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 2023—surprise! Your choice (competition opens Monday 4 December; closing date: Monday 1 January 2024, voting Friday 5 January to Friday 12 January)
- January 2024—songwriting: strike a chord (drafts for expert review due Monday 8 January; submissions due Monday 22 January)
- February 2024—op-ed: say what matters (draft for expert review due Monday 12 February; submissions due Monday 26 February)
- March 2024—fairy tales and myths: story leap forward (draft for expert review due Monday 13 March; Monday 27 March)
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. IndigoTeen Magazine
The brief: submit short stories, essays and novellas, memes, and comics, fan fiction and poetry, graphic design and artwork.
Open to: young people from 13 to 19 years old.
Entry fee: free to submit.
Closing date: rolling.
More information: visit IndigoHub’s website.
4. Little Stories. Big Ideas
The brief: submit a piece of flash fiction that is 100 words or less and incorporates the current theme, ‘magic’. 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; Years 10 to 12.
Entry fee: free.
Prizes: visit the competition’s website to see the prizes.
Closing date: Friday 22 December 2023.
More information: visit the Little Stories. Big Ideas website.
5. 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.
Categories: junior secondary (years 7 to 9); senior secondary (Years 10 to 12).
Entry fee: $15.
Prizes: the winner of each category will receive $300. Category winners will have the opportunity to attend Somerset Storyfest Writers’ Festival, 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 1 December 2023.
More information: visit Storyfest’s website.
6. 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: Three finalists will be selected and have the opportunity to attend Somerset Storyfest Writers’ Festival, 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.There will be monetary prizes awarded to finalists ($100) and a prize of $500 will be awarded to the national winne
Closing date: Friday 1 December 2023.
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!
