Short Story Book Awards, Writing Contests and Literary Prizes

Agatha Awards
The Agatha Awards honor the traditional, "cozy" mystery. That is to say, books best typified by the works of Agatha Christie. Agatha Awards are given for materials first published in the United States by a living author during the calendar year 2014 ...

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 The Festival’s Steering Committee is dedicated to supporting the efforts and talent of unpublished...

Anna Pidruchney Award for New Writers
Awarded to a novice writer under the age of 35 for a literary work which includes Ukrainian Canadian characters or is based on a Ukrainian Canadian theme. Eligible works of literary fiction, that being poetry, short stories, novels, plays, personal ...

Anthony Awards
The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher (1911–1968), one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America. Among the most...

Aurealis Awards
Any work of speculative fiction written by an Australian citizen or permanent resident and published for the first time during the calendar year is eligible to be entered. Works must be published and available to the general public to be eligible. ...

BBC National Short Story Award
The National Short Story Award aims to promote the best in contemporary British short fiction and has celebrated both established writers and new stars over the last decade.The Award is open to UK residents or nationals, aged 18 or over, who have a ...

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 ...

BKMK Press Book Prize
The BKMK Press Prize offers $1000 and publication for the best book-length collections of poetry and short fiction. Submissions for The G. S. Sharat Chandra Prize for Short Fiction should be approximately 125- 300 pages, double spaced. Poe...

Black River Chapbook Competition
Twice each year Black Lawrence Press will run the Black River Chapbook Competition for an unpublished chapbook of poems or short fiction between 16-36 pages in length. The contest is open to new, emerging, and established writers. The winner will rec...

Blue Ridge Mountains CWC Directors Choice Awards
Past and present attendees of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference are eligible to submit their published work to this contest. ...

Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Awards
The Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards are a set of industry-recognition awards set up by a coalition of Irish booksellers in 2007. The awards are owned by Irish Book Awards Ltd, a not-for-profit company presided over by a board comprising represent...

Bridport Prize
The mission of the Bridport Prize is to encourage emerging writers and promote literary excellence through its competition structure. The Bridport Prize was founded by Bridport Arts Centre in 1973 and has steadily grown in stature and prestige. ...

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....

CBC Short Story Prize
This annual contest is open to original, unpublished stories between 1200 and 1500 words, written by Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada....

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...

Costa Book Awards
The Costa Book Awards honour some of the most outstanding books of the year written by authors based in the UK and Ireland. There are five categories - First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book - with one of the five winners chosen ...

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 �...

CWJ Short Fiction Contest
Entries must be original, unpublished stories, any genre, maximum length 2,500 words (accurate word count please). Entrants must be Canadian citizens, or landed immigrants....

Drue Heinz Literature Prize
Drue Heinz Literature Prize for a collection of short fiction. The prize carries a cash award of $15,000 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press under its standard contract. Eligible submissions include an unpublished manuscript of s...

DWAA Annual Writing Competition
The Maxwell Medallion writing contest is open to all writers, editors, publishers, photographers, artists and others whose work falls into the designated competition categories, which include newspaper, online and magazine columns or articles on cani...

Earth Day Short Fiction Contest
This literary challenge is to personalize the consequences of climate change so readers feel as well as know them. But stories must offer hope, at least a possibility, for without hope people rarely act. Your job, as author, is to inspire scientists ...

Ernest Hemingway Flash Fiction Prize
Though many writers have helped to shape the history of flash fiction, Ernest Hemingway’s first short-story collection, In Our Time, easily makes him one of the form’s primary pioneers. For this reason, Fiction Southeast has chosen to hon...

Exeter Story Prize
The Exeter Story Prize is for a story of up to ten thousand words. There is no minimum word count. Authors must be over 18 years old, and stories should not have been previously published in print, on the internet or broadcast.. Stories may be o...

Exeter Writers Short Story Competition
The competition is open to published and unpublished authors living anywhere in the world and writing in English. Stories must not have been previously published, nor have won a prize in any other competition. They can be in any genre except for chil...

Far Horizons Award for Short Fiction
Eligible authors have yet to publish their fiction in book form (a book is defined to have a length of 48 pages or more). One prize of $1,000 (CAD) is awarded. Authors contributing to The Malahat Review have won or been nominated for National Magazin...

Fiction Desk Ghost Story Competition
’Ghost story’ can mean a lot of different things, from an encounter with an actual phantom to more unusual paranormal phenomena and unexplained events. Entries should be between 1,000 and 5,000 words in length. The competition i...

Fiction Southeast Editors' Prize
Entries for the Fiction Southeast Editors’ Prize should be approximately 1500 words or less. Submissions should be in .rtf, .doc, or .pdf format. Feel free to submit multiple stories, but please DO NOT submit multiple Word documents as one subm...

Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction
More than fifty short-story collections have appeared in the Flannery O'Connor Award series, which was established to encourage gifted emerging writers by bringing their work to a national readership. The first prize-winning book was published i...

Fresh Ink
Fresh Ink is a novice contest designed for new hobby writers who have not yet been published. The awards are the ideal opportunity to have your word critiqued by a professional. Receive valuable insights, recommendations and connections that will ass...

