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 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 8 August; submissions due Tuesday16 August)
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.
2. Night Parrot Press Flash Lab
The brief: submit a flash fiction story under 500 words.
Open to: Western Australian writers aged between 12 and 17 years.
Entry fee: free to submit.
Prizes: one story will be selected each week to be published on Night Parrot Press’s website. (You can read the current Story of the Week on the website now.)
Closing date: rolling.
More information: visit Night Parrot Press’s website.
3. The Hachette Australia Prize for Young Writers 2022
The brief: submit fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry.
Word limits: 3,000 words for fiction and non-fiction, or up to 100 lines of poetry.
Open to: Australian secondary school-aged students.
Entry fee: free.
Prizes: fifteen shortlisted writers will be invited to participate in a writing masterclass, attend an exclusive Q&A with Zana Fraillon and receive a book pack of YA Titles courtesy of Hachette Australia. The prize winner in each category will receive $500, publication of their work on the Express Media website, and their names and an acknowledgement printed in Voiceworks.
Closing date: Sunday 7 August 2022.
More information: visit Express Media’s website.
4. 2023 Premier’s Anzac Student Tour
The brief: Submit a response to the following topic: In what way might efforts on the home front be seen as important as battles fought overseas? Draw on a selected Western Australian individual, community or group to illustrate your response. Entries should be presented in a suitable form, or combination of forms, such as an article, blog post, essay, letter, speech, or short story of no more than 1000 words (excluding the bibliography).
Open to: Western Australian students currently enrolled in Years 8 to 11.
Entry fee: free.
Prize: Ten selected participants will travel to Sydney and New Zealand from Sunday 16 April to Wednesday 26 April 2023.
Closing date: Friday 12 August 2022.
More information: visit the Education Department of Western Australia‘s website.
5. 2022 Tim Winton Award for Young Writers
The brief: submit short stories up to 2,000 words in length.
Open to: Western Australian school students in years one to twelve.
Entry fee: free to enter.
Closing date: Friday 12 August 2022.
More information: visit Subiaco Library’s website.
6. Pulch Mag: 2022 Open Submissions for Print Issue
The brief: submit work on the theme of ‘Creativity, Empowerment and Safe Spaces in WA’ for its second print issue. Submissions are open to any work that can be printed on paper, which includes but is not limited to poetry, short stories, essays, plays, interview proposals and illustrations, or maybe even a combination across medium.
Word Limits: For poetry, please keep your submission between 20 and 500 words. For short stories, essays, plays and the like, please keep your submission between 500 and 1,500
words.
Open to: Western Australian writers aged between 16 and 26.
Cost: free to submit.
Closing date: Friday 12 August 2022.
More information: visit Pulch Mag‘s website.
7. Submit to Voiceworks
The brief: submit fiction, nonfiction, poetry, visual art and comics on the theme of ‘grain’.
Open to: writers and artists who are under the age of 25 (that is, 24 and under) at the time of submission
Categories and word limits:
- Fiction: no more than two stories, up to 3,000 words each.
- Poetry: up to three poems, with a maximum of 100 lines per poem.
- Nonfiction: it is recommended that you pitch your non-fiction work before submitting it. For completed work, send no more than two pieces, up to 3,000 words each.
- Art and comics: keep in mind that Voiceworks prints in duotone (only two colours of ink) and the page dimensions are 170 x 245 mm.
Entry fee: free to submit.
Closing dates:
- Nonfiction pitches—Sunday 26 July 2022.
- Fiction, completed nonfiction and poetry—Sunday 7 August 2022.
- Art, comics and comic pitches—Sunday 14 August 2022.
More information: visit Express Media’s website.
8. Respect Stories Competition
The brief: write a short story, poem or essay up to 1,000 words to show what respect means to you. You can also submit an illustration instead of writing something.
Open to: writers between the ages of 10 and 14 years old.
Entry fee: free to submit.
Prizes: in addition to being published, winners will also receive a $500 VISA gift card prize for themselves and one for their school library.
Closing dates: Sunday 14 August 2022.
More information: visit the competition’s webpage.
9. 2022 Hilarie Lindsay Young Writers Poetry Competition
The brief: Submit poetry (see below for word limits depending on age group).
Categories, word limits and prizes:
- Section 1: Years 10, 11 and 12. Max. 60 lines. Prize $125
- Section 2: Years 7, 8 and 9. Max. 40 lines. Prize $90
- Section 3: Years 5 and 6. Max. 40 lines. Prize $65
- Section 4: Year 4 and under. Max. 20 lines. Prize $50
Entry fee: $5.
Closing date: Wednesday 31 August 2022.
More information: visit the Fellowship of Australian Writers NSW Inc.
10. Young Minds Short Story Competition
The brief: submit an original short story of up to 700 words with your interpretation of the 2022 Children’s Book Week theme, “Dreaming with eyes open…”
Open to: students in years 7 to 12.
Entry fee: free to enter.
Prizes: shorlisted entries will receive a $200 book voucher from Westbooks, attend a writing workshop with guest judge and author Holden Sheppard, attend a drawing workshop with illustrator Peter Cheong, attend the winner’s presentation and morning tea on 15 October 2022, and have your story published on the City of Canning website
Closing date: Wednesday 31 August 2022.
More information: visit the City of Canning’s website.
11. Little Stories. Big Ideas Competition
The brief: submit flash fiction that is 100 words or less on the theme of ‘body’. Any literary style is welcome – short-story form, poem, haiku, limerick, song – but entries must be in English.
Open to: Australian secondary school students
Categories: Years 7 to 9 and Years 10 to 12.
Entry fee: free.
Prizes: the year 10 to 12 category winner receives an Express Media Membership and the latest issue of Voiceworks Magazine; the year 7 to 9 category winner wins a StoryCraft writing mentorship.
Closing date: Friday 16 September 2022 (for term three entries).
More information: visit the Little Stories, Big Ideas website.
12. Poem Forest Prize
The brief: create and submit poems up to 20 lines inspired by the natural environment.
Open to: Australian students and young people (aged 18 and under), an accredited teacher or a parent/guardian entering on behalf of a student.
Entry fee: free to enter.
Prizes: All POEM FOREST Prize entries are published in Red Room Poetry’s digital library. There are $5,000 worth of prizes, including $500 cash for each category, book packs from Magabala Books, Pantera Press, Wonderground as well as Garden tours, plants, seeds and more. For every nature poem received a tree is planted to help heal habitats and create a POEM FOREST for future generations. In 2021, over 5,000 poem trees were planted.
Closing date: Friday 23 September 2022.
More information: visit Red Room Poetry’s website.
13. KSP Poetry Awards
The brief: submit poetry up to 50 lines.
Open to: Australian residents.
Categories: Youth KSP Poetry Awards (10 to 17 years); Open KSP Poetry Awards (18 years plus); Annette Cameron Encouragement Award.
Entry fees: Youth (Free, limit of one poem per entrant); adult ($10 per poem, no limit on entries); Annette Cameron ($10, limit of one poem per entrant).
Prizes: see competition page for details.
Closing date: Thursday 29 September 2022.
More information: visit the KSP Writers’ Centre’s website.
14. KSP Short Fiction Competition
The brief: submit fiction on an open theme.
Open to: Australian residents.
Categories and word limits: youth (up to 1,000 words per entry); adult (up to 2,500 per entry).
Entry fees: youth (up to 17 years)—Free, limit of one entry per person; adult (18 plus): $10 per entry, no limit on entries.
Prizes: see competition page for details.
Closing date: Thursday 29 September 2022.
More information: visit the KSP Writers’ Centre’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!
