A collection of writing competitions, prizes, awards and opportunities open for submissions throughout the year for adult writers residing in NSW, Australia.
AUGUST
31 August: Aesthetica Creative Writing Award
The Aesthetica Creative Writing Award is a celebration of innovative new poetry and short fiction from across the world. A winner in each category will receive £2500 prize money as well as publication in the Aesthetica Creative Writing Anthology.
31 August: 31st Scarlet Stiletto Awards
31ST Scarlet Stiletto Awards now open– a record $13,400 in prize money. Sisters in Crime’s Scarlet Stiletto Awards for Australian women’s best short crime and mystery stories turn 31 this year. This round offers a record $13,400 in prizes. A brand-new award – the Cate Kennedy Award for Best Story Inspired by a Forensic Clue ($500) – is being offered this year.
31 August: Anthology Personal Memoir Competition
The Anthology Personal Memoir Competition is open to original and previously unpublished memoirs in the English language by writers of any nationality, living anywhere in the world. Memoirs submitted must not exceed a maximum of 1500 words. The winner will receive a €500 and the chance to see their work published in a future issue of Anthology.
31 August: Fool for Poetry International Chapbook Competition
New, emerging and established poets from any country can submit a poetry chapbook manuscript of between 16 and 24 pages in length, written in English. First prize will receive €1000, publication of their chapbook and 25 complementary copies, and a featured reading at the Cork International Poetry Festival in Ireland.
31 August: Jean Stone 2024 Poetry Award
Submit a poem or group of poems up to 60 lines for the chance to win $500 and online publication in the Fellowship of Australian Writers NSW’s bulletin Writers Voice and on the FAW NSW website.
31 August: Olga Masters Short Story Award
Submit short stories of between 2000 and 4000 words on the theme of life in rural Australia for the chance to win $1500 and publication in Island magazine and on the OMSSA website.
31 August: OutStanding LGBTQIA+ Short Story Competition
Submit short stories of up to 750 words on the theme ‘Mysterious’ that have relevance to the LGBTQIA+ community, for the chance to win $1000.
31 August: Wildlife Fiction Short Story Competition
This competition from the Australian Wildlife Society seeks original short stories of up to 1000 words that entertain, convey a message, capture a moment, or evoke a certain mood about Australian wildlife (flora or fauna) while shedding light on the challenges they face in a modern world. There is a top prize of $750.
SEPTEMBER
2 September: Island Magazine Submissions
Fiction and non-fiction submissions are currently open for the print edition of Island 172.
6 September: KSP Short Fiction Competition
Write a story on any theme up to 2500 words for the chance to win $300 plus a weekend residency at the KSP Writers’ Centre in WA.
6 September: Roly Sussex Short Story Competition
Submit a short story up to 3000 words on any theme for the chance to win a top prize of $7500.
8 September: Political Poetry Workshop with Juan Garrido Salgado
Do you have a message you want to communicate with your poetry? Is your poetry in conversation, or in response to, society, culture, and current politics? There is poetry that looks inwards, and there is poetry that looks outwards. This is your opportunity to learn how to harness your voice, speak to the world, and shape what you want to say through poetry.
9 September: Fisher’s Ghost Writing Prize 2024
Campbelltown City Library has partnered with WestWords to create this prize open to anyone living, studying or working in the Campbelltown LGA. Submit poems up to 25 lines and short stories up to 500 words for the chance to win $300.
25 September: KSP Poetry Competition
Submit poems up to 50 lines on any theme for the chance to win 300 plus a weekend residency at the KSP Writers’ Centre in WA.
27 September: New England Thunderbolt Prize
The Thunderbolt Prize is a prestigious, nationally recognised, literary award for crime writers resident in Australia. Includes major prizes and a youth category for writers under 18yrs. Note wordcount limits: 2,500 words for Fiction & Non-Fiction. 60 Lines for poems. First prize in each category is $500.
29 September: The Wingate Award for Unpublished Manuscripts
The Wingate Award for Unpublished Manuscripts is dedicated to recognising outstanding contemporary Australian fiction and non-fiction that explore Jewish themes. The submitted excerpt must be between 8,000 and 10,000 words and the topic must engage in some capacity with Jewish experience.
30 September: Ian Wilson Memorial Fellowship
Established to support emerging children’s authors and illustrators who explore Australian voices and themes, the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust provides the successful applicant with accommodation, local support, and travel to Adelaide, providing creative time away from home for 21 nights in March 2025.
30 September: Anthology Flash Fiction Competition
Submit an original, unpublished flash fiction piece, written in English with a maximum of 250 words for the chance to win a €300 cash prize and the chance to be published in a future issue of Anthology.
30 September: Anthology Nature Writing Competition
Open to original and previously unpublished works in English by writers of any nationality, living anywhere in the world. Essays entered must not exceed a maximum of 1500 words. The winner will receive a €500 and the chance to see their work published in a future issue of Anthology.
30 September: Bridport Prize Memoir Award
Submit a sample of your memoir manuscript for the chance to win £1500, a year’s mentoring from The Literary Consultancy, valuable advice from an editor at John Murray, part of Hachette publishers and more.
30 September: International Literary Prize
Enter poetry, short stories, scripts or lyrics for the chance to win prizes up to £1000.
30 September: SD HARVEY Short Crime Story Award
Submit fiction or non-fiction crime stories of between 2000 and 5000 words for the chance to win $1000.
30 September: The Moth Nature Writing Prize
This prize is awarded annually to unpublished pieces of prose or poetry which best combine exceptional literary merit with an exploration of the writers’ relationship with the natural world. Top prize is €1,000 and a week at Circle of Misse in France.
30 September: Woorilla Poetry Prize
Enter the open section of this prize with poems up to 50 lines on any theme for the chance to win $3000.
30 September: The Letter Review Prize
The Letter Review Prize is awarded every three months in the categories of Short Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Unpublished Books. They offer a yearly Prize pool of $20,000
OCTOBER
7 October: 2025 Peter Porter Poetry Prize
Australian Book Review’s Peter Porter Poetry Prize is worth a total of $10,000 and is open to unpublished poems of no more than 60 lines written in English. Five shortlisted poems will be published in the January–February 2025 issue.
14 October: Bruce Dawe National Poetry Prize
Submit poems up to 50 lines for the chance to win $3000, with two highly commended entrants to be awarded $500 each.
15 October: Caledonia Novel Award 2025
An Edinburgh-based international writing competition for unpublished and self-published novelists, with a top prize of £1500.
31 October: 2024 Ernestine Hill Memorial Award
Submit a short story of up to $4000 words with an Australian Country theme for the chance to win $1000 and digital publication.
31 October: 2024 Rae Alison Cerhan Australiana Ballad
Submit a ballad (poem) of up to 100 lines for the chance to win $600 and digital publication.
GENERAL SUBMISSIONS
Griffith Review
Currently closed, but generally open four times each year, accepting submissions of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and occasional special projects.
HEAT Literary Magazine
Welcoming submissions of fiction, essays, hybrid forms and translated works, HEAT is published six times a year in a slim, intimate format, that throws sharp focus on the work of the featured authors.
Mascara Literary Review
Currently accepting fiction and non-fiction up to 3000 words and reviews 1200-1500 words.
Meanjin
Currently closed, the next submissions window for Meanjin will open in December 2024.
Overland Magazine
Accepting submissions of completed fiction and non-fiction articles and poems, 3000 words or less.
Writing NSW publishes these free listings in good faith but does not endorse or warrant the accuracy of any information.