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Find details about every creative writing competition—including poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, grants for translators, and more—that we’ve published in the Grants & Awards section of Poets & Writers Magazine during the past year. We carefully review the practices and policies of each contest before including it in the Writing Contests database, the most trusted resource for legitimate writing contests available anywhere.

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Writing Contests, Grants & Awards

• See Recent Winners
• View the Submission Calendar

The Writing Contests, Grants & Awards database includes details about the creative writing contests—including poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, and more—that we’ve published in Poets & Writers Magazine during the past year. We carefully review the practices and policies of each contest before including it. Ours is the most trusted resource for legitimate writing contests available anywhere.

Travelers’ Tales

Solas awards.

A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Travelers’ Tales website is given annually for a travel essay. Writers from Arizona and Vermont are eligible for publication but not...

Coffee-House Poetry

Troubadour international poetry prize.

A prize of £2,000 (approximately $2,602) is given annually for a single poem. A second-place prize of £1,000 (approximately $1,301) is also given. Both winners receive...

New York Public Library

Cullman center fellowships.

Fifteen fellowships are given annually to artists, academics, and creative writers, including poets, fiction writers, creative nonfiction writers, and translators, whose work...

University of Iowa Press

Iowa short fiction award.

Two prizes of publication by University of Iowa Press are given annually for debut collections of short fiction. Submit a manuscript of at least 150 pages by September 30....

California State University in Fresno

Philip levine prize for poetry.

A prize of $2,000, publication by Black Lawrence Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. The winner is also invited to give a public reading at...

Connecticut Poetry Society

Vivian shipley poetry award.

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Connecticut River Review and on the Connecticut Poetry Society website is given annually for a single poem. Aaron Caycedo-Kimura...

Lascaux Review

Prize in creative nonfiction.

A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Lascaux Review website is given annually for an essay. Previously published and unpublished essays are eligible. Using only the...

Texas Review Press: The University Press of SHSU

X. j. kennedy poetry prize.

A prize of $10,000, publication by Texas Review Press: The University Press of SHSU, and 10 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. The winner also receives a...

Poetry Contest

A prize of $2,000 is given annually for a single poem. A second-place prize of $1,000 is also given. Mark Graham, Monique Jonath, Mridvi Khetan, and Ann Tinkham will judge....

Dzanc Books

Poetry prize.

A prize of $1,000 and publication by Dzanc Books will be given for a poetry collection. Jonathan Fink and Keith Taylor will judge. Using only the online submission system,...

Nature Writing Prize

A prize of €1,000 (approximately $1,094) and online publication in Irish Times is given annually for a poem, a story, or an essay that features “an exploration of the...

George Garrett Fiction Prize

A prize of $2,000, publication by Texas Review Press: The University Press of SHSU, and 10 author copies is given annually for a short story collection or novel. Using only the...

Hackney Literary Awards

Novel contest.

A prize of $5,000 is given annually for an unpublished novel. Submit a manuscript of any length with a $30 entry fee by September 30. Visit the website for complete guidelines...

University of Massachusetts Press

Juniper prizes.

Five prizes of $1,000 each and publication by University of Massachusetts Press are given annually for a debut poetry collection, a poetry collection by an author who has...

Prize for Fiction

A prize of $5,000 and publication by Dzanc Books is given annually for a novel. Farah Ali, Chika Unigwe,...

University of Mississippi

Willie morris award for southern fiction.

A prize of $12,000 is given annually for a novel published during the current year that asks readers “to engage with or reflect on the complexities of the U.S. South.” The...

Ghost Story

Supernatural fiction award.

A prize of $1,500 and publication on the Ghost Story website is given biannually for a short story with a supernatural or magical realist theme. The editors will judge....

Nonfiction Contest for Emerging Writers

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Boulevard is given annually for an essay by a writer who has not published a full-length book in any genre with a nationally...

Short Story Collection Prize

A prize of $2,500 and publication by Dzanc Books is given annually for a story collection. The editors will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript...

Willie Morris Award for Southern Nonfiction

A prize of $12,000 is given annually for a book of nonfiction published during the current year that asks readers “to engage with or reflect on the complexities of the U.S....

PEN/Faulkner Foundation

Award for fiction.

A prize of $15,000 is given annually for a book of fiction published during the current year. Four finalists each receive $5,000. The winner and finalists will also be invited...

Willie Morris Award for Southern Poetry

A prize of $3,000 is given annually for a single poem that evokes the U.S. South. The winner will also receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Oxford, Mississippi, for the awards...

Winning Writers

Tom howard/margaret reid poetry contest.

Two prizes of $3,500 each, two-year gift certificates for membership to the literary database Duotrope, and publication on the Winning Writers website are given annually for a...

Georgia Writers

John lewis writing grants.

Three grants of $500 each are given annually in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction to “elevate, encourage, and inspire the voices of Black writers in Georgia.” Grantees also...

Willow Springs Books

Spokane prize for short fiction.

A prize of $2,000 and publication by Willow Springs Books is given annually for a short story collection. Submit a manuscript of three or more stories totaling at least 98...

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The Nobel Prize in Literature

1966 literature laureate Nelly Sachs' amethyst stones inspired her writing by giving her feeling of safety and comfort.

© Nobel Media. Photo: Alexander Mahmoud

About the prize

“The said interest shall be divided into five equal parts, which shall be apportioned as follows: /- – -/ one part to the person who shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction …”  (Excerpt from the will of Alfred Nobel)

Alfred Nobel had broad cultural interests. During his early youth, he developed his literary interests which lasted throughout his life. His library consisted of a rich and broad selection of literature in different languages. During the last years of his life, he tried his hand as an author and began writing fiction. Literature was the fourth prize area Nobel mentioned in his will.

The Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded by the Swedish Academy , Stockholm, Sweden.

See  all literature laureates or learn about the nomination process .

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2023

Related articles.

• Press release: The Nobel Prize in Literature 2023
• Biobibliography

Ill. Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach

One-minute crash course

The works of jon fosse.

Have you read?

What to read.

Photo: Claire Eriksson. © Nobel Prize Outreach

Literature prize Q&A

Behind the scenes of the nobel prize in literature.

Writer Ellen Mattson

Photographer: Rickard L Eriksson

Book excerpts

Enjoy some reading.

On nobelprize.org, you can find excerpts from many of the literature laureates’ literary works such as Olga Tokarczuk’s book Flights , Gabriel García Márquez’s novel One Hundred Years of Solitude and Wisława Szymborska’s poem ‘The Three Oddest Words’.Enjoy some excerpts from books or poems written by literature laureates. Discover all the excerpts here.

© Nobel Media. Photo: A. Mahmoud

Who wrote what?

How many literature laureates can you match.

Explore prizes and laureates

Questions and answers, nomination faq.

Nobel Prizes and laureates

See the full list of prizes and laureates

All Nobel Prizes in Literature

Alexandr Solzhenitsyn's LP record was a gift to Stig Fredriksson, who had helped smuggle his Nobel Lecture out of the Soviet Union.

