Best Writing Contests in 2025

Genres: Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, Poetry, Children's, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Thriller, and Young Adult

The North Street Book Prize focuses on self-published or hybrid-published books, offering significant cash prizes and marketing services to enhance visibility. The contest has been running for 11 years and encourages entries across various genres.

Genres: Essay, Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, and Short Story

Vocal Challenges invite writers to enter themed storytelling contests for a chance to win cash, prizes, experiences, and more.

Genres: Fiction

The Breakwater Fiction Contest is an annual contest that seeks fresh and unpublished prose submissions ranging from 1,000 to 4,000 words. It charges a $10 entry fee and offers a prize of $1,000 and publication in the upcoming issue.

Genres: Fiction, Flash Fiction, and Short Story

The contest encourages participants to submit one fictional story (max 350 words) for a chance to win a prize. The contest requires a minimum of 10 shortlisted submissions to award a prize, which is a $25 Amazon Gift Card.

Genres: Poetry

The Poetry Wales Award is a single-poem competition allowing poets worldwide to submit new, unpublished works. The competition opens on 17th December 2024 and closes on 17th February 2025. The judge for this year is Jeremy Dixon, a prize-winning poet.

Genres: Fiction and Short Story

The Short Story Competition is organized by Exeter Writers, aiming to encourage and showcase emerging writing talent. This competition invites entries from writers of various backgrounds.

Genres: Essay and Non-fiction

The competition invites young writers aged 13-19 to craft a piece of creative nonfiction on their environment, blending fact with storytelling. The prompt emphasizes reflection on personal and global environmental challenges.

Genres: Non-fiction

The Eunice Williams Nonfiction Prize is an annual contest that invites submissions of true, unpublished nonfiction essays under 5,000 words. It aims to amplify the voices of women identifying and nonbinary writers. The contest features a blind judging process.

Genres: Poetry

The Oxford Poetry Prize is an annual competition for a single poem in English. The guest judge this year is Rebecca Tamás.

Genres: Fiction, Short Story, Fantasy, and Science Fiction

The Writers of the Future Contest, initiated by L. Ron Hubbard in 1983, supports new writers in science fiction and fantasy, judged by leading authors. Winners receive cash prizes and recognition. The contest encourages original works and offers a platform for upcoming writers.

Genres: Poetry

The Donald Hall Prize for Poetry awards $5,500 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press. The prize honors the best unpublished collection of poems and is judged by a prominent poet.

Genres: Poetry and Short Story

The Writers Cypher is a first year, three-round virtual creative writing competition sponsored by Writers' Row Publishing House. Participants will compete for cash prizes, including two grand prizes of $1,000 each and an additional $500 for two runners-up. To enter, review the rules and guidelines and submit your first-round entry and $20 registration fee by December 30th.

Genres: Fiction and Romance

The Crowned In Drama contest focuses on creating original audio series in the romance genre, specifically Historical and Regency Romance. Participants must complete 100k words by the deadline and follow specific guidelines to be eligible for prizes.

Genres: Flash Fiction and Short Story

An annual international writing competition aimed at fundraising for Tourette Canada. Participants submit flash fiction or short stories (up to 1000 words) without a specific prompt. The contest is open to everyone, not just those with Tourette Syndrome.

Genres: Fiction and Novella

Established in 2001, this annual prize awards a novella that excels in the format, offering a $1,000 advance, publication, and 10 copies of the book. Recent judges include notable authors like Steven Dunn and Michael Martone. Submissions open January 1 and close March 31 each year.

Genres: Fiction and Short Story

An open-themed contest accepting all genres, including those written by or for children. Stories must be between 1,000 and 3,000 words with strong characters and plots.