Um, excuse me? September? Where did you come from? Time has lost all meaning in this strange, strange year, but apparently it’s almost autumn? Okay. Cool. Whatever.
But none of that matters because the only measurement of time you should be concerned about is when your next submission deadline is, right? And it just so happens we have 90+ of ’em lined up for you.
Yup yup, you know the drill, so let’s get to it.
Pick a deadline. Write a thing. Send it out. Blammo. May the submission odds be every in your favour.
(And if you need a bit of a helping hand with this whole writing thang, well, we’ve always got your back.)
Good luck, word herders.
2020 Alternate Endings
Deadline: 1st September 2020
Word Limit: 1,000 words (up to 3 pieces)
Payment: $80
Entry Fee: Optional donations to the Black Lives Matter movement
Notes: 2020 Alternate Endings is looking for speculative stories from BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of colour) writers who re-envision the future.
More details and submissions info HERE
ASF Translation Awards
Deadline: 1st September 2020
Requirements: Prose: 50 pages / Poetry: 25 pages
Prizes: 3 prizes of $2,000-2500 will be awarded for literary translations
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: The prize is looking for outstanding English translations of poetry, fiction, drama or literary prose originally written in a Nordic language by a Scandinavian author born after 1900.
More details and submissions info HERE
Bikes In Space: Bicycles & Broomsticks
Deadline: 1st September 2020
Word Limit: 1,000-6,000 words
Payment: $30 min
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: witchcraft & bicycling, through a feminist lens
More details and submissions info HERE
The Common Breath Short Prose Anthology 2020
Deadline: 1st September 2020
Word Limit: 500 words
Entry Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
The Coniston Prize
Deadline: 1st September 2020
Requirements: 3-6 poems
Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $20
Notes: The Coniston Prize is an annual award that recognizes an exceptional group of poems by a woman writing in English.
More details and submissions info HERE
The Conium Review
Deadline: 1st September 2020
Requirements: Chapbook and shorter book-length manuscripts (fiction only)
Payment: Contributor copies and a small honorarium
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: This year, in solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter, Conium are only considering work from Black writers.
More details and submissions info HERE
FishFood Mag Short Story Contest
Deadline: 1st September 2020
Word Limit: 1,000 words
Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $17
More details and submissions info HERE
Guts Publishing: Sending Nudes
Deadline: 1st September 2020
Word Limit: Fiction & non-fiction: 1,000-5,000 words / Poetry: up to 5 pages
Payment: Standard royalty contract
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: sending nudes. Writers from the UK & Ireland preferred
More details and submissions info HERE
Haunted Waters Press “Short Shorts” Flash Fiction Open 2020
Deadline: 1st September 2020
Word Limit: 500 words
Prize: 1st prize: $250 / Selected works will also be paid $20 each
Entry Fee: $10 for up to 3 pieces
More details and submissions info HERE
The Helen Schaible International Sonnet Contest
Deadline: 1st September 2020
Requirements: Traditional sonnets (Shakespearean or Petrarchan) and modern sonnets
Prizes: (in each category) 1st prize: $50 / 2nd prize: $35 / 3rd prize: $15
Entry Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
Jellyfish Review: Just Like The River
Deadline: 1st September 2020
Word Limit: 1,000 words
Payment: $50
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Just Like The River is open to writers of colour
More details and submissions info HERE
La Piccioletta Barca 2020 Arts Competition
Deadline: 1st September 2020
Word Limit: Prose: 5,000 words / Poetry: up to 5 poems (300 lines total)
Prizes: 1st prize: $400 / 2nd prize: $200 / 3rd prize: $100
Entry Fee: $10 for one entry, $15 for two, $20 for three
Notes: Theme: antimatter
More details and submissions info HERE
NCW Emerging Translator Mentorships 2020
Deadline: 1st September 2020
Requirements: A 2,000 word/100 line translation sample + covering letter + CV + 1 page project proposal
Prizes: $500 bursary + travel expenses + 6 months mentoring + a residential weekend + access to industry events
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Languages for translation include: Danish, Japanese, Italian, Korean, Polish, Norwegian, Russian, Swiss French. There is also an additional mentorship available for a UK-based BAME literary translator and/or UK-based literary translator from the diaspora, heritage or community languages of the UK
More details and submissions info HERE
Planet Essay Competition 2020
Deadline: 1st September 2020
Word Limit: 1,500-2,000 words
Prize: £200 + 1 year subscription + 6 books
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: The competition is open to writers under the age of 30
More details and submissions info HERE
Pleiades: Reanimating Ancestors
Deadline: 1st September 2020
Requirements: Up to 5 poems or hybrid texts (up to 1,500 words each)
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Pleiades is seeking poetry and hybrid texts that exist despite imperialistic attempts at erasure.