Articles in literature

The Nobel Prize in Literature: Nominations and reports 1901-1950

Topping Shakespeare? Aspects of the Nobel Prize for Literature

The idealised and naturalistic view of reality: Early 20th century German literature laureates

Nobel Prize authors on time

6 master storytellers – on the power of books

Featured laureates

Rabindranath Tagore

Wisława Szymborska

Ernest Miller Hemingway

Gabriel García Márquez

Toni Morrison

Discover more, watch an interview with doris lessing.

Doris Lessing talks about her early days as a writer – working on her first book ‘The Grass is Singing’ – and more.

Doris Lessing at her home in London, 14 April 2008.

© Nobel Media.

Read an excerpt from Toni Morrison’s ‘Sula’

‘Sula’ is the hugely influential second novel from one of the most powerful literary forces of our time.

Toni Morrison speaking at 'A Tribute to Chinua Achebe – 50 Years Anniversary of ‘Things Fall Apart.'

Photo: Angela Radulescu

“The poetics of tragedy are important for me”

Listen to this interview with Svetlana Alexievich following the announcement of the 2015 prize.

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Join thousands of global subscribers enjoying the free monthly Nobel Prize highlights, trivia and up-to-date information.

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Literary Awards

Accolades and honors for both early career and literary veterans.

Since 1963, the PEN America Literary Awards have honored outstanding voices in translation, fiction, poetry, science writing, essay, sports writing, biography, children’s literature, and drama. With the help of our partners, PEN America confers over 20 distinct awards, fellowships, grants and prizes each year, awarding nearly $350,000 to writers and translators. Please see individual awards below for submission and nomination guidelines. 

Annual Literary Awards Ceremony

A night to celebrate literary achievement, amplify emerging voices, and unite around the power of the written word.

Awards by Genre

PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection

The PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection honors an exceptionally talented fiction writer whose debut book represents distinguished literary achievement and suggests…

PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers

The PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers recognizes 12 emerging fiction writers each year for their debut short story.

PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction

The PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction promotes fiction that addresses issues of social justice and the impact of culture and politics.

PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel

The PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel honors a work of exceptional merit by an author who has not previously published a full-length book of fiction.

PEN/Jean Stein Book Award

The PEN/Jean Stein Book Award is an annual award which recognizes a book-length work of any genre for its originality, merit, and impact.

PEN Open Book Award

The PEN Open Book Award invites submissions of book-length writings by authors of color, published in the United States during the current calendar year.

PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature

The PEN/Nabokov Award is conferred annually to a living author whose body of work—either written in or translated into English—represents the highest level of achievement…

PEN/Nora Magid Award for Magazine Editing

The PEN/Nora Magid Award for Magazine Editing honors a magazine editor who has greatly contributed to the excellence of the publication he or she edits.

PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry Collection

The PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry is given to a poet whose distinguished and growing body of work to date represents a notable and accomplished presence in American literature.

Drama & Performance Writing

PEN/Mike Nichols Writing for Performance Award

The honorary PEN/Mike Nichols Writing for Performance Award confers a prize of $25,000 to a writer whose work exemplifies excellence and influence in the world…

PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award

PEN America and the Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater awards an American playwright in mid-career with an outstanding voice working indisputably at the highest…

PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay

The PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay aims to preserve the dignity and esteem that the essay form imparts to literature.

PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award

The PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award celebrates literary excellence on the subject of the physical or biological sciences.

PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography

The PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography is awarded for excellence in the art of biography.

PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction

The PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award will go to the author of a distinguished book of general nonfiction possessing notable literary merit.

Translation

PEN Award for Poetry in Translation

The $3,000 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation recognizes book-length translations of poetry from any language into English.

PEN Translation Prize

The PEN Translation Prize invites submissions of book-length translations from any language into English published during the current calendar year.

PEN/Ralph Manheim Award for Translation

The PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation is given every three years to a translator whose career has demonstrated a commitment to excellence through the body…

History of the Awards Program

The PEN America Literary Awards program celebrates literary excellence, encourages global discourse, champions important voices, and brings new books to life through our publication awards. From exciting new voices to underrecognized masters of their craft, PEN America honors challenging, thought-provoking, genre-defying writers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Submission guidelines.

• All submitted books must be published by a trade or academic publisher between January 1 and December 31 in the applicable year. Self-published books are ineligible for the PEN America Literary Awards.
• Books with more than one original author are ineligible for the PEN America Literary Awards.
• PEN America will only accept submissions from publishers or literary agents. Authors may not submit their own books.
• On the submission form, please select the award you are submitting to.
• Submissions of a book to multiple awards is allowed only in the case of the  PEN Open Book Award . Please complete a separate submission for this award if applicable.
• Please submit verified email addresses on the submission form. Your order cannot be processed without an email address. Additional contacts are required so that we may be in contact directly if an author or translator is selected as a longlister, finalist, and/or winner.
• Upload a PDF file of the galley or final manuscript on the book submissions form. Book award submissions will be read as PDF files. Please upload the file saved as BOOKTITLE_AUTHORNAME. For the judges’ convenience, please upload a book file WITHOUT watermarks. Each book file will be kept confidentially between the Literary Awards team and the awards judges. Please note that if a book is longlisted, PEN America may request a physical copy be sent to the judging panel.
• Upload a high-resolution book jacket photo. This may be used later if the book is longlisted, a finalist, or a winner.
• Each submission is $85. Submission fees are not refundable. Please note that all payments must be made via the submission form.
• Submission fees may be waived for publishers whose annual net sales are less than $2 million. You may request an exemption  here —this form asks for a letter on company letterhead stating that the press’s annual net sales are less than $2 million.  Do not submit your title before requesting your fee exemption , as the Literary Awards Team will provide you with an alternative submission method. 
• Once the submitted book is received and reviewed for eligibility by PEN America, it will be passed along to the judges. Please add  [email protected]  to your address book, as it will be the main point of contact from PEN America.

Submission FAQs

Q: What awards is PEN America offering this year? A: Please click here for a full listing of our awards.

Q: Where do I submit? A: For each of our awards, the application materials, eligibility requirements, and submission timeline vary. Please check individual award pages for detailed instructions. Submit here.

Q: What is the timeline for the PEN America Literary Awards announcements? A: The judges will read through the fall. Longlists and Finalists will be announced in winter. Winners for the Book Awards will be announced live in the spring at the Literary Awards Ceremony before the cycle reopens.

Q: Can I submit one book to multiple awards? A: Books can only be submitted to one award per cycle, with the exception of the PEN Open Book Award , which honors work by writers of color. Translated books are not eligible for the PEN Open Book Award.

Q: I’m a publisher/agent. Can I submit multiple titles for consideration? A: Yes! Publishers and agents may submit as many titles as they’d like. In order to streamline the process, we recommend creating a login with Formsite, our submission platform, and using our Save and Return function.

Q: My book won’t be published until after the deadline. Can I send a galley or advance copy instead? A: Yes, we accept galleys and advance copies.

Q: The book cover for my submission is not yet finalized, but I am required to submit a file on the form. What should I do? A: In place of the high-resolution book cover, please upload a note saying such in its place. When the book cover is available, please email it to [email protected] .

Q: I forgot to submit my title. Can I get an extension? A: We can accommodate extensions on a case by case basis. Please reach out to [email protected] .

