December! OMG. Christmas. Winter. Arg. Where the hell did this year go?
If you’ve taken part in our 100 Submissions in 2018 challenge, this is the final hurdle! But it really doesn’t matter how many stories you’ve sent out this year, so long as you’ve at least sent out something. And if you’re yet to break the seal on this whole submissions thang, then now’s the time to start!
Hoo boy do we have a selection of competitions and opportunities for you… Everything from poetry to flash to scripts to novels to plays to short stories and everything in between – all with deadlines in December. So get to it – send out some sweet subs out before the big tinselly hand of Christmas descends and we start all over again in 2019…
Deadline: 2nd December 2018
Word Limit: The first 5000 words of a novel for children or young adults + 1-page synopsis
Prize: £2,500
Entry Fee: £25 (sponsored entries for low income writers are available)
Notes: Shortlisted authors will receive literary agent introductions and manuscript feedback from our Junior Judges. The writer of the most promising longlisted novel will receive place on an online editing course.
More details and submissions info HERE
Better Than Starbucks Sonnet Contest
Deadline: 1st December 2018
Word Limit: A metrical sonnet
Prize: $100
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Up to 2 entries per person. At least 4 honourable mentions will also be published.
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 1st December 2018
Word Limit: Fiction & non fiction: 3000 words / Poetry: up to 5 poems
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: A series of tubes. Broken City are looking for fact or fiction that touches on anything scientific, from math to molecular biology – even time travel.
More details and submissions info HERE
Chris O’Malley Prize in Fiction
Deadline: 1st December 2018
Word Limit: 30 pages
Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $10
Notes: Only one entry per person
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 1st December 2018
Word Limit: No set length
Payment: $5
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: The Dark Spirits of Winter. EHS are looking for poems, fiction and essays about Father Frost, Jack Frost, the Snow Queen, and Old Man Winter, Boreas the Northern Wind, Cailleach Bheur, and Frau Holle, Khione, Krampus, and Saturn – or the “shadow side” of Deities and spirits associated with the holiday, such as Ganesh (Pancha Ganapati), Mithras, and Sol Invictus (Dies Natalis Sol Invictus).
More details and submissions info HERE
Headway Quarterly Writing Contest
Deadline: 1st December 2018
Word Limit: 3000 words
Prize: $100
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: Mutants and mutation.
More details and submissions info HERE
New York Encounter Poetry Contest
Deadline: 1st December 2018
Word Limit: 40 lines (up to 3 poems)
Prize: 1st prize: $300, 2nd prize: $200, 3rd prize: $100
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: Something to start from. Winners will be invited to read their poems on the New York Encounter stage at Metropolitan Pavilion.
More details and submissions info HERE
Owl Canyon Press Short Story Hackathon
Deadline: 1st December 2018
Word Limit: A short story consisting of 50 paragraphs. The contest provides the 1st and 25th paragraphs, and the short story writer crafts the rest.
Prize: 1st prize: $3,000, 2nd prize: $2,000, 3rd prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: The winning short stories published in a short story anthology, as well as an invitation to give a public reading at Inkberry Books in Niwot, CO. 24 finalists will also have their short stories included in this anthology.
More details and submissions info HERE
Phyllis Smart-Young Prize in Poetry
Deadline: 1st December 2018
Word Limit: 3 poems (max 15 pages)
Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $10
Notes: Only one entry per person
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 1st December 2018
Word Limit: Fiction & non fiction: 4000 words / Poetry: up to 3 poems
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: Conversations. Please See Me is looking for We are looking for content that connects us, make us feel something, or helps us see illness, wellness, health or the healthcare environment differently. Stories could be anything related to, or surrounding, a conversation between patients and providers, among family members, or even with the self.
