Young Writers: Competitions
If you’re a young writer in Australia, and have been wondering about opportunities to submit your work, then look no further. This post contains a list of writing competitions for young writers in Australia, together with useful information such as word limits, closing dates and links to entry forms.
Be sure to check back regularly, though, because I’ll update the post whenever info about other competitions (or publishing opportunities) are released. You can also sign up for my monthly newsletter, in which I always include a list of opportunities for the coming month.
The competitions listed are in order of closing date, apart from the first one listed, as it has a different competition each month.
1.Write a Book in a Day
Write a Book in a Day is not your usual competition. As the title suggestions, the idea is to write a book in a day—with a team (between 5 and 10 people). Your team can nominate any 12-hour time period between now and Tuesday 31 August to complete the challenge.
The brief: Gather your team virtually using online tools or find a quiet space to get creative. Using the unique parameters , and random words provided, craft your narrative and illustrations. Start writing at 8am and be sure to complete your book by 8pm that evening. Be sure to submit your book by 9pm!
Word limits: Primary School Division – 1500 to 2500 words; Middle Secondary School Division – 3500 to 5000 words; Upper Secondary School Division – 3500 to 5000 words; Open and Corporate Categories – 7000 to 10000 words. This includes your cover, title page, back page, blurb and everything in between.
Entry fee: $70 per team, plus $240 or more in sponsorship—$240 of your fee, along with any additional monies raised in relation to Write a Book in a Day, go directly to fund scientific research to find better treatments and ultimately a cure for childhood cancer (via The Kids’ Cancer Project).
Prizes: Each division in each State has awards for Best Books; Winner, Highly Commended and Commended) . The State winners are then judged to determine the national winners for Best Book. In addition, teams and individuals achieving top sponsorship are also recognised for their wonderful contribution to a very worthy cause.
Competition dates: any 12-hour period between Tuesday 1 June to Tuesday 31 August 2021.
More information: head to the Write a Book in a Day website.
2. Write the World (ongoing monthly competitions)
Write the World describes itself as a ‘community of young writers (ages 13-18), hailing from over 80 countries’. Write the World holds monthly competitions, developed around a particular idea or genre of writing. The competitions encourage you to try out new genres and share your work with other readers, as well as offering the opportunity to receive peer and expert feedback, before submitting your final piece.
Upcoming topics include:
- August—flash fiction (drafts for expert review due Monday 9 August; submissions due Tuesday 17 August 2021).
Entry fee: Free.
Prizes: Winning entrant receives $100. Runner-up and best peer reviewer are awarded $50. All three winners will be featured on their blog.
More info: For a more detailed information about each topic, including deadlines (for draft and final submissions) and prizes, head to the Write the World website.
3. Pulch Mag
The brief: Write about anything and everything, from politics, to culture, to identity, fictional short stories, poems, screenplays and experimentative writing. The editors are particularly interested in stories that include marginalised or minority voices and themes. You are encouraged you to keep your piece between 1000 and 2000 words, however we are open to longer or shorter pieces.
Open to: young people living in or from WA aged 26 or under.
Closing date: ongoing submissions accepted.
Further information: head to Pulch Mag‘s website.
4. The Hachette Australia Prize for Young Writers
The brief: submit fiction, creative nonfiction or poetry aimed at readers of any age.
Open to: Australian secondary school-aged students.
Categories: fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry.
Entry fee: free.
Prizes: the prize winner in each category will receive: $500 courtesy of Hachette Australia, publication of their work on the Express Media website, and their names and an acknowledgement printed in Voiceworks, Australia’s premier youth literary journal. All fifteen shortlisted writers will be invited to participate in a writing masterclass, attend an exclusive Q&A with Danielle Binks and receive a book pack of YA Titles courtesy of Hachette Australia.
Closing date: Thursday 12 August 2021.
More information: visit Express Media’s website.
5. 2022 Premier’s Anzac Student Tour Competition
The brief: Apply for a once in a lifetime experience exploring the journey of our Anzacs by preparing an extended written response of no more than 1000 words on the following topic:
What would it have been like to grow up in a family affected by war?