Q: Does PEN America offer grants or awards to unpublished writers? A: PEN America supports emerging writers and works-in-progress in a number of ways. The PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants support translators’ process of translating works that have not previously appeared in English or have appeared only in an outdated or otherwise flawed translation. Similarly, the PEN/Jean Stein Grants for Oral History recognize unpublished, ongoing oral history projects. To learn more about our grants, visit our Grants page.

Eligibility FAQs

Q: Does the author need to be a U.S. resident or citizen? A: Residency and citizenship requirements vary depending on each award. You can consult the “Who is Eligible” section of each awards page for specific details about that award.

Q: My book is self-published. Am I still eligible for submission? A: No, PEN America does not accept books that are self-published or submissions from hybrid publishers.

Q: Does “trade publisher” include academic presses? A: Yes, “trade publisher” includes academic presses. Q: My press is based in a country outside the U.S., but we distribute our books in the United States. Am I considered a U.S. publisher? A: No. Only publishers with offices located within the U.S. are considered U.S. publishers. The only book award open to publishers outside the U.S. is the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award .

Q: Are current PEN America staff, interns, donors, committee co-chairs, judges, and Trustees eligible for literary awards? What about former staff, interns, donors, and Trustees? A: No. Writers who are also current PEN America staff or interns, trustees, or chairs of Member committees are not eligible for any of the Awards and/or Grants offered by the Literary Awards Program. Additionally, all current members of the Literary Awards Committee are ineligible. We understand the literary community to be close and interconnected, and being involved with PEN America in these ways in the past does not result in disqualification. We ask that the writer have not been connected with PEN America in these ways during the calendar years of the applicable awards cycle. For example, a person involved with PEN America in one of the categories described in 2020 will not be eligible for an Award or Grant in 2020 or 2021.

Q: I’m a PEN America Member, am I eligible for your Grants or Awards? A: Yes, PEN America Members are eligible for our Awards and Grants, but will not be given preferential consideration.

Economic FAQs

Q: Our press cannot comfortably afford to pay the submission fees but would like our titles to be considered. What should we do? A: Publishers whose annual net sales are under $2 million are exempt from paying the submission fee.

Q: How do I get a fee waiver? What documentation is needed? A: You may request an exemption here. This form asks for a letter on company letterhead stating that the press’s annual net sales are less than $2 million. Do not submit your title before requesting your fee exemption , as the Literary Awards Team will provide you with an alternative submission method.

Q: Covering the Finalist’s travel to the ceremony in New York City poses a significant financial hardship for our press. Does this disqualify us from submitting to the awards? A: No. For presses using a fee waiver, we are more than happy to waive this requirement. Please make note of it on your declaration of eligibility when submitting.

About Nominations

Nominations are provided by Members and/or by anonymous nomination panels. Judges are encouraged to nominate their own honorees. All eligible books and nominations are considered, and our panels come to their decision after months of reading, email conversation, and conference calls.

About the Awards Committee and Judges

Committee members help select the 80+ judges the program calls on every year, and serve in an advisory capacity. Current members are David Ulin (chair), Victoria Chang, Lily Hoang, Brigid Hughes, Steph Opitz, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, Ruben Quesada, Hannah Tinti, and Sasha Weiss. Learn more here »

Our judges are brilliant, award-winning writers, editors, and critics. They are avid readers, passionate about their craft and their community. Judges have included Claudia Rankine, Eduardo C. Corral, Ocean Vuong, and Margo Jefferson. Meet the 2019 Awards judges here »

About the Selection Process

Each year we ask publishers to send us their very best books in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Our offices receive over 1,300 books each year, which our judges diligently read. The PEN America Literary Awards call on over 80 writers, editors, critics, and Members each year to judge the literary awards. It is their diligent reading and conversation that make our literary awards so vibrant and representative of our large community. All eligible books and nominations are considered, and our panels come to their decision after months of reading, email conversation, and conference calls.

Publishers of winning titles that wish to use a winner seal on printed books or a digital file of the seal for future print runs should contact [email protected] .

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Best Writing Contests in 2024

Showing 425 contests that match your search.

The Reedsy Prompts Contest

Genres: Fiction and Short Story

Every Friday, Reedsy sends out five writing prompts. Enter your response within a week for a chance at $250. Winners may also be included in a future issue of Reedsy’s literary magazine, Prompted.

Additional prizes:

$25 credit toward Reedsy editorial services

💰 Entry fee: $5

📅 Deadline: December 31, 2024

National Poetry Competition 2024

The Poetry Society

Genres: Poetry

The competition, run by The Poetry Society since 1978, is one of the world’s most prestigious prizes for a single unpublished poem. Judged by Stephen Sexton, Romalyn Ante, John McAuliffe. Open to all poets worldwide aged 18+.

Runners-up receive £2,000 and £1,000. Commended entries receive £500

💰 Entry fee: $8

📅 Deadline: October 31, 2024

Solar Flare

Sunspot Literary Journal

Genres: Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, Poetry, Script Writing, and Short Story

A solar flare is short-lived but has a huge amount of energy. Sunspot Lit is looking for a noteworthy flare of creative energy through short stories, poems, or graphic novels.

Publication for the winner; publication offered to runners-up and finalists.

💰 Entry fee: $10

📅 Deadline: May 31, 2024 (Expired)

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Jane Austen Society of North America Essay Contest

Jane Austen Society of North America

Genres: Children's and Essay

JASNA conducts an annual student Essay Contest to foster the study and appreciation of Jane Austen's works in new generations of readers. Students world-wide are invited to compete for scholarship awards in three divisions: high school, college, and graduate school.

$1,000 scholarship

Two nights’ lodging for JASNA’s Annual General Meeting

📅 Deadline: June 02, 2022 (Expired)

Personal Essay Competition 2024

Write the World

Genres: Essay, Memoir, and Non-fiction

The Personal Essay Competition invites young writers aged 13-19 to submit personal essays. Participants can showcase their writing skills while receiving feedback from peers and experts.

Best entry: $100

Runner up: $50 | Best peer review: $50 Winners receive cash prizes and a feature on Write the World's blog and social media.

Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award

Claremont Graduate University

The Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award honors a poet for a single volume of poetry published between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024. It is the world's largest monetary prize for poetry, valued at $100,000. The award aims to support poets in their mid-career, allowing them to focus on their craft without financial burdens.

The Kate Tufts Discovery Award offers $10,000 for a first book of poetry.

📅 Deadline: July 01, 2024 (Expired)

Annual Flash Fiction Competition

This quarterly open-themed competition has closing dates of 31st March, 30th June, 30th September and 31st December. The results will be announced about six weeks after each closing date and the three winning entries each quarter will be published on the website.

💰 Entry fee: $7

📅 Deadline: June 30, 2024 (Expired)

WOW! Women on Writing Winter 2024 Flash Fiction Contest

WOW! Women on Writing

Genres: Flash Fiction

This contest encourages creativity across all styles and genres of flash fiction, with a word count between 250 and 750. The contest offers substantial cash prizes and publication opportunities.

2nd: $300 | 3rd: $200 | 7 runner-ups: $25 Amazon Gift Cards

📅 Deadline: February 28, 2024 (Expired)

2-4-2 Poetry Contest

FanStory.com

Participants must write a 2-4-2 syllable poem consisting of three lines: the first line has 2 syllables, the second line has 4 syllables, and the last line has 2 syllables. The subject can be anything. All entries will receive feedback.