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 1st December 2018
Word Limit: Fiction, non fiction: 500-7500 words / Poetry: no stated limit
Payment: $0.08 per word for fiction and non fiction, $50 flat rate for poetry
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: speculative stories about people of marginalized genders/sexes who are scientists
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 1st December 2018
Word Limit: Short fiction: 7500 words / Flash and poetry: 4-6 pieces of no more than 1000 words each
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: Extremes. Territory publish works of literature and art that are: about maps and the paradoxes they engender; are maps of some territory; or respond to an existing maps.
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 3rd December 2018
Word Limit: Short fiction: 6000 words / Poetry: 100 lines (max 3 per entry)
Prize: 1st prize in each categories: $2,000 (CAD), 2 x honourable mentions in each category: $250 (CAD)
Entry Fee: Residents of Canada: $30 for first entry, $10 thereafter / Rest of world: $36 for first entry, $10 thereafter
Notes: You will receive a one-year subscription to The Fiddlehead with your first entry.
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 3rd December 2018
Word Limit: 75 lines
Prize: 1st Prize: $5,000 AUD + Arthur Boyd’s etching and aquatint The Lady and the Unicorn, 2nd prize: $2,000 AUD, 3 x shortlisted poets: $500 AUD
Entry Fee: $25 AUD ($15 for Australian Book Review subscribers and students)
Notes: Non-subscribers will receive access to ABR Online free of charge for four months.
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 4th December 2018
Word Limit: Short fiction: 1000-3000 words, Flash fiction: 100-1000 words, Poetry: 12-40 lines
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: Identity
More details and submissions info HERE
Society of Authors Grants for Residential Stays
Deadline: 5th December 2018
Word Limit: An outline of your proposed residential stay (incl cost and duration) and details of your financial situation.
Prize: A number of writing grants (up to £300) to be used for creative work, research, collaboration, discussions with fellow artists, rest, recreation, and/or convalescence.
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Grants are to be awarded to professional writers (see eligibility section for more info).
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 6th December 2018
Word Limit: 1-5 poems (any length, within reason) or 1-3 flash fictions (up to but not exceeding 1,000 words)
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Fiction and poems “with a wintry feel, but still involving folklore, mythology, and fairy tales – Christmas or Krampus, current dark nights or the faraway promise of light, snow fairies, nativity, frost giants – if it’s cold, festive, or even a bit sinister, we want to read it.”
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 6th December 2018
Word Limit: Fiction & non fiction: 10 pages, Poetry: up to 5 poems
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: Scarcity and rarity
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 7th December 2018
Word Limit: None stated
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Themes: As above – surrealism and the weather; So below – surrealism underground
More details and submissions info HERE
Strokestown International Poetry Competition
Deadline: 7th December 2018
Word Limit: 70 lines (one page)
Prize: 1st prize: €2,000 + a week-long residency at Anam Cara Writer’s and Artist’s Retreat, 2nd prize: €700, 3rd prize: €500, 7 shortlisted poets: €300 (reading fee)
Entry Fee: €6 per poem
Notes: The prize-winner for each competition will be announced and awarded during the Strokestown International Poetry Festival, 2-6th May 2019. Shortlisted poets will be invited to read a selection of their work at the festival, for which they will receive a reading fee of €300.
More details and submissions info HERE
Stringybark Erotic Short Fiction Award
Deadline: 9th December 2018
Word Limit: 1800 words
Prize: 1st prize: $350 AUD, 2nd prize: $250 AUD, 3rd prize: $125 AUD, 30 x highly commended: $5 AUD
Entry Fee: 1 story: $12.50 AUD, 2 stories: $24 AUD, 3 stories: $33 AUD
Notes: Theme:Maximum 3 entries per author. Story must contain erotic elements and be suitable for readers 17 years and older.
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 10th December 2018
Word Limit: Fiction & non fiction: 3000 words, Poetry: 50 lines
Payment: $10
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: Thinking attraction
More details and submissions info HERE
Cove Park Literature Residencies
Deadline: 10th December 2018
Word Limit: 3000 word sample of your work + personal statement + CV
Prize: Three funded Literature Residencies of between 1-3 months will be awarded to established writers including travel expenses and a weekly stipend of £425
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Applications are invited from established writers in any of the following genres: adult fiction, memoir, poetry, biography. Writers who cross or combine these genres are also welcome to apply. To be eligible, writers should have published, with a traditional publisher, at least one book. Writers who are established with a strong track record in one genre and wish to develop or experiment in another where they are not established are welcome to apply.