In response, consider the impact on women, the community, and the expectations and responsibilities of people your own age by drawing on a selected Western Australian individual, community or group as evidence.
Open to: Western Australian students who are currently in years 8 to 11.
Categories: Schools conduct their own selection process and can nominate up to three students in each of the two categories of Years 8/9 and Year 10/11.
Entry fee: free.
Prizes: 10 students will be selected to take part in an Anzac Tour around Anzac Day in 2022.
Closing date: Friday 13 August 2021.
More information: can be found on the WA Department of Education’s website.
6. Tim Winton Award for Young Writers
The brief: submit an original piece of prose writing, no more than 2000 words in length.
Open to: Western Australian school students in years one to twelve.
Categories: lower primary (years one and two); middle primary (years three and four); upper primary (years five and six); lower secondary (years seven, eight and nine); upper secondary (years ten, eleven and twelve).
Entry fee: free.
Prizes: Prizes are donated from the City of Subiaco and award sponsors and are presented to the top three entries in each category. The Tim Winton Award for Outstanding Achievement will be awarded to the best overall story across all categories. Winning stories will be on display for one month at Subiaco Library and published online.
Closing date: Friday 13 August 2021.
More information: visit Subiaco Library’s website.
7. Roland Leach Poetry Prize
The brief: submit a poem.
Open to: children and young adults in Western Australia.
Categories: middle primary (Years 3 and 4); upper primary (Years 5 and 6); lower secondary (Years 7, 8 and 9); upper secondary (Years 10, 11 and 12).
Entry fee: free.
Prizes: Prizes are awarded for first, second and third in each category. The winners will receive book vouchers and be presented with a trophy and certificate. The Roland Leach Poetry Prize is presented to the poet with the most outstanding entry.
Closing date: Sunday 15 August 2021.
More information: visit the Nedlands Library website.
8. Boroondara Literary Awards
The brief: submit short stories and poems.
Open to: Youth categories are only open to young people who live, work or study in Boroondara (Victoria); however, the open short story competition category is open to writers Australia-wide.
Categories and word limits:
- Junior Category (years 5 and 6): prose (between 300 and 500 words); poetry (less than 100 lines).
- Middle Category (years 7, 8 and 9): prose length (between 500 and 900 words); poetry length (less than 200 lines).
- Senior Category (years 10, 11 and 12): prose length (between 900 and 1,300 words); poetry length (less than 200 lines).
- Open Short Story Competition: between 1,500 and 3,000 words.
Entry fee: appears to be free.
Prizes: see the competition’s website for details.
Closing date: Friday 27 August 2021.
More information: visit Boroondara Councils’s website.
9. UNSW Bragg Student Prize for Science Writing 2021
The brief: Write a 800-word essay on a given topic. The 2021 topic is ‘The STEM in everyday life’.
Open to: year 7 to 10 secondary school students.
Entry fee: free.
Prizes: there will be 3 prize winners: one winner and two runners up. The winner will be awarded a UNSW Bookshop vouchervalued at $500, and the two runners up will each be awarded aUNSW Bookshop voucher valued at $250. All three winners will also receive one–year print or digital subscriptions to the Australian Book Review.The winning entry will be included in the 2022edition of NewSouth Publishing’s highly acclaimed anthology The Best Australian Science Writing, where it will appear alongside essays by some of the country’s leading science writers.
Closing date: Friday 27 August 2021.
More information: visit New South Publishing’s website.
10. 2021 Hilarie Lindsay Young Writers
The brief: Submit a short story
Open to: Australian school students.
Categories, word limits and prizes:
- Section 1: Years 10, 11 & 12, up to 2500 words, $150 prize money
- Section 2: Years 7, 8 & 9, up to 2500 words,$125 prize money
- Section 3: Years 5 & 6, up to 1500 words, $100 prize money
- Section 4: Year 4 & under, up to 1500 words, $50 prize money
Entry fee: $3.
Closing date: Tuesday 31 August 2021.
More information: visit FAW NSW’s website.
11. Poem Forest Competition
The brief: Submit a single poem no more than 20 lines and linked to the theme of nature.
Open to: Australian students and young people (aged 18 and under), an accredited teacher or a parent/guardian.