💰 Entry fee: $1

📅 Deadline: December 11, 2024

Annual Short Story Contest

Rotary Club of Stratford

English language submissions of original, unpublished works of up to 2,500 words will be accepted until October 31. Submissions are processed by a two-tiered system of readers and judges. Winners will be announced on December 10, 2021.

2nd prize $250, 3rd prize $100.

💰 Entry fee: $0

📅 Deadline: June 30, 2022 (Expired)

HNS 2024 First Chapters Competition

Historical Novel Society

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Novel, Romance, Thriller, and Young Adult

The HNS 2024 First Chapters Competition is for the first three chapters of an unpublished historical novel, aiming to promote excellence in storytelling. The competition coincides with the HNS UK 2024 conference, with winners announced at the gala dinner.

Category winners: £500 and HNS UK 2024 conference ticket. Competition trophy and feedback from judges.

💰 Entry fee: $40

📅 Deadline: February 15, 2024 (Expired)

FFF Competition Twenty One

Free Flash Fiction

The FFF Competition Twenty-Four invites submissions of flash fiction pieces between 100 and 300 words on any theme. The contest aims to discover and promote new flash fiction writers.

2 Highly Commended: £60 | 3 shortlisted: £50 | Publication

💰 Entry fee: $4

📅 Deadline: October 23, 2024

Anthology Travel Writing Competition 2024

Anthology Magazine

Genres: Essay, Non-fiction, and Travel

The Anthology Travel Writing Competition invites original and unpublished travel articles in English. Entries should capture authentic travel experiences and convey strong cultural insights. The maximum word count is 1,000, and there is no limit on submissions. Each submission requires a separate entry form and fee.

Publication in Anthology magazine

💰 Entry fee: $16

📅 Deadline: November 30, 2024

John Estey Student Writing Competition

American Writers Museum

Genres: Children's

The 5th Annual John Estey Student Writing Competition invites students to submit original works based on a prompt from Mary Doria Russell’s novel _The Sparrow_. Participants can write fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and more, with a maximum length of 1,000 words. Homeschoolers and international students can also enter, provided they meet specific submission criteria.

Winners in various categories receive cash prizes: $500 for elementary, $1000 for middle school, and $2000 for high school.

📅 Deadline: June 07, 2024 (Expired)

Gulf Coast Writers Association Writing Contest

Gulf Coast Writers Association

Genres: Flash Fiction, Non-fiction, and Poetry

The Gulf Coast Writers Association (GCWA) organizes an annual writing contest to celebrate and recognize talented writers across various genres. Participants can submit original works in Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Poetry. The contest promotes writers' creativity and provides valuable feedback from experienced judges.

Second place: $75 Third place: $50 For each category

💰 Entry fee: $20

The Moth Poetry Prize

The Moth Poetry Prize is one of the largest international contests for a single unpublished poem, attracting thousands of entries from poets worldwide. The prize acknowledges original work and is judged anonymously.

3x runners up: €1,000 | 8x further prizes of €250 | Publication online in Irish Times

Colorado Gold Writing Contest for Unpublished Writers

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers

Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller, and Young Adult

The Colorado Gold Rush Literary Awards Contest is aimed at unpublished writers of novel-length fiction, offering feedback and exposure to literary agents and editors. It encourages diverse voices and celebrates various genres.

Winner receives official certificate, trophy, and reading during the conference luncheon. Three finalists receive $50, certificate, and pitch session with agents.

💰 Entry fee: $25

📅 Deadline: May 01, 2024 (Expired)

Flying South

Genres: Non-fiction, Poetry, and Short Story

The Flying South contest invites submissions in three categories: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Poetry. Each entry should be original and previously unpublished. Winners are awarded cash prizes, and all finalists are published in the annual issue.

2nd Place: $200 3rd Place: $100 All finalists receive one copy of the current issue.

💰 Entry fee: $15

Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition

Munster Literature Centre

Genres: Short Story

An annual short story competition dedicated to Seán Ó Faoláin, one of Ireland’s notable story writers. The competition is open to original, unpublished, and unbroadcast short stories in English.

2nd Place: €500 Four runners-up: €300 Publication in Southword for all

💰 Entry fee: $19

📅 Deadline: July 31, 2024 (Expired)

Southam Book Festival Flash Fiction Competition

Southam Book Festival

The Flash Fiction Competition challenges participants to submit a story of no more than 100 words. This year's theme requires the inclusion of specific terms related to 'tip'.

2nd prize: £30 3rd prize: £20

💰 Entry fee: $3

📅 Deadline: September 08, 2024 (Expired)

The Bedford Competition

Genres: Poetry and Short Story

The Bedford Competition runs annual international short story and poetry competitions open to anyone over 17 years. Winning entries are published in an anthology. The 2024 competition opens on May 1st and closes on October 31st.

2nd Prize £300, 3rd Prize £200, Cygnature Prizes £200, Bedford Prizes £100

💰 Entry fee: $9

Flash Memoir

Writer Advice

Genres: Memoir and Flash Fiction

The Flash Memoir contest will open on July 1st, 2024, and close on September 2nd, 2024. This competition invites submissions of memoirs that are brief and impactful, highlighting personal stories.

Financial compensation for published works.

Publication in our e-zine

📅 Deadline: September 02, 2024 (Expired)

The Lascaux Prize in Short Fiction

The Lascaux Review

Stories may be previously published or unpublished, and simultaneous submissions are accepted. Winner receives $1,000 and a bronze medallion. Finalists receive $100. Winner and finalists are published in both the online and annual print editions of The Lascaux Review.

Publication in The Lascaux Review

📅 Deadline: December 31, 2021 (Expired)

Spring Flash Fiction Contest

The Berlin Literary Review

This contest is for flash fiction pieces of 1,500 words or less. Winning entries will be published in the magazine.

Second place: €100 Third place: €60 Winner has publication in the online magazine for winners and shortlisted participants.

💰 Entry fee: $6

Scriptation Showcase

Showcase Script Competition

Genres: Script Writing and Short Story

The Scriptation Showcase is a screenwriting contest aimed at connecting writers with industry professionals by circulating winning scripts to Hollywood directors, showrunners, and producers. In addition to monetary awards, winners receive features in the Scriptation app and various professional development opportunities.

$500 cash for best script in each category, plus 1 Year Scriptation Showcase, 1 Year WriterDuet Premium, Virtual Group Meeting with Professional Writers, One-on-one meeting with Film/TV Executive, Featured Story and Promotion.

💰 Entry fee: $64

📅 Deadline: July 20, 2024 (Expired)

The Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award

The Ghost Story

Genres: Horror

Twice each year TGS awards $1,500 and both online and print publication to the winner of our short story competition. Two other writers receive Honorable Mention awards that include publication and cash prizes of $300. Online publication dates are June 1, and October 31.

📅 Deadline: April 30, 2024 (Expired)

World Historian Student Essay Competition

World History Association

The World Historian Student Essay Competition is an international competition open to students enrolled in grades K–12 in public, private, and parochial schools, and those in home-study programs. Membership in the World History Association is not a requirement for submission. Past winners may not compete in the same category again.