More details and submissions info HERE
Hamlin Garland Award for the Short Story
Deadline: 10th December 2018
Word Limit: 7000 words
Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $20
More details and submissions info HERE
Neon Druid: An Anthology of Urban Celtic Fantasy
Deadline: 10th December 2018
Word Limit: Short stories: 1001-10,000 words, Flash fiction: 100-1000 words
Payment: Short stories: $10, Flash fiction: $5
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: Urban Celtic fantasy. Stories must take place in an urban setting and in a world where Celtic mythology is woven into the fabric of reality. Writers may submit 1 short story OR up to 2 flash stories.
More details and submissions info HERE
Weird Christmas Flash Fiction Contest
Deadline: 10th December 2018
Word Limit: 350 words
Prize: 1st prize: $50, 2nd prize: $25
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Entries must be ‘weird’, and related to any winter holiday (Christmas, Hannukha, Kwanza, solstice celebrations, “Yule,” etc). Winning entries and honourable mentions will be read on the Weird Christmas podcast
More details and submissions info HERE
Love Shots @ Canal Cafe Theatre
Deadline: 14th December 2018
Word Limit: 15-minute plays
Prize: A selection of plays will be rehearsed and then staged for 2 nights on 15th & 16th February 2019
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: love
More details and submissions info HERE
WRITE Festival Short Story Competition
Deadline: 14th December 2018
Word Limit: 3000 words
Prize: 1st prize: £100, 2nd prize: £50, 3rd prize: £25
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: The shortlisted stories will be published in paperback by Sixth Element Publishing during WRITE Festival 2019
More details and submissions info HERE
Apparition Monthly Flash Fiction Contest
Deadline: 15th December 2018
Word Limit: 1000 words
Payment: $5
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: The final problem. Speculative flash fiction.
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 15th December 2018
Word Limit: Short fiction & non fiction: 3000 words / Poetry: up to 5 poems
Entry Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
Eugene V Shae National Poetry Contest
Deadline: 15th December 2018
Word Limit: One page per poem
Prize: 1st prize: $100, 2nd prize: $50, 3rd prize: $30
Entry Fee: $3 for first entry, $1 thereafter (limit 15 entries per person)
Notes: Writers are invited to submit ‘uplifting stories’.
More details and submissions info HERE
F(r)iction’s Winter 2018 Literary Contests
Deadline: 15th December 2018
Word Limit: Short fiction: 1000-7500 words / Poetry: 3 pages or less per poem / Flash fiction: 750 words
Prize: Short fiction: $1,000 / Poetry: $300 / Flash fiction: $300
Entry Fee: Short fiction: $15 / Poetry & flash fiction: $8 per piece or 3 for $12
More details and submissions info HERE
International Young Theatre Playwriting Contest
Deadline: 15th December 2018
Word Limit: Plays suitable for young audiences of either 30-60 mins or 60-120 mins (or a collection of short plays of 15 mins each)
Prize: 30-60 min play 1st prize: €3,500 / 60-120 min play 1st prize: €5,000
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Both winners will have their work published and translated into other languages, as well as a public reading of their play. Runner-up plays will also be published.
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 15th December 2018
Word Limit: Short fiction: 3500 words / Poetry: 80 lines
Prize: 1st prize: $100 CDN, 2nd prize: $50 CDN
Entry Fee: $10 CDN
Notes: The top three stories will be published in Big Pond Rumours e-zine
More details and submissions info HERE
Mikrokosmos Fiction and Poetry Contest
Deadline: 15th December 2018
Word Limit: Fiction: up to 3 pieces up to 6000 words max / Poetry: up to 5 poems or 10 pages
Prize: 1st prize in each category: $200, 2nd prize: $100, 3rd prize $50
Entry Fee: $5
Notes: All non-prize winning submissions will also be considered for online publication in mojo.
