Writers and college students share many similar qualities—both run on alcohol and coffee, often look disheveled and remain chronically broke. If you happen to be both a student and an aspiring writer, we applaud you for your determination (though we may question your motivations). But never fear, we’ve helped alleviate one of your many challenges; here’s a list of 15 writing competitions that will reward your literary endeavors with the monetary funds you need to keep up your coffee and pen supply. Now get to writing!
1. Writers Weekly 24-Hour Short Story Contest
Mark your calendars for July 9 at 12 p.m.—once the clock strikes 12, you have only 24 hours to write and submit your entry for Writers Weekly’s contest. Don’t think you can be sneaky and get ahead of the game. The contest has its own distinct theme every time it occurs, ensuring that every writer has the same amount of time to work on their entry. Are you up for the challenge? Stock up on power bars and Gatorade to get you through.
Deadline: July 9–10
Prize: $300
2. Royal Nonesuch Humor Writing Contest
Were you considered a both class-clown and a writing fiend in your high-school days? The Mark Twain Royal Nonesuch Humor Writing Contest might be right up your alley. The judges care most about hearing your distinct voice shine through. In other words, don’t pull a Joey Tribbiani and use a thesaurus for every word. “The Royal Nonesuch Humor Writing Contest is in its third year, and we are especially proud of the fact that we have a category and prizes for young writers under the age of 18 as well as adult writers. Mark Twain used humor to deliver some powerful messages, and we hope our contest encourages others to see humor with similar potential,” said executive director Cindy Lovell.
Deadline: July 10
Prize: $1,000
3. Short Story Award for New Writers
Unpublished writers, listen up: The Writer magazine offers a short story competition that could put you on the literary map while still giving you some extra spending cash. “In addition to publication and a large readership, the winning stories are sent to three literary agents for consideration. So not only is a great experience in submitting, but the winning writers are put directly in front of industry professionals who matter,” said The Masters Review managing editor Kim Winternheimer.
Deadline: July 15
Prize: $2,000
4. HG Wells Short Story Competition
Any The War of the Worlds fans in the house? The HG Wells Short Story Competition strives to honor the achievements of author HG Wells and to encourage young authors to keep writing. The competition keeps things interesting by having a new theme every year. This year, entrants’ work must revolve around space, so if you’ve been hankering to write about aliens or the great unknown, congratulations, you found your audience.
Deadline: July 19
Prize: $278
5. Narrative Magazine Eighth Annual Poetry Contest
If you consider your poems your children and would rather die than choose one favorite of your own work, Narrative Magazine has the contest for you. Entrants submit up to five poems, meaning no long nights deciding which is your fave. “Narrative’s poetry contest is part of the magazine’s mission to support and encourage the best writing by both established and newer writers. A third of the 3oo authors we publish each year are new and emerging ones, including many first time authors,” said Narrative Magazine.
Deadline: July 30
Prize: $1,500
6. I Must Be Off! Travel Writing Contest
Time to put that study abroad experience to good use. Whether it’s recounting a hostel horror story or reflecting on your own personal growth, the people at I Must Be Off! want to read about your experiences traveling the globe. This competition’s open to pretty much anyone who’s ever travelled. After all, who hasn’t missed at least one flight or gotten into shenanigans due to language barriers while abroad. You’ve got the material—now just put it to paper.
Deadline: July 31
Prize: $200
7. Freeditorial Literary Contest
If you penned the next great American novel, go ahead and send it over to Freeditorial Publishing House. They accept entries between 10,000-40,000 words. Plus, winners are chosen partly by online readership. The more downloads your work gets, the longer you’ll stay in the contest. First place receives a whopping $15,000—definitely enough to justify springing for the guac at Chipotle.
Deadline: July 31
Prize: $15,000
8. Narrative Magazine Spring 2016 Story Contest
With Narrative Magazine’s Spring Story Contest, the possibilities of winning are endless. “Writers published in Narrative reach an audience of 220,000 readers worldwide, and many of our new and emerging writers go on to win awards such as Best American, Pushcart, Whiting and so on, as well shas finding agents and book publishers,” said Narrative Magazine. As if that’s not enough, all entries are considered for cash prizes up to $4,000 and for acceptance as Story of the Week.
Deadline: July 31
Prize: $2,500
9. FanStory’s Minute Poetry Contest
No, no, it’s not what you’re thinking—you don’t only have one minute to submit your entry. Instead, your entry must follow the “minute poem” format. In other words, it must have a syllabic structure of “8,4,4,4.” The winner takes home $100, but even if you don’t get the cash, you still get invaluable feedback. “With FanStory.com everything you write gets feedback. So if you are working on a story or a poem you can use the writers on FanStory to help you with the creative process,” said FanStory founder Tom Ens.
Deadline: August 15
Prize: $100
10. Knightville Poetry Contest
Pulitzer Prize-winner Stephen Dunn judges The New Guard’s Knightville Poetry Contest. You might have seen his work in The New Yorker, The Atlantic or the American Poetry Review—now he can judge your work. The Knightville contest accepts up to three poems of a length of up to 150 lines each per contestant, so pull out that thesaurus and get writing before the August 15 deadline.
Deadline: August 15
Prize: $1,500
11. Miller Williams Poetry Prize
Who better to judge your poetry than Poet Laureate Billy Collins? With this poetry competition, submit your work to the University of Arkansas Press in pursuit of a $5,000 prize and publication in the Miller Williams Poetry Series. While the money sounds the most tempting, we’d never give up the bragging rights that come with being published by a publication associated with Billy C.
Deadline: September 30
Prize: $5,000
12. Writers of the Future Contest
Do you have what it takes to be a Writer of the Future? L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contests aims to give aspiring writers a jumpstart on their writing careers. “If you are serious about becoming a professional fiction writer this is the contest for you. It is prestigious, and has launched the careers of hundreds of authors and 12 New York Times bestsellers’ careers,” said contest director Joni Labaqui. Judges award prizes of $500, $750 and $1000 every three months, and present one grand prize of $5,000 annually. This quarter’s entries will be accepted from July 1–September 30, so put those finishing touches on your work-in-progress and see what the judges say.
Deadline: September 30
Prize: Varies
13. The Great American Song Contest
Dream of hearing your lyrics sung on the radio but not sure where to start? Enter The Great American Song Contest to jumpstart your lyricist career and receive feedback on your lyrics. “The Great American Song Contest features awards for 50 winners in 10 categories and provides $10,000 in Prizes. Entrants receive written song evaluations from music-industry judges, including publishers, music producers and recording artists,” said GASC judge Carla Starrett.
Deadline: November 17
Prize: $1,000
14. Boulevard‘s Short Fiction Contest for Emerging Writers
Started your next great project but haven’t had time to fully bring it to life? Sit down this summer and start breaking ground so you can enter Boulevard’s Short Fiction Contest before the New Year starts. While you can’t enter free of charge, you only need to skip like four Starbucks trips to save up the $16. Save now so you can splurge on the peppermint mocha. Plus, your entry free also gets you an entire year’s subscription.
Deadline: December 31
Prize: $1,500
15. Winning Writers Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest
The masterminds behind Winning Writers know the importance of writing contests for student writers. “I paid a lot of my expenses at Harvard by winning poetry and essay contests, and now my husband and I run a website that helps other young people build confidence and a portfolio as professional writers. Our contests are judged anonymously so emerging writers have an equal chance to win,” said WinningWriters.com editor Jendi Reiter. “Studying past contest winners and writing toward a deadline are both great ways for students to develop self-discipline and discernment about what ‘good writing’ means to them.”
Deadline: April 1, 2017
Prize: $1,000