The Bath Novel Award

The Bath Novel Awards

Genres: Fiction, Novel, and Young Adult

The Bath Novel Award is a £5,000 international prize for emerging writers of adult fiction. Submit the first 5,000 words plus a one-page synopsis of your novel for adults or young adults. Shortlisted entrants will receive feedback on their full manuscript and all listees will receive editorial director feedback on their extract and synopsis.

£1800 for one longlistee

💰 Entry fee: $38

The Big Moose Prize

Black Lawrence Press

Genres: Fiction, Novel, Poetry, and Short Story

Each year Black Lawrence Press will award The Big Moose Prize for an unpublished novel. The prize is open to new, emerging, and established writers. The winner of this contest will receive book publication, a $1,000 cash award, and ten copies of the book. Prizes will be awarded on publication. The Big Moose Prize is open to traditional novels as well as novels-in-stories, novels-in-poems, and other hybrid forms that contain within them the spirit of a novel.

Publication, 10 copies of your book

💰 Entry fee: $27

📅 Deadline: January 31, 2024 (Expired)

Winchester Poetry Prize

Winchester Poetry Festival

The Winchester Poetry Prize is an annual poetry competition launched in 2016, attracting entries from around the world. It opens in April and closes in July, with winners announced during the festival in October. The event is free to attend, and the winning poems are published in an anthology.

2nd place: £500 3rd place: £250 The Kathryn Bevis Prize offers an additional £150 and workshops for the best Hampshire-based poem.

A Warm Mug of Cozy Anthology

Warm Mug of Cozy

Genres: Crime, Flash Fiction, Mystery, and Short Story

The contest invites submissions for cozy mystery stories. Participants must follow cozy mystery guidelines and can submit up to 5 stories, each with a max length of 5,000 words.

Ongoing royalties (2% per published story)

PDF copy of the anthology

Voice.club Monthly Flash Fiction Contest

Soft Designs, Inc.

Genres: Fiction, Flash Fiction, and Short Story

The contest encourages participants to submit one fictional story (max 350 words) for a chance to win a prize. The contest requires a minimum of 10 shortlisted submissions to award a prize, which is a $25 Amazon Gift Card.

$25 USD Amazon Gift Card

Publication

📅 Deadline: August 01, 2024 (Expired)

National High School Essay Contest

American Foreign Service Association (AFSA)

Genres: Essay

The contest invites high school students to write an essay exploring future challenges for diplomats, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Foreign Service. Essays must be between 1,000 and 1,500 words, addressing specific prompts and demonstrating an understanding of the Foreign Service.

Winner also receives an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., plus an educational voyage courtesy of Semester at Sea. Runner-up: $1,250 plus full tuition for the National Student Leadership Conference's International Diplomacy program.

📅 Deadline: April 01, 2024 (Expired)

A Very Short Story Contest

Gotham Writers Workshop

Genres: Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Humor, Memoir, Non-fiction, and Short Story

Participants write a short story using ten words or fewer, inspired by the famous six-word story attributed to Hemingway. The submission must be original and unpublished, with entries judged based on originality and quality.

Winning entry receives a free Gotham class of their choosing (excluding premium classes).

Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition

Minotaur Books & Malice Domestic

Genres: Mystery and Novel

Welcome to the Tony Hillerman Prize for Best First Mystery Set in the Southwest Competition! The Competition is open to any writer, regardless of nationality, aged 18 or older, who has never been the author of any Published Mystery Novel (including self-published works and ebooks), as defined by the guidelines below, and is not under contract with a publisher for publication of a mystery novel.

$10,000 advance

Contract with Minotaur Books

📅 Deadline: November 30, 2021 (Expired)

Discover the finest writing contests of 2024 for fiction and non-fiction authors — including short story competitions, essay writing competitions, poetry contests, and many more. Updated weekly, these contests are vetted by Reedsy to weed out the scammers and time-wasters. If you’re looking to stick to free writing contests, simply use our filters as you browse.

Why you should submit to writing contests

Submitting to poetry competitions and free writing contests in 2024 is absolutely worth your while as an aspiring author: just as your qualifications matter when you apply for a new job, a writing portfolio that boasts published works and award-winning pieces is a great way to give your writing career a boost. And not to mention the bonus of cash prizes!

That being said, we understand that taking part in writing contests can be tough for emerging writers. First, there’s the same affliction all writers face: lack of time or inspiration. Entering writing contests is a time commitment, and many people decide to forego this endeavor in order to work on their larger projects instead — like a full-length book. Second, for many writers, the chance of rejection is enough to steer them clear of writing contests. 

But we’re here to tell you that two of the great benefits of entering writing contests happen to be the same as those two reasons to avoid them.

When it comes to the time commitment: yes, you will need to expend time and effort in order to submit a quality piece of writing to competitions. That being said, having a hard deadline to meet is a great motivator for developing a solid writing routine.

Think of entering contests as a training session to become a writer who will need to meet deadlines in order to have a successful career. If there’s a contest you have your eye on, and the deadline is in one month, sit down and realistically plan how many words you’ll need to write per day in order to meet that due date — and don’t forget to also factor in the time you’ll need to edit your story!

For tips on setting up a realistic writing plan, check out this free, ten-day course : How to Build a Rock-Solid Writing Routine.

In regards to the fear of rejection, the truth is that any writer aspiring to become a published author needs to develop relatively thick skin. If one of your goals is to have a book traditionally published, you will absolutely need to learn how to deal with rejection, as traditional book deals are notoriously hard to score. If you’re an indie author, you will need to adopt the hardy determination required to slowly build up a readership.

The good news is that there’s a fairly simple trick for learning to deal with rejection: use it as a chance to explore how you might be able to improve your writing.

In an ideal world, each rejection from a publisher or contest would come with a detailed letter, offering construction feedback and pointing out specific tips for improvement. And while this is sometimes the case, it’s the exception and not the rule.

Still, you can use the writing contests you don’t win as a chance to provide yourself with this feedback. Take a look at the winning and shortlisted stories and highlight their strong suits: do they have fully realized characters, a knack for showing instead of telling, a well-developed but subtly conveyed theme, a particularly satisfying denouement?

The idea isn’t to replicate what makes those stories tick in your own writing. But most examples of excellent writing share a number of basic craft principles. Try and see if there are ways for you to translate those stories’ strong points into your own unique writing.

Finally, there are the more obvious benefits of entering writing contests: prize and publication. Not to mention the potential to build up your readership, connect with editors, and gain exposure.

Resources to help you win writing competitions in 2024

Every writing contest has its own set of submission rules. Whether those rules are dense or sparing, ensure that you follow them to a T. Disregarding the guidelines will not sway the judges’ opinion in your favor — and might disqualify you from the contest altogether. 

Aside from ensuring you follow the rules, here are a few resources that will help you perfect your submissions.