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 15th December 2018
Word Limit: Fiction: 20 pages, Poetry: up to 6 poems
Payment: $30 per page for prose, $40 per page for poetry
Entry Fee: $3
Notes: Theme: Ruin. The editorial board awards one $500 prize to an outstanding poetry contributor each year.
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 15th December 2018
Word Limit: 3500-20,000 words
Payment: All contributing authors will receive a free copy of the book in softcover. Authors that are chosen for the anthology will not be paid nor receive royalties for their submission.
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Prompt: “The year is 2525. Interplanetary territory fighting has created ‘Sanctuary Cities’ on non-neutral planets. Those safe zones are now under attack.” Writers may submit up to 3 unique works.
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 15th December 2018
Word Limit: Poetry: 100 lines / Microfiction: 100 words / Flash fiction: 101-1000 words / Short stories: 1001-1500 words / Spotlight short stories: 3000-7500* / Non fiction: 1500-5000 words / Reviews: 1500 words
Payment: Poetry: $0.25 per line / Microfiction: $0.06 per word / Flash fiction: $0.01 per word / Short stories: $0.02 per word / Spotlight short stories: $0.03 per word /
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: speculative romance, mystery, and alternate history [*Spotlight short stories should involving the Moon, or a Moon, as a central element alongside the main theme of an issue]
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 15th December 2018
Word Limit: 1000-20,000 words(2000-7000 words recommended)
Payment: Royalties
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Main Character MUST BE a Female Elf. All Genres except horror will be considered.
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 15th December 2018
Word Limit: 400 words
Prize: 1st prize: £400, 2nd prize: £100, 3rd prize: £50, up to 5 x highly commended prizes: £25 each
Entry Fee: £5*
Notes: *Submission fees will be waived for any writers from marginalised and disadvantaged communities, or anyone suffering from economic hardship. For further details please click here.
More details and submissions info HERE
Vampires, Zombies and Ghosts, Oh My!
Deadline: 15th December 2018
Word Limit: 1200-6000 words
Payment: $20 or 2 complimentary copies of the paperback (or 1 copy for non US/Canada authors)
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Stories involving all types of supernatural beings are welcome. There is no requirement as to genre; stories can be sci-fi, mystery, romance, adventure, etc.
More details and submissions info HERE
BlueCat Screenplay Competition
Deadline: 16th December 2018
Word Limit: Features: 65-125 pages / Hour pilot scripts: 45-75 pages / Half-hour pilot scripts: 20-45 pages / Short screenplays: 1-29 pages
Prize: Feature screenplay 1st prize: $10,000 (4x finalists: £1000 each) / Hour/half-hour pilots and short scripts: $5000 (4 finalists in each category: $500 / Fellini Award for Best Screenplay from any category written by a screenwriter residing outside the USA: $5000
Entry Fee: Features: $60, Pilot (Hour): $55, Pilot (Half-Hour): $50, Short Script: $45, Short Film $45
Notes: [*Final deadline extends to 3rd Feb with increased entry fees]
More details and submissions info HERE
Insignia Vol 7: Asian Flash Fiction & Poetry
Deadline: 17th December 2018
Word Limit: 1000 words (up to 5 stories/poems per entry)
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Pieces may be set in any Asian country and must have Asian main characters.
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 20th December 2018
Word Limit: A sequence of poems on any subject, max 300 lines
Prize: 1st prize: chapbook publication + 50 copies, 2 x runners up: £50 book tokens
Entry Fee: £12
Notes: In memory of Professor Bill Overton (1946-2012),the proceeds from this competition fund an early-career poet in residence for Loughborough University.
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 21st December 2018
Word Limit: Poetry: up to 5 poems / Fiction: 3000 words
Payment: AADOREE pays a small honorarium to each writer, as well as sends accepted writers a copy of the print issue they’re featured in.
