Monash Undergraduate Prize for Creative Writing

Monash University in collaboration with the Emerging Writers’ Festival is proud to present the Monash Undergraduate Prize for Creative Writing, a prestigious prize for emerging literary voices. Now in its seventh year, the Prize is a significant literary award for new and emerging writers. The prize is open to both Australian and New Zealand university students, enrolled in either an undergraduate or honours degree. All types of creative writing will be accepted, including short stories, non-fiction narrative and narrative verse.

CLOSING 15/04/18

Limnisa Short Story Competition 2018

Entries on the subject of anything known to man, set in past, present or future, yet somehow involving PLASTIC. First prize is a one week writer's retreat in 2018 or 2019 at Limnisa, Greece.

CLOSING 15/04/18

The Rachel Funari Prize For Fiction 2018

The Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction is a themed fiction competition open to all women, female-identifying and non-binary writers. The theme of the 2018 competition is ‘Metamorphosis’, with a focus on women’s stories. We’re looking for creative, insightful fiction up to 2000 words that addresses the theme in any way.

All entries must be original pieces of writing of up to 2000 words that engage with the theme, previously unpublished, unperformed, and not entered into any other competition, written by Australian residents, and written by women, female-identifying or non-binary writers.

CLOSING 20/04/18

Dulcie Stone Writing Competition

The Dulcie Stone Writers Competition is open to and designed to showcase the voices of people with intellectual disability. The competition recognises the lifetime contribution of Dulcie Stone to services for people with intellectual disability and writing. The competition is a partnership between VALID and Writers Victoria. The theme for 2018 competition is: Community - Here I Come!

CLOSING 27/04/18

Sutherland Shire Literary Competition

Australian residents over 18 years of age are invited to submit their individual, original works in the following categories: traditional verse, free verse, and short story. Three prizes are offered in each category, starting with a first place prize of $1000. At the judge’s discretion, a separate Shire Resident’s Prize of $250 may be also awarded for the best entry in each category from a Shire resident not winning another prize in that category.

CLOSING 30/04/18

Bath Novel Award

The Bath Novel Award is a prize for unpublished and independently published novelists. First place receives £2500, shortlisted entries receive manuscript feedback and literary agent introductions.

CLOSING 30/04/18

Alan Marshall Short Story Award

Australian writers are invited to enter the 33rd Alan Marshall Short Story Award (AMSSA). The award celebrates the art of writing and honours the life and work of Australian literary icon, Alan Marshall. The 'open' category is open to writers living in Australia who are over the age of 18, and the entry fee is $20. The grand prize consists of $2,000, mentoring with the mentor of your choice through Australian Society of Authors (ASA) and an annual ASA membership.

CLOSING 30/04/18

Northern Territory Literary Awards 2018

The annual Northern Territory Literary Awards celebrate the unpublished work of Territory writers in a range of categories. All writers across the NT, from our Red Centre to the Top End, whether experienced wordsmiths or just starting out, are encouraged to submit their work. Winners receive fantastic cash prizes, as well as free memberships and masterclasses with the Northern Territory Writers’ Centre.

CLOSING 30/04/18

The Silver Gull Play Award

subtlenuance is pleased to announce that entries are now open for the 2018 Silver Gull Play Award. The Silver Gull Award recognises an outstanding play by a local writer that explores philosophical or political themes. The aim of the award is to encourage interest in theatre that both offers insight and encourages action. This year the total prize money for the award will rise to $5000. The winning playwright will receive $3000 and the remainder of the prize pool will be split evenly between the shortlisted writers.

CLOSING 30/04/18

Nillumbik Ekphrasis Poetry Award

The Nillumbik Ekphrasis Poetry Award invites Australian poets to respond to artworks from the Nillumbik Visual Art Collection or exhibition program. This year poems are invited to respond with 12-line poems to artworks from the Baldessin and Friends commemorative folio, recently acquired for the Nillumbik Shire Art Collection.

CLOSING 30/04/18

Poetica Christi Press Annual Poetry Competition

25 poems will be selected to be included in an anthology to be published by PCP. The theme for this competition will be INTERLUDES. First place receives $300.

CLOSING 30/04/18

2018 Bristol Short Story Prize

We are delighted to announce that the 2018 Bristol Short Story Prize , in association with Tangent Books, is open for entries. The competition is open to all writers around the world whether published or unpublished, UK or non-UK based. 20 stories will be shortlisted and published in Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology Volume 11. The winner and 2 runners up will be selected from the shortlist and announced at an awards ceremony which will be held in Bristol in October 2018. 1st prize is £1,000, 2nd prize is £700, 3rd prize is £400. 17 further prizes of £100 will be presented to the remaining shortlisted writers. All shortlisted writers will receive 2 free copies of the anthology. Prizes will be sent to any writer on the shortlist who is unable to attend the awards ceremony.

