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There are more than two dozen writing contests in November for short stories, poetry, essays, scripts, and books in every genre. None charge entry fees. Prizes range from $50 to $45,000. As always, read the restrictions to make sure you qualify.
If you want to get a jump on next month's contests go to Free Contests. Most of these contests are offered annually, so even if the deadline has passed, you can prepare for next year.
Good luck!
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Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Restrictions: Open to citizens of the British Commonwealth. Genre: Unpublished short fiction (2,000-5,000 words) in English. Short stories translated into English from other languages are also eligible. Prize: Regional winners receive £2,500 (US$3,835) and the overall winner will receive £5,000 (US$7,670). Deadline: November 1, 2019.
Man Booker International Prize. The Man Booker International Prize for fiction translated into English is awarded annually by the Booker Prize Foundation to the author of the best (in the opinion of the judges) eligible novel or collection of short stories. Prize: £50,000 divided equally between the author and the translator. There will be a prize of £2,000 each of the shortlisted titles divided equally between the author and the translator. Deadline: November 1, 2019 for works published between May 1 and December 31, 2019.
Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship. Restrictions: Open to fiction writers aged 21+ who has not yet published a book and has never been enrolled in an MFA program. Writer must not have a book under contract with an agent and/or publisher at time of application, and writer cannot have been published by One Story (or have a forthcoming publication with One Story). Genre: Short fiction that "speaks to issues and experiences related to inhabiting bodies of difference." Prize: Free tuition for all of One Story's online classes and programming, a travel stipend of $2,000 and tuition to attend week-long summer writers' conference in Brooklyn, and a full manuscript review/consultation of a story collection or novel in progress with an executive editor. Deadline: November 1, 2019.
William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grants Program for Unpublished Writers. Restrictions: Writers must not have published a book, short story, or dramatic work in the mystery field, either in print, electronic, or audio form. Genre: Mystery stories of the Agatha Christie type—i.e., “traditional mysteries.” These works usually feature no excessive gore, gratuitous violence, or explicit sex. Prize: Each grant may be used to offset registration, travel, or other expenses related to attendance at a writers' conference or workshop within a year of the date of the award (no later than May 2016). In the case of nonfiction, the grant may be used to offset research expenses. Each grant currently includes a $1,500 award plus a comprehensive registration for the following year's convention and two nights' lodging at the convention hotel, but does not include travel to the convention or meals. Deadline: November 1, 2019. Read details here.
Treehouse Climate Action Poem Prize. Restrictions: Open to US poets for previously unpublished poems of any length that "help make real for readers the gravity of the vulnerable state of our
environment at present." Genre: Poetry. Prize: Up to $1,000. Deadline: November 1, 2019.
Donald Murray Prize for Creative Nonfiction. Genre: Original, unpublished works of creative nonfiction with a preference for essays on writing, teaching, and teaching writing, but will consider quality entries on any subject, including topics related to social justice, civic action, and inequality. Prize: $300 in the form of an AMEX gift card and publication in the Spring 2018 issue of Writing on the Edge. All entries will be considered for publication in the journal. Length: 8,000 words maximum (2500–4500 preferred) Deadline: November 1, 2019.
Vermont Writers' Prize. Restrictions: Open to residents of Vermont. Genres: Short story, poem, play or essay on the theme of Vermont - its people, places, history or values. Entries must be unpublished and fewer than 1,500 words long. Writers may submit only one entry per year. Prize: $1,500 and publication in Vermont Magazine. Deadline: November 1, 2019.
Weird Christmas Flash Contest. Genre: Weird flash fiction. 350 words max. Prize: $50 first prize, $25 second prize. Deadline: November 2, 2019.
RBC Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. Restrictions: Canadian citizens only. Genre: Nonfiction book. Prize: C$25,000. Shortlisted authors receive $2,000. Deadline: November 4, 2019 for books published between October 1 and October 31, 2019.
Dylan Thomas Prize. Restrictions: Authors must be aged 39 or under. Eligible books must have been commercially published for the first time in the English language between January 1 and December 31 of the year in which the deadline falls. Genre: Published books of poetry, fiction (novel, novella, or short story collection), radio scripts, or screenplays. Prize: 30,000 pounds, plus 1,000 pounds for shortlisted authors. Deadline: November 8, 2019.
Women's Prize for Fiction. Genre: Published book by a woman. Entrants must be writing in English and must be published in the UK. All subject matters and women of any age, from any nationality or country of residence are eligible. Prize: £30,000.00. Deadline: November 11, 2019.