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: Fey (or fae) meaning fairy (or faerie)
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 21st December 2018
Word Limit: Fiction & non fiction: 5000 words (one short story or essay, or up to 3 pieces of flash fiction) / Poetry: up to 5 poems (8 pages)
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: The World Tree (the natural world)
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 21st December 2018
Word Limit: Short stories and creative non fiction: any length / Flash fiction: 1000 words (up to 3 per submission) / Poetry: up to 6 poems (10 pages)
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: The Fool’s Journey
More details and submissions info HERE
Deadline: 23rd December 2018
Word Limit: Poetry, essays, poetics & hybrid work of up to 3000 words
Entry Fee: FREE
Payment: Fee payable (contact the editor for more information)
Notes: For their upcoming issue, Poetry Wales is looking for work on the following themes: legacies of colonialism, contemporary imperialism, race – particularly in relation to Wales/Welsh poetics, indigeneity/indigenous poetries, land/ecology, performance/liveness/ritual, miscellaneous responses to contemporary urgencies. To submit, contact Nia Davies at info@poetrywales.co.uk
More details and submissions info HERE
Retreat West Flash Fiction Competition
Deadline: 30th December 2018
Word Limit: 500 words
Prize: 1st prize: £200, 2 x runners up: £100
Entry Fee: £8
Theme: Theme: Running away
More details and submissions info HERE
ScreenCraft Family Screenplay Contest
Deadline: 30th December 2018
Word Limit: Feature-length family-friendly screenplays
Prize: 1st prize: $2,000, 2nd prize: $500
Entry Fee: $49
Theme: Entries must be family-friendly screenplays that are life-affirming stories of faith, courage, hope and love.
More details and submissions info HERE
’20 Minute Frolics’ Playwriting Competition
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: A self-contained 20-minute play script for up to 4 actors (doubling allowed)
Prize: 1st prize: £250 + the chance to be fully produced and staged by Quantum Frolic Theatre, 2nd prize: £50, 3rd prize: £20
Entry Fee: £10
Notes: Selected scripts will go forward for a rehearsed reading in front of a live audience and an industry panel. Shortlisted scripts will also be published.
More details and submissions info HERE
Arkbound Writing Competition
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: 1000 words
Prize: 1st prize: £100, 2nd prize: £50, 3rd prize: £25, 3 x runners-up: £10
Entry Fee: £3
Notes: Theme: Hope
More details and submissions info HERE
Askew Thrills
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: Fiction & non fiction: 5000 words
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: Askew Thrills
More details and submissions info HERE
Bad Dream Entertainment Horror/Humour Anthology
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: 1500-8000 words (max 2 entries)
Payment: $0.06 per word
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: The editor is looking for original horror fiction with a strong sense of comedy, and most themes, subjects, and settings are welcome but standard genre tropes are definitely discouraged (vampires, zombies, werewolves, anything Cthulhu, etc).
More details and submissions info HERE
Brexit in Poetry
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: 50 lines
Prize: £200
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Poems must deal with some aspect of the Brexit process.
More details and submissions info HERE
Broken Pencil Deathmatch
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: 3000 words
Prize: 1st prize: $400 + a consultations with a famed publisher, literary agent and acclaimed writer / 3 x runners up: $100 + a Broken Pencil Prize Pack worth $100, and publication in the issue / 4 x longlisters: a Broken Pencil Prize Pack
Entry Fee: $28
Notes: The top 16 stories will be selected by the Broken Pencil fiction team. These 16 stories will compete in a weekend long royal rumble. Readers will be able to vote for 1 story every hour. Whichever 8 stories receive the most votes will become the quarter finalists, and move on to the one-on-one portion of the competition. Finalists and winner will be determined by voting on the Broken Pencil website in a series of group and one-on-one challenges between finalists’ stories.
More details and submissions info HERE
Cha: Auditory Cortex
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: Up to 2 poems (40 lines each) + a WAV recording of the poem(s) read by the author
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: This special issue will be devoted entirely to Asian voices. Poems must be written and read in the author’s local variety of English.