More details and submissions info HERE
Popshot Quarterly: Protest Issue
Deadline: 1st September 2020
Word Limit: Flash fiction: 100-1,000 words / Short stories: 1,000-3,000 words / Poetry: 12-40 lines
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: protest. Up to 3 pieces per submission.
More details and submissions info HERE
Sonder Midwest
Deadline: 1st September 2020
Word Limit: Fiction & poetry: 3-5 pages (1,250 words)
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Sonder will not consider anyone who has been published more than 5 times.
More details and submissions info HERE
Stories Out Of School Flash Fiction Contest
Deadline: 1st September 2020
Word Limit: 6-749 words
Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: The story’s protagonist, or its narrator, must be a K-12 teacher. Sentimentality is discouraged and education jargon is forbidden.
More details and submissions info HERE
Sunspot Lit
Deadline: 1st September 2020
Word Limit: Flash fiction & non-fiction: 500 words / Fiction & non-fiction: 3,500 words / Longform fiction & non-fiction: 7,500 words / Supernova (very long form) fiction: 17,500 words / Novelette: 29,000 words / Novella: 49,000 words / Poetry: up to 1,250 lines (varying fees apply)
Prize: Sunspot offers an Editor’s Prize of $50 for the annual edition
Entry Fee: Flash: $3 / Fiction: $5 / Longform: $6.50 / Supernova: $10 / Novelette: $18 / Novella: $35
Notes: Fast flux (2 week) response available for an additional fee
More details and submissions info HERE
Tiny Fork Chapbook Series 2020 Contest
Deadline: 1st September 2020
Requirements: Poetry, prose and hybrid manuscripts of 15-40 pages.
Prizes: Two winners will receive $100 + publication + 10 author copies
Entry Fee: $7
Notes: Additional finalists will be considered by publication and, if selected, receive 10 copies of their chapbook.
More details and submissions info HERE
The Insecure Writers’ Support Group Anthology Contest 2020
Deadline: 2nd September 2020
Word Limit: 4,500-6,000 words
Payment: Royalties on publication
Entry Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
The Next Chapter Award
Deadline: 2nd September 2020
Requirements: A 2,500 word writing sample (or up to 140 lines of poetry) + personal statement (500 words) + writing experience (200 words)
Prize: £2,000 + 9 months of mentoring + a 2 week retreat at Moniack Mhor + PR training
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: The Next Chapter Award is an annual award supporting an emerging writer over the age of 40. The award is open to poets, novelists, short story writers, authors of narrative non-fiction and children’s authors.
More details and submissions info HERE
Hubert Butler Essay Prize
Deadline: 4th September 2020
Word Limit: 3,000 words
Prize: 1st prize: £1,000 / 2x runners up: $500
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: “Communal solidarity and individual freedom: antagonists or allies?” Entrants must be over 18, and be a UK or European Union citizen.
More details and submissions info HERE
On the Premises Short Story Contest
Deadline: 4th September 2020
Word Limit: 1,000-5,000 words
Prizes: 1st prize: $220 / 2nd prize: $160 / 3rd prize: $120 / Honourable mention: $60
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: smell. Optional critique for $15.
More details and submissions info HERE
Southam Book Festival Flash Fiction Competition 2020
Deadline: 4th September 2020
Word Limit: 100 words
Entry Fee: £2 per story (up to 6 for £8)
Notes: Entries must include the words tripped over.
More details and submissions info HERE
Dogwood Contest
Deadline: 5th September 2020
Requirements: Fiction & non-fiction: 22 pages / Poetry: up to 3 poems (10 pages max)
Prizes: $500 in each category
Entry Fee: $5
Notes: All submissions will be considered for publication
More details and submissions info HERE
Liars’ League
Deadline: 6th September 2020
Word Limit: 800-2,000 words
Prize: Publication + professional reading of stories by actors + mp3/YouTube link
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: hide & seek
More details and submissions info HERE
Montana Mouthful
Deadline: 7th September 2020
Word Limit: Prose: 2,000 words / Poetry: 1,000 words
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: quarantine
More details and submissions info HERE
Terrain.org 11th Annual Contest
Deadline: 7th September 2020
Word Limit: Fiction & non-fiction: 5,000 words / Poetry: 3-5 poems
Prizes: 1st prize: $500 / Finalists: $100 (in each category)
Entry Fee: $15
Notes: Entries must include the words tripped over.