Shaughnessy Cohen Award for Political Writing. Restrictions: Titles must be published in Canada. Self-published books are not eligible. Genre: A book of literary nonfiction that captures a political subject of relevance to Canadian readers and has the potential to shape or influence thinking on contemporary Canadian political life. Prize: Winner: $25,000; Finalists: $2,500. Deadline: November 11, 2019 for books published between September 11 and December 31, 2019. They have an unreadable website.
Patrick Henry Writing Fellowship. Genre: Nonfiction book in progress. The project should address the history and/or legacy – broadly defined – of the American Revolution and the nation’s founding ideas. It might focus on the founding era itself, or on the myriad ways the questions that preoccupied the nation’s founders have shaped America’s later history. Fellowship amount: $45,000 stipend, health benefits, faculty privileges, a book allowance, and a nine-month residency (during the academic year 2018-2019) in historic Chestertown, Md. Deadline: November 15, 2019.
The PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. Restrictions: PEN America will only accept submissions from editors of eligible publications. Authors may not submit their own short story for this award. Genre: First published short story. Prize: $2000 and publication in The PEN America Best Debut Short Stories. Deadline: November 15, 2019.
Arts & Letters Awards. Restrictions: Open to residents of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Genres: poetry, short fiction, nonfiction, dramatic script, art, music, and French language. Entries must be unpublished and completed during the previous 12 months. Prizes: C$1,000 and C$250. Deadline: November 15, 2019.
Polar Expressions Publications Poetry Competition. Restrictions: Open to Canadian students in kindergarten through grade twelve. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $300, $200, $100. Deadline: November 29, 2019.
Leonard L. Milberg '53 High School Poetry Prize. Restrictions: Student writers in the 11th grade. Prizes: First Prize – $500, Second Prize – $250, Third Prize – $100. Deadline: November 29, 2019.
Unified Caring Association Student Essay Contest. Restrictions: Open to US High School Juniors and Seniors. Genre: Essay on topic: If you could change one thing in the world to make it a more caring place, what would you change? Explain why you feel this change would make a caring impact. Word count: 500 words minimum. Prize: 10 first prizes of $350 scholarship; 10 honorable mention essays will each receive a $100 scholarship. Deadline: November 29, 2019.
Paul Torday Memorial Prize. Restrictions: Authors must be over 60. Genre: First published novel. The novel must have been first published in the UK and Republic of Ireland between 1 September 2018 and 31 August 2019. Prize: £1,000. Deadline: November 30, 2019.
Green Stories Writing Competition. Genre: TV/Netflix 6 part series about building a sustainable society. Prize: £750: 1st prize £500, 2nd prize £100, third prize £50 plus £50 for best student submission (18-25 years) and £50 for best < 18 year submission. Deadline: November 30, 2019.
Servicescape. Genre: Short story or nonfiction up to 5,000 words. Prize: $1,000. Deadline: November 30, 2019.
Renee Duke Youth Poetry Award. Restrictions: Open to young poets age 17 and under. Genre: Poem relating to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Prize: $100. Deadline: November 30, 2019.
Betty Trask Prize. Restrictions: Author must be a Commonwealth citizen. Genre: First novels, published or unpublished, written by authors under the age of 35 in a "traditional or romantic, but not experimental, style." Prize: Awards totaling 20,000 pounds. Top prize 10,000 pounds. The prize money must be used for foreign travel. Deadline: November 30, 2019.
Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers. Restrictions: Open to writers aged 16-18. Genre: Poem (1). Prize: Full scholarship to The Kenyon Review Young Writers workshop, an intensive two-week summer seminar for writers aged 16-18. Deadline: November 30, 2019.
Somerset Maugham Awards. Restrictions: Open to UK writers under the age of 35. Genre: Published work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry. Prize: 2,500 pounds apiece to four winners. Prize money must be used for travel. Deadline: November 30, 2019.
UNT Rilke Prize. Restrictions: US citizens or residents. Open to authors with at least two prior published books of poetry. Genre: Book of poetry published between November 1, 2018 and October 31, 2019. Prize: $10,000.00. Deadline: November 30, 2019.
AVBOB Poetry Competition. Restrictions: Open to any citizen of South Africa. Genre: Poetry. Prize: R10,000. Deadline: November 30, 2019.
Brunel International African Poetry Prize. Restrictions: The Prize is open to poets who were born in Africa, or who are nationals of an African country, or whose parents are African. It is for ten poems exactly in order to encourage serious poets. These poems may, however, have already been published. Only poets who have not yet had a full-length poetry book published are eligible. Poets who have self-published poetry books or had chapbooks and pamphlets published are allowed to submit for this prize. Genre: Poetry. Prize: £3000. Deadline: November 30, 2019.