More details and submissions info HERE
Cha: Writing Macau
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: Poetry: 60 lines (up to 4 poems per submission), Fiction and creative non fiction:100-5000 words (up to 2 pieces per submission)
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Submissions must have something original, interesting or thought-provoking to say about Macau.
More details and submissions info HERE
Danahy Fiction Prize
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: 500-5,000 words
Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Notes: All entrants receive a one-year subscription to Tampa Review.
More details and submissions info HERE
Film Daily Screenwriting Contest
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: Feature film scripts (max 120 mins), short film scripts (max 30 mins), TV pilot scripts (max 55 mins)
Prize: $300 in each category + professional screenwriting software + one hour facetime with industry professionals
Entry Fee: $30 ($10 for students)
Notes: This competition is dedicated to underrepresented narratives such as disability, mental health, LGBTQI, race, class, religion, and more.
More details and submissions info HERE
Five Aspects of Me Poetry Competition
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: 40 lines
Prize: 1st prize: £150, 2nd prize: £75, 3rd prize: £50
Entry Fee: £4 for the first poem, £3 each for two poems, or £7.50 for 3 poems.
Notes: Theme: The Spirit of Childhood. There will also be two prizes of £20 for poems of note from poets aged 17-19 years and poets in the Fylde area (postcodes starting FY).
More details and submissions info HERE
Flash Fiction Magazine
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: 300-1000 words
Payment: $40 for any story accepted for anthologies, $100 for best story of the month
Entry Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
Flexible Persona
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: Fiction: 1200-6500 words / Creative non fiction: 6500 words / Poetry: up to 3 pieces / Flash fiction: 1000 words (up to 3 pieces per submission)
Payment: $15-50 for prose, $10–35 for poetry
Entry Fee: $3
More details and submissions info HERE
Forbidden: An Erotic Collection
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: 3500-20,000 words
Payment: All contributing authors will receive a free copy of the book in softcover. Authors that are chosen for the anthology will not be paid nor receive royalties for their submission.
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Each author may submit up to 3 unique works—please submit them separately.
More details and submissions info HERE
FutureScapes Writing Contest
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: 8000 words
Prize: 1st prize: $2,000, 5 x runners-up: $500
Entry Fee: 1st entry: FREE, 2nd entry: $24
Notes: Theme: Cities of Promise. FutureScapes is seeking stories set in a near-future city where significant strides have been made toward addressing the complex intersection of homelessness, mental health, and drug and sex trafficking.
More details and submissions info HERE
Grey Wolfe Publishing Monthly Writing Contest
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: 2000 words
Payment: $25 Visa gift card
Entry Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
Henshaw Short Story Competition
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: 2000 words
Prize: 1st prize: £100, 2nd prize: £50, 3rd prize: £25
Entry Fee: £5
Notes: Optional critique available for an extra £10
More details and submissions info HERE
Lascaux Prize in Short Fiction
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: 10,000 words
Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $10
Notes: The winner and all finalists will be published in The 2019 Lascaux Prize Anthology.
More details and submissions info HERE
Lazuli Literary Group Writing Contest
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: Fiction, creative non-fiction, excerpts, screenplays, stage plays, fragments, meanderings, philosophy and poetry up to 50 pages
Prize: $100
Entry Fee: $10
Notes: One poetry submission may contain up to 5 pieces per entry fee
More details and submissions info HERE
Magic Oxygen Literary Prize
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: Fiction: 4000 words / Poetry: 50 lines
Prize: 1st prize: £1,000, 2nd prize: £300, 3rd prize: £100, 2 x highly commended: £50
Entry Fee: £5
Notes: MOLP will plant a tree for every single entry received in Boré, Kenya and help fund the construction of a new classroom in the same community via the newly formed charity The Word Forest Organisation, which was founded as a direct result of the Magic Oxygen Literary Prize
More details and submissions info HERE
Magnum Opus International Poetry Anthology
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: 50 lines
Payment: Free ebook of the anthology
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Poems can be of any theme but should be your magnum opus. The goal of anthology is to display the greatest contemporary poems wrapped up in one book.
