Contests

Annual APEX Awards for Publication Excellence - An annual competition for writers, editors, publications staff, and both business and non-profit communicators.
http://www.apexawards.com

Tickled by Thunder fiction magazine - Sponsors quarterly poetry contests (closing February 15, et seq) and an annual fiction contest (closing February 15). A $10 subscription to the quarterly magazine offers one free entry to both contests.
http://www.tickledbythunder.com/TbT/Magazine/02_Contest_Info.html

Associated Writing Programs Awards - Annual awards of $2,000 (plus publication) are offered for original, unpublished, book-length work in each of three categories: novels, poetry, and creative non-fiction. Reading fee: $20. Deadline: February 28. Open to U.S. residents only.
http://www.awpwriter.org

Sarabande Books - Poetry & Short Fiction Contests - Open to U.S. citizens only, Sarabande offers an annual $2,000 prize for both poetry (minimum 48 pages) and short fiction (minimum 150 pages).
http://www.sarabandebooks.org

Milkweed Editions - Milkweed Editions is a non-profit publisher of literature for adults and young adults based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Milkweed National Fiction Prize is awarded annually for the best fiction manuscript submitted by an author not previously published by Milkweed.
http://www.milkweed.org

Park Publications U.K. - Publishers of the magazines, "Scribble" and "Countryside Tales", holding quarterly competitions for original, unpublished short stories and poems, some open, some limited to specific themes.
http://www.parkpublications.co.uk

AwardWeb - Information on major literary awards throughout the USA and other countries, particularly focusing on (though not limited to) science fiction and fantasy.
http://www.dpsinfo.com/awardweb/

Southeastern Writers Association Contests - These contests and awards are restricted to writers attending the annual week-long Southeastern Writers Conference, held in June at St. Simons Island, Georgia. .
http://www.southeasternwriters.com/contests.htm

William Saroyan International Prize for Writing - An annual prize of $12,500, this award is intended to encourage new writers who have recently published a work of fiction or memoirs.
http://library.stanford.edu/saroyan/

Peralta Press Writing Awards - Annual contest seeks poetry (maximum: 30 lines), short stories and non-fiction (both maximum: 2,000 words). Minimum entry fee: $10. Cash prizes total: $750. All entries considered for publication. Deadline: August 15.
http://peraltapress.homestead.com/

Painted Bride Fiction and Poetry Contests - Literary short stories (maximum 5,000 words) and poetry are sought in contests sponsored by Rutgers University. Reading fees: $10 and $5 respectively. Deadline: September 30. $1000 prize in each category, plus publication in PBQ.
http://pbq.rutgers.edu

Writers Notes Annual Writing Award - Annual writing awards for fiction and nonfiction by the free resource tool and Writers Notes Magazine
http://hopepubs.home.comcast.net/wawards.html

Mona Schreiber Prize for Humorous Fiction and Non-Fiction - Humorous stories and essays up to 750 words are required. Reading fee: $5. Deadline: December 1. Cash prizes total $850.
http://www.brashcyber.com/mona.htm

SAY Writing Contests - Writing contests open to all types of entries including essays, short stories, and poetry. Maximum length: 700 words. Entries are published in a book and readers determine the winners.
http://say.com.au/index.htm

Flyway - 6th Annual Flyway Sweet Corn Prize. $150 and a book bag of Iowa sweet corn for top entries in each category: fiction, nonfiction (maximum: 4,000 words) and poetry. Reading fee: $18. Deadline March 1st.
http://www.engl.iastate.edu/publications/flyway/homepage.html

Foster City International Writer's Contest - Seeks entries in four categories: short stories (limit: 3,000 words); poetry (limit: 2 pages); children's stories (limit: 2,000 words); humor or personal essay (2,000 words). Entry fee: $12. Total prize money: $1,500. Deadline: December 31.
http://www.geocities.com/fostercity_writers/

Pomegranate Words Writing Contests - Offers free monthly contests for poetry and fiction. Open worldwide, but to teenagers only.
http://www.pomegranatewords.com

Pronghorn Press Publishing - Promotes annual prose (up to 5,000 words) and poetry (no more than 60 lines) contests relating to contemporary life in three specific regions, namely, the Rockies, the Desert Southwest, and the Northwest Coast.
http://www.pronghornpress.org

Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest - San Jose State University sponsors this yearly challenge "to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels". No entry fee. Official deadline: April 15.
http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/

Santa Fe Writers Project - SFWP provides resources for authors and features online fiction as well as an annual writing contest for prose, both fiction and non-fiction, including short stories, essays and sample chapters of novels. $6,000 in cash prizes. Deadline: mid-January.
http://www.sfwp.com/

A Woman's Write - Writing contest for women seeks a story, memoir or book chapter on a given theme. Deadline; December 31, thence monthly. Entry fee: $7. First prize: $70.
http://www.awomanswrite.com

Word Smitten Annual Literary Fiction Contest - Offers a prize of $1,010 for the best on-line submission of literary (no genre) fiction totaling exactly 1,010 words. Reading fee: $15. Deadline: July 1.
http://www.wordsmitten.com/fiction.html

The New Writer Magazine Annual Prose and Poetry Prizes - Offers prize money totalling 2,500 pounds for essays (maximum 2,000 words), short stories (maximum 4,000 words), serials or novellas (up to 20,000 words), and poetry (maximum 100 lines). Closes November 30. Modest entry fees.
http://www.thenewwriter.com

Writers Notes Book Awards - Annual awards are granted to qualifying small-press and self-published books in eleven categories. $100 cash prize in each category. Entry fee: $40 per book. Deadline: January 15, 2005.
http://hopepubs.home.comcast.net/awards.html

Arizona Authors Association Awards - AAA requires entries for unpublished poetry, short stories, essays/articles, and novels. Cash prizes of $100 in each category, plus publication, are offered. Deadline: July 1, annually. Entry fees vary from $10 (poetry) to $30 (novels).
http://azauthors.com

Playwriting Contest - Annual contest seeks original, unproduced plays, open in theme, but suitable in both subject, and language, for family-oriented amateur groups. The winner receives a $1,000 royalty advance, and publication.
http://www.pioneerdrama.com/stuff/contest.html

The University of Michigan Press - Annual awards, worth $1,000 each and publication, for literary fiction in the form of both a novel and a short story collection. Entrants must have at least one publication credit in the realm of literature. No entry fee. Deadline: July 1.
http://www.press.umich.edu/fiction

Communicator Awards, The - Annual competitions honoring excellence in all areas of communication, with separate categories for print (177 sub-categories), video (216 sub-categories) and audio (140 sub-categories).
http://www.communicator-awards.com/