Writing competitions provide poets and writers with a great opportunity to hone their skills. Along with exciting prizes, they offer a wide variety of themes and challenges to help you write in newer, bolder ways. Out of the many poetry contests, short story competitions, and essay contests held each year, which ones will best reward your hard work? Let’s take a look.
At PaperTrue, we’ve always believed that writing contests are more than just about winning. It’s a community experience where you can interact with fellow participants and learn from each other’s work. After all, a supportive network is extremely important to all poets and writers who want to make a career out of writing.
But which contests should you participate in? As your beloved editors and proofreaders, we consider it our duty to bring you the best writing contests in 2023. We have sorted through the many contests out there to select only genuine, interesting contests.
Here are the best international writing competitions in 2023:
January 2023
The 2022 Charles Causley International Poetry Competition
Organized by Causley Trust, this poetry contest invites entries on any subject or theme. Award-winning writer Seán Hewitt will judge the competition. The top prize comes with a one-week writing residency at the Cyprus Well!
Word count: 40 lines
Prizes: £2,000, £250, £100
Entry fee: £7.5
Closing date: 01 January 2023
The Henshaw Short Story Competition
The December short story contest by Henshaw Press is currently active. You may opt for a critique from the judges at an entry fee of £14. Winning entries will have the opportunity to be published in an anthology.
Word count: 2,000
Prizes: £200, £100, £50
Entry fee: £6
Closing date: 06 January 2023
Colorado Prize for Poetry
This poetry competition awards one poetry book manuscript with publication (paperback, 500 copies) and a cash prize. Sadly, self-published books are not eligible for the contest.
Word count: 48–100 pages
Prize: $2,500
Entry fee: $3
Closing date: 14 January 2023
Novella-in-Flash Award Entry
This fiction writing contest has been organized by Bath Flash Fiction Award and features John Brantingham as an independent judge. Winners and two runners-up will get a chance to publish their novellas!
Word count: 6,000–18,000
Prizes: £300, two prizes of £100
Entry fee: £16
Closing date: 15 January 2023
Rattle Chapbook Prize
This poetry chapbook competition awards three poets with publication and a cash prize. They print 500 copies of the winning chapbooks and the poets get access to Rattle’s 8,000 subscribers!
Word count: 15–30 pages
Prizes: Three prizes of $5,000
Entry fee: $25
Closing date: 15 January 2023
The Crime Essays Writing Contest 2022
The organizers of this essay contest will be looking for “stories with a twist in the tale. Something new with a fresh approach or just a well-written captivating piece. Something that will keep readers hooked.”
Word count: 1,000–3,000
Prizes: £300, £100, £75, others
Entry fee: £5
Closing date: 23 January 2023
Magma 2022/23 Poetry Competition
Under this poetry contest, the Editor’s Prize considers poems up to 10 lines and the Judge’s Prize considers those from 11 to 50 lines. Prizes for both categories are the same, which means twice the chance of winning!
Word count: 10 / 50 lines (two categories)
Prizes: £1,000, £300, £150 per category
Entry fee: £5
Closing date: 31 January 2023
The Tampa Review Prize for Poetry
This poetry competition awards a manuscript of poems with publication and a cash prize. Selected poems from this manuscript are published in Tampa Review. Make sure to properly index your manuscript!
Word count: 48–100 pages
Prizes: $2,000
Entry fee: $25
Closing date: 31 January 2023
Kent & Sussex Poetry Society Open Poetry Competition, 2023
Prize-winning poems will be posted on the Kent & Sussex Poetry Society website and included in their annual Folio publication. The first prize winner will be invited to read their poem in Tunbridge Wells in April 2023.
Word count: 40 lines
Prizes: £1000, £300, £100, four prizes of £50
Entry fee: £5
Closing date: 31 January 2023
Clash of the Query Letters
This unique writing contest invites writers to send their query letters! Judge Michelle Barker, will ask herself one question: “does this query letter convince me that I’m in the hands of an adept novelist with a unique and engaging story to tell?”
Word count: 500
Prizes: $700 CAD, $200 CAD, $100 CAD
Entry fee: $5 CAD
Closing date: 31 January 2023
The Writing District Prize 2022
This short story contest invites writers to submit their entries with no restrictions on theme. Entries must be submitted through Duotrope. Make sure to go through their formatting instructions!
