essay writing competition updates

• Grades 6-12
• School Leaders

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The Best Student Writing Contests for 2023-2024

Help your students take their writing to the next level.

When students write for teachers, it can feel like an assignment. When they write for a real purpose, they are empowered! Student writing contests are a challenging and inspiring way to try writing for an authentic audience— a real panel of judges —and the possibility of prize money or other incentives. We’ve gathered a list of the best student writing contests, and there’s something for everyone. Prepare highly motivated kids in need of an authentic writing mentor, and watch the words flow.

1.  The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

With a wide range of categories—from critical essays to science fiction and fantasy—The Scholastic Awards are a mainstay of student contests. Each category has its own rules and word counts, so be sure to check out the options  before you decide which one is best for your students.

How To Enter

Students in grades 7-12, ages 13 and up, may begin submitting work in September by uploading to an online account at Scholastic and connecting to their local region. There are entry fees, but those can be waived for students in need.

2.  YoungArts National Arts Competition

This ends soon, but if you have students who are ready to submit, it’s worth it. YoungArts offers a national competition in the categories of creative nonfiction, novel, play or script, poetry, short story, and spoken word. Student winners may receive awards of up to $10,000 as well as the chance to participate in artistic development with leaders in their fields.

YoungArts accepts submissions in each category through October 13. Students submit their work online and pay a $35 fee (there is a fee waiver option).

3. National Youth Foundation Programs

Each year, awards are given for Student Book Scholars, Amazing Women, and the “I Matter” Poetry & Art competition. This is a great chance for kids to express themselves with joy and strength.

The rules, prizes, and deadlines vary, so check out the website for more info.

4.  American Foreign Service National High School Essay Contest

If you’re looking to help students take a deep dive into international relations, history, and writing, look no further than this essay contest. Winners receive a voyage with the Semester at Sea program and a trip to Washington, DC.

Students fill out a registration form online, and a teacher or sponsor is required. The deadline to enter is the first week of April.

5.  John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Essay Contest

This annual contest invites students to write about a political official’s act of political courage that occurred after Kennedy’s birth in 1917. The winner receives $10,000, and 16 runners-up also receive a variety of cash prizes.

Students may submit a 700- to 1,000-word essay through January 12. The essay must feature more than five sources and a full bibliography.

6. Bennington Young Writers Awards

Bennington College offers competitions in three categories: poetry (a group of three poems), fiction (a short story or one-act play), and nonfiction (a personal or academic essay). First-place winners receive $500. Grab a poster for your classroom here .

The contest runs from September 1 to November 1. The website links to a student registration form.

7. The Princeton Ten-Minute Play Contest

Looking for student writing contests for budding playwrights? This exclusive competition, which is open only to high school juniors, is judged by the theater faculty of Princeton University. Students submit short plays in an effort to win recognition and cash prizes of up to $500. ( Note: Only open to 11th graders. )

Students submit one 10-page play script online or by mail. The deadline is the end of March. Contest details will be published in early 2024.

8. Princeton University Poetry Contest for High School Students

The Leonard L. Milberg ’53 High School Poetry Prize recognizes outstanding work by student writers in 11th grade. Prizes range from $100 to $500.

Students in 11th grade can submit their poetry. Contest details will be published this fall.

9. The New York Times Tiny Memoir Contest

This contest is also a wonderful writing challenge, and the New York Times includes lots of resources and models for students to be able to do their best work. They’ve even made a classroom poster !

Submissions need to be made electronically by November 1.

10.  Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest

The deadline for this contest is the end of October. Sponsored by Hollins University, the Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest awards prizes for the best poems submitted by young women who are sophomores or juniors in high school or preparatory school. Prizes include cash and scholarships. Winners are chosen by students and faculty members in the creative writing program at Hollins.

Students may submit either one or two poems using the online form.

11.  The Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers

The Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers is open to high school sophomores and juniors, and the winner receives a full scholarship to a  Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop .

Submissions for the prize are accepted electronically from November 1 through November 30.

12. Jane Austen Society Essay Contest

High school students can win up to $1,000 and publication by entering an essay on a topic specified by the Jane Austen Society related to a Jane Austen novel.

Details for the 2024 contest will be announced in November. Essay length is from six to eight pages, not including works cited.

13. Rattle Young Poets Anthology

Open to students from 15 to 18 years old who are interested in publication and exposure over monetary awards.

Teachers may choose five students for whom to submit up to four poems each on their behalf. The deadline is November 15.

14. The Black River Chapbook Competition

This is a chance for new and emerging writers to gain publication in their own professionally published chapbook, as well as $500 and free copies of the book.

There is an $18 entry fee, and submissions are made online.

15. YouthPlays New Voices

For students under 18, the YouthPlays one-act competition is designed for young writers to create new works for the stage. Winners receive cash awards and publication.

Scroll all the way down their web page for information on the contest, which accepts non-musical plays between 10 and 40 minutes long, submitted electronically. Entries open each year in January.

16. The Ocean Awareness Contest

The 2024 Ocean Awareness Contest, Tell Your Climate Story , encourages students to write their own unique climate story. They are asking for creative expressions of students’ personal experiences, insights, or perceptions about climate change. Students are eligible for a wide range of monetary prizes up to $1,000.

Students from 11 to 18 years old may submit work in the categories of art, creative writing, poetry and spoken word, film, interactive media and multimedia, or music and dance, accompanied by a reflection. The deadline is June 13.

17. EngineerGirl Annual Essay Contest

Each year, EngineerGirl sponsors an essay contest with topics centered on the impact of engineering on the world, and students can win up to $500 in prize money. This contest is a nice bridge between ELA and STEM and great for teachers interested in incorporating an interdisciplinary project into their curriculum. The new contest asks for pieces describing the life cycle of an everyday object. Check out these tips for integrating the content into your classroom .

Students submit their work electronically by February 1. Check out the full list of rules and requirements here .

18. NCTE Student Writing Awards

The National Council of Teachers of English offers several student writing awards, including Achievement Awards in Writing (for 10th- and 11th-grade students), Promising Young Writers (for 8th-grade students), and an award to recognize Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines.

Deadlines range from October 28 to February 15. Check out NCTE.org for more details.

19. See Us, Support Us Art Contest

Children of incarcerated parents can submit artwork, poetry, photos, videos, and more. Submissions are free and the website has a great collection of past winners.

Students can submit their entries via social media or email by October 25.

20. The Adroit Prizes for Poetry & Prose

The Adroit Journal, an education-minded nonprofit publication, awards annual prizes for poetry and prose to exceptional high school and college students. Adroit charges an entry fee but also provides a form for financial assistance.

Sign up at the website for updates for the next round of submissions.

21. National PTA Reflections Awards

The National PTA offers a variety of awards, including one for literature, in their annual Reflections Contest. Students of all ages can submit entries on the specified topic to their local PTA Reflections program. From there, winners move to the local area, state, and national levels. National-level awards include an $800 prize and a trip to the National PTA Convention.

This program requires submitting to PTAs who participate in the program. Check your school’s PTA for their deadlines.

22. World Historian Student Essay Competition

The World Historian Student Essay Competition is an international contest open to students enrolled in grades K–12 in public, private, and parochial schools, as well as those in home-study programs. The $500 prize is based on an essay that addresses one of this year’s two prompts.

