus on incorporating the survival horror genre of video games into narrative fiction
More details and submission info HERE
The First Line (RECURRING)
Deadline: 1st August 2019
Word Limit: Fiction: 300-5,000 words / Poetry: no length limit
Payment: Fiction: $25-50 / Poetry: $5-10
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: All submissions must begin with one first line from Volume 11, Issue 1 to Volume 15, Issue 4
More details and submission info HERE
Memories of Love
Deadline: 1st August 2019
Word Limit: 3,000 words
Payment: £20 + contributor’s copy of the anthology
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: The anthology is looking for prose, poetry, prose poetry, one act plays, experimental pieces, and writing that doesn’t fit neatly into any category – inspired by the music of The Magnetic Fields and Stephen Merritt.
More details and submission info HERE
Silent Motorist Media: The Nightside Complex
Deadline: 1st August 2019
Word Limit: 2,000-6,000 words
Payment: $25 + contributor’s copies
Entry fee: FREE
Notes: Silent Motorist Media is looking for original weird horror fiction about haunted or cursed books, manuscripts, or online media
More details and submission info HERE
Writer’s Block Prize
Deadline: 1st August 2019
Word Limit: 4,000 words
Prize: $500
Entry fee: $12
More details and submissions info HERE
Zoetrope Screenplay Prize
Deadline: 1st August* 2019 (early deadline)
Requirements: Film scripts: 70-130 pages / 1-hour TV pilot scripts: 45-65 pages / 30-min TV scripts: 22-34 pages
Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: *$40 (deadline extends to 5th September with increased fees)
Notes: Francis Ford Coppola will select a grand prize–winner from among the top ten finalists. The scripts of all top ten finalists are sent by Zoetrope to leading production companies and talent agencies for consideration.
More details and submissions info HERE
11 Sentences Rock
Deadline: 11th August 2019
Word Limit: 11 sentences
Prize: 1st prize: £100 / 2nd prize: £50 / 3rd prize: £25
Entry Fee: £5 for one entry / £10 for three
Notes: Your story must be made up of exactly 11 sentences
More details and submission info HERE
101 Fiction
Deadline: 11th August 2019
Word Limit: Exactly 100 words (+ 1-word title)
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: ‘books‘. The title cannot be ‘book’ or any variation thereof.
More details and submissions info HERE
Great Eighty Challenge (RECURRING)
Deadline: 12th & 26th August 2019
Word Limit: Exactly 80 words
Prize: Royalties on publication
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Title not included in word count (but limited to 6 words).
More details and submissions info HERE
The Boiler
Deadline: 15th August 2019
Word Limit: Poetry: 3-5 poems (no line limit) / Fiction & creative non-fiction: 3,500 words
Entry Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
The Charroux Memoir Prize for Poetry or Prose
Deadline: 15th August 2019
Word Limit: Poetry: 50 lines / Short memoir: 1,500-3,000 words
Prize: 1st prize: £150, 2nd prize: £50, 3rd prize: £30 (in each category)
Entry Fee: Poetry: €5.50 for first poem, €2.75 thereafter / Memoir: €8 for one entry, €11.44 for 2, €14.87 for 3
Notes: Entries must be on the theme of ‘memoir‘. Winners will be announced in October, followed by a celebration event and writing workshop to be held in South West France.
More details and submission info HERE
Headway Summer Writing Contest
Deadline: 15th August 2019
Word Limit: 350 words
Prize: 1st prize: $100 / 3x runners up will also receive a small prize
Notes: Theme: ‘colour‘
More details and submissions info HERE
Luna Station Quarterly
Deadline: 15th August 2019
Word Limit: 500-7,000 words
Payment: $5 per story
Notes: Open to speculative fiction by women-identified writers
More details and submission info HERE
Palm Sized Prompts (RECURRING)
Deadline: 15th August 2019
Word Limit: 500 words
Prize: $300
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Entries should be inspired by the monthly prompt and emailed to palmsizedprompts @ gmail.com
More details and submission info HERE
Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize
Deadline: 15th August 2019
Requirements: Up to 3 poems – each poem must fit onto one 8.5 x 11 inch page;
Prize: 1st prize: $1,000 / 2nd prize: $500 / 3rd prize: $250
Entry Fee: $15
More details and submissions info HERE
Writers Online Dark Tales Competition
Deadline: 15th August 2019
Word Limit: 1,500-1,700 words
Prize: 1st prize: £200 / 2nd prize: £50
Entry Fee: £6 (non-subscribers) / £4 (subscribers)
Notes: This contest invites fiction with an edge. It could be spooky or chilling, or just dealing with the darker side of human psychology.