Fugue Annual Writing Contest
Fugue’s Annual Writing Contest accepts submissions of both poetry and prose (fiction and nonfiction). Multiple submissions are accepted as long as separate fees are paid. For poetry submissions, please send between 1-3 poems. For prose submissi...

Futurescapes Writing Contest
FutureScapes is an annual writing competition that asks writers to envision a particular future, and tell us its story. We could run projections and publish reports, but there’s a reason why Oscar Wilde didn’t say, “Life imitates empirical stud...

HeartWood Broadside Series Contest
Submit one poem (of any form) or flash prose piece (fiction or nonfiction) per entry; regardless of genre, the entry must be 200 words or less. There is no limit on the number of entries per person....

Hudson Prize
Each year Black Lawrence Press will award The Hudson Prize for an unpublished collection of poems or short stories. The prize is open to new, emerging, and established writers. The winner of this contest will receive book publication, a $1,000 cash a...

Hugo Awards
The Hugo Awards, presented annually since 1955, are science fiction’s most prestigious award. They were first awarded in 1953, and have been awarded every year since 1955. The awards are run by and voted on by fans. The Hugos are World awards. W...

Icelandic Festival Of Manitoba Poetry & Short Stories Contest
The Icelandic Festival of Manitoba invites you to submit previously unpublished poetry (three entries per person) and/or a short story (one per person-maximum of 1200 words)

Prize entries will be awarded and successful entries will be publis...

Independent Publisher Book Awards
Conducted annually, the Independent Publisher Book Awards honor the year’s best independently published titles from around the world. The awards are intended to bring increased recognition to the thousands of exemplary independent, university, ...

Indie Spiritual Book Awards
TISBA stands for “The Indie Spiritual Book Awards” created to honor independently published authors of spiritual-not-religious books (New Age, Metaphysical, etc.). We have 13 non-fiction categories and 3 for fiction. Our judges are experts in th...

Iowa Short Fiction Award & John Simmons Short Fiction Award
Any writer who has not previously published a volume of prose fiction is eligible to enter the competition. The manuscript must be a collection of short stories in English of at least 150 word-processed, double-spaced pages. We do not accept e...

Irish Writers Lost Gatos Writing Contests
Writing contests open till 21 September 2017. Short Stories $10 per story, $1000 prize. Poetry $10 per poem $600 prize. Youth Poetry (under 18's) $8 per poem, $400 Gift Card Prize. Open to all, unpublished work only in English....

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 ...

Lit POP Awards
This contest is open to residents of Canada and the United States. The deadline for all submissions is July 1st 2015. Winners will be notified in August. Poets are asked to send no more than 5 poems; fiction writers should send stories of no more tha...

Lush Triumphant Literary Awards
Open to short fiction (3,000 words max), poetry (5 related poems, up to 15 pages), and creative non-fiction (max 4,000 words). Winning entries will receive $1,000 plus payment for publication. Runners up will be published in subsequent issues. Entry ...

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 ...

Margery Allingham Short Story Competition
The CWA Margery Allingham Short Story competition was set up in 2013 to celebrate the short story and Margery Allingham's contribution to crime writing. Supported by the Margery Allingham Society we are delighted that this competition will run annual...

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, ...

Mighty River Short Story Contest
Searching for the best short story of any theme. Submit a maximum of 30 pages, double-spaced. Submissions must not be previously published. ...

Mona Schreiber Prize for Humorous Fiction and Nonfiction
An award for humor, comedic essays, articles, short stories, poetry, shopping lists and other forms. Works should be 750 words or less. Entries are not returned and must be unpublished. Winners will have their entries posted on www.brashcyber.com. ...

Moth International Short Story Prize
The Prize is open to everyone, as long as the work is original and previously unpublished. There is a 6,000 word limit. ...

Narrative Fall Story Contest
Entries can include short shorts, short stories, essays, memoirs, photo essays, graphic stories, all forms of literary nonfiction, and excerpts from longer works of both fiction and nonfiction. Entries must be previously unpublished, no longer than 1...

Nelligan Prize for Short Fiction
The Nelligan Prize for Short Fiction was established in 2004 in memory of Liza Nelligan, a writer, editor, and friend of many in Colorado State University’s English Department, where she received her master’s degree in literature in 1992. The Ne...

New Letters Literary Awards
New Letters established its Awards for Writers in 1986 to discover and reward new writers and to encourage more established writers to try new genres or new work in competition. The contest is open to any writer. Fiction and essay entries should n...

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...

Nilsen Literary Prize for a First Novel
Submissions must be previously unpublished novels, novellas, or collections of closely linked short stories. Manuscripts that have been self-published or published online will not be accepted. Open to English-writing, U.S. residents who h...

Okanagan Short Story Contest
The contest awards the best new short stories by writers in the Southern Interior of British Columbia. The contest is sponsored by the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at the University of British Columbia and the Central Okanagan Foundation,...

Peggy-Chapman Andrews Award
This prize is for a first novel from a resident of Great Britain. Entrants to the novel prize are required to submit a short 300 word synopsis with their entry....