Students can submit entries via email or regular mail before May 1.

23. NSHSS Creative Writing Scholarship

The National Society of High School Scholars awards three $2,000 scholarships for both poetry and fiction. They accept poetry, short stories, and graphic novel writing.

Apply online by October 31.

Whether you let your students blog, start a podcast or video channel, or enter student writing contests, giving them an authentic audience for their work is always a powerful classroom choice.

If you like this list of student writing contests and want more articles like it, subscribe to our newsletters to find out when they’re posted!

Plus, check out our favorite anchor charts for teaching writing..

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Best Writing Contests in 2024

Showing 342 contests that match your search.

The Reedsy Prompts Contest

Genres: Fiction and Short Story

Every Friday, Reedsy sends out five writing prompts. Enter your response within a week for a chance at $250. Winners may also be included in a future issue of Reedsy’s literary magazine, Prompted.

Additional prizes:

$25 credit toward Reedsy editorial services

💰 Entry fee: $5

📅 Deadline: December 31, 2024

High School Academic Research Competition

Columbia Undergraduate Science Journal

Genres: Essay and Non-fiction

The High School Academic Research Competition is where talented students from around the world compete to publish high-quality research on any topic. SARC challenges students to sharpen their critical thinking skills, immerse themselves in the research process, and hone their writing skills for success.

Indigo Research Intensive Summer Program

📅 Deadline: March 20, 2024 (Expired)

Rhyming Poetry Contest

FanStory.com Inc.

Genres: Poetry

Write a poem of any type that has a rhyme scheme.

💰 Entry fee: $10

📅 Deadline: May 30, 2022 (Expired)

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Primal Fears Horror Short Story Challenge

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, and Short Story

For this short story challenge, all participants will be randomly assigned a horror sub-genre and will receive a list of 20 primal fears. All participants will receive the same 20 primal fears. As soon as you receive your randomly assigned sub-genre and the list of primal fears, you'll have until the closing time to write and submit a short story of any length up to 5,000 words. Your story should fit the sub-genre you were assigned and should be underpinned by one of the primal fears from the list. You get to choose the primal fear that will underpin your story. The available horror sub-genres are: body horror, folk horror, eco horror, psychological horror, and fantasy horror. Early entry tickets are £2.50, general entry tickets are £5, and late entry tickets are £9.

Publication on website

💰 Entry fee: $12

📅 Deadline: February 19, 2024 (Expired)

"I Matter" Contest

National Youth Foundation

Submit a poem or art on the topic of why Black lives matter. This contest is open to students from grades K-12.

📅 Deadline: July 23, 2024

The Plough Prize

The Plough Arts Centre

Now in its twenty first year, the Plough Poetry Prize is an international open competition for poems in English up to 40 lines on any subject. We're delighted that this year's competition will be judged by Roger McGough.

2nd: £500 | 3rd: £250

💰 Entry fee: $6

📅 Deadline: March 31, 2024 (Expired)

April Flash Fiction Challenge

Writing Peers

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Science Fiction, Short Story, Crime, Horror, Mystery, Romance, and Thriller

Are you seeking lots of feedback? Ever wondered what it’s like to step into the shoes of a jury? Pull a genre, pick a prompt, and let your creativity soar. Submit your piece, then review other entries and develop an eye for what makes a story stand out. Receive detailed feedback, evolve as a writer and you might even walk away with the prize money!

💰 Entry fee: $15

📅 Deadline: April 14, 2024

The Carolyn Readers' Choice Awards

North Texas Romance Writers

Genres: Romance

The Carolyn Readers Choice Award contest is open to all authors of traditional, e-published, and self-published books. Romances featuring characters of all races, creeds, ethnicities, genders, and sexualities or with disabilities or containing spiritual/religious elements are welcome to enter. Please enter the category that best suits your entry over all.

Digital medallion for runners up

💰 Entry fee: $35

📅 Deadline: March 01, 2024 (Expired)

Crossings Travel Writing Competition

Intrepid Times

Genres: Non-fiction, Short Story, and Travel

Write an original, factual, first-person travel story that centers on a crossing of some kind. Your travel story should, as always, grow around the context of a place or experience; we want to see the theme being used in a way that enhances both. Editors will be looking for originality, voice, and a satisfying story arc that captures attention and makes use of imagery to pull the reader along at every step.

Publication in Intrepid Times

📅 Deadline: April 30, 2024

The Caterpillar Poetry Prize 2024

The Caterpillar Magazine

The Caterpillar Poetry Prize is an annual prize for an unpublished poem written by an adult for children aged 7–11. Every year since 2015, The Caterpillar Poetry Prize has been awarded to a single poem by a single judge – among them John Hegley, Chrissie Gittins, Roger McGough, Michael Morpurgo & Michael Rosen. The winning poems will be published in the Irish Times online.

2nd: €500 | 3rd: €250

💰 Entry fee: $16

3 Line Poetry Contest

Fanstory.com Inc.

Write a poem that has a syllable count of either 5-7-5 or 5-7-7. It does not rhyme. But the poem must address a loved one.

📅 Deadline: May 12, 2022 (Expired)

Fiction Factory Poetry Competition

Fiction Factory

This is a UK based competition but we welcome international entries. Poets are invited to enter poems (maximum 40 lines excluding title) on any theme. Discounts are offered on multiple entries. Besides the cash prize, our judge, poet and author and mentor, Helen Cox, will offer feedback on five of the winner's poems plus an hour-long mentorship zoom call about their poetry.

Feedback on poems, a Zoom mentorship call, and publication

📅 Deadline: October 31, 2023 (Expired)

Solas Awards

Best Travel Writing

Genres: Essay, Non-fiction, and Travel

Extraordinary stories about travel and the human spirit have been the cornerstones of our books since 1993. With the Solas Awards we honor writers whose work inspires others to explore. We’re looking for the best stories about travel and the world. Funny, illuminating, adventurous, uplifting, scary, inspiring, poignant stories that reflect the unique alchemy that occurs when you enter unfamiliar territory and begin to see the world differently as a result. We hope these awards will be a catalyst for those who love to leave home and tell others about it.

Publication

💰 Entry fee: $25

📅 Deadline: September 21, 2024

Anthology Short Story Competition 2024

Anthology Magazine

Established to recognise and encourage creative writing and provide a platform for publication, the Anthology Short Story Competition is open to original and previously unpublished short stories in the English language by a writer of any nationality, living anywhere in the world. There is no restriction on theme or style. Stories submitted must not exceed the maximum of 1,500 words. Writers can submit as many entries as they wish. Each submission will require a separate entry form and is subject to a separate entry fee.

💰 Entry fee: $19

📅 Deadline: July 31, 2024

F(r)iction Flash Fiction Contest

Genres: Flash Fiction

We seek work that actively pushes boundaries, that forces us to question traditions and tastes. If your work takes risks, we want to read it. We like strong narratives that make us feel something and stories we haven’t seen before. We accept work, written in English, from anywhere in the world—regardless of genre, style, or origin—and welcome speculative writing and experimental literature. Strange is good. Strange with a strong character arc is even better. Keep it weird, folks.