More details and submission info HERE
Gay Mag
Deadline: 17th August 2019
Word Limit: 1,200-3,500 words (essays, fiction and pitches)
Payment: $1 per word up to 3,500 words
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: ‘pain‘ – “We prefer short but detailed pitches over complete, on spec submissions for themed issues, but we will consider full pieces.”
More details and submissions info HERE
Culpepper’s Remedy Poetry Booklet Competition
Deadline: 15th July 2019
Requirements: Poems of any length
Prize: 1st prize: £100 / 2nd prize: £50
Entry Fee: 1 poem: £4 / 2 poems: £7 / 3 poems: £10 / 4 poems: £14
Notes: All poems will be considered for publication in a 2019 anthology
More details and submissions info HERE
Speculative City
Deadline: 19th August 2019
Word Limit: 5,500 words
Payment: $20-$75 according to the category and length of their submission
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: ‘industry‘. Speculative City publishes provocative works that are centered within a cityscape.
More details and submissions info HERE
Selcouth Station Chapbook Submissions
Deadline: 21st August 2019
Word Limit: Poetry: 10 pages / Prose, memoir, life-writing: 5,000 words
Prize: Four winners will have their chapbook published + 25% of the print run (usually between 20-30 copies)
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme ‘environment‘
More details and submissions info HERE
A3 Review (RECURRING)
Deadline: 24th August 2019
Word Limit: 150 words (not incl title)
Prize: 1st prize: £250, 2nd prize: £150, 3rd prize: £75
Entry Fee: $5/£3
Notes: Monthly theme: ‘money or the box’. Two winning entries from each month will appear in The A3 Review (published every 6 months). From this shortlist of winners, 3 will be chosen to win cash prizes.
More details and submissions info HERE
Buzzwords Poetry Competition
Deadline: 24th August 2019
Line Limit: 70 lines
Prize: 1st prize: £600 / 2nd prize: £300 / 5x commended: £50
Entry Fee: 1 poem: £4.35, 2 poems: £8.70, 3 poems: £11
Notes: There is also a local prize worth £200 for residents of Gloucestershire
More details and submissions info HERE
Grindstone International Poetry Prize
Deadline: 28th August 2019
Line Limit: 40 lines
Prize: Grand prize: £500 / Runner-up: £50
Entry fee: £10
Notes: Shortlisted entries will be published in an anthology
More details and submission info HERE
Earlyworks Flash Fiction Competition
Deadline: 30th August 2019
Word Limit: 100 words (including title)
Prize: £100
Entry Fee: £4 per story / £16 for six stories
Notes: 20 or more stories will be published and their authors will receive one complimentary copy of the anthology
More details and submissions info HERE
On the Premises Contest #34
Deadline: 30th August 2019
Word Limit: 1,000-5,000 words
Prize: 1st prize: $220 / 2nd prize: $160 / 3rd prize: $120 / Honourable mention: $60
Entry fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: ‘tradition‘
More details and submission info HERE
Tidbits
Deadline: 30th August 2019
Word limit: 500 words (or 1 page, whichever is longer)
Prize: 1st prize: $300 / 2nd prize: $150 / 3rd prize: $50
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: ‘wishes‘. Tidbits will be publishing an anthology containing 50 of the most exceptional of the submitted stories.
More details and submissions info HERE
Wild Atlantic Words
Deadline: 30th August 2019
Word Limit: 3,000 words
Prize: 1st prize: €500 / 2nd prize: €250
Entry Fee: €10
Notes: Winning entries may be read at a prize-giving event during the Wild Atlantic Words festival.