More details and submissions info HERE
BAFTA Rocliffe New Writing Competition: TV Comedy
Deadline: 10th September 2020
Requirements: 3-6 TV comedy episode guides or sketch ideas + a short synopsis (25 words) + treatment or outline of the entire series or show (300 words max) + character breakdown of featured characters (50 words per character)
Prize: Selected script extracts will be performed by a professional cast to an audience of producers, development executives, directors, actors and literary agents, aiming to give a platform to emerging writing talent from across the country.
Entry Fee: £42
Notes: Anyone who is a British citizen or has been resident in the UK for five years prior to the entry deadline and is over the age of 18 at the entry deadline may apply.
More details and submissions info HERE
Constellations: Synthesis
Deadline: 10th September 2020
Word Limit: Poetry: up to 6 pages / Fiction: 5,000 words (2,000 recommended)
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: synthesis
More details and submissions info HERE
Editing Mee Fantasy Anthology
Deadline: 10th September 2020
Word Limit: 2,000-5,000 words
Payment: $15
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: The anthology is looking for traditional fantasy stories about characters who work in illegal or unsavoury positions.
More details and submissions info HERE
Longleaf Review
Submission Period: 1st–10th September 2020
Word Limit: Fiction & non-fiction: 5,000 words / Flash fiction: up to 3 pieces (1,000 words each) / Poetry: up to 5 poems
Payment: $20
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: harvest
More details and submissions info HERE
The Poetry Archive
Deadline: 10th September 2020
Requirements: A video/film recording of yourself reading or reciting a single poem you have written (max 2 minutes)
Prize: 20 entries will be added to a special Archive Collection for 2020 and offered a £100 royalty fee
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: A shortlist of 50 poems will be published.
More details and submissions info HERE
Burningword Literary Journal
Deadline: 11th September 2020
Word Limit: Flash fiction & non-fiction: up to 2 pieces of 300-500 words each / Poetry: up to 5 poems, 10 pages max
Entry Fee: $3
More details and submissions info HERE
Untitled Voices
Deadline: 11th September 2020
Word Limit: Prose: 2,500 words / Poetry: 50 lines (up to 5 poems)
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Untitled: Voices is a global online journal founded to amplify underrepresented writers.
More details and submissions info HERE
Shoreline of Infinity Flash Fiction Competition
Deadline: 12th September 2020
Word Limit: 1,000 words
Prizes: 1st prize: £50 + 1 year subscription / 2x runners-up: 1 year subscription
Entry Fee: FREE (2 entries max)
Notes: The competition is looking for funny science fiction stories
More details and submissions info HERE
Aurora Summer Poetry Contest
Deadline: 13th September 2020
Line Limit: 100 lines
Prizes: 1st prize: $500 / 2x honourable mentions: $50
Entry Fee: $15
Notes: Poems will be considered for publication in Aurora Poetry, regardless of whether they place in the contest.
More details and submissions info HERE
Paper Swans Poetry Pamphlet Prize
Deadline: 13th September 2020
Requirements: 18-24 poems
Prize: £30 + 20 copies
Entry Fee: £10
More details and submissions info HERE
Adventures in Fiction: New Voices Competition
Deadline: 14th September 2020
Requirements: The first page of a novel + one-page synopsis
Prize: A start-up mentoring package worth £550
Entry Fee: £10
Notes: The competition is aimed at writers who have completed at least 50 pages of their manuscript.
More details and submissions info HERE
Green Stories Children’s Novel Competition
Deadline: 14th September 2020
Word Limit: Preschool/ illustrated books (aged 2-6): 1,000 words / Young readers (aged 7-11): 2,500 words
Prizes: £200 in each category
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Green Stories is looking for stories for children that in some way touch upon ideas around building a sustainable society. Curtis Brown will read the top entries and consider any writers they think suitable for representation.
More details and submissions info HERE

Oxford Brookes International Poetry Competition
Deadline: 14th September 2020
Line Limit: 50 lines
Prizes: 1st prize: £1,000 / 2nd prize: £500 in each category (Open & English as an Additional Language)
Entry Fee: £5 for 1 poem or £4 each for more than 3 poems
More details and submission info HERE
2020 Barthelme Prize for Short Prose
Deadline: 15th September 2020
Word Limit: Flash fiction or micro-essays of up to 500 words
Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20 for 3 pieces
Notes: The entry fee includes a year’s subscription to Gulf Coast
More details and submissions info HERE
22 Under 22
Deadline: 15th September 2020
Requirements: Poetry: up to 3 poems / Short stories, essays & memoir: 5,000 words
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: The anthology seeks to offer a channel for people under 22 to talk to older people about their experiences and concerns. For this issue they are accepting submissions specifically on the topics of George Floyd and the resulting reckoning and the pandemic only.
