Young Writers Book Awards, Writing Contests and Literary Prizes

Alice Munro Short Story Competition
This annual short story competition is designed to provide an opportunity for writers to develop their craft and connect with like-minded associates. The Festival’s Steering Committee is dedicated to supporting the efforts and talent of unpublished...

Aliki Perroti and Seth Frank Most Promising Young Poet Award
Established in 2013, the Aliki Perroti and Seth Frank Most Promising Young Poet Award recognizes a student poet twenty-three years old or younger, with an annual cash prize of $1,000. Students who have won one of our 2014 University & College Poetr...

BBC Young Writers' Award
Young people aged 14 to 18, who live in the UK, are invited to submit short stories of up to 1,000 words on any topic. The judges will be looking for high-quality writing, stories that demonstrate originality, imagination and creativity, and writers ...

Buxton Poetry Competition
The Buxton Poetry Competition is open to three categories of writers: Children aged up to 11 years old, Young People aged 12 to 17, and Open (18 and up). ...

Canadian Stories Magazine Contest for Short Stories, Poetry, and Black & White Art
This Canadian folk magazine offers a prizes in categories including creative non-fiction, true stories, fiction, poetry, essays, and military stories, as well as a prize for young writers between 10 and 19 years old....

Claremont Review Annual Writing Contest
This international magazine for young writers hosts an annual writing contest for writers from 13 to 19 years old. Winners are selected in both poetry and fiction categories. Writers can enter up to three poems, three postcard stories (up to 500 wo...

CSFG/Conflux Short Story Competition
The competition is open to all Australian residents and members of either the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild or Conflux 11. Entry is $5, unless you are a member of the CSFG or Conflux or you are aged 16 or under, in which case it is free! Stor...

Cuirt New Writing Prize
Poetry entries must consist of 3 poems under 50 lines each. Fiction pieces may be up to 2000 words. Entries in both English and Irish are welcome. Young Cuirt is for ages 12-17. Entries are welcome in poetry and fiction. The winner will receive �...

FenCon Young Author Story Contest
The contest is part of the FenCon science-fiction / fantasy literary convention (www.fencon.org), run by the Dallas Future Society, a 501(3)(c) non-profit organization. The convention is focused on fantasy/sci-fi literature, art, and music. There is ...

Kayak Illustrated History Challenge for Kids
The award is open to Canadian kids between the ages of 7 and 14. Students are invited to create their own illustrated story based on any element of Canada’s past they find of interest. Stories should be between 500–1200 words in length and shou...

Kerry County Council Creative Writing for Youth Competitions
Submissions may be in the form of poems, short stories or essays. One entry only per youth. Creative Writing for 9 years and Under (Max word count 300 words)
Creative Writing for 12 years and Under (Max word count 500 words)
Creative W...

Maine Literary Awards
The 2018 Maine Literary Awards are open to all current Maine residents, including seasonal residents. All nominations to the Book Awards, regardless of category, must have been published during the 2017 calendar year. The editors (or lead editor) of ...

Martyn Godfrey Young Writers Award
This is an annual, juried contest open to all Albertan students in grades 4 through 9. Students are invited to submit their best short stories (500-1500 words) or short tales told in a comic book / graphic novel style. There are two Grand Prizes, ...

NEOWA Youth Outdoor Writing Contest
The contest is open to schools in New England. Student entries must be submitted by school personnel. The written entries should be no longer than 500 words and must be on any outdoor-oriented topic and can include, for example: fishing, boating, a...

Next Generation Indie Book Awards
The Next Generation Indie Book Awards (#NGIBA) is the largest non-profit book awards program for indie authors and publishers. The Next Generation Indie Book Awards was established to recognize and honor the most exceptional independently published...

Small but Mighty Writers
Our competitions run all year round with deadlines on 1st January, 1st April, 1st July, 1st October. Winners will be released within 3 weeks of the deadline. 7-11: 1000 word limit for fiction, 15 line max. for poetry 12-15: 1500 word limit fo...

V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize
This prize for the best unpublished short story of the year was founded by the RSL at the beginning of the new millennium to commemorate the centenary of an author widely regarded as the finest English short-story writer of the 20th century, a...

WFNB Writing Competition
WFNB Writing Competition offers prizes in seven categories: fiction manuscript, short fiction, poetry manuscript, single poem, children and teens, young writers, and creative non-fiction. Prizes for all categories total $2,600. Entrants must be N...

Wicked Young Writers' Award
The Wicked Young Writers’ Award was established by the long-running musical Wicked in order to link the important messages of the production with a competition that would inspire young people to use their writing to look at life a little differ...

YAAR Short Story Contest
If you are between the ages of 13 and 18, and you believe you have a story to tell, then we would love to read it! There is no charge for entry, and just for sending in a story, you may choose a free e-book from the incredible YAAR library!

Young Writers of Canada Annual Creative Writing Contest
Entrants must be between 5 and 18 years old at the time the entry is written. There are two age groups: 5-11 years and 12-18 years. Theme is open, 360 words or less and one entry per writer. ...