More details and submissions info HERE
1000 Word Challenge
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Word Limit: 750-1,000 words
Prize: 1st prize: £150 / 2nd prize: £75 / 3rd prize: £50
Entry Fee: £5 (£15 with feedback)
Notes: Theme: ‘a suitcase‘
More details and submissions info HERE
3Elements Review
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Word Count: 3,500 words
Prize: 1st prize: £150 / 2nd prize: £50 / 3rd prize: £25
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Stories must include the following 3 elements: effigy, sleepwalk, wane
More details and submissions info HERE
Aesthetica Creative Writing Award
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Word Count:
Prize:
Entry Fee:
Notes:
More details and submissions info HERE
Blue Mesa Review Summer Contest
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Word Limit: Up to 3 poems or 6,000 words of prose
Prize: $500 in each category
Entry Fee: $12
More details and submissions info HERE
Didcot Writers Monthly Competition (RECURRING)
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Word Limit: 1,500 words
Entry Fee: FREE (if you wish to submit more than one piece a £4 fee will apply for each additional work)
Notes: Theme: ‘museum‘
More details and submissions info HERE
Didcot Writers: A Night at the Railway Inn
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Word Limit: 800-5,000 words
Entry Fee: £6 (free for members) + a limited number of bursaries are available for low-income and under-represented authors
Notes: Stories should involve The Railway Inn, a fictional pub in a typical English town
More details and submissions info HERE
Dream of Shadows Halloween Contest
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Word Limit: 1,500 words
Prize: £300
Entry fee: £10 for the first story, £5 thereafter
Notes: Theme: ‘Brexit‘
More details and submissions info HERE
Exeter Short Story Prize
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Word Limit: 10,000 words
Prize: 1st prize: £500 / 2nd: £150 / 3rd: £100 / Trisha Ashley Award: £200
Entry Fee: £12
Notes: Only humorous stories will be considered for the Trisha Ashley Award
More details and submissions info HERE
Forge Literary Magazine
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Word Limit: Fiction and non-fiction max 5,000 words – under 3,000 words preferred.
Payment: $50
Entry Fee: $3
More details and submissions info HERE
Gemini Flash Fiction Contest
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Word Limit: 1,000 words
Prize: 1st prize: $1,000 / 2nd prize: $100 / 4x honourable mentions: $25
Entry Fee: $6
Notes: All six finalists will be published in the October issue of Gemini
More details and submissions info HERE
Green Stories Novel Competition
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Requirements: The first 5,000 words of a novel + one-page synopsis
Prizes: 1st prize: £500 / 2nd prize: £100 / 3rd prize: £50
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Green Stories is looking for full-length novels that in some way touch upon ideas around building a sustainable society (between 50,000-100,000 words). A literary agent from Curtis Brown will read the top entries and consider any writers they think suitable for representation.
More details and submissions info HERE
Jack Grapes Poetry Prize
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Requirements: Up to 2 poems of any length
Prize: 3 winners will receive $250 each / 6 finalists will receive $75 each
Entry Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
Jan Michalski Residence for Writers
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Requirements: An application including information on the project you intend to work on, a cover letter, and supporting documents
Prizes: Accommodation in a modern treehouse at the foot of Switzerland’s Jura Mountains + a monthly allowance of 1200 Swiss Francs + travel expenses + breakfast and lunch daily
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Residencies of 2 weeks to 6 months are available and should match the scope of the project.
More details and submissions info HERE
Kindle Storyteller Award
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Requirements: The award is open to all authors who publish their book through Kindle Direct Publishing on Amazon.co.uk from 1st May 2019 to 31st August 2019
Prize: 1st prize: £20,000 + Amazon marketing campaign / Finalists will receive a Kindle Oasis E-reader
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: All finalists of the 2019 UK Kindle Storyteller contest will be entered into an additional round of judging. One title will be selected by Amazon International Original Studios and the author will be offered an option contract for an audiovisual production and an advance payment of $10,000.
More details and submissions info HERE
Not So Normal Narrators
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Word Limit: 2,000-5,000 words
Prizes: 1st prize: £200, 2nd prize: £100, 3rd prize: £50
Entry Fee: £4
Notes: Theme: ‘diverse and unusual teen voices‘. A dedicated anthology will include the top ten tales, available winter 2019.
More details and submissions info HERE
Prague – City of Literature Residency Programme
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Requirements: Application form + extract from a published text
Prize: A residency in Prague including accommodation + travel expenses + a scholarship of €600 per month
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Entrants must have a cultural interest in the location and have at least one published literary work
More details and submissions info HERE
Prole Pamphlet Competition
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Requirements: Short collections of poetry (max 35 A5 pages)
Prize: £400 + 25 copies
Entry Fee: £12 for one entry, £20 for two
More details and submissions info HERE
Pure Slush: The Shitlist
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Word Limit: 200-1,500 words
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Stories must contribute towards a collection of stories set in and around the town of Quonsettville, Vermont, set off by a particular event…
More details and submissions info HERE
Quill Prose Award
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Requirements: 150+ pages of prose by a queer writer
Prize: $1,000 + publication
Entry Fee: $10
Notes: Red Hen Press seeks to work against the negative politics of labeling while honoring and empowering authors who identify as queer.