Free online courses

On Writing:

• "How to Craft a Killer Short Story" ( Click here )
• "The Non-Sexy Business of Writing Non-Fiction" ( Click here )
• "How to Write a Novel" ( Click here )
• "Understanding Point of View" ( Click here )
• "Developing Characters That Your Readers Will Love" ( Click here )
• "Writing Dialogue That Develops Plot and Character" ( Click here )
• "Stop Procrastinating! Build a Solid Writing Routine" ( Click here )

On Editing:

• "Story Editing for Authors" ( Click here )
• "How to Self-Edit Your Manuscript Like a Pro" ( Click here )
• "Novel Revision: Practical Tips for Rewrites" ( Click here )
• "How to Write a Novel: Steps From a Bestselling Writer" ( Click here )
• "How to Write a Short Story in 9 Simple Steps" ( Click here )
• "100 Literary Devices With Examples: The Ultimate List" ( Click here )
• "20 Writing Tips to Improve Your Craft" ( Click here )
• "How to Write Fabulous Dialogue [9 Tips + Examples]" ( Click here )
• "8 Character Development Exercises to Write 3D Characters" ( Click here )

Bonus resources

• 200+ Short Story Ideas ( Click here )
• 600+ Writing Prompts to Inspire You ( Click here )
• 100+ Creative Writing Exercises for Fiction Authors ( Click here )
• Story Title Generator ( Click here )
• Pen Name Generator ( Click here )
• Character Name Generator ( Click here )

After you submit to a writing competition in 2024

It’s exciting to send a piece of writing off to a contest. However, once the initial excitement wears off, you may be left waiting for a while. Some writing contests will contact all entrants after the judging period — whether or not they’ve won. Other writing competitions will only contact the winners. 

Here are a few things to keep in mind after you submit:

Many writing competitions don’t have time to respond to each entrant with feedback on their story. However, it never hurts to ask! Feel free to politely reach out requesting feedback — but wait until after the selection period is over.

If you’ve submitted the same work to more than one writing competition or literary magazine, remember to withdraw your submission if it ends up winning elsewhere.

After you send a submission, don’t follow it up with a rewritten or revised version. Instead, ensure that your first version is thoroughly proofread and edited. If not, wait until the next edition of the contest or submit the revised version to other writing contests.

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Essay  COMPETITION

2024 global essay prize, the short list for the 2024 global essay prize was released on wednesday, 31 july..

The John Locke Institute encourages young people to cultivate the characteristics that turn good students into great writers: independent thought, depth of knowledge, clear reasoning, critical analysis and persuasive style. Our Essay Competition invites students to explore a wide range of challenging and interesting questions beyond the confines of the school curriculum.

Entering an essay in our competition can build knowledge, and refine skills of argumentation. It also gives students the chance to have their work assessed by experts. All of our essay prizes are judged by a panel of senior academics drawn from leading universities including Oxford and Princeton, under the leadership of the Chairman of Examiners, former Cambridge philosopher, Dr Jamie Whyte.

The judges will choose their favourite essay from each of seven subject categories - Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Psychology, Theology and Law - and then select the winner of the Grand Prize for the best entry in any subject. There is also a separate prize awarded for the best essay in the junior category, for under 15s.

Q1. Do we have any good reasons to trust our moral intuition?

Q2. Do girls have a (moral) right to compete in sporting contests that exclude boys?

Q3. Should I be held responsible for what I believe?

Q1. Is there such a thing as too much democracy?

Q2. Is peace in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip possible?

Q3. When is compliance complicity?

Q1. What is the optimal global population?  

Q2. Accurate news reporting is a public good. Does it follow that news agencies should be funded from taxation?

Q3. Do successful business people benefit others when making their money, when spending it, both, or neither?

Q1. Why was sustained economic growth so rare before the later 18th century and why did this change?

Q2. Has music ever significantly changed the course of history?

Q3. Why do civilisations collapse? Is our civilisation in danger?

Q1. When, if ever, should a company be permitted to refuse to do business with a person because of that person’s public statements?

Q2. In the last five years British police have arrested several thousand people for things they posted on social media. Is the UK becoming a police state?

Q3. Your parents say that 11pm is your bedtime. But they don’t punish you if you don’t go to bed by 11pm. Is 11pm really your bedtime?

Q1. According to a study by researchers at four British universities, for each 15-point increase in IQ, the likelihood of getting married increases by around 35% for a man but decreases by around 58% for a woman. Why?

In the original version of this question we misstated a statistic. This was caused by reproducing an error that appeared in several media summaries of the study. We are grateful to one of our contestants, Xinyi Zhang, who helped us to see (with humility and courtesy) why we should take more care to check our sources. We corrected the text on 4 April. Happily, the correction does not in any way alter the thrust of the question.

Q2. There is an unprecedented epidemic of depression and anxiety among young people. Can we fix this? How?

Q3. What is the difference between a psychiatric illness and a character flaw?

Q1. “I am not religious, but I am spiritual.” What could the speaker mean by “spiritual”?

Q2. Is it reasonable to thank God for protection from some natural harm if He is responsible for causing the harm?

Q3. Does God reward those who believe in him? If so, why?

JUNIOR prize

Q1. Does winning a free and fair election automatically confer a mandate for governing?

Q2. Has the anti-racism movement reduced racism?

Q3. Is there life after death?

Q4. How did it happen that governments came to own and run most high schools, while leaving food production to private enterprise? 

Q5. When will advancing technology make most of us unemployable? What should we do about this?

Q6. Should we trust fourteen-year-olds to make decisions about their own bodies? 

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS & FURTHER DETAILS

Please read the following carefully.

Entry to the John Locke Institute Essay Competition 2024 is open to students from any country.

Registration  

Only candidates who registered before the registration deadline of Friday, 31 May 2024 may enter this year's competition.

All entries must be submitted by 11.59 pm BST on  the submission deadline: Sunday, 30 June 2024 .  Candidates must be eighteen years old, or younger, on that date. (Candidates for the Junior Prize must be fourteen years old, or younger, on that date.)

Entry is free.

Each essay must address only one of the questions in your chosen subject category, and must not exceed 2000 words (not counting diagrams, tables of data, endnotes, bibliography or authorship declaration). 

The filename of your pdf must be in this format: FirstName-LastName-Category-QuestionNumber.pdf; so, for instance, Alexander Popham would submit his answer to question 2 in the Psychology category with the following file name:

Alexander-Popham-Psychology-2.pdf

Essays with filenames which are not in this format will be rejected.

The candidate's name should NOT appear within the document itself. 

Candidates should NOT add footnotes. They may, however, add endnotes and/or a Bibliography that is clearly titled as such.

Each candidate will be required to provide the email address of an academic referee who is familiar with the candidate's written academic work. This should be a school teacher, if possible, or another responsible adult who is not a relation of the candidate. The John Locke Institute will email referees to verify that the essays submitted are indeed the original work of the candidates.

Submissions may be made as soon as registration opens in April. We recommend that you submit your essay well in advance of the deadline to avoid any last-minute complications.  To submit your essay, click here .  

Acceptance of your essay depends on your granting us permission to use your data for the purposes of receiving and processing your entry as well as communicating with you about the Awards Ceremony Dinner, the academic conference, and other events and programmes of the John Locke Institute and its associated entities.  

Late entries

If for any reason you miss the 30 June deadline you will have an opportunity to make a late entry, under two conditions:

a) A late entry fee of 20.00 USD must be paid by credit card within twenty-four hours of the original deadline; and

b) Your essay must be submitted  before 11.59 pm BST on Wednesday, 10 July 2024.

To pay for late entry, a registrant need only log into his or her account, select the relevant option and provide the requested payment information.