📅 Deadline: April 20, 2024

The Loraine Williams Poetry Prize

The Georgia Review

The Loraine Williams Poetry Prize is an award for a single poem, to be published in The Georgia Review. The winner will receive an honorarium of $1,500 and an expenses-paid trip to Athens, Georgia, to give a public reading with the judge. We are pleased to announce that Hanif Abdurraqib will serve as the final judge for the 2023 Loraine Williams Poetry Prize.

Expenses-paid trip to Athens, Georgia

💰 Entry fee: $30

📅 Deadline: May 15, 2024

Claymore Award

Killer Nashville

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Novel, Science Fiction, and Thriller

Created in 2009, the Killer Nashville Claymore Award assists new and rebranding English-language fiction authors to get published, including possible agent representation, book advances, editor deals, and movie and television sales. The contest is limited to only the first 50 double-spaced pages of unpublished English-language manuscripts containing elements of thriller, mystery, crime, or suspense NOT currently under contract.

💰 Entry fee: $40

📅 Deadline: April 01, 2023 (Expired)

Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest

Winning Writers

Genres: Fiction, Non-fiction, and Short Story

Welcome to the 31st annual Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest. Submit published or unpublished work. $9,000 in prizes.

Two-year gift certificate from Duotrope; 10 Honorable Mentions will receive $300 each

💰 Entry fee: $22

📅 Deadline: May 01, 2024

Voice.club Monthly Flash Fiction Contest

Genres: Fiction, Flash Fiction, and Short Story

Voice.club Writing Contests: Express yourself in a supportive international community, as you develop your writing skills. We invite you to write a story of 350 words or less, based on our current prompt. Our monthly contests are open to writers aged 13 and older from any country, but each story must be written in English. Our March prompt is "Ambition". We look forward to reading your story!

Dave Williamson National Short Story Competition

Manitoba Writers' Guild

Genres: Fiction

Open to writers across Canada. Short prose in English, 2,500-5,000 words in any fiction genre. We actively encourage submissions from all writers who are 18 years of age or older.

2nd: $600 CAD | 3rd: $400 CAD

📅 Deadline: February 15, 2024 (Expired)

Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize

Desperate Literature

The aim of the Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize is both to celebrate the best of new, boundary-pushing short fiction and to give winners the most visibility possible for their writing. That’s why we’ve teamed up with fourteen different literary and artistic institutions to not only offer cash prizes and writing retreats but also to ensure that all our shortlisters have the opportunity to be published in multiple print and online journals, have their work put in front of literary agents, and present their stories in multiple countries.

2nd + 3rd: €1000 | All shortlisters: publication in our print collection Eleven Stories | All longlisters: One-year subscription to The Literary Consultancy's "Being a Writer" platform | One shortlister: two-week residency at Studio Faire, France

📅 Deadline: December 04, 2024

Witcraft Monthly Humour Competition

Genres: Flash Fiction and Humor

Send us your skillfully written stories that are brief, humorous and engaging, with the emphasis on wit, word play, absurdity and inspired nonsense. Whether your story is designed to raise a smile or a belly laugh, we want stories that are a refuge from the relentless barrage of negativity, angst, war and climate catastrophe that dominates the web.

2nd: AUD $20 | 3rd: AUD $10

📅 Deadline: December 15, 2023 (Expired)

Marsh Hawk Press Poetry Prize

Marsh Hawk Press

Beginning December 1, 2023, Marsh Hawk Press is accepting submissions of poetry manuscripts to the annual Marsh Hawk Press Poetry Prizes. Deadline is April 30, 2024. We welcome submissions from emerging as well as established poets. The winner of the Marsh Hawk Press Poetry Prize receives $1,000.00, book publication and promotion. Winners of the Robert Creeley and Rochelle Ratner prizes, selected from finalists, receive $250.00 each.

Maggie Award for Published Writers

Georgia Romance Writers

Genres: Novel and Romance

The purpose of the Published Maggie Award for Excellence is to recognize the achievements of published authors of romantic fiction. The Maggie Award is a symbol of achievement given by the Georgia Romance Writers (GRW) to bring special attention to these authors. The Maggie, a silver medallion commissioned by GRW, receives national attention. Books will be ranked by librarians, booksellers, and other professionals in the publishing industry.​​

📅 Deadline: April 05, 2024

Fish Flash Fiction Prize

Fish Publishing

Genres: Fiction and Flash Fiction

The Fish Flash Fiction Prize is an opportunity to attempt one of the most interesting and rewarding tasks – to create, in a tiny fragment, a completely resolved and compelling story in 300 words or less. The top ten stories will be published in the FISH ANTHOLOGY 2022.

2nd: €300 + Online Writing Course | 3rd: €300

💰 Entry fee: $14

📅 Deadline: February 28, 2024 (Expired)

Memoir/Fiction Book Contest for IML Publications

Genres: Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, and Novel

We are a boutique publishing company that is dedicated to amplifying the voices of contemporary writers who are nomads and explorers of language, form, and the psyche. High-quality “unpublished” manuscript submissions of memoir, fiction and non-fiction entrusted to us will be read, sorted and pondered by our esteemed author, Jacqueline Gay Walley.

Possible publication

📅 Deadline: October 01, 2024

Creative Nonfiction Prize

Indiana Review

Genres: Essay, Fiction, and Non-fiction

Send us one creative nonfiction piece, up to 5000 words, for a chance at $1000 + publication. This year's contest will be judged by Lars Horn.

💰 Entry fee: $20

John Estey Student Writing Competition

American Writers Museum

Genres: Children's

“Tradition was safety; change was danger.” — Mary Doria Russell, The Sparrow. This prompt is a quote from Russell’s The Sparrow and can be used as a first line, a last line, a jumping-off point, an inspiration for your students’ work.

📅 Deadline: June 07, 2024

Heroica Poetry Prize

Heroica is delighted to announce the launch of our new Poetry Prize. Heroica is a global storytelling platform dedicated to sharing stories about all aspects of gender oppression. Stories that are real, inspiring, challenging and relatable. Your story matters.

2nd: £50 | 3rd: £25 | Publication in anthology

💰 Entry fee: $2

📅 Deadline: February 29, 2024 (Expired)

Biopage Storytelling Writing Contest

Genres: Fiction, Short Story, and Flash Fiction

Biopage is hosting a writing contest to remind people the benefits of writing. Each story (or once chapter of your stories) is limited to 5,000 characters or roughly 1,000 words. You can write about good life experience, or bad, embarrassing, frightening ones. You can win $300, and five runners-up can win $100 each.

📅 Deadline: January 31, 2024 (Expired)

Travel Writing Award

Ottawa Tourism

Genres: Travel

Ottawa Tourism offers an annual $500 CAD prize for outstanding travel writing featuring Canada’s Capital Region. Eligible entries include items in English or in French that have appeared in magazines, newspapers, or online media in 2023 that highlight Ottawa as a travel destination.

📅 Deadline: February 02, 2024 (Expired)

The Killer Nashville Claymore Award

Genres: Fiction and Novel

Every year, the Killer Nashville Claymore Award assists new and rebranding English-language fiction authors get published, including possible agent representation, book advances, editor deals, and movie and television sales. While we cannot guarantee that winners and finalists of this award will receive publication, dozens of winners & runners-up of the Claymore award have gone on to find great success in their careers and many of them attribute that success to this award.