CLOSING 1/05/18

The Questions Writing Prize

The 2018 Questions Writing Prize aims to recognise and reward talented writers aged 18 to 30 years. The writing can be fiction or non-fiction and on any topic, with a word length from 1500 to 2000.The prize for the best writing submitted is $2,000. The winner of the Questions Writing Prize will have their work published in a book and a forthcoming issue of Questions.

CLOSING 1/05/18

Writers' Unleashed Picture Book Writing Competition

Original picture book manuscripts only. Must not have been accepted for publication or have won a prize in any other competition at time of submission. First place receives $300.

CLOSING 7/05/18

Griffith Review 62: All Things Equal – The Novella Project VI

Submissions are now open for Griffith Review’s annual novella competition. Winning entries will share in a $25,000 prize pool and will be published in Griffith Review 62: All Things Equal – The Novella Project VI (to be published 29 October 2018). Entry fee is $30 for subscribers and $60 for non-subscribers.

CLOSING 21/05/18

The Banjo Prize

HarperCollins is excited to announce the establishment of a new fiction prize, The Banjo. We’re looking for exciting new Australian voices telling the sorts of stories that we love to read – from sweeping family sagas and lush romances to dark and gritty crime, twisty psychological thrillers, rich historical dramas and contemporary romantic comedies. We’re looking for stories that make us laugh and make us cry. Stories that keep us reading late into the night. Stories that make our pulse race. Stories we just can’t put down.

The Banjo will be offered annually and will be open to all Australian writers of fiction, offering the chance to win a publishing contract with HarperCollins, with an advance of $15,000. In partnership with News Regional Media, two runners-up will each receive a written assessment of their manuscript from HarperCollins.

CLOSING 25/05/18

Grieve Writing Project

Open to Australian residents over the age of 18, writing on the topic of grief. Word limit for prose is 500 words, and the limit for poetry is 36 lines. There is a prize pool of over $8500, and winning entries will be published in an anthology.

CLOSING 28/05/18

The Australian/Vogel's Literary Award

Offering prize money of $20,000 plus publication by Allen & Unwin with an advance agains royalties, The Australian/Vogel's Literary Award is one of Australia's richest and the most prestigious award for an unpublished manuscript by a writer under the age of thirty-five. 

CLOSING 31/05/18

The Lifted Brow & RMIT non/fictionLab Prize for Experimental Non-fiction

This prize encourages non-fiction writers to challenge themselves by testing the limits of their craft and creativity. We aim to unearth new, audacious, authentic and/or inauthentic voices from both Australia and the world. The winner will receive AU$5000 and publication in an upcoming issue of The Lifted Brow, and two runners-up will each receive $500.

CLOSING 31/05/18

The Bruce Dawe National Poetry Prize

Open to Australian residents over the age of 18 with a first place prize of $2500.

CLOSING 1/06/18 

Stuart Hadow Prize 2018

The Stuart Hadow Prize is an annual short story competition run by the Fellowship of Australian Writers WA in honour of WA writers Lyndall Hadow and Donald Stuart. Each year, the contest attracts high quality entries from around Australia, and in 2018 the prize pool has first prize offering $1,000 and a week's unpaid residency at Mattie Furphy House in Swanbourne.

CLOSING 1/06/208

VU Short Story Prize for New and Emerging Writers

This annual competition encourages excellent and original short fiction by new writers of up to 3000 words in length. At a grand first prize of $6000, it is a coveted annual fiction award for new writers in Australia. There are also two runner-up prizes of $1000. All three winners will be published in the spring issue of Overland.

CLOSING 11/06/18

Newcastle Poetry Prize

For poems up to 200 lines in length. First place receives $15,000.

CLOSING 11/06/18

The Ros Spencer Poetry Prize 2018

A poetry contest from WA Poets Inc. for original and unpublished* poems of up to 60 lines with an open theme. First place prize is $701.

CLOSING 29/06/18

University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor’s International Poetry Prize

The University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor's International Poetry Prize has been offered annually since 2014. The prize celebrates the enduring significance of poetry to cultures everywhere in the world, and its ongoing and often seminal importance to world literatures.The winner will receive AUD$15,000, and the runner-up will receive AUD$5,000. Entries can have a maximum length of 50 lines. Each entry of a poem will cost AUD$15 if submitted by 11:59pm GMT, 28 February 2018 and AUD$20 if submitted between 1 March and 30 June 2018. There are discounts for students.