J. F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction. Genre: Short fiction. Prize: $500. Deadline: November 30, 2019.
If you want to get a jump on next month's contests go to Free Contests. Most of these contests are offered annually, so even if the deadline has passed, you can prepare for next year.
Good luck!
________________________
Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Restrictions: Open to citizens of the British Commonwealth. Genre: Unpublished short fiction (2,000-5,000 words) in English. Short stories translated into English from other languages are also eligible. Prize: Regional winners receive £2,500 (US$3,835) and the overall winner will receive £5,000 (US$7,670). Deadline: November 1, 2019.
Man Booker International Prize. The Man Booker International Prize for fiction translated into English is awarded annually by the Booker Prize Foundation to the author of the best (in the opinion of the judges) eligible novel or collection of short stories. Prize: £50,000 divided equally between the author and the translator. There will be a prize of £2,000 each of the shortlisted titles divided equally between the author and the translator. Deadline: November 1, 2019 for works published between May 1 and December 31, 2019.
Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship. Restrictions: Open to fiction writers aged 21+ who has not yet published a book and has never been enrolled in an MFA program. Writer must not have a book under contract with an agent and/or publisher at time of application, and writer cannot have been published by One Story (or have a forthcoming publication with One Story). Genre: Short fiction that "speaks to issues and experiences related to inhabiting bodies of difference." Prize: Free tuition for all of One Story's online classes and programming, a travel stipend of $2,000 and tuition to attend week-long summer writers' conference in Brooklyn, and a full manuscript review/consultation of a story collection or novel in progress with an executive editor. Deadline: November 1, 2019.
William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grants Program for Unpublished Writers. Restrictions: Writers must not have published a book, short story, or dramatic work in the mystery field, either in print, electronic, or audio form. Genre: Mystery stories of the Agatha Christie type—i.e., “traditional mysteries.” These works usually feature no excessive gore, gratuitous violence, or explicit sex. Prize: Each grant may be used to offset registration, travel, or other expenses related to attendance at a writers' conference or workshop within a year of the date of the award (no later than May 2016). In the case of nonfiction, the grant may be used to offset research expenses. Each grant currently includes a $1,500 award plus a comprehensive registration for the following year's convention and two nights' lodging at the convention hotel, but does not include travel to the convention or meals. Deadline: November 1, 2019. Read details here.
Treehouse Climate Action Poem Prize. Restrictions: Open to US poets for previously unpublished poems of any length that "help make real for readers the gravity of the vulnerable state of our
environment at present." Genre: Poetry. Prize: Up to $1,000. Deadline: November 1, 2019.
Donald Murray Prize for Creative Nonfiction. Genre: Original, unpublished works of creative nonfiction with a preference for essays on writing, teaching, and teaching writing, but will consider quality entries on any subject, including topics related to social justice, civic action, and inequality. Prize: $300 in the form of an AMEX gift card and publication in the Spring 2018 issue of Writing on the Edge. All entries will be considered for publication in the journal. Length: 8,000 words maximum (2500–4500 preferred) Deadline: November 1, 2019.
Vermont Writers' Prize. Restrictions: Open to residents of Vermont. Genres: Short story, poem, play or essay on the theme of Vermont - its people, places, history or values. Entries must be unpublished and fewer than 1,500 words long. Writers may submit only one entry per year. Prize: $1,500 and publication in Vermont Magazine. Deadline: November 1, 2019.
Weird Christmas Flash Contest. Genre: Weird flash fiction. 350 words max. Prize: $50 first prize, $25 second prize. Deadline: November 2, 2019.
RBC Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. Restrictions: Canadian citizens only. Genre: Nonfiction book. Prize: C$25,000. Shortlisted authors receive $2,000. Deadline: November 4, 2019 for books published between October 1 and October 31, 2019.
Dylan Thomas Prize. Restrictions: Authors must be aged 39 or under. Eligible books must have been commercially published for the first time in the English language between January 1 and December 31 of the year in which the deadline falls. Genre: Published books of poetry, fiction (novel, novella, or short story collection), radio scripts, or screenplays. Prize: 30,000 pounds, plus 1,000 pounds for shortlisted authors. Deadline: November 8, 2019.
Women's Prize for Fiction. Genre: Published book by a woman. Entrants must be writing in English and must be published in the UK. All subject matters and women of any age, from any nationality or country of residence are eligible. Prize: £30,000.00. Deadline: November 11, 2019.