Discounted admission to Killer Nashville, introductions to agents/editors

📅 Deadline: April 01, 2024 (Expired)

J. Michael Samuel Prize for Emerging Writers Over 50

Lambda Literary

Genres: LGBTQ

The J. Michael Samuel Prize honors emerging LGBTQ writers over the age of 50. This award is made possible by writer and philanthropist Chuck Forester, who created it out of the firmly held belief that “Writers who start late are just as good as other writers, it just took the buggers more time.” The prize will go to an unpublished LGBTQ writer over 50 working in any genre.

📅 Deadline: February 16, 2024 (Expired)

Aurora Polaris Creative Nonfiction Award

Trio House Press

Genres: Essay, Memoir, and Non-fiction

We seek un-agented full-length creative nonfiction manuscripts including memoir, essay collections, etc. 50,000 - 80,000 words.

Muriel Craft Bailey Poetry Contest

The Comstock Review

Here 's how it works: our editorial staff chooses approximately fifty to sixty finalists. The highest scoring finalists (25 or so) are considered Special Merit poems. Special Merit poems go to the judge. The judge determines the top three prize winners. The entire editorial staff then selects the Honorable Mentions from the remaining Special Merits.

Publication by The Comstock Review

📅 Deadline: July 15, 2024

Discover the finest writing contests of 2024 for fiction and non-fiction authors — including short story competitions, essay writing competitions, poetry contests, and many more. Updated weekly, these contests are vetted by Reedsy to weed out the scammers and time-wasters. If you’re looking to stick to free writing contests, simply use our filters as you browse.

Why you should submit to writing contests

Submitting to poetry competitions and free writing contests in 2024 is absolutely worth your while as an aspiring author: just as your qualifications matter when you apply for a new job, a writing portfolio that boasts published works and award-winning pieces is a great way to give your writing career a boost. And not to mention the bonus of cash prizes!

That being said, we understand that taking part in writing contests can be tough for emerging writers. First, there’s the same affliction all writers face: lack of time or inspiration. Entering writing contests is a time commitment, and many people decide to forego this endeavor in order to work on their larger projects instead — like a full-length book. Second, for many writers, the chance of rejection is enough to steer them clear of writing contests. 

But we’re here to tell you that two of the great benefits of entering writing contests happen to be the same as those two reasons to avoid them.

When it comes to the time commitment: yes, you will need to expend time and effort in order to submit a quality piece of writing to competitions. That being said, having a hard deadline to meet is a great motivator for developing a solid writing routine.

Think of entering contests as a training session to become a writer who will need to meet deadlines in order to have a successful career. If there’s a contest you have your eye on, and the deadline is in one month, sit down and realistically plan how many words you’ll need to write per day in order to meet that due date — and don’t forget to also factor in the time you’ll need to edit your story!

For tips on setting up a realistic writing plan, check out this free, ten-day course: How to Build a Rock-Solid Writing Routine.

In regards to the fear of rejection, the truth is that any writer aspiring to become a published author needs to develop relatively thick skin. If one of your goals is to have a book traditionally published, you will absolutely need to learn how to deal with rejection, as traditional book deals are notoriously hard to score. If you’re an indie author, you will need to adopt the hardy determination required to slowly build up a readership.

The good news is that there’s a fairly simple trick for learning to deal with rejection: use it as a chance to explore how you might be able to improve your writing.

In an ideal world, each rejection from a publisher or contest would come with a detailed letter, offering construction feedback and pointing out specific tips for improvement. And while this is sometimes the case, it’s the exception and not the rule.

Still, you can use the writing contests you don’t win as a chance to provide yourself with this feedback. Take a look at the winning and shortlisted stories and highlight their strong suits: do they have fully realized characters, a knack for showing instead of telling, a well-developed but subtly conveyed theme, a particularly satisfying denouement?

The idea isn’t to replicate what makes those stories tick in your own writing. But most examples of excellent writing share a number of basic craft principles. Try and see if there are ways for you to translate those stories’ strong points into your own unique writing.

Finally, there are the more obvious benefits of entering writing contests: prize and publication. Not to mention the potential to build up your readership, connect with editors, and gain exposure.

Resources to help you win writing competitions in 2024

Every writing contest has its own set of submission rules. Whether those rules are dense or sparing, ensure that you follow them to a T. Disregarding the guidelines will not sway the judges’ opinion in your favor — and might disqualify you from the contest altogether. 

Aside from ensuring you follow the rules, here are a few resources that will help you perfect your submissions.

Free online courses

On Writing:

How to Craft a Killer Short Story

The Non-Sexy Business of Writing Non-Fiction

How to Write a Novel

Understanding Point of View

Developing Characters That Your Readers Will Love

Writing Dialogue That Develops Plot and Character

Stop Procrastinating! Build a Solid Writing Routine

On Editing:

Story Editing for Authors

How to Self-Edit Like a Pro

Novel Revision: Practical Tips for Rewrites

How to Write a Short Story in 7 Steps

How to Write a Novel in 15 Steps

Literary Devices and Terms — 35+ Definitions With Examples

10 Essential Fiction Writing Tips to Improve Your Craft

How to Write Dialogue: 8 Simple Rules and Exercises

8 Character Development Exercises to Help You Nail Your Character

Bonus resources

200+ Short Story Ideas

600+ Writing Prompts to Inspire You

100+ Creative Writing Exercises for Fiction Authors

Story Title Generator

Pen Name Generator

Character Name Generator

After you submit to a writing competition in 2024

It’s exciting to send a piece of writing off to a contest. However, once the initial excitement wears off, you may be left waiting for a while. Some writing contests will contact all entrants after the judging period — whether or not they’ve won. Other writing competitions will only contact the winners. 

Here are a few things to keep in mind after you submit:

Many writing competitions don’t have time to respond to each entrant with feedback on their story. However, it never hurts to ask! Feel free to politely reach out requesting feedback — but wait until after the selection period is over.

If you’ve submitted the same work to more than one writing competition or literary magazine, remember to withdraw your submission if it ends up winning elsewhere.

After you send a submission, don’t follow it up with a rewritten or revised version. Instead, ensure that your first version is thoroughly proofread and edited. If not, wait until the next edition of the contest or submit the revised version to other writing contests.

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Discourse, debate, and analysis

Cambridge re:think essay competition 2024.

Competition Opens: 15th January, 2024

Essay Submission Deadline: 10th May, 2024 Result Announcement: 20th June, 2024 Award Ceremony and Dinner at the University of Cambridge: 30th July, 2024

We welcome talented high school students from diverse educational settings worldwide to contribute their unique perspectives to the competition.

Entry to the competition is free.

About the Competition

The spirit of the Re:think essay competition is to encourage critical thinking and exploration of a wide range of thought-provoking and often controversial topics. The competition covers a diverse array of subjects, from historical and present issues to speculative future scenarios. Participants are invited to engage deeply with these topics, critically analysing their various facets and implications. It promotes intellectual exploration and encourages participants to challenge established norms and beliefs, presenting opportunities to envision alternative futures, consider the consequences of new technologies, and reevaluate longstanding traditions. 