More details and submissions info HERE
Blue Light Special
Deadline: 15th September 2020
Word Limit: 1,000-5,000 words
Payment: 1 cent per word
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: The anthology is looking for folktales set in the modern world. All stories should contain some LGBTQ element.
More details and submissions info HERE
Bone & Ink Press Chapbook Submissions
Deadline: 15th September 2020
Requirements: Chapbooks of up to 30 pages
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: The current submissions call is open to Black writers only
More details and submissions info HERE
Fabulist and Fantastic Flash Fiction Contest
Deadline: 15th September 2020
Word Limit: 1,000 words
Prizes: 1st prize: 50% of net entry fees / Runner-up: 20% of net entry fees
Entry Fee: $5 for up to 2 entries
Notes: All work should fit within the traditions of fabulism, surrealism, or magic realism
More details and submissions info HERE
Dark Magic – Drabbles
Deadline: 15th September 2020
Word Limit: 100 words exactly (title not included), up to 5 entries
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: dark fantasy
More details and submissions info HERE
It Calls From The Sea
Deadline: 15th September 2020
Word Limit: 2,000-8,000 words
Payment: Up to 3,000 words: $10 / Up to 5,000 words: $15 / Over 5,000 words: $20
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: the sea / Genre: horror
More details and submissions info HERE
The Moth Nature Writing Prize
Deadline: 15th September 2020
Word Limit: 4,000 words
Prizes: €1,000 + a week long retreat in rural Ireland
Entry Fee: €15
More details and submissions info HERE
Manzano Mountain Review
Deadline: 15th September 2020
Word Limit: Flash prose: up to 3 pieces, 3,000 words total / Poetry: up to 3 poems, 10 pages max / Longer prose: 3,000 words
Entry Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
Ottery Writers Creative Writing Competition
Deadline: 15th September 2020
Word Limit: Short stories: 500 words / Poetry: 40 lines
Prizes: Young writers (under 18): £50 / All other writers: £50 book voucher
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: memory
More details and submissions info HERE
Robert Watson Literary Prize
Deadline: 15th September 2020
Word Limit: Fiction: 7,500 words / Poetry: 5-7 poems (10 pages max)
Prizes: $1,000 in each category
Entry Fee: $14 (includes 1 year subscription) or free for existing subscribers
More details and submissions info HERE
The QueryLetter.com Writing Contest
Deadline: 15th September 2020
Requirements: A back cover blurb of 100 words or fewer
Prize: $500
Entry Fee: FREE
More details and submissions info HERE
The 2021 Prole Poetry Pamphlet Competition
Deadline: 16th September 2020
Requirements: 20-40 pages (A5) of poetry
Prize: £200 + 25 copies
Entry Fee: £12 for first entry, £8 thereafter
More details and submissions info HERE
Herstry: Resilient Women
Deadline: 17th September 2020
Word Limit: 500-3,000 words
Payment: $20
Entry Fee: $3
Notes: Theme: comeback stories. Stories should be non-fiction and autobiographical.
More details and submissions info HERE
Manchester Fiction Prize
Deadline: 18th September 2020
Word Limit: 2,500 words
Prize: £10,000
Entry Fee: £18 (reduced entry available)
Notes: 100 reduced price (£8) entries are available to writers who might not otherwise be able to take part in the competition.
More details and submissions info HERE
Mslexia Fiction & Memoir Competitions 2020
Deadline: 21st September 2020
Requirements: Flash fiction: 300 words / Short story: 300-3,000 words / Memoir & life writing + Children’s & YA Novel: the first 5,000 words of a manuscript
Prizes: Flash fiction: £500 / Short story: £3,000 / Memoir & life writing + Children’s & YA Novel: £5,000
Entry Fee: Flash fiction: £5 / Short story: £10 / Memoir & life writing + Children’s & YA Novel: £25
Notes: Mslexia competitions are open to women of any nationality from any country. Additional runner-up prizes will also be awarded. A number of sponsored entries for the Children’s & YA Novel Competition for low-income women writers are available.
