25+ International Writing Competitions | April 2022
While others are coming up with prank ideas for the first twelve hours of this month, why don’t you come up with brilliant ideas that could earn you a good prize, this month? 🙂 Jokes apart, it’s that time of the month when we search for available international writing competitions (with no entry fee attached) and compile them for your easy access. Scroll down to see the competitions you might be interested in entering this April.
Fountain Magazine Essay Contest
Genre: Essay on the theme of “Revival”.
Word Count: 1,500–2,500 words.
Prizes: 1st—$1,500 | 2nd Place—$750 | 3rd Place—$300 | Two Honorable Mentions — $200 each.
Deadline: April 1, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here.
The Great American Think-Off
Genre: Essay on the topic; “Which should be more important: personal choice or social responsibility?”
Word Count: No more than 750 words.
Prize: One of four $500 cash prizes.
Deadline: April 1, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here.
If There’s Anyone Left
This international writing competition is open to those who identify as a person of color, LGBTQ+, disabled, or of a marginalized gender.
Genre: Speculative micro-fiction.
Word Count: Up to 500 words.
Prize: 1st – $250 | 2nd – $100 | 3rd – $50.
Deadline: April 1, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here.
Robert Louis Stevenson Fable Competition
Genre: Fable in the style of Robert Louis Stevenson.
Word Count: Up to 350 words.
Prize: £500, £100.
Deadline: April 2, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here
Gwenn A. Nusbaum / WWBA “Poets To Come” Award
For this international writing competition, poets at the beginning of their careers, ages 25–35 years, are strongly encouraged to enter.
Genre: Poetry
Prize: $1500 scholarship
Deadline: April 4, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here.
Dafe Akpedeye SAN Essay Competition
This essay competition is for law students across Nigeria.
Prizes: Up to N500,000
Deadline: Apr 11th, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here
Write the world
Genre: Poetry
Submission window: Apr 4 – 19, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here
Mike Resnick Memorial Award: Best Unpublished Science Fiction Short Story by a New Author.
This international writing competition is open to an author who has not had any work published (including short stories, novelettes, novellas, and novels in paper, digital or audio form) that has been paid a per-word rate of 6 cents a word or more or received a payment for any single work of fiction totaling more than $50.
Genre: Science fiction short story, up to 7,499 words.
Prize: $250.00 and publication.
Deadline: April 15, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here.
Descant
Each year, Descant offers four awards:
- The Frank O’Connor Award for fiction (for the best short story in a issue)
Prize: $500
- The Gary Wilson Award (for an outstanding story in an issue)
Prize: $250
- The Betsy Colquitt Award for poetry (for the best poem or series of poems by a single author in an issue)
Prize: $500
- The Baskerville Publishers Award (for an outstanding poem or poems by a single author in an issue)
Prize: $250
Deadline: April 15, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here.
Brilliant Flash Fiction
Genre: Flash fiction.
Word Count: 500 words, excluding title.
Prizes: 1st – $100 | 2nd – $30 | 3rd – $20
Deadline: April 15, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here.
Masks
Genre: Prose and Poetry.
Prize: $100 each and publication in their Summer 2022 issue.
Deadline: April 15, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here.
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Kingdoms in the Wild Poetry Prize
If you are yet to publish a collection of poetry, this international writing competition is for you.
Genre: Poetry Chapbook
Word Count: 15–30 pages
Prize: $250 & Publication
Deadline: April 17, 2022
Guidelines for submission here.
Author of Tomorrow
This international writing competition is open to children and youth up to age 21.
Genre: Adventure writing.
Categories:
- 11 and Under:
Word Count: 500 words
Prize: £100 plus £150 book tokens for your school
- 12–15 years
Word Count: 1,500–5,000 words
Prize: £100 plus £150 book tokens for your school
- 16–21 years
Word Count: 1,500–5,000 words
Prize: £1,000
Deadline: April 22, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here.
Voice Club
Genre: Flash fiction
Word Count: 100 words max & 350 words max (2 contests)
Prize: $25 Amazon gift card.