Word count: 3,000
Prizes: $1,000, two prizes of $100
Entry fee: $15
Closing date: 31 January 2023
February 2023
Flash Fiction Award
The Bath Flash Fiction Award is one of the most well-known flash fiction contests. Fifty authors are offered publication in their anthology and the organizers ship a free print copy to all published authors.
Word count: 300
Prizes: £1,000, £300, £100, two prizes of £30
Entry fee: £7.5
Closing date: 05 February 2023
March 2023
Nature and Place Poetry Competition 2023
The organizers of this poetry competition invite poets to send entries that deal with aspects of nature and place. The organizers offer a limited number of free entries available for writers on low or supported incomes.
Word count: 40 lines
Prizes: £1,000, £500, £250
Entry fee: £7
Closing date: 01 March 2023
The Caterpillar Poetry Prize 2022
This annual poetry competition awards an unpublished poem written by an adult for children aged 7–11. The winning poems will be published in the Irish Times online.
Word count: None
Prizes: €1,000, €500, €250
Entry fee: €15
Closing date: 31 March 2023
Fish Poetry Prize
Organized by Fish Publishing, the poetry contest awards the top ten entries with publication in the Fish Anthology 2023. Billy Collins will judge the contest this year.
Word count: 60 lines
Prizes: €1,000, €300, €300
Entry fee: €14
Closing date: 31 March 2023
April 2023
Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest
In its 22nd year, this poetry competition is completely free to enter! The top 12 entries will be published online. Make sure to send your best humor poem, because there’s a limit of one entry per poet!
Word count: 250 lines
Prizes: $2,000, $500, ten prizes of $100
Entry: Free!
Closing date: 01 April 2023
Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest
For this fiction and essay contest, a story is any short work of fiction, and an essay is any short work of nonfiction. Mina Manchester is the judge this year. The top 12 entries will be published.
Categories: Fiction and essay
Word count: 6,000
Prizes: $3,000 per category, ten prizes of $300 (any category)
Entry fee: $22
Closing date: 30 April 2023
May 2023
The Bridport Short Story Prize
The organizers for this short story contest enter the shortlisted UK-based writers into the BBC Short Story Competition. Literary agent A.M. Heath reads the entire shortlist and considers representation.
Word count: 5,000
Prizes: £5,000, £1,000, £500, ten prizes of £100
Entry fee: £14
Closing date: 31 May 2023
The Bridport Poetry Prize
Top three winning poems are automatically entered into the Forward Prize For Poetry competition, with the chance to win a further £1000. The first prize also features in the Bridport anthology.
Word count: 42 lines
Prizes: £5,000, £1,000, £500, ten prizes of £100
Entry fee: £12
Closing date: 31 May 2023
The Bridport Flash Fiction Prize
The flash fiction competition is part of the Bridport Prize family of writing contests. The winning entry will be published in an anthology. Fiction written for children is not recommended.
Word count: 250
Prizes: £1,000, £500, £250, five prizes of £100
Entry fee: £11
Closing date: 31 May 2023
The Bridport Prize Novel Award
This novel writing competition allows you to participate even if you haven’t finished writing it yet! Send up to 8,000 words from the first chapter(s) of your novel along with a 300-word synopsis.
Word count: 5,000–8,000
Prizes: £1,500, £750, three prizes of £150
Entry fee: £24
Closing date: 31 May 2023
Pulp Fictional Flash Fiction Contest
The organizers of this flash fiction competition prefer stories that are “scary and unusual, strange and unnerving”. The cash prizes may increase depending on the number of writers that submit their entries!
Word count: 1,000
Prizes: £250, £100, £50
Entry fee: £6
Closing date: 31 May 2023
If you were hoping for some more short story, poetry, and essay contests, don’t worry! As more writing contests are announced with a 2023 deadline, we’ll keep adding to this list. So make sure to bookmark this page!
For more resources on writing and editing, explore our Resource Center. For now, here are a few articles you may be interested in:
- A Blog-Sized Compendium of Worldbuilding for Fiction
- 5 Key Elements of a Short Story
- How to Create Powerful Conflict in Your Story
- Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey: Worksheet & Examples
- How to Write Dialogue: 7 Rules, 5 Tips & 65 Examples
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