Ultimately, our aim is to create a platform for students and scholars to share their perspectives on pressing issues of the past and future, with the hope of broadening our collective understanding and generating innovative solutions to contemporary challenges. This year’s competition aims to underscore the importance of discourse, debate, and critical analysis in addressing complex societal issues in nine areas, including:

Religion and Politics

Political science and law, linguistics, environment, sociology and philosophy, business and investment, public health and sustainability, biotechonology.

Artificial Intelligence 

Neuroengineering

2024 essay prompts.

This year, the essay prompts are contributed by distinguished professors from Harvard, Brown, UC Berkeley, Cambridge, Oxford, and MIT.

Essay Guidelines and Judging Criteria

Review general guidelines, format guidelines, eligibility, judging criteria.

Awards and Award Ceremony

Award winners will be invited to attend the Award Ceremony and Dinner hosted at the King’s College, University of Cambridge. The Dinner is free of charge for select award recipients.

Registration and Submission

Register a participant account today and submit your essay before the deadline.

Advisory Committee and Judging Panel

The Cambridge Re:think Essay Competition is guided by an esteemed Advisory Committee comprising distinguished academics and experts from elite universities worldwide. These committee members, drawn from prestigious institutions, such as Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford, and MIT, bring diverse expertise in various disciplines.

They play a pivotal role in shaping the competition, contributing their insights to curate the themes and framework. Their collective knowledge and scholarly guidance ensure the competition’s relevance, academic rigour, and intellectual depth, setting the stage for aspiring minds to engage with thought-provoking topics and ideas.

We are honoured to invite the following distinguished professors to contribute to this year’s competition.

The judging panel of the competition comprises leading researchers and professors from Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Cambridge, and Oxford, engaging in a strictly double blind review process.

Keynote Speeches by 10 Nobel Laureates

We are beyond excited to announce that multiple Nobel laureates have confirmed to attend and speak at this year’s ceremony on 30th July, 2024 .

They will each be delivering a keynote speech to the attendees. Some of them distinguished speakers will speak virtually, while others will attend and present in person and attend the Reception at Cambridge.

Why has religion remained a force in a secular world? 

Professor Commentary:

Arguably, the developed world has become more secular in the last century or so. The influence of Christianity, e.g. has diminished and people’s life worlds are less shaped by faith and allegiance to Churches. Conversely, arguments have persisted that hold that we live in a post-secular world. After all, religion – be it in terms of faith, transcendence, or meaning – may be seen as an alternative to a disenchanted world ruled by entirely profane criteria such as economic rationality, progressivism, or science. Is the revival of religion a pale reminder of a by-gone past or does it provide sources of hope for the future?

‘Religion in the Public Sphere’ by Jürgen Habermas (European Journal of Philosophy, 2006)

In this paper, philosopher Jürgen Habermas discusses the limits of church-state separation, emphasizing the significant contribution of religion to public discourse when translated into publicly accessible reasons.

‘Public Religions in the Modern World’ by José Casanova (University Of Chicago Press, 1994)

Sociologist José Casanova explores the global emergence of public religion, analyzing case studies from Catholicism and Protestantism in Spain, Poland, Brazil, and the USA, challenging traditional theories of secularization.

‘The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere’ by Judith Butler, Jürgen Habermas, Charles Taylor, and Cornel West (Edited by Eduardo Mendieta and Jonathan VanAntwerpen, Columbia University Press, 2011)

This collection features dialogues by prominent intellectuals on the role of religion in the public sphere, examining various approaches and their impacts on cultural, social, and political debates.

‘Rethinking Secularism’ by Craig Calhoun, Mark Juergensmeyer, and Jonathan VanAntwerpen (Oxford University Press, 2011)

An interdisciplinary examination of secularism, this book challenges traditional views, highlighting the complex relationship between religion and secularism in contemporary global politics.

‘God is Back: How the Global Rise of Faith is Changing the World’ by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge (Penguin, 2010)

Micklethwait and Wooldridge argue for the coexistence of religion and modernity, suggesting that religious beliefs can contribute to a more open, tolerant, and peaceful modern world.

‘Multiculturalism’ by Tariq Modood (Polity Press, 2013)

Sociologist Tariq Modood emphasizes the importance of multiculturalism in integrating diverse identities, particularly in post-immigration contexts, and its role in shaping democratic citizenship.

‘God’s Agents: Biblical Publicity in Contemporary England’ by Matthew Engelke (University of California Press, 2013)

In this ethnographic study, Matthew Engelke explores how a group in England seeks to expand the role of religion in the public sphere, challenging perceptions of religion in post-secular England.

Gene therapy is a medical approach that treats or prevents disease by correcting the underlying genetic problem. Is gene therapy better than traditional medicines? What are the pros and cons of using gene therapy as a medicine? Is gene therapy justifiable?

Especially after Covid-19 mRNA vaccines, gene therapy is getting more and more interesting approach to cure. That’s why that could be interesting to think about. I believe that students will enjoy and learn a lot while they are investigating this topic.

The Hall at King’s College, Cambridge

The Hall was designed by William Wilkins in the 1820s and is considered one of the most magnificent halls of its era. The first High Table dinner in the Hall was held in February 1828, and ever since then, the splendid Hall has been where members of the college eat and where formal dinners have been held for centuries.

The Award Ceremony and Dinner will be held in the Hall in the evening of  30th July, 2024.

Stretching out down to the River Cam, the Back Lawn has one of the most iconic backdrop of King’s College Chapel. 

The early evening reception will be hosted on the Back Lawn with the iconic Chapel in the background (weather permitting). 

King’s College Chapel

With construction started in 1446 by Henry VI and took over a century to build, King’s College Chapel is one of the most iconic buildings in the world, and is a splendid example of late Gothic architecture. 

Attendees are also granted complimentary access to the King’s College Chapel before and during the event. 

Confirmed Nobel Laureates

Dr Thomas R. Cech

The nobel prize in chemistry 1989 , for the discovery of catalytic properties of rna.

Thomas Robert Cech is an American chemist who shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Sidney Altman, for their discovery of the catalytic properties of RNA. Cech discovered that RNA could itself cut strands of RNA, suggesting that life might have started as RNA. He found that RNA can not only transmit instructions, but also that it can speed up the necessary reactions.

He also studied telomeres, and his lab discovered an enzyme, TERT (telomerase reverse transcriptase), which is part of the process of restoring telomeres after they are shortened during cell division.

As president of Howard Hughes Medical Institute, he promoted science education, and he teaches an undergraduate chemistry course at the University of Colorado

Sir Richard J. Roberts

The nobel prize in medicine 1993 .

F or the discovery of split genes

During 1969–1972, Sir Richard J. Roberts did postdoctoral research at Harvard University before moving to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he was hired by James Dewey Watson, a co-discoverer of the structure of DNA and a fellow Nobel laureate. In this period he also visited the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology for the first time, working alongside Fred Sanger. In 1977, he published his discovery of RNA splicing. In 1992, he moved to New England Biolabs. The following year, he shared a Nobel Prize with his former colleague at Cold Spring Harbor Phillip Allen Sharp.

His discovery of the alternative splicing of genes, in particular, has had a profound impact on the study and applications of molecular biology. The realisation that individual genes could exist as separate, disconnected segments within longer strands of DNA first arose in his 1977 study of adenovirus, one of the viruses responsible for causing the common cold. Robert’s research in this field resulted in a fundamental shift in our understanding of genetics, and has led to the discovery of split genes in higher organisms, including human beings.

