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:
- December—creative nonfiction (drafts for expert review due Monday 29 November; submissions due Tuesday 7 December)
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. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Little Stories, Big Ideas
The brief: Submit flash fiction that is 100 words or less. The competition runs four times a year. This term’s theme is ‘revolution. 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: winners from each category chooses a prize from the list supplied on the competition’s website.
Closing date: Friday 10 December 2021.
More information: visit the Little Stories, Big Ideas website.
6. Kembla Flame Written Bush Poetry Competition
The brief: Submit poems that have a theme or subject matter that is Australian by nature. As this is a written bush poetry competition, poems must be written with consistent rhyme and meter. There is also the requirement that the theme or subject matter must be Australian by nature.
Categories: open, novice and junior.
Entry fee: $6 per poem or 3 poems for $10.
Prizes: $100 and certificate for junior category.
Closing date: Friday 24 December 2021.
More information: visit the Australian Bush Poets Association Inc.’s website.
7. The Golden Pen Writing Award
The brief: Submit a story up to 3,000 words on the theme of ‘Everyday Magic’.
Open to: Western Australian students in years 4 to 12.
Categories: years 4 to 6; years 7 to 8; years 9 to 12.
Entry fee: appears to be free.
Prizes: see the terms and conditions page on the competition website for details.
Closing date: Sunday 20 March 2022.
More information: visit the Scribblers website.
8. Little Black Dress Spooky Story Competition 2020 (KSP Writers’ Centre)
The brief: Write a story of up to 500 words on the theme of ‘best friend’. The theme is open to interpretation, as long as the piece contains significant elements of eeriness/spookiness and a clear connection to the theme (the adult category has a 1,200 word limit).
Open to: Australian residents (the adult category is only open to residents of Western Australia).
Categories: Adult and Youth (8–18 years) categories.
Entry fee: free for youth ($10 for adults).
Prizes: Youth (WA) first prize ($100, certificate, complimentary print copy of Spooky Story anthology); Youth (WA) second prize ($25, certificate, complimentary print copy of Spooky Story anthology); youth interstate award ($50, complimentary print copy of Spooky Story anthology); Shortlist/Highly Commended/Commended awards (digital certificate and publication in anthology).
Closing date: Thursday 24 March 2022.
Further information: For further details, including about the theme, access to the on-line entry form, and a reading of last year’s winner, head to the KSP Writers’ Centre 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!
