“A good [short story] would take me out of myself and then stuff me back in, outsized, now, and uneasy with the fit.” ~ David Sedaris

Contests For Those Who Write Short

Open at Winning Writers, co-sponsored by Duotrope
WERGLE FLOMP HUMOR POETRY CONTEST – NO FEE
Free to enter, $3,500 in prizes, including a top award of $2,000.

TOM HOWARD/JOHN H. REID FICTION & ESSAY CONTEST
$8,000 in prizes, including two top awards of $3,000 each. $20 entry fee.

NOTE: Do you have a contest you’d like us to list? Please let me know. Use the Contact button.

Trish Hopinson’s site, https://trishhopkinson.com, lists numerous contests. Most are free.

Free Writing Contests for Teens – guest post by K.T. Mehra

Taken from an e-mail after I took a look at the site:

About Zizzle Literary Flash Fiction Contest:
https://zizzlelit.com/contest/

First Prize: $1,000 USD; Second Prize: $500 USD; Three Finalists: $150 USD each

This contest will be judged by David Galef and Karen Heuler. We are looking for fiction that will appeal to young readers from age 11 and even to full-on grown-ups. Every week during our submission period, we’ll post one-sentence dialogue writing prompts on our social media platforms. Choose a dialogue prompt that inspires you and write a story that includes the prompt.

Taken from Aerogramme, https://www.aerogrammestudio.com/2020/01/16/short-story-contests-2020/

Zoetrope All-Story’s Annual Fiction Contest, https://www.all-story.com/workshops, has the aim of seeking out and encouraging talented writers, with the winning and runners-up’s work being forwarded to leading literary agents. A first prize of US$1000 is also offered. Entries open on 1 July and are expected to close in October.

Larry Brown Short Story Award https://manager.submittable.com/opportunities/opportunity/63647
is run by literary magazine Pithead Chapel. The contest is open to stories up to 4000 words and first prize is US$500. The entry fee is US$10. Entries open on 1 August and close on 31 October.

CBC Short Story Prize, https://www.cbc.ca/books/literaryprizes
is open to Canadian citizens and permanent residents. The winner will receive CA$6000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, will have their story published on CBC Books and will have the opportunity to attend a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Entries open on 1 September and close on 31 October.

John Steinbeck Short Story Award https://www.reedmag.org/john-steinbeck-award-for-fiction
is one of three prizes offered by Reed Magazine. This award is for a work of fiction up to 5000 words. The winner receives a cash prize of US$1000 and all entries are considered for publication. Entries open on 1 June and close 1 November.

Chris O’Malley Prize in Fiction, https://www.themadisonrevw.com/contests
is offered annually by The Madison Review. The winning story will be awarded US$1000 and publication. Entries may be up to 30 pages. The entry fee is $10. Entries open on 1 October and close on 1 December.

From ARDOR, http://www.ardorlitmag.com/poetry-contests.html

November Poetry Contest

Tethered By Letters Fall Poetry Contest, https://tetheredbyletters.com/resources/contest-list/

Entry Deadline: 11/1/2020
Entry Fee: $8
Prize: $300 MANY contests here

December Poetry Contests

Annual Gival Press Poetry Award, https://www.givalpress.com

Entry Deadline: 12/15/2020
Entry Fee: $20
Prize: $1,000 SCROLL DOWN

Jeff Marks Memorial Poetry Prize, https://decembermag.org/2021-jeff-marks-memorial-poetry-prize/

Entry Deadline: 12/15/2020
Entry Fee: $20
Prize: $1,000

Flash Fiction Contests

Since many of you found us through Flash Contests and we have our Scintillating Starts Contest in the fall, I’d like to share a few resources. Give them a try if they appeal. Let me know how it goes.

These were found at https://thejohnfox.com/2016/03/flash-fiction-contest/

There’s lots of good items there including more flash contests.

NYC Midnight

http://www.nycmidnight.com/Competitions/FFC/Challenge.htm

NANO Fiction

http://nanofiction.org

Fiction Southeast

https://fictionsoutheast.com/ernest-hemingway-flash-fiction-award/

River Styx

http://www.riverstyx.org/submit/microfiction-contest/

The Lascaux Review

https://lascauxreview.com/contests/