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:;
- July: Sports Writing — Journalism — The balls in your court
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. 2021 Premier’s Anzac Student Tour
The brief: Prepare an extended written response of no more than 1000 words on the following topic: What should we believe when accounts of the same historical event are in conflict? Using supporting evidence of a Western Australian individual, community or group from Australian military history, present your explanation of this conflict. (NB: Schools conduct their own selection process and can nominate up to three students in each of the two categories of Years 8 and 9, and Years 10 and 11.)
Open to: Western Australian students in years 8 to 11.
Categories: years 8 and 9; years 10 and 11.
Entry fee: free.
Prizes: Ten student ambassadors will represent Western Australia on the 2021 Premier’s Anzac Student Tour.
Closing date: Friday 14 August 2020.
More information: visit the Western Australian Department of Education website, where you can download a student application package.
3. Tim Winton Award for Young Writers
The brief: Submit an original piece of prose writing, no more than 2000 words in length. One entry per person.
Open to: Western Australian school students in years 1 to 12.
Categories: Lower primary (years 1 and 2); 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 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 14 August 2020.
More information: head to Subiaco Library’s website.
4. 2020 Hachette Australia Prize for Young Writers
The brief: Submit fiction or nonfiction up to 3,000 words, or poetry up to 100 lines in length. One entry may be submitted, per category, with a maximum of 2 entries across the 3 categories.
Open to: secondary school aged students (between the ages of 12 and 18 inclusive).
Entry fee: free.
Prizes: the prize winner in each category will receive $500, publication of their work on the Express Media website, plus their names and an acknowledgement printed in Voiceworks. Fifteen shortlisted writers will also be invited to participate in a writing masterclass, attend an exclusive Q&A with Will Kostakis and a special showcase event in October 2020, as well as receive a YA book pack.
Closing date: Monday 17 August 2020.
For more information or to submit your entry, visit Express Media’s website.
5. Telling Stories 2020
The brief: Write a short story with the title ‘I Should Have Been More Careful’. Word limits depend on the age group.
Open to: schools and students on the Sunshine Coast and Hinterland.
Entry fee: free.
Prizes: Overall winner—Professor Gary Crew Trophy and cash prize of $150; section Winners (Grades 4 to 9)—50 cash and medal. The winners will have the option of their stories published on the Voices on the Coast andMooloolaba Rotary websites, plus inclusion in an anthology of winning entries; runners Up—2nd and 3rd placed entries will receive $25 cash and a medal; Winning School—Perpetual Trophy.
Closing date: 24 August 2020.
More information: visit Mooloolaba Rotary Club‘s website.
6. UNSW Bragg Student Prize for Science Writing
The brief: 2020 theme: The Big Ideas Saving the Planet. In 800 words, describe some scientific research that has delivered a solution that you believe could change the future for our planet.
Open to: Australian students in years 7 to 10.
Entry fee: free.
Prizes: The winner will be awarded a $500 UNSW Bookshop voucher and a subscription to the Australian Book Review. The winning essay will be included in the 2021 edition 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. It will also appear in an issue of CSIRO’s Double Helix Magazine, on Careers with STEM and on New South Publishing. Winners and runners up will get the opportunity to attend the Bragg Prize award ceremony and launch of The Best Australian Science Writing 2020 in Sydney.
Closing date: Friday 28 August 2020.
More information: head to the Careers with STEM website.
7. 2020 Toolangi CJ Dennis Poetry Competition
The brief: Write a poem up to 40 lines with a good metre and rhyme.
Open to: writers in Australia and New Zealand
Categories: primary school students (prep to year 6); secondary students (years 7 to 12). There are also categories for adults.
Entry fee: free for students.
Prizes: Prizes for first, second and third will be awarded in each category (see the submission guidelines for details).
Closing date: Tuesday 1 September 2020.
More information: visit The Singing Garden’s website.
8. Just Kidding’s National Writing Challenge
The brief: Use your imagination to come up with your own 500 word short story.
Open to: Australian children aged 7 to 12.
Categories: 7 to 8 years; 9 to 10 years; 11 to 12 years.
Entry fee: free.
Prizes: For each category the winner will receive signed copies of their mentor’s books and a personalised video message; the winning story in each category will be turned into a physical book and you will receive 10 copies; the winning story will be published and featured within the December 2020 issue of Just Kidding magazine alongside an interview with you; book packs.
Closing date: Friday 11 September 2020.
More information: visit Just Kidding‘s website.
9. KSP Short Fiction Competition
The brief: Submit short fiction up to 1,000 words
Open to: The competition is open to Australian writers, with the youth category open to young writers up to the age of 17.
Entry fee: Free for Youth category.
Prizes: $100 first place prize for youth; Second place certificates with $50 for youth; up to five commended certificates youth; Mundaring National Young Writers encouragement award for under 14s with $25 prize; select entrants invited to read their story at KSP’s End of Year Awards Ceremony.
Closing date: Friday 25 September 2020.
More information: visit the KSP Writers’ Centre website.
10. KSP Poetry Awards
The brief: Submit a poem up to 50 lines.
Open to: The competition is open to Australian poets, with the youth category open to young writers up to the age of 17.
Entry fee: free for youth category.
Prizes: $100 first place prize for youth; Second place certificates with $50 for youth; up to five commended certificates youth; Mundaring National Young Writers encouragement award for under 14s with $25 prize; select entrants invited to read their story at KSP’s End of Year Awards Ceremony.
Closing date: Friday 9 October 2020.
More information: visit the KSP Writers’ Centre website.
11. Wombat Books Illustration Challenge
The brief: Choose one or multiple spreads from the manuscript of Can I Sleep tomorrow? to illustrate. Use an A4 or A3-size page (landscape) for each illustration spread.
Open to: Australian school-aged students aged 5 to 18.
Entry fee: the purchase of one of Wombat Books previous illustration challenges.
Prizes: Winning illustrations will be published in a new book due for release in 2021. Illustrators will receive two free copies of the book. They will be acknowledged on the Wombat Books website and social media.
Closing date: Monday 30 November 2020.
More information: visit Wombat Books’ 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!