Prime Number Magazine Awards
Submit one unpublished poem or story.

Poem should be no more than three pages in length (no word count needed) with numbered pages and spaced according to the poet’s intended style.

Short story should be 53 to 5,300 ...

Prix Aurora Awards
The Aurora awards are run by the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA), a federally registered non-profit society. The awards recognize the best Canadian professional and amateur (fan) achievements for the calendar year. The Aurora...

Psychopomp Magazine Short Fiction Award
The Psychopomp Magazine Short Fiction Contest recognizes outstanding pieces of fiction that push the boundaries of genre and/or form. Surprise us! Show us something we’ve never seen before. Note: As with our regular submissions, we ARE open to real...

RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers
The RBC Bronwen Wallace Award is open to writers under the age of 35 and unpublished in book form. The award alternates each year between poetry and short fiction. To be eligible candidates must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, unde...

Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize
This prize for literary excellence offers a $25,000 first prize to the novel or short-story collection the judges determine is the year’s best book of fiction. Books must be English-language, first-edition trade books published by a Canadian...

Sheldon Currie Fiction Prize
Submit stories on any subject, not to exceed 20 pages. Previously published works, works accepted for publication or simultaneous submissions are ineligible. No electronic submissions, please. Fiction entries must be typed, double-spaced, one side o...

Short Fiction Contest
Entries must be original, unpublished stories, any genre, maximum length 2,500 words. Entrants must be Canadian citizens, or landed immigrants. Entries received too late for one deadline will be held over for the next deadline date. If you includ...

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...

St. Lawrence Book Award
Each year Black Lawrence Press will award The St. Lawrence Book Award for an unpublished first collection of poems or short stories. The St. Lawrence Book Award is open to any writer who has not yet published a full-length collection of short stories...

Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic
The Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic is a juried award which recognizes exceptional writing in three categories: adult, young adult and short story. The awards are presented each fall to the best Canadian speculat...

Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award
Launched in 2009 by Lord Matthew Evans, former chairman of EFG Private Bank and Cathy Galvin from The Sunday Times, The Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award is the richest prize for a single short story in the English language open to any novelist or s...

Sunshot Prize Series
The Sunshot Prize Series honors unpublished collections of poetry, short stories, and essays with a cash prize, publication, author copies, and a continuation of the book's cultural impact through nomination to the highest echelon of book awards...

Tethered by Letters Spring Literary Competition
TBL is pleased to announce our third annual Spring Literary Competition. There are three submission categories: 1) short stories of any genre ranging from 1,000 to 7,500 words, 2) flash fiction with a word limit of either 55, 250, or 500 words, and 3...

The Masters Review Flash Fiction Contest
Send us your stories under 1000 words! We love a good piece of flash fiction. The winner will receive $3000, publication, and a spot in Kathy Fish's Fast Flash online workshop. Our love of flash fiction runs deep. And throughout our years of rea...

The Whistler Independent Book Awards
Established in 2016 to recognize excellence in Canadian independent publishing, the Whistler Independent Book Awards offers prizes in two categories: fiction and nonfiction. There are three finalists in each category (fiction and nonfiction), with th...

Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award
The Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award is an annual award presented by the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas to the author of the best short science fiction story published in English in the preceding calendar year....

Thomas Morton Memorial Prize in Literary Excellence
The Thomas Morton Memorial Prize in Literary Excellence is awarded to the single best submission in the respective categories of poetry and fiction. The prize is open for submissions each year from May 1st to September 30th through the publication's ...

Tillie Olsen Short Story Award
Send unpublished, original stories of no more than 5,000 words in standard manuscript format, paginated and with word count on the first page. Do not include any identifying information on the manuscript. You may submit as many stories as you wish, b...

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...

Western Writers of America Spur Awards
To be eligible, works submitted must be set in the American West, the early frontier, or relate to the Western or frontier experience. Submitted works must be first copyrighted and published in the calendar year covered by the award. Categories...

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...

Wilda Hearne Flash Fiction Contest
Searching for the best short-short story of any theme. Submissions may not be more than 500 words, and must be previously unpublished....

Word Awards
The Word Awards was established to encourage the pursuit of excellence in the art, craft, practice and ministry of writing and help to raise the profile of Canadian writers who are Christian.The content of eligible entries must be consistent with a C...

Word by Word - WCSC Short Fiction Contest
Final judge: Hilary McMahon of Westwood Creative Artists, Toronto.
The maximum word count is 1500 words (title not included). Any entries longer than 1500 words, will be automatically disqualified. There is no minimum word count.
Entrie...

World Fantasy Awards
The World Fantasy Awards, established in 1975, are presented annually at the World Fantasy Convention. The World Fantasy Award has been described as one of the three most prestigious speculative fiction awards. The nine awards are presented at the b...

WoW CreativeWritingMatters Short Story Competition
The 2015 Wow! One Thousand Words competition is for stories in English of 1,000 words, not including the title. We will allow up to fifty words over or under a thousand. Stories should not have previously been published or won a prize in any ot...