Dr Aaron Ciechanover

The nobel prize in chemistry 2004 .

F or the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation

Aaron Ciechanover is one of Israel’s first Nobel Laureates in science, earning his Nobel Prize in 2004 for his work in ubiquitination. He is honored for playing a central role in the history of Israel and in the history of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.

Dr Ciechanover is currently a Technion Distinguished Research Professor in the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute at the Technion. He is a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Russian Academy of Sciences and is a foreign associate of the United States National Academy of Sciences. In 2008, he was a visiting Distinguished Chair Professor at NCKU, Taiwan. As part of Shenzhen’s 13th Five-Year Plan funding research in emerging technologies and opening “Nobel laureate research labs”, in 2018 he opened the Ciechanover Institute of Precision and Regenerative Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen campus.

Dr Robert Lefkowitz

The nobel prize in chemistry 2012 .

F or the discovery of G protein-coupled receptors

Robert Joseph Lefkowitz is an American physician (internist and cardiologist) and biochemist. He is best known for his discoveries that reveal the inner workings of an important family G protein-coupled receptors, for which he was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize for Chemistry with Brian Kobilka. He is currently an Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute as well as a James B. Duke Professor of Medicine and Professor of Biochemistry and Chemistry at Duke University.

Dr Lefkowitz made a remarkable contribution in the mid-1980s when he and his colleagues cloned the gene first for the β-adrenergic receptor, and then rapidly thereafter, for a total of 8 adrenergic receptors (receptors for adrenaline and noradrenaline). This led to the seminal discovery that all GPCRs (which include the β-adrenergic receptor) have a very similar molecular structure. The structure is defined by an amino acid sequence which weaves its way back and forth across the plasma membrane seven times. Today we know that about 1,000 receptors in the human body belong to this same family. The importance of this is that all of these receptors use the same basic mechanisms so that pharmaceutical researchers now understand how to effectively target the largest receptor family in the human body. Today, as many as 30 to 50 percent of all prescription drugs are designed to “fit” like keys into the similarly structured locks of Dr Lefkowitz’ receptors—everything from anti-histamines to ulcer drugs to beta blockers that help relieve hypertension, angina and coronary disease.

Dr Lefkowitz is among the most highly cited researchers in the fields of biology, biochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, and clinical medicine according to Thomson-ISI.

Dr Joachim Frank

The nobel prize in chemistry 2017 .

F or developing cryo-electron microscopy

Joachim Frank is a German-American biophysicist at Columbia University and a Nobel laureate. He is regarded as the founder of single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2017 with Jacques Dubochet and Richard Henderson. He also made significant contributions to structure and function of the ribosome from bacteria and eukaryotes.

In 1975, Dr Frank was offered a position of senior research scientist in the Division of Laboratories and Research (now Wadsworth Center), New York State Department of Health,where he started working on single-particle approaches in electron microscopy. In 1985 he was appointed associate and then (1986) full professor at the newly formed Department of Biomedical Sciences of the University at Albany, State University of New York. In 1987 and 1994, he went on sabbaticals in Europe, one to work with Richard Henderson, Laboratory of Molecular Biology Medical Research Council in Cambridge and the other as a Humboldt Research Award winner with Kenneth C. Holmes, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg. In 1998, Dr Frank was appointed investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). Since 2003 he was also lecturer at Columbia University, and he joined Columbia University in 2008 as professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics and of biological sciences.

Dr Barry C. Barish

The nobel prize in physics 2017 .

For the decisive contributions to the detection of gravitational waves

Dr Barry Clark Barish is an American experimental physicist and Nobel Laureate. He is a Linde Professor of Physics, emeritus at California Institute of Technology and a leading expert on gravitational waves.

In 2017, Barish was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics along with Rainer Weiss and Kip Thorne “for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves”. He said, “I didn’t know if I would succeed. I was afraid I would fail, but because I tried, I had a breakthrough.”

In 2018, he joined the faculty at University of California, Riverside, becoming the university’s second Nobel Prize winner on the faculty.

In the fall of 2023, he joined Stony Brook University as the inaugural President’s Distinguished Endowed Chair in Physics.

In 2023, Dr Barish was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Biden in a White House ceremony.

Dr Harvey J. Alter

The nobel prize in medicine 2020 .

For the discovery of Hepatitis C virus

Dr Harvey J. Alter is an American medical researcher, virologist, physician and Nobel Prize laureate, who is best known for his work that led to the discovery of the hepatitis C virus. Alter is the former chief of the infectious disease section and the associate director for research of the Department of Transfusion Medicine at the Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. In the mid-1970s, Alter and his research team demonstrated that most post-transfusion hepatitis cases were not due to hepatitis A or hepatitis B viruses. Working independently, Alter and Edward Tabor, a scientist at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, proved through transmission studies in chimpanzees that a new form of hepatitis, initially called “non-A, non-B hepatitis” caused the infections, and that the causative agent was probably a virus. This work eventually led to the discovery of the hepatitis C virus in 1988, for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2020 along with Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice.

Dr Alter has received recognition for the research leading to the discovery of the virus that causes hepatitis C. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the highest award conferred to civilians in United States government public health service, and the 2000 Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research.

Dr Ardem Patapoutian

The nobel prize in medicine 2021 .

For discovering how pressure is translated into nerve impulses

Dr Ardem Patapoutian is an Lebanese-American molecular biologist, neuroscientist, and Nobel Prize laureate of Armenian descent. He is known for his work in characterising the PIEZO1, PIEZO2, and TRPM8 receptors that detect pressure, menthol, and temperature. Dr Patapoutian is a neuroscience professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California. In 2021, he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with David Julius.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I participate in the Re:think essay competition? 

The Re:think Essay competition is meant to serve as fertile ground for honing writing skills, fostering critical thinking, and refining communication abilities. Winning or participating in reputable contests can lead to recognition, awards, scholarships, or even publication opportunities, elevating your academic profile for college applications and future endeavours. Moreover, these competitions facilitate intellectual growth by encouraging exploration of diverse topics, while also providing networking opportunities and exposure to peers, educators, and professionals. Beyond accolades, they instil confidence, prepare for higher education demands, and often allow you to contribute meaningfully to societal conversations or causes, making an impact with your ideas.

Who is eligible to enter the Re:think essay competition?  

As long as you’re currently attending high school, regardless of your location or background, you’re eligible to participate. We welcome students from diverse educational settings worldwide to contribute their unique perspectives to the competition.

Is there any entry fee for the competition? 

There is no entry fee for the competition. Waiving the entry fee for our essay competition demonstrates CCIR’s dedication to equity. CCIR believes everyone should have an equal chance to participate and showcase their talents, regardless of financial circumstances. Removing this barrier ensures a diverse pool of participants and emphasises merit and creativity over economic capacity, fostering a fair and inclusive environment for all contributors.

Subscribe for Competition Updates

If you are interested to receive latest information and updates of this year’s competition, please sign up here.

Essay  COMPETITION

2024 global essay prize, registrations are now open all essayists must register  here  before friday 31 may, 2024.