Deadline: April 23, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here.
The Young Romantics Prizes
This international writing competition is open to anyone aged 16–18 years old.
Genre: Essay or poem on their specified theme.
Word Count: 750 – 1000 words. (Essays). No more than 30 lines in length and must fit onto a single A4 page. (Poems).
Prize: £5,000.
Deadline: April 24, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here.
Scientific Story
This competition should either be a singular short story in English or Spanish.
Genre: Science Prose or Poetry (For Children)
Word Count: 400 – 1700 words (prose), 170 – 1000 words (poetry)
Prize: 1st: £200, Runners-up: £150 and £100, plus publication in the online magazine PRINCIPIA.
Deadline: April 24, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here.
Globe Soup
This competition is all about ‘show, don’t tell’.
Genre: Flash fiction
Word Count: Up to 500 words.
Prize: £200
Deadline: April 24, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here.
Science Me A Story
Genre: Scientific stories for children (ages 6–12) of up to four pages by authors over age 18.
Prizes: £150, £100 or £50.
Deadline: April 24, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here
2022 Law Essay Writing Competition
This international writing competition is open to all current law students, post 2015 law graduate, and all masters of law students. Co-authored submissions are eligible.
Genre: Essay on the topic; Legal remedies to combat climate change.
Word Count: 6,000-25,000 words
Prize: $5,000
Deadline: April 29, 2022
Guidelines for submission here.
Coastal Shelf Ceiling 200 Contest
Genre: Short fiction, Prose Poetry
Word Count: 200 words max.
Prizes: 1st – $250 | 2nd – $100 | 3rd Place – $50. All submissions are also considered for publication in Coastal Shelf (which has a payment of $30 currently).
Deadline: April 30, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here.
The FuPo Poetry Contest
Genre: Poetry
Word Count: 60 lines max.
Prize: 1st – $250 | 2nd – $100 | 3rd – $50. All submissions are also considered for publication in Coastal Shelf (which has a payment of $30 currently).
Deadline: April 30, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here.
#GWstorieseverywhere
Genre: Micro fiction.
Word Count: 25 words, with a max of 280 characters, including spaces and the hash tag.
Prize: Free Gotham class.
Deadline: April 30, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here.
Baen Fantasy Adventure Award
Genre: Adventure fantasy
Word Count: 8,000 words max
Prize: Winner will be published as the featured story on the Baen Books main website and paid at industry-standard rates for professional story submittals. The author will also receive a handsome engraved award and a prize package containing $500 of free Baen Books.
Deadline: April 30, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here.
Preservation Foundation Essay Contest for Unpublished Writers
This international writing competition is open to writers whose creative writing has never produced revenues of over $750 in any single year.
Genre: Animal Nonfiction.
Prize: 1st – $200. | Runners-up – $100. | Finalists – $50.
Deadline: April 30, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here.
Sunlight Press
Genre: Essay, Fiction, Poetry, Reviews, etc.
Prize: $500.
Deadline: April 30, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here.
Rune Bear Quarterly
Genre: Drabble
Word Count: 100 words on the theme “Through the Looking Glass.”
Prize: $10.
Deadline: April 30, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here.
SA Writer’s College Short Story Award
This writing competition is open to unpublished writers in South Africa.
Genre: Short stories on the theme; You Only Live Once.
Prizes: 1st — R 10 000 | 2nd — R 5 000 |3rd — R 2 000.
Deadline: April 30, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here.
Citizen: The New Story Flash Fiction Competition
Genre: Flash Fiction
Word Count: Up to 500 words
Prize: Winning stories will be published on the Word Factory website and promoted via social media. Also: “Monthly winners will be in with a chance of winning some fantastic prizes, including Word Factory membership, citizenship-themed book bundles and more. We’re also hoping to showcase the very best stories at a future Word Factory salon.”
Deadline: Last day of each month
Guidelines for submission here.
Libretto Magazine
Genre: Fiction, Poetry, etc
Deadline: April 30th, 2022.
Guidelines for submission here.
Goodluck!
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