Shaughnessy Cohen Award for Political Writing. Restrictions: Titles must be published in Canada. Self-published books are not eligible. Genre: A book of literary nonfiction that captures a political subject of relevance to Canadian readers and has the potential to shape or influence thinking on contemporary Canadian political life. Prize: Winner: $25,000; Finalists: $2,500. Deadline: November 11, 2019 for books published between September 11 and December 31, 2019. They have an unreadable website.
Patrick Henry Writing Fellowship. Genre: Nonfiction book in progress. The project should address the history and/or legacy – broadly defined – of the American Revolution and the nation’s founding ideas. It might focus on the founding era itself, or on the myriad ways the questions that preoccupied the nation’s founders have shaped America’s later history. Fellowship amount: $45,000 stipend, health benefits, faculty privileges, a book allowance, and a nine-month residency (during the academic year 2018-2019) in historic Chestertown, Md. Deadline: November 15, 2019.
The PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. Restrictions: PEN America will only accept submissions from editors of eligible publications. Authors may not submit their own short story for this award. Genre: First published short story. Prize: $2000 and publication in The PEN America Best Debut Short Stories. Deadline: November 15, 2019.
Arts & Letters Awards. Restrictions: Open to residents of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Genres: poetry, short fiction, nonfiction, dramatic script, art, music, and French language. Entries must be unpublished and completed during the previous 12 months. Prizes: C$1,000 and C$250. Deadline: November 15, 2019.
Polar Expressions Publications Poetry Competition. Restrictions: Open to Canadian students in kindergarten through grade twelve. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $300, $200, $100. Deadline: November 29, 2019.
Leonard L. Milberg '53 High School Poetry Prize. Restrictions: Student writers in the 11th grade. Prizes: First Prize – $500, Second Prize – $250, Third Prize – $100. Deadline: November 29, 2019.
Unified Caring Association Student Essay Contest. Restrictions: Open to US High School Juniors and Seniors. Genre: Essay on topic: If you could change one thing in the world to make it a more caring place, what would you change? Explain why you feel this change would make a caring impact. Word count: 500 words minimum. Prize: 10 first prizes of $350 scholarship; 10 honorable mention essays will each receive a $100 scholarship. Deadline: November 29, 2019.
Paul Torday Memorial Prize. Restrictions: Authors must be over 60. Genre: First published novel. The novel must have been first published in the UK and Republic of Ireland between 1 September 2018 and 31 August 2019. Prize: £1,000. Deadline: November 30, 2019.
Green Stories Writing Competition. Genre: TV/Netflix 6 part series about building a sustainable society. Prize: £750: 1st prize £500, 2nd prize £100, third prize £50 plus £50 for best student submission (18-25 years) and £50 for best < 18 year submission. Deadline: November 30, 2019.
Servicescape. Genre: Short story or nonfiction up to 5,000 words. Prize: $1,000. Deadline: November 30, 2019.
Renee Duke Youth Poetry Award. Restrictions: Open to young poets age 17 and under. Genre: Poem relating to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Prize: $100. Deadline: November 30, 2019.
Betty Trask Prize. Restrictions: Author must be a Commonwealth citizen. Genre: First novels, published or unpublished, written by authors under the age of 35 in a "traditional or romantic, but not experimental, style." Prize: Awards totaling 20,000 pounds. Top prize 10,000 pounds. The prize money must be used for foreign travel. Deadline: November 30, 2019.
Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers. Restrictions: Open to writers aged 16-18. Genre: Poem (1). Prize: Full scholarship to The Kenyon Review Young Writers workshop, an intensive two-week summer seminar for writers aged 16-18. Deadline: November 30, 2019.
Somerset Maugham Awards. Restrictions: Open to UK writers under the age of 35. Genre: Published work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry. Prize: 2,500 pounds apiece to four winners. Prize money must be used for travel. Deadline: November 30, 2019.
UNT Rilke Prize. Restrictions: US citizens or residents. Open to authors with at least two prior published books of poetry. Genre: Book of poetry published between November 1, 2018 and October 31, 2019. Prize: $10,000.00. Deadline: November 30, 2019.
AVBOB Poetry Competition. Restrictions: Open to any citizen of South Africa. Genre: Poetry. Prize: R10,000. Deadline: November 30, 2019.
Brunel International African Poetry Prize. Restrictions: The Prize is open to poets who were born in Africa, or who are nationals of an African country, or whose parents are African. It is for ten poems exactly in order to encourage serious poets. These poems may, however, have already been published. Only poets who have not yet had a full-length poetry book published are eligible. Poets who have self-published poetry books or had chapbooks and pamphlets published are allowed to submit for this prize. Genre: Poetry. Prize: £3000. Deadline: November 30, 2019.
J. F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction. Genre: Short fiction. Prize: $500. Deadline: November 30, 2019.
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