More details and submissions info HERE
The Bodley Head/FT Essay Prize Competition 2020
Deadline: 24th September 2020
Word Limit: 3,500 words
Prizes: 1st prize: £1,000, 2x runners up: £300
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: The Bodley Head/FT Essay competition is open to anyone between 18 and 35 years old.
More details and submissions info HERE
Style X Black Writers’ Guild Essay Competition
Deadline: 26th September 2020
Requirements: An 800-word personal fashion or beauty essay
Prize: 6 months of mentoring from the Style team + a mentoring session with Bernardine Evaristo + six pieces commissioned and published in the print or digital editions of Style
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: Fashion and beauty are going through a revolution. What does that statement mean to you? The competition is open to women and womxn who are Black-British and of African or Caribbean descent
More details and submissions info HERE
Fractured Lit Micro Prize
Deadline: 27th September 2020
Word Limit: 400 words
Prizes: 1st prize: $2,000, 2nd prize: $1,000, 3rd prize: $500, 5x honourable mentions: $100
Entry Fee: $20 for up to 3 stories
More details and submissions info HERE
Troubadour International Poetry Prize 2020
Deadline: 28th September 2020
Line Limit: 45 lines
Prizes: 1st prize: £2,000, 2nd prize: £1,000, 3rd prize: £500
Entry Fee: £5
Notes: 20 poets will also be highly commended
More details and submissions info HERE
12 Christmas Tidings Competition 2020
Deadline: 30th September 2020
Word Limit: 3,000 words
Prizes: 12 authors will receive £50 and be published in an anthology
Entry Fee: £5
Notes: The contest is looking for Christmas stories written in the prose and style of the author you most enjoy, or has influenced your writing the most.
More details and submissions info HERE
Anthology Magazine Poetry Prize
Deadline: 30th September 2020 (*earlybird deadline)
Line Limit: 40 lines
Prize: €500 + one year subscription to Anthology Magazine
Entry Fee: €10
Notes: Theme: expectations (*Deadline extends to 30th November with increased entry fees)
More details and submissions info HERE
Boulevard Nonfiction Contest for Emerging Writers
Deadline: 30th September 2020
Word Limit: 8,000 words
Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $16
Notes: All entries include a one-year subscription to Boulevard
More details and submission info HERE
C21 Drama Series Script Competition
Deadline: 30th September 2020
Requirements: Drama series pilots of up to 60 pages
Prize: 1st prize: £10,000 + script acquisition and development / 6x finalists will be chosen to present their script to the global drama business at Content London 2020
Entry Fee: £40
Notes: Theme: post 2020 dramas
More details and submission info HERE
Covert Literary Magazine
Deadline: 30th September 2020
Requirements: Up to 6 poems or 3 pieces of fiction (up to 7k words in total)
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: Sussex Fortuneteller: What do writers see in the future? Covert is aimed at writers of Black, Asian and ethnic minority background (BAME) living in the South East of England, with an emphasis on supporting Sussex-based writers.
More details and submission info HERE
Crowvus Christmas Ghost Story Competition
Deadline: 30th September 2020
Word Limit: 4,000 words
Prizes: 1st prize: £100 / 2nd prize: £75 / 3rd prize: £50
Entry Fee: £3 for one entry, £5 for two
More details and submission info HERE
The Darling Axe First Page Challenge
Deadline: 30th September 2020
Requirements: The first page of a novel (1 double-spaced page)
Prize: $200 (further prizes available depending on how many entries are received)
Entry Fee: £3.50
More details and submission info HERE
Dzanc Books Prizes
Deadline: 30th September 2020
Requirements: Book-length manuscripts of fiction, non-fiction, or short fiction + synopsis + author bio
Prizes: Prize for Fiction: $3,000 / Short Story Collection: $2,000 / Diverse Voices Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: Prize for Fiction & Short Story Collection: $25 / Diverse Voices Prize: FREE
Notes: All prizes are advances and include publication
More details and submission info HERE
Flash Discourse: Epiphany
Deadline: 30th September 2020
Word Limit: 400-500 words, up to 4 pieces
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: epiphany
More details and submissions info HERE
The Galley Beggar Press Short Story Prize 2020/21
Deadline: 30th September 2020
Word Limit: 6,000 words
Prizes: 1st prize: £2,000 / Shortlist: £200 / Longlist: £50 of book vouchers
Entry Fee: £10
Notes: Galley Beggar Press are also offering 150 free entries to writers on a low income, who would not otherwise be able to afford to enter the prize.