More details and submissions info HERE
Reflex Fiction Autumn 2019
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Word Limit: 180-360 words
Prize: 1st prize: £1,000 / 2nd prize: £500 / 3rd prize: £250
Entry Fee: Choose your own (suggested fee £7)
Notes: All long-listed stories will be eligible for publication in the year three print anthology to be published in June 2020.
More details and submissions info HERE
SaveAs Writers International Writing Competition
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Word Limit: Poetry: 60 lines / Prose: 3,500 words
Prize: 1st prize: £200 / 2nd prize: £100 / 3rd prize: £50 (in eac hcategory)
Entry Fee: Poetry: £3 for one, £8 for three / Prose: £4 for one, £10 for three
Notes: Theme: ‘all things moon‘
More details and submissions info HERE
Screencraft Action & Thriller Script Competition
Deadline: 31st August* 2019 (early deadline)
Requirements: Feature screenplays up to 140 pages
Prize: 1st prize: $1,000 / 2nd prize: $500
Entry Fee: $49 (*final deadline extends to 31st October with increased fees)
Notes: Winners will also be introduced to industry professionals.
More details and submissions info HERE
Screencraft Drama Screenplay Competition
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Requirements: Feature screenplays of 75-150 pages
Prize: 1st prize: $1,000 / 2nd prize: $500
Entry Fee: $69
Notes: Winners will also be introduced to industry professionals.
More details and submissions info HERE
Sentinel Literary Quarterly Poetry Competition
Deadline: 31st August* 2019 (early deadline)
Line Limit: 50 lines
Prize: 1st prize: £250 / 2nd prize: £100 / 3rd prize: £50 / 3x highly commended: £30
Entry Fee: £5 for one, discounts for multiple entries
More details and submissions info HERE
Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association Contest
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Word/Line Limit: Dwarf: 1–10 lines or 100 words / Short: 11–49 lines or 101–499 words / Long: 50 lines or 500+ words
Prize: 1st prize: $100 / 2nd prize: $50 / 3rd prize: $25 (in each category)
Entry Fee: $2
Notes: Poems must have a science fiction or fantasy theme
More details and submissions info HERE
Shore Scripts TV Pilot Contest
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Requirements: 30-60 minute TV pilot screenplays
Prizes: (in each category) 1st prize: $1,500, 2nd prize: $500, 3rd prize: $250
Entry Fee: $55-60
Notes: Prizes also include introductions to industry professionals and script development packages
More details and submissions info HERE
Txtlit (RECURRING)
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Word Limit: 160 characters
Entry Fee: Submissions are made by text message. You will be charged for one standard text by your network operator.
Notes: Themed (check website for details) – send your story as a text message from a UK mobile phone to our new number 07537 432 432.
More details and submissions info HERE
WOW Summer Flash Fiction Contest
Deadline: 31st August 2019
Word Limit: 250-750 words
Prize: 1st prize: $400 / 2nd prize: $300 / 3rd prize: $200 / 7x runners up: $25 Amazon gift card / 10 honourable mentions: $20 Amazon gift card
Entry Fee: $10
Notes: Optional critique for an entry fee of $20.
More details and submissions info HERE
Ad Hoc Fiction (RECURRING)
Deadline: Various (weekly)
Word Limit: 150 words
Prize: Free entry to the Bath Flash Fiction Award
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Entries must include the prompt word (see website for latest deadline). Once submissions are closed, entries are published for public voting on the Ad Hoc site.
More details and submissions info HERE
Faber Academy QuickFic (RECURRING)
Deadline: Weekly (new prompt every Friday)
Word Limit: 250 words
Prize: A selection of books
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Stories must be in response to a weekly prompt posted each Friday at 9.50am
More details and submissions info HERE
If you have a writing competition or opportunity to add to our September listings, contact [email protected] before the 18th of August. Please note: We rarely list contests with an entry fee of over £20/$25 with the exception of scriptwriting competitions.