Categories: lower primary (F–Year 3); upper primary (Years 4–6); lower secondary (Years 7–9); upper secondary (Years 10–12); accredited teacher (All ages); threatened Species (F–12); the Australian Botanic Gardens local prize (F–12).
Entry fee: free.
Prizes: All POEM FOREST entries will be published and in the running for $5,000 worth of prizes, including $500 cash for each category, book packs from Copyright Agency and Magabala Books, as well as Garden tours, trees and publication opportunities.
Closing date: Friday 17 September 2021.
More information: head to Red Room Poetry’s website.
12. Wombat Books Illustration Challenge 2021
The brief: submit original illustrations from for the creation of the picture book Screen Free Holiday. Pick on of the spreads provided in the picture book text (on the Wombat Books website) and illustrate something that matches, leaving room for the text to go when printed. You are free to illustrate just one or multiple spreads.
Open to: Australian school-aged students, aged 5-18.
Entry fee: a previous purchase of one of Wombat Books’ other illustration challenges.
Prizes: winning illustrations will be published in a new book which is due for release in 2022. Illustrators will receive two free copies of the book. They will also be acknowledged on the Wombat Books website.
Closing date: Tuesday 30 November 2021.
More information: head to Wombat Books.
13. Writing Tournament
The brief: submit up to 500 words in and genre and style on the theme of ‘border reivers’. The Border Reivers were “a lawless population of raiders, murderers and thieves. They flourished in the 16th century on the borders of England and Scotland, but were wanted by neither country.” You may submit a maximum of one entry per month until the closing date.
Open to: anyone aged 8 to 16.
Categories: 8 to 12 & 13 to16.
Entry fee: free.
Prizes: Various including publication (see the competition’s website for details).
Closing date: Tuesday 28 September 2021.
More information can be found on William J. Kite’s website, where you will also find details and links relating to the Border Reviers as well as ideas to get you started writing.
14. 2022 Storyfest National Poetry Prize
The brief: submit poems up to 50 lines excluding the title, on any subject.
Open to: to all current secondary students attending school in Australia. Students receiving home schooling are eligible to enter. Entrants must be under 19 years of age as at date of close of entries on 3 December 2021.
Categories: junior secondary (years 7 to 9); senior secondary (Years 10 to 12).
Entry fee: $20.
Prizes: One winner will be selected from each category and at the discretion of the judges, up to five short-listed highly commended runners up will be selected. The winner in each category will receive $300. Category winners will have the opportunity to attend Somerset Storyfest, be billeted by students of the Somerset Wordsmiths’ Club, and attend the events at Storyfest over the three days, where the national winners will be announced and awarded prizes at the Literary Long Table Dinner. This decision will be at the discretion of the competition organisers.
Closing date: Friday 3 December 2021.
More information: visit Storyfest’s website.
15. 2022 Storyfest National Novella Writing Competition
The brief: submit a novella of no less than 8,000 words and no more than 20,000 words.
Open to: to all current secondary students attending school in Australia. Students receiving home schooling are eligible to enter. Entrants must be under 19 years of age as at date of close of entries on 3 December 2021.
Entry fee: $20.
Prizes: There will be monetary prizes awarded to all state winners and one prize of $2,500 will be awarded to the national winner. The state winners will receive personalised advice on their winning manuscripts from Penguin Random House (Australia). State winners will have the opportunity to attend Somerset Storyfest, be billeted by students of the Somerset Wordsmiths’ Club, and attend the events at Storyfest over the three days, where the national winner will be announced. This decision will be at the discretion of the competition organisers. Accompanying the monetary prize will be a full editorial report on the national winning manuscript.
Closing date: Friday 3 December 2021.
More information: visit Storyfest’s website.
Over to You
Just a quick note: if you do enter a competition, take time to read the guidelines carefully to ensure you’re entry meets the requirements, so that it’s accepted. This can include seemingly minor details such as size, font and spacing of your text.
If you’d like some guidance on what to look out for, then take a look at an earlier post of mine, Writing Competitions: What You Need to Know Before Entering.
What are you waiting for? Start writing, keep writing – and let me know how you go!