The John Locke Institute encourages young people to cultivate the characteristics that turn good students into great writers: independent thought, depth of knowledge, clear reasoning, critical analysis and persuasive style. Our Essay Competition invites students to explore a wide range of challenging and interesting questions beyond the confines of the school curriculum.

Entering an essay in our competition can build knowledge, and refine skills of argumentation. It also gives students the chance to have their work assessed by experts. All of our essay prizes are judged by a panel of senior academics drawn from leading universities including Oxford and Princeton, under the leadership of the Chairman of Examiners, former Cambridge philosopher, Dr Jamie Whyte.

The judges will choose their favourite essay from each of seven subject categories - Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Psychology, Theology and Law - and then select the winner of the Grand Prize for the best entry in any subject. There is also a separate prize awarded for the best essay in the junior category, for under 15s.

Q1. Do we have any good reasons to trust our moral intuition?

Q2. Do girls have a (moral) right to compete in sporting contests that exclude boys?

Q3. Should I be held responsible for what I believe?

Q1. Is there such a thing as too much democracy?

Q2. Is peace in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip possible?

Q3. When is compliance complicity?

Q1. What is the optimal global population?  

Q2. Accurate news reporting is a public good. Does it follow that news agencies should be funded from taxation?

Q3. Do successful business people benefit others when making their money, when spending it, both, or neither?

Q1. Why was sustained economic growth so rare before the later 18th century and why did this change?

Q2. Has music ever significantly changed the course of history?

Q3. Why do civilisations collapse? Is our civilisation in danger?

Q1. When, if ever, should a company be permitted to refuse to do business with a person because of that person’s public statements?

Q2. In the last five years British police have arrested several thousand people for things they posted on social media. Is the UK becoming a police state?

Q3. Your parents say that 11pm is your bedtime. But they don’t punish you if you don’t go to bed by 11pm. Is 11pm really your bedtime?

Q1. According to a study by four British universities, for each 16-point increase in IQ, the likelihood of getting married increases by 35% for a man but decreases by 40% for a woman. Why? 

Q2. There is an unprecedented epidemic of depression and anxiety among young people. Can we fix this? How?

Q3. What is the difference between a psychiatric illness and a character flaw?

Q1. “I am not religious, but I am spiritual.” What could the speaker mean by “spiritual”?

Q2. Is it reasonable to thank God for protection from some natural harm if He is responsible for causing the harm?

Q3. Does God reward those who believe in him? If so, why?

JUNIOR prize

Q1. Does winning a free and fair election automatically confer a mandate for governing?

Q2. Has the anti-racism movement reduced racism?

Q3. Is there life after death?

Q4. How did it happen that governments came to own and run most high schools, while leaving food production to private enterprise? 

Q5. When will advancing technology make most of us unemployable? What should we do about this?

Q6. Should we trust fourteen-year-olds to make decisions about their own bodies? 

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS & FURTHER DETAILS

Please read the following carefully.

Entry to the John Locke Institute Essay Competition 2024 is open to students from any country.

Registration  

Only candidates who registered before the registration deadline of Friday, 31 May 2024 may enter this year's competition. To register, click here .  

All entries must be submitted by 11.59 pm BST on  the submission deadline: Sunday, 30 June 2024 .  Candidates must be eighteen years old, or younger, on that date. (Candidates for the Junior Prize must be fourteen years old, or younger, on that date.)

Entry is free.

Each essay must address only one of the questions in your chosen subject category, and must not exceed 2000 words (not counting diagrams, tables of data, endnotes, bibliography or authorship declaration). 

The filename of your pdf must be in this format: FirstName-LastName-Category-QuestionNumber.pdf; so, for instance, Alexander Popham would submit his answer to question 2 in the Psychology category with the following file name:

Alexander-Popham-Psychology-2.pdf

Essays with filenames which are not in this format will be rejected.

The candidate's name should NOT appear within the document itself. 

Candidates should NOT add footnotes. They may, however, add endnotes and/or a Bibliography that is clearly titled as such.

Each candidate will be required to provide the email address of an academic referee who is familiar with the candidate's written academic work. This should be a school teacher, if possible, or another responsible adult who is not a relation of the candidate. The John Locke Institute will email referees to verify that the essays submitted are indeed the original work of the candidates.

Submissions may be made as soon as registration opens in April. We recommend that you submit your essay well in advance of th e deadline to avoid any last-minute complications.

Acceptance of your essay depends on your granting us permission to use your data for the purposes of receiving and processing your entry as well as communicating with you about the Awards Ceremony Dinner, the academic conference, and other events and programmes of the John Locke Institute and its associated entities.  

Late entries

If for any reason you miss the 30 June deadline you will have an opportunity to make a late entry, under two conditions:

a) A late entry fee of 20.00 USD must be paid by credit card within twenty-four hours of the original deadline; and

b) Your essay must be submitted  before 11.59 pm BST on Wednesday, 10 July 2024.

To pay for late entry, a registrant need only log into his or her account, select the relevant option and provide the requested payment information.

Our grading system is proprietary. Essayists may be asked to discuss their entry with a member of the John Locke Institute’s faculty. We use various means to identify plagiarism, contract cheating, the use of AI and other forms of fraud . Our determinations in all such matters are final.

Essays will be judged on knowledge and understanding of the relevant material, the competent use of evidence, quality of argumentation, originality, structure, writing style and persuasive force. The very best essays are likely to be those which would be capable of changing somebody's mind. Essays which ignore or fail to address the strongest objections and counter-arguments are unlikely to be successful .

Candidates are advised to answer the question as precisely and directly as possible.

The writers of the best essays will receive a commendation and be shortlisted for a prize. Writers of shortlisted essays will be notified by 11.59 pm BST on Wednesday, 31 July. They will also be invited to London for an invitation-only academic conference and awards dinner in September, where the prize-winners will be announced. Unlike the competition itself, the academic conference and awards dinner are not free. Please be aware that n obody is required to attend either the academic conference or the prize ceremony. You can win a prize without travelling to London.

All short-listed candidates, including prize-winners, will be able to download eCertificates that acknowledge their achievement. If you win First, Second or Third Prize, and you travel to London for the ceremony, you will receive a signed certificate. 

There is a prize for the best essay in each category. The prize for each winner of a subject category, and the winner of the Junior category, is a scholarship worth US$2000 towards the cost of attending any John Locke Institute programme, and the essays will be published on the Institute's website. Prize-giving ceremonies will take place in London, at which winners and runners-up will be able to meet some of the judges and other faculty members of the John Locke Institute. Family, friends, and teachers are also welcome.

The candidate who submits the best essay overall will be awarded an honorary John Locke Institute Junior Fellowship, which comes with a US$10,000 scholarship to attend one or more of our summer schools and/or visiting scholars programmes. 

The judges' decisions are final, and no correspondence will be entered into.

R egistration opens: 1 April, 2024.

Registration deadline: 31 May, 2024. (Registration is required by this date for subsequent submission.)

Submission deadline: 30 June, 2024.

Late entry deadline: 10 July, 2024. (Late entries are subject to a 20.00 USD charge, payable by 1 July.)

Notification of short-listed essayists: 31 July, 2024.

Academic conference: 20 - 22 September, 2024.

Awards dinner: 21 September, 2024.