Our grading system is proprietary. Essayists may be asked to discuss their entry with a member of the John Locke Institute’s faculty. We use various means to identify plagiarism, contract cheating, the use of AI and other forms of fraud . Our determinations in all such matters are final.

Essays will be judged on knowledge and understanding of the relevant material, the competent use of evidence, quality of argumentation, originality, structure, writing style and persuasive force. The very best essays are likely to be those which would be capable of changing somebody's mind. Essays which ignore or fail to address the strongest objections and counter-arguments are unlikely to be successful .

Candidates are advised to answer the question as precisely and directly as possible.

The writers of the best essays will receive a commendation and be shortlisted for a prize. Writers of shortlisted essays will be notified by 11.59 pm BST on Wednesday, 31 July. They will also be invited to London for an invitation-only academic conference and awards dinner in September, where the prize-winners will be announced. Unlike the competition itself, the academic conference and awards dinner are not free. Please be aware that n obody is required to attend either the academic conference or the prize ceremony. You can win a prize without travelling to London.

All short-listed candidates, including prize-winners, will be able to download eCertificates that acknowledge their achievement. If you win First, Second or Third Prize, and you travel to London for the ceremony, you will receive a signed certificate. 

There is a prize for the best essay in each category. The prize for each winner of a subject category, and the winner of the Junior category, is a scholarship worth US$2000 towards the cost of attending any John Locke Institute programme, and the essays will be published on the Institute's website. Prize-giving ceremonies will take place in London, at which winners and runners-up will be able to meet some of the judges and other faculty members of the John Locke Institute. Family, friends, and teachers are also welcome.

The candidate who submits the best essay overall will be awarded an honorary John Locke Institute Junior Fellowship, which comes with a US$10,000 scholarship to attend one or more of our summer schools and/or visiting scholars programmes. 

The judges' decisions are final, and no correspondence will be entered into.

R egistration opens: 1 April, 2024.

Registration deadline: 31 May, 2024. (Registration is required by this date for subsequent submission.)

Submission deadline: 30 June, 2024.

Late entry deadline: 10 July, 2024. (Late entries are subject to a 20.00 USD charge, payable by 1 July.)

Notification of short-listed essayists: 31 July, 2024.

Academic conference: 20 - 22 September, 2024.

Awards dinner: 21 September, 2024.

Any queries regarding the essay competition should be sent to [email protected] . Please be aware that, due to the large volume of correspondence we receive, we cannot guarantee to answer every query. In particular, regrettably, we are unable to respond to questions whose answers can be found on our website.

If you would like to receive helpful tips  from our examiners about what makes for a winning essay or reminders of upcoming key dates for the 2024  essay competition, please provide your email here to be added to our contact list. .

Thanks for subscribing!

The John Locke Institute's Global Essay Prize is acknowledged as the world's most prestigious essay competition. 

We welcome tens of thousands of submissions from ambitious students in more than 150 countries, and our examiners - including distinguished philosophers, political scientists, economists, historians, psychologists, theologians, and legal scholars - read and carefully assess every entry. 

I encourage you to register for this competition, not only for the hope of winning a prize or commendation, and not only for the chance to join the very best contestants at our academic conference and gala ceremony in London, but equally for the opportunity to engage in the serious scholarly enterprise of researching, reflecting on, writing about, and editing an answer to one of the important and provocative questions in this year's Global Essay Prize. 

We believe that the skills you will acquire in the process will make you a better thinker and a more effective advocate for the ideas that matter most to you.

I hope to see you in September!

Best wishes,

Jamie Whyte, Ph.D. (C ANTAB ) 

Chairman of Examiners

Q. I missed the registration deadline. May I still register or submit an essay?

A. No. Only candidates who registered before 31 May will be able to submit an essay. 

Q. Are footnote s, endnotes, a bibliography or references counted towards the word limit?

A. No. Only the body of the essay is counted. 

Q. Are in-text citations counted towards the word limit? ​

A. If you are using an in-text based referencing format, such as APA, your in-text citations are included in the word limit.

Q. Is it necessary to include foo tnotes or endnotes in an essay? ​

A. You  may not  include footnotes, but you may include in-text citations or endnotes. You should give your sources of any factual claims you make, and you should ackn owledge any other authors on whom you rely.​

Q. I am interested in a question that seems ambiguous. How should I interpret it?

A. You may interpret a question as you deem appropriate, clarifying your interpretation if necessary. Having done so, you must answer the question as directly as possible.

Q. How strict are  the age eligibility criteria?

A. Only students whose nineteenth birthday falls after 30 June 2024 will be eligible for a prize or a commendation. In the case of the Junior category, only students whose fifteenth birthday falls after 30 June 2024 will be eligible for a prize or a commendation. 

Q. May I submit more than one essay?

A. Yes, you may submit as many essays as you please in any or all categories.

Q. If I am eligible to compete in the Junior category, may I also (or instead) compete in another category?

A. Yes, you may.

Q. May I team up with someone else to write an essay?  

A. No. Each submitted essay must be entirely the work of a single individual.

Q. May I use AI, such as ChatGPT or the like, in writing my essay?

A. All essays will be checked for the use of AI. If we find that any content is generated by AI, your essay will be disqualified. We will also ask you, upon submission of your essay, whether you used AI for  any  purpose related to the writing of your essay, and if so, you will be required to provide details. In that case, if, in our judgement, you have not provided full and accurate details of your use of AI, your essay will be disqualified. 

Since any use of AI (that does not result in disqualification) can only negatively affect our assessment of your work relative to that of work that is done without using AI, your safest course of action is simply not to use it at all. If, however, you choose to use it for any purpose, we reserve the right to make relevant judgements on a case-by-case basis and we will not enter into any correspondence. 

Q. May I have someone else edit, or otherwise help me with, my essay?

A. You may of course discuss your essay with others, and it is perfectly acceptable for them to offer general advice and point out errors or weaknesses in your writing or content, leaving you to address them.

However, no part of your essay may be written by anyone else. This means that you must edit your own work and that while a proofreader may point out errors, you as the essayist must be the one to correct them. 

Q. Do I have to attend the awards ceremony to win a prize? ​

A. Nobody is required to attend the prize ceremony. You can win a prize without travelling to London. But if we invite you to London it is because your essay was good enough - in the opinion of the First Round judges - to be at least a contender for First, Second or Third Prize. Normally the Second Round judges will agree that the short-listed essays are worth at least a commendation.

Q. Is there an entry fee?

A. No. There is no charge to enter our global essay competition unless you submit your essay after the normal deadline, in which case there is a fee of 20.00 USD .

Q. Can I receive a certificate for my participation in your essay competition if I wasn't shortlisted? 

A. No. Certificates are awarded only for shortlisted essays. Short-listed contestants who attend the award ceremony in London will receive a paper certificate. If you cannot travel to London, you will be able to download your eCertificate.

Q. Can I receive feedba ck on my essay? 

A. We would love to be able to give individual feedback on essays but, unfortunately, we receive too many entries to be able to comment on particular essays.

Q. The deadline for publishing the names of short-listed essayists has passed but I did not receive an email to tell me whether I was short-listed.

A. Log into your account and check "Shortlist Status" for (each of) your essay(s).

Q. Why isn't the awards ceremony in Oxford this year?

A. Last year, many shortlisted finalists who applied to join our invitation-only academic conference missed the opportunity because of capacity constraints at Oxford's largest venues. This year, the conference will be held in central London and the gala awards dinner will take place in an iconic London ballroom. 