More details and submissions info HERE
The Moth Poetry Prize
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: No line limit
Prize: 1st prize:€10,000, 3 runners-up:€1,000
Entry Fee: €15
Notes: Poems may be on any subject and of any length
More details and submissions info HERE
Nashville Film Festival Competition
Deadline: 31st December 2018 [regular deadline*]
Word Limit: Feature scripts: 40–130 pages / Short scripts: 1–40 pages / Teleplays (30 minute pilot): 1–35 pages / Teleplay (60 minute pilot): 31-65 pages
Entry Fee: Feature screenplays and 60-min pilots: $50 / Short screenplays, 30-min pilots: $30
Notes: Finalists and semi-finalists will receive NaFF Silver Laminate passes to attend the festival. [*Late and extended deadlines Feb and April 2019 with increased fees]
More details and submissions info HERE
Nowhere Travel Writing Contest
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: Fiction, non fiction, poetry and essays: 800-5000 words
Prize: $10,000
Entry Fee: $20
Notes: Theme: Stories with a powerful sense of place. Up to 10 finalists will also be published
More details and submissions info HERE
Riverbabble
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: Fiction: 2500 words (up to 2 stories), Poetry: 30 lines (up to 3 poems), Essays, criticism and reviews: 1000 words
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: Interrupted / Unfinished. For this issue, Riverbabble is particularly interested in receiving poems using, but not limited to, bees, sea, glaciers, frost as image or metaphor.
More details and submissions info HERE
River Styx Microfiction Contest
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: 500 words
Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $10 (or $20 with one year subscription) – up to 3 stories per entry
More details and submissions info HERE
SHARKPACK Annual
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: Fiction & non fiction: 1000 words, Poetry: any length
Payment: $20
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: Dry. The creative work that excites the editors the most will be eligible to win the Prospero Prize – $150 cash and feature placement in the Annual.
More details and submissions info HERE
Unlit Press: Curse the Darkness
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: 3000-10,000 words
Payment: £75
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: Darkness. Only one entry per writer
More details and submissions info HERE
Vex Me No More
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: 5000 words
Payment: $0.02/word
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Horror Queen Media want your witch stories for a new horror anthology. Though they do not necessarily have to be female-centric, they do need to be tales of powerful, unique beings.
More details and submissions info HERE
Victorian Science Fiction Writing Contest
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: 2500 words + optional story abstract, character list and illustrations
Prize: 4 x $50 prizes will be awarded
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Aerolyth Enterprises – the makers of the Hive, Queen, and Country Role-playing game – seeking stories set in an alternate history Victorian Era setting with a hard science fiction flavour.
More details and submissions info HERE
Workers Write!
Deadline: 31st December 2018
Word Limit: 500-5000 words
Payment: $5-50
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: fiction about teachers, counselors, admins, school librarians, principals, janitors – anyone who works in a school or classroom setting.
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
Writers’ Forum Short Story Contest (RECURRING)
Deadline: Rolling
Word Limit: 1000-3000 words
Prize: 1st prize: £300, 2nd prize: £150, 3rd prize: £100
Entry Fee: £6 (£3 for subscribers)
Notes: Optional feedback for £5. This is a rolling competition which means that entries received after one issue’s cut-off point are simply placed in the next contest.
More details and submissions info HERE
Check out our 100 Submissions in 2018 challenge here!
NOTE: We’ve mainly included listings that offer payment or prizes here, as an added impetus, but there are huuuundreds more literary mags and submissions opportunities out there that reward you with publication, which is absolutely nothing to be sniffed at, and is a great way to build your ‘writer’s CV’ and prove your mettle. Check out Submittable, Duotrope or The Submission Grinder for wider listings of more lit mags and calls for submissions – or, y’know, google “list of literary magazines” and you should be busy for the next zillion years…
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