A Guide to Short Story Contests 2019 - Image: Typewriter on a Desk

“Short fiction seems more targeted – hand grenades of ideas, if you will. When they work, they hit, they explode, and you never forget them.” ― Paolo Bacigalupi

UPCOMING SHORT STORY CONTESTS 

The Sunday Times Short Story Award
is the world’s richest short story competition, with the winner receiving £30,000 (US$38,000). The 2018 award attracted over 1100 entries from countries. There is no entry fee. The closing deadline is 15 February.

Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize
will be awarded for an original work of short fiction under 2000 words. The first prize winner will receive €1000 (US$1100), a week’s residency at the Civitella Ranieri Foundation in Italy and a consultation with a US literary agent from Foundry Literary. The entry fee is €20. The closing deadline is 14 February has been extended until 28 February.

View Post

Share:

The Mogford Hotels and Restaurants Group is inviting entries for its seventh annual short story prize. The winner will receive £10,000 (approximately US$11,500) and the competition is open to writers worldwide.

The judges for the 2019 contest are Julian Barnes, winner of the 2011 Man Booker Prize, and Tim Hayward, winner of the Restaurant Writing Award at the Guild of Food Writers Awards 2018.

View Post

Share:

The Nine Dots Prize is accepting entries for its second cycle. The winner will receive a $100,000 book deal with Cambridge University Press.

The aim of the prize is to promote, encourage and engage innovative thinking to address problems facing the modern world. To enter writers are asked to respond to a question in 3000 words. The Nine Dots Prize question is for 2018/19 is: Is there still no place like home?

View Post

Share:

UPDATE: Looking for competitions in 2019? Our latest guide to short story contests is now online.

Deadlines and details do sometimes change, so please check the relevant websites for all the latest terms and conditions. For more writing competitions and writing-related news follow Aerogramme Writers’ Studio on Facebook and Twitter.

Arkansas International Emerging Writer’s Prize
is open to works of fiction up to 7500 words in length. All entrants must not have yet published a full-length book, and have no book forthcoming before 1 May 2019. Entries close on 20 October.

Dinesh Allirajah Prize for Short Fiction
is organised by the University of Central Lancashire and Comma Press. The competition is open to anyone aged 18 or over and based in the UK. Entrants must submit a short story of between 2000 and 6000 words in length. The winning writer will receive £500 and all 10 shortlisted authors will be featured in an eBook anthology. There is no entry fee and only one entry is permitted per writer. The entry deadline is 26 October.

Blue Light Books Prize
is run by the Indiana Review. It is open to full-length poetry manuscripts between 48 and 75 pages, not including table of contents and acknowledgements. A publication contract with IU Press and a prize of US$2000 against future royalties will be awarded to the winner. Entries close on 31 October.

View Post

Share:

Iceland Writers Retreat is offering talented writers from around the world the chance to attend its April 2019 program for free.

For this scholarship program, writers can apply for either full or partial funding. The full funding scholarship includes a round-trip airfare plus the full retreat package including accommodation, tours, most meals and all workshops for the duration of the event. Partial funding covers the participant costs only and does not include accommodation or flights.

View Post

Share: