4 Annual Writing Contests for International Writers
Are you an international writer looking for recognition? Entering a writing contest could be the catalyst your writing career needs to blast off into the stratosphere. Every year, hundreds of prestigious writing competitions offer aspiring authors the opportunity to achieve international acclaim.
Look through this list of 5 opportunities for annual or biennial writing contests, even if the deadline has passed, you can prepare for next years’ submission. Enter the contest that suits your writing style and submit your piece before the deadline. Win one of these contests, and you could feature as the next rising international star of the writing community.
1. Hektoen Grand Prix Essay Contest
Hektoen International, an online journal specializing in writing relate to medical humanities, present this competition. The award offers two prizes, announced annually for submissions of no more than 1,600 words in two different categories.
The best essay suited to their Famous Hospitals section receives a cash prize of $1,200. The best piece adapted to the sections of Literary Vignettes, Art Flashes, Physicians of Note, or Moments in History, receives a secondary prize with the winner earning $1,000. Their 2019 deadline for 2018 submissions is still pending.
2. Stowe Prize
This contest features a colossal cash prize of $10,000 for the winner. The Stowe prize is a biennial award that honors the work of Harriet Beecher Stowe and seeks to find the best submission that reflects the fight for social justice, similar to her groundbreaking work, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Upon submitting your manuscript, you must complete a 250-word motivation on how your work has made a tangible impact on social dynamics. The deadline for this contest is still pending.
3. FutureScapes Writing Contest
Inspired by social dynamics, economics, geopolitics, and culture? Then this is the writing contest you’ve been looking for online. FutureScapes are seeking the best essay covering futurist concepts that can lay a foundation for new ideas that can progress humanity.
The winner receives a cash prize of $2,000, with the runner-up earning a tidy $1,000. Along with a handsome financial reward, the winners will receive the chance to be published in an anthology read by leaders that include members of Congress, judges, governors, and majors. Be the change you want to see in the world with your submission for this contest, the annual deadline for 2018 is still pending.
4. The Diana Woods Memorial Award in Creative Non-Fiction
Win this competition and earn publication of your submission in Lunch Ticket, the literary and art journal produced by the MFA community of Antioch University Los Angeles. Lunch Ticket has a base of thousands of readers, and thousands of influential writers and journalists will have the opportunity to read your piece.
Submissions are limited to 5,000-words of unpublished, creative nonfiction, and the winner also receives a cash prize of $250. Deadlines for biannual reading periods are the month of August for the Winter/Spring issue and the month of February for the Summer/Fall issue.
5. The Reedsy Short Story Contest
For those that can’t wait a full year for their contest submission, try out Reedsy’s weekly writing contests. Reedsy publishes the winners work on their Medium blog, which has thousands of daily views, and they also offer a $50 cash prize. The entry is free; all you need to do is sign up for the weekly newsletter at Reedsy.com.