CLOSING 30/06/18

The Moth Short Story Prize

Every year, a single judge is asked to choose three winning stories to feature in the autumn issue of The Moth. This year’s judge is Kevin Barry. First place receives €3,000, second place receives a spot at a week-long writing retreat at Circle of Misse in France plus €250 travel stipend.

CLOSING 30/06/18

Fool for Poetry International Chapbook Competition 2018

The competition is open to new, emerging and established poets from any country. One of these winners will be the highest scoring manuscript entered by a debutant poet with no solo collection (full-length or chapbook) previously published. Up to 25 other entrants will be publicly listed as "highly commended".

CLOSING 30/06/18

Adelaide Plains Poets Inc. Poetry Competition 2018

1st, 2nd and 3rd place cash prizes, with a total prize pool worth over $700. Entries must in some way refer to the theme, 'Truth'.

CLOSING 06/07/18

The Richell Prize for Emerging Writers

The Richell Prize is open to unpublished writers of adult fiction and adult narrative non-fiction. The winner will receive $10,000 and a 12-month membership with Hachette.

CLOSING 9/07/18

Vallum Award for Poetry 2018

Vallum is accepting original and previously unpublished poetry submissions for the Vallum Award for Poetry 2018! The editors at Vallum are committed to enriching and continuing the tradition of poetry in the present day. We welcome submissions that deepen our understanding of what poetry is and can be. We encourage Indigenous writers, writers of colour, gender non-conforming writers, differently abled writers, LGBTQ writers, writers with mental or physical illnesses, and writers who are otherwise affected by structural inequality to submit their work for consideration. Submit up to 1-3 poems of maximum 60 lines each. The $25 entry fee covers 3 poems. You may submit more than once. Poems may be on any theme or subject, but must be original and not previously published. Begin each poem on a new page, use 12-point font and single spacing. 1st prize is $750, 2nd $250. Both 1st and 2nd prize-winning poems will be published in Vallum Magazine and on Vallum's website. Honourable Mentions may be selected and published but are not eligible for cash prizes.

CLOSING 15/07/18

The 2018 ACU Prize for Poetry

Following the success of the Prize in previous years, the ACU Prize for Poetry will be awarded for outstanding poetry with the theme ‘Empathy.’ First place prize is $10,000, second place prize is $5000 and third place prize is $3000.

CLOSING 20/07/18

Ipswich Poetry Feast International Poetry Writing Competition

There are several categories, including open age - bush poetry, open age - other poetry, open age - local poets, and open age - picture Ipswich theme. Over $6000 available in prize money.

CLOSING 27/07/18

The Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Prize 2018

The competition is open to original, unpublished and unbroadcast short stories in the English language of 3,000 words or fewer. The story can be on any subject, in any style, by a writer of any nationality, living anywhere in the world. Translated work is not in the scope of this competition.

CLOSING 31/07/18

InkTears Flash Fiction Contest

For stories under 500 words in length. Winner will receive £250 and publication on the InkTears site.

CLOSING 31/07/18

FAW Tasmania 2018 Poetry Prize

For a poem of no more than 60 lines. First prize $150.

CLOSING 31/08/18

Bette Olle Poetry Award 2018

Poems must be in traditional Australian bush verse with an Australian theme. Winner receives the Bette Olle Poetry Award and $500.

CLOSING 31/08/18

Shore Scripts Competitions

Our mission is to discover new exciting screenwriting talent and help kickstart careers! We put each year’s best scripts into the hands our industry roster – all of whom have the experience and means to get your script made. There are three categories for scripts: Feature, with over $10,000 in prizes TV Pilot, with over $7000 in prizes and Short, with over $3000 in prizes We’ve amassed a roster of the most respected industry Judges of any screenwriting contest in the world. They include 40 Oscar, Golden Globe, Emmy & Bafta winners, and 80 Prod Comps, Agents and Managers.

CLOSING 31/08/18

FAW NSW Jean Stone 2018 Poetry Award

The Award is for a poem or group of poems up to 60 lines. The competition is open to all residents of Australia 18 years and over. First place prize is $500. 

CLOSING 31/08/18

FAW NSW Walter Stone 2018 Life Writing Award

The Award is for a Life Writing, defined as a work of biography, autobiography, memoir, monograph, bibliography. Biography and autobiography may be an extract to meet the word count requirements which is a minimum of 10,000 and a maximum of 25,000. The competition is open to all residents of Australia 18 years and over.

CLOSING 31/08/18