TECHNICAL FAQ s

Q. The system will not accept my essay. I have checked the filename and it has the correct format. What should I do?  

A. You have almost certainly added a space before or after one of your names in your profile. Edit it accordingly and try to submit again.

Q. The profile page shows my birth date to be wrong by a day, even after I edit it. What should I do?

A. Ignore it. The date that you typed has been correctly input to our database. ​ ​

Q. How can I be sure that my registration for the essay competition was successful? Will I receive a confirmation email?

A. You will not receive a confirmation email. Rather, you can at any time log in to the account that you created and see that your registration details are present and correct.

TROUBLESHOOTING YOUR SUBMISSION

If you are unable to submit your essay to the John Locke Institute’s global essay competition, your problem is almost certainly one of the following.

If so, please proceed as indicated.

1) PROBLEM: I receive the ‘registrations are now closed’ message when I enter my email and verification code. SOLUTION. You did not register for the essay competition and create your account. If you think you did, you probably only provided us with your email to receive updates from us about the competition or otherwise. You may not enter the competition this year.

2) PROBLEM I do not receive a login code after I enter my email to enter my account. SOLUTION. Enter your email address again, checking that you do so correctly. If this fails, restart your browser using an incognito window; clear your cache, and try again. Wait for a few minutes for the code. If this still fails, restart your machine and try one more time. If this still fails, send an email to [email protected] with “No verification code – [your name]” in the subject line.

SUBMITTING AN ESSAY

3) PROBLEM: The filename of my essay is in the correct format but it is rejected. SOLUTION: Use “Edit Profile” to check that you did not add a space before or after either of your names. If you did, delete it. Whether you did or did not, try again to submit your essay. If submission fails again, email [email protected] with “Filename format – [your name]” in the subject line.

4) PROBLEM: When trying to view my submitted essay, a .txt file is downloaded – not the .pdf file that I submitted. SOLUTION: Delete the essay. Logout of your account; log back in, and resubmit. If resubmission fails, email [email protected] with “File extension problem – [your name]” in the subject line.

5) PROBLEM: When I try to submit, the submission form just reloads without giving me an error message. SOLUTION. Log out of your account. Open a new browser; clear the cache; log back in, and resubmit. If resubmission fails, email [email protected] with “Submission form problem – [your name]” in the subject line.

6) PROBLEM: I receive an “Unexpected Error” when trying to submit. SOLUTION. Logout of your account; log back in, and resubmit. If this resubmission fails, email [email protected] with “Unexpected error – [your name]” in thesubject line. Your email must tell us e xactly where in the submission process you received this error.

7) PROBLEM: I have a problem with submitting and it is not addressed above on this list. SOLUTION: Restart your machine. Clear your browser’s cache. Try to submit again. If this fails, email [email protected] with “Unlisted problem – [your name]” in the subject line. Your email must tell us exactly the nature of your problem with relevant screen caps.

READ THIS BEFORE YOU EMAIL US.

Do not email us before you have tried the specified solutions to your problem.

Do not email us more than once about a single problem. We will respond to your email within 72 hours. Only if you have not heard from us in that time may you contact us again to ask for an update.

If you email us regarding a problem, you must include relevant screen-shots and information on both your operating system and your browser. You must also declare that you have tried the solutions presented above and had a good connection to the internet when you did so.

If you have tried the relevant solution to your problem outlined above, have emailed us, and are still unable to submit before the 30 June deadline on account of any fault of the John Locke Institute or our systems, please do not worry: we will have a way to accept your essay in that case. However, if there is no fault on our side, we will not accept your essay if it is not submitted on time – whatever your reason: we will not make exceptions for IT issues for which we are not responsible.

We reserve the right to disqualify the entries of essayists who do not follow all provided instructions, including those concerning technical matters.

Trinity College launched the Gould Prize for Essays in English Literature in 2013. This is an annual competition for Year 12 or Lower 6th students. The Prize has been established from a bequest made by Dr Dennis Gould in 2004 for the furtherance of education in English Literature. This Essay Prize has the following aims. First, to encourage talented students with an interest in English Literature to explore their reading interests further in response to questions about the subject. Second, to encourage students with an interest in literature to apply for a University course in English. Finally, to recognise the achievements of high-calibre students from whatever background they may come, as well as the achievements of those who teach them.

Candidates are invited each year to submit an essay of between 1,500 and 2,500 words in answer to a question from our list.

Candidates must write their essays entirely on their own: that is, without help from their school or from artificial intelligence. Your essay should represent your most ambitious, original, and imaginative critical work. We are not looking for submissions in creative writing. We also expect a close engagement with the prompt. Essays can be written on all works of literature composed originally in the English language, from anywhere in the world. Also eligible are all works of literature originally written in the British Isles in any other language (e.g.. Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Irish, French, Latin, Greek, etc). Excluded are works from beyond the British Isles that were not originally written in English (e.g. Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina ).

The 2024 competition has closed.

The deadline is 12 noon UK time on 1 August 2024; late submissions cannot be accepted. Results will be announced around mid-September.

The competition carries a First Prize of £600, to be split equally between the candidate and his or her school or college, and a Second Prize of £400, which again is to be shared equally between the candidate and his or her school or college.  The school or college’s portion of each prize will be issued in the form of book tokens with which to buy books of or about English literature (under the broad definition set out above).  In addition, further deserving essays of a high quality will receive high commendations or commendations.  Authors of prize-winning and highly commended essays will be invited to visit the College.

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Past Gould Prize-winners

First Prize: Megan Ng (St Swithun’s School) Joint Second Prize: Orla Grist (Latymer Upper School); Angelica Read (St. Paul’s Girls’ School)

First Prize: Hazel Morpurgo (Colyton Grammar School) Second Prize: Livia Ursini Parker (North London Collegiate School)

Joint First Prize: Ruby Deakin (High Storrs School, Sheffield) Naomika Saran (The Shri Ram School, India)

First Prize: Mr L Beevers (Heckmondwike Grammar School) Second Prize: Miss E Connor (Kings Norton Girls’ School)

First Prize: Miss M Wu (Wellington College) Second Prize: Miss Crosbie-Chen (Westminster School)

First Prize: Miss E McNeill (Notting Hill & Ealing High School) Second Prize: Miss J Cartwright (St Aidan’s and St John Fisher’s Associated Sixth Form)

First Prize: Mr B Jureidini (Esher College) Second Prize: Miss E Laurence (South Hampstead High School)

First Prize: Miss H Smith (Chelmsford County High School for Girls) Second Prize: Mr C Graff (University College School, London)

First Prize: Miss M Little (Bexhill College) Second Prize: Miss M Abdel-Razek (Wimbledon High School)

Joint First Prize: Miss M Benham (King Edward VI Five Ways School, Birmingham) Mr E Patel (Merchant Taylor’s School, Northwood)

Joint First Prize: Miss A Cattley (Saffron Walden County High School) Miss E Cavell (St Paul’s Girls’ School)

First Prize: Miss E Franklin (King Edward’s Sixth Form College, Stourbridge) Second Prize: Miss J Simms (Greenhead College, Huddersfield)

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