More details and submissions info HERE
The Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award
Deadline: 30th September 2020
Word Limit: 1,500-10,0000 words
Prizes: 1st prize: $1,000 / 2x honourable mentions: $250
Entry Fee: $20
More details and submissions info HERE
Hammond House 2020 International Literary Prize
Deadline: 30th September 2020
Word Limit: Poetry: 40 lines / Short story: 1,000-5,000 words / Short film screenplay: 10 pages
Prizes: Poetry & Screenplay: £100 / Short story: £500
Entry Fee: £10 (£5 for members)
Notes: Theme: survival. Optional feedback for £10
More details and submissions info HERE
The Henshaw Short Story Competition
Deadline: 30th September 2020
Word Limit: 2,000 words
Prizes: 1st prize: £200 / 2nd prize: £100 / 3rd prize: £50
Entry Fee: £6 (critiques available for an additional £12)
More details and submission info HERE
The Lascaux Prize in Creative Nonfiction
Deadline: 30th September 2020
Word Limit: 10,000 words
Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Notes: The winner and all finalists are published in the annual print edition of the journal. Contest participants receive free downloads of the Lascaux volumes to date.
More details and submission info HERE
London Writers Awards 2021
Deadline: 30th September 2020
Requirements: 3,000 word writing sample + 300 word synopsis + 250 word supporting statement
Prizes: Writers labs + masterclasses + critical feedback groups + one to one support + feedback sessions with an agent and/or editor
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: The London Writers Awards are for London-based prose writers who identify as being from a background currently underrepresented in publishing: disabled, LGBTQIA+, working class & writers of colour. There is a bursary and accessibility fund for writers for whom money may be a barrier to their participation in the programme.
More details and submission info HERE
MoonShine Review
Deadline: 30th September 2020
Word Limit: 3,000 words (up to 3 pieces) writing sample + 300 word synopsis + 250 word supporting statement
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: personal anecdotes/stories related to social justice & equality
More details and submission info HERE
New Writing Scotland 39: 2021
Deadline: 30th September 2020
Word Limit: 3,500 words
Payment: £20 per page
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: New Writing Scotland publishes works by writers resident in Scotland or Scots by birth, upbringing or inclination.
More details and submission info HERE
Poems For Social Work
Deadline: 30th September 2020
Line Limit: not stated
Prize: The best of the submissions will be published on the Scottish Poetry Library website and writers will be asked to read their work at the launch of the project in October 2020.
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: The Scottish Poetry Library is working with the University of Edinburgh and Napier University to develop an anthology of poems for newly qualified social workers. They are looking for new and published work that inspire, support reflection, enhance empathy and soothe. They especially welcome submissions from social workers and those with lived experience of social work services.
More details and submission info HERE
Pushing Out The Boat Issue 16
Deadline: 30th September 2020
Word Limit: Prose: 3,000 words (up to 2 pieces) / Poetry: up to 3 poems
Entry Fee: FREE
More details and submission info HERE
Screencraft TV Pilot Screenwriting Competition
Deadline: 30th September 2020
Requirements: TV pilot scripts of 20-70 pages
Prize: Grand prize: $1,000 + free entry to the Screencraft Development Program + workshop + performance / $500 to the winner of each category
Entry Fee: $79
Notes: *Deadline extends to September with increased fees
More details and submissions info HERE
Tigershark
Deadline: 30th September 2020
Word Limit: 5,000 words
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Theme: escape
More details and submissions info HERE
Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest
Deadline: 30th September 2020
Line Limit: 250 lines
Prize: $3,000 in each category (open & traditional/rhyming)
Entry Fee: $15
Notes: Authors from all countries eligible except Syria, Iran, North Korea, and Crimea (due to US government restrictions).
More details and submissions info HERE
Whortleberry Press: Strange Holiday Mysteries
Deadline: 30th September 2020
Word Limit: 3,000 words
Payment: $10
Entry Fee: FREE
Notes: Entries must be based on some sort of holiday
More details and submission info HERE
WriteTime Short Story Competition
Deadline: 30th September 2020
Word Limit: 1,500 words
Prize: 1st prize: £50 / 2x runners-up: £25
Entry Fee: £3 for one story, £5 for two
Notes: Entrants must be aged 60 or over
More details and submission info HERE
If you have a writing competition or opportunity to add to our listings, please contact [email protected]
PLEASE NOTE: We rarely list contests with an entry fee of over £20 (with the exception of scriptwriting and chapbook competitions) unless they also offer free entries for low income writers.