Competitions, Awards & Opportunities
The Young Australian Christian Writer Award is given annually for the best unpublished manuscript by an Australian citizen under 30 years of age. With the Young Australian Christian Writer Award Sparklit discovers and nurtures writers of the future.
Annual short story competition, up to 1,000 words. See website for this year’s theme. Winner receives financial prize and anthology cover based on their story. Top 40 stories are published and all those published receive a free copy of the anthology.
Betty Trask left a bequest to the Society of Authors in 1983 to fund prizes for first novels written by authors under the age of 35 in a traditional or romantic, but not experimental, style.
The fellowship will support an established Australian writer to create new work within Australia’s leading interdisciplinary centre dedicated to easing the global burden of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and related conditions through innovative research and teaching. Expressions of Interest for the 2019/2020 Writer in Residence Fellowship will open late 2018.
Short stories, essays and prose of any type. Maximum length: 6,000 words. Must be neatly written, typed, or lodged online. Winning stories will be published on the Winning Writers website. All other rights remain with the author.
The Tom Howard and Margaret Reid poetry contests are open to all poems written in English. There are no restrictions on age or country. TOM HOWARD PRIZE: $1,500 for a poem in any style or genre MARGARET REID PRIZE: $1,500 for a poem that rhymes or has a traditional style Length limit: 250 lines per poem.
Submit maximum 10,000 words of manuscript, plus maximum 1,000 word synopsis, of unpublished romance manuscript. For details, see website. Maximum of two entries per person.
A Varuna Focus Week offers a residential masterclass to writers with a shared interest in a particular area. Each week is limited to only five participants and includes a creative and stimulating mix of individual work-time, facilitated sessions, one-on-one mentorship as well as social time for unstructured conversation. Participation in this program is through written application.
Poems are to be no less than 50 lines and a maximum of 500 lines and must be published works within the last 12 months (from the closing date) and in book or journal form (hard or electronic). Open only to Australian citizens as specified by the donor in the original trust.
The Wollongong Writers Festival Short Story Prize is awarded for a story up to 2500 words on the theme ‘World-Changing Words’. The theme can be interpreted as broadly and playfully as you like. Feel free to experiment with form and content, but please keep submissions within the word count.
Entries are now open for the Write Around the Murray short story competition. The competition is open to writers from all over Australia who can enter in two categories: Open Short Story (3,000 words) or the Nano Story (50 words) using images from the Albury Art Gallery as inspiration.
Original non-fiction essay (in English) between 3,000 and 7,000 words. Only open to Australian citizens or residents. All non-fiction styles are eligible. Non-defamatory and not infringing privacy of others. Multiple entries acceptable, but entries must not be under consideration for any other award. See website for terms and entry forms.
American competition, open to anyone writing in English. Submit full length manuscripts of original poetry in English, between 60-85 typewritten pages. Winner receives a publishing contract and $2500 cash reward.
Awarded to the best novel written by an Australian author that depicts women and girls in a positive way or otherwise empowers the status of women and girls in society. In 2014, the prize pool is $55,000, including $50,000 for the winning title.
The CHASS Australia Prizes honour distinguished achievements by Australians working, studying, or training in the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) sectors, including academics, practitioners, philanthropists, policy makers, and students. Nominations have now opened for four prizes. Two prizes are sponsored by Routledge (cash prize of $3,500 each): one for a non-fiction book/e-book that enriches Australian cultural and intellectual life, the second for ‘Distinctive Work’- an exceptional artistic performance, exhibition, film, television show, p…
Short Story (max 3000 words), Memoir (Max 1500 words), Poetry (free and traditional combined)(Max 80 lines), Short Story (Max 800 words), Boree Log Bush Verse (max 80 lines).
National competition on theme ‘faraway’ seeks short stories, poetry, and illustrations from writers aged 7-18. Prizes include vouchers up to $250 towards Creative Write-it courses, including online mentorships for young people who are ‘faraway’, fantastic for rural and remote young people. Each category is divided into three age groups: 7-9, 10-13, and 14-18.
Category A – free verse,open style, open theme. Category B – traditional, rhymed or structured verse, open style, open theme. Maximum 60 lines. See website for further details.
The Jean Stone Award is given on the even biennial year for a poem or group of poems up to 60 lines. All entries must be unpublished, in English and typed. Check with organisers to confirm competition details.
The Marjorie Barnard Award is for a short story of no more than 3,000 words. Entrants are to be permanent residents of Australia and the work should be original, unpublished, not have won any previous competition at the time of entry, typed and double spaced on one side of A4 paper. Check with organisers to confirm details.
An article writing competition on an open theme for punchy (even opinionated!) articles up to 2,000 words.
An award for a short story on any theme to a maximum of 3000 words. In honour of the late Angelo B. Natoli, who for many years served as the Honorary Solicitor to FAW (Victoria) Inc. One copy of each story is required; more than one entry per author may be submitted.
For a first book of poetry published after November in the preceding year. The book must have at least 20 pages of text. Self-published works are eligible. Publishers or authors are welcome to submit entries. Three copies of the book are required. Entries will not be returned. See website for entry forms (under National Literary Awards).
An award for a work of fiction by an Australian author, first published after November of previous year, and not previously published locally or overseas. Two copies of the book are required and will not be returned.
An award for an unpublished short story of up to 3000 words. This award honours Jennifer Burbidge, who suffered severe developmental difficulties and died soon after her 21st birthday, and whose story is told in Forever Baby. Royalties from the book help to fund the sponsorship of this award. Stories may deal with any aspect of the lives of those who suffer some form of physical, intellectual or mental health disability and/or the impact of disability on their families in an Australian situation. One copy of each story is required; more than one entry pe…