Any queries regarding the essay competition should be sent to [email protected] . Please be aware that, due to the large volume of correspondence we receive, we cannot guarantee to answer every query. In particular, regrettably, we are unable to respond to questions whose answers can be found on our website.

If you would like to receive helpful tips  from our examiners about what makes for a winning essay or reminders of upcoming key dates for the 2024  essay competition, please provide your email here to be added to our contact list. .

Thanks for subscribing!

The John Locke Institute's Global Essay Prize is acknowledged as the world's most prestigious essay competition. 

We welcome tens of thousands of submissions from ambitious students in more than 150 countries, and our examiners - including distinguished philosophers, political scientists, economists, historians, psychologists, theologians, and legal scholars - read and carefully assess every entry. 

I encourage you to register for this competition, not only for the hope of winning a prize or commendation, and not only for the chance to join the very best contestants at our academic conference and gala ceremony in London, but equally for the opportunity to engage in the serious scholarly enterprise of researching, reflecting on, writing about, and editing an answer to one of the important and provocative questions in this year's Global Essay Prize. 

We believe that the skills you will acquire in the process will make you a better thinker and a more effective advocate for the ideas that matter most to you.

I hope to see you in September!

Best wishes,

Jamie Whyte, Ph.D. (C ANTAB ) 

Chairman of Examiners

Q. I missed the registration deadline. May I still register or submit an essay?

A. No. Only candidates who registered before 31 May will be able to submit an essay. 

Q. Are footnote s, endnotes, a bibliography or references counted towards the word limit?

A. No. Only the body of the essay is counted. 

Q. Are in-text citations counted towards the word limit? ​

A. If you are using an in-text based referencing format, such as APA, your in-text citations are included in the word limit.

Q. Is it necessary to include foo tnotes or endnotes in an essay? ​

A. You  may not  include footnotes, but you may include in-text citations or endnotes. You should give your sources of any factual claims you make, and you should ackn owledge any other authors on whom you rely.​

Q. I am interested in a question that seems ambiguous. How should I interpret it?

A. You may interpret a question as you deem appropriate, clarifying your interpretation if necessary. Having done so, you must answer the question as directly as possible.

Q. How strict are  the age eligibility criteria?

A. Only students whose nineteenth birthday falls after 30 June 2024 will be eligible for a prize or a commendation. In the case of the Junior category, only students whose fifteenth birthday falls after 30 June 2024 will be eligible for a prize or a commendation. 

Q. May I submit more than one essay?

A. Yes, you may submit as many essays as you please in any or all categories.

Q. If I am eligible to compete in the Junior category, may I also (or instead) compete in another category?

A. Yes, you may.

Q. May I team up with someone else to write an essay?  

A. No. Each submitted essay must be entirely the work of a single individual.

Q. May I use AI, such as ChatGPT or the like, in writing my essay?

A. All essays will be checked for the use of AI. If we find that any content is generated by AI, your essay will be disqualified. We will also ask you, upon submission of your essay, whether you used AI for  any  purpose related to the writing of your essay, and if so, you will be required to provide details. In that case, if, in our judgement, you have not provided full and accurate details of your use of AI, your essay will be disqualified. 

Since any use of AI (that does not result in disqualification) can only negatively affect our assessment of your work relative to that of work that is done without using AI, your safest course of action is simply not to use it at all. If, however, you choose to use it for any purpose, we reserve the right to make relevant judgements on a case-by-case basis and we will not enter into any correspondence. 

Q. May I have someone else edit, or otherwise help me with, my essay?

A. You may of course discuss your essay with others, and it is perfectly acceptable for them to offer general advice and point out errors or weaknesses in your writing or content, leaving you to address them.

However, no part of your essay may be written by anyone else. This means that you must edit your own work and that while a proofreader may point out errors, you as the essayist must be the one to correct them. 

Q. Do I have to attend the awards ceremony to win a prize? ​

A. Nobody is required to attend the prize ceremony. You can win a prize without travelling to London. But if we invite you to London it is because your essay was good enough - in the opinion of the First Round judges - to be at least a contender for First, Second or Third Prize. Normally the Second Round judges will agree that the short-listed essays are worth at least a commendation.

Q. Is there an entry fee?

A. No. There is no charge to enter our global essay competition unless you submit your essay after the normal deadline, in which case there is a fee of 20.00 USD .

Q. Can I receive a certificate for my participation in your essay competition if I wasn't shortlisted? 

A. No. Certificates are awarded only for shortlisted essays. Short-listed contestants who attend the award ceremony in London will receive a paper certificate. If you cannot travel to London, you will be able to download your eCertificate.

Q. Can I receive feedba ck on my essay? 

A. We would love to be able to give individual feedback on essays but, unfortunately, we receive too many entries to be able to comment on particular essays.

Q. The deadline for publishing the names of short-listed essayists has passed but I did not receive an email to tell me whether I was short-listed.

A. Log into your account and check "Shortlist Status" for (each of) your essay(s).

Q. Why isn't the awards ceremony in Oxford this year?

A. Last year, many shortlisted finalists who applied to join our invitation-only academic conference missed the opportunity because of capacity constraints at Oxford's largest venues. This year, the conference will be held in central London and the gala awards dinner will take place in an iconic London ballroom. 

TECHNICAL FAQ s

Q. The system will not accept my essay. I have checked the filename and it has the correct format. What should I do?  

A. You have almost certainly added a space before or after one of your names in your profile. Edit it accordingly and try to submit again.

Q. The profile page shows my birth date to be wrong by a day, even after I edit it. What should I do?

A. Ignore it. The date that you typed has been correctly input to our database. ​ ​

Q. How can I be sure that my registration for the essay competition was successful? Will I receive a confirmation email?

A. You will not receive a confirmation email. Rather, you can at any time log in to the account that you created and see that your registration details are present and correct.

TROUBLESHOOTING YOUR SUBMISSION

If you are unable to submit your essay to the John Locke Institute’s global essay competition, your problem is almost certainly one of the following.

If so, please proceed as indicated.

1) PROBLEM: I receive the ‘registrations are now closed’ message when I enter my email and verification code. SOLUTION. You did not register for the essay competition and create your account. If you think you did, you probably only provided us with your email to receive updates from us about the competition or otherwise. You may not enter the competition this year.

2) PROBLEM I do not receive a login code after I enter my email to enter my account. SOLUTION. Enter your email address again, checking that you do so correctly. If this fails, restart your browser using an incognito window; clear your cache, and try again. Wait for a few minutes for the code. If this still fails, restart your machine and try one more time. If this still fails, send an email to [email protected] with “No verification code – [your name]” in the subject line.

SUBMITTING AN ESSAY

3) PROBLEM: The filename of my essay is in the correct format but it is rejected. SOLUTION: Use “Edit Profile” to check that you did not add a space before or after either of your names. If you did, delete it. Whether you did or did not, try again to submit your essay. If submission fails again, email [email protected] with “Filename format – [your name]” in the subject line.

4) PROBLEM: When trying to view my submitted essay, a .txt file is downloaded – not the .pdf file that I submitted. SOLUTION: Delete the essay. Logout of your account; log back in, and resubmit. If resubmission fails, email [email protected] with “File extension problem – [your name]” in the subject line.

5) PROBLEM: When I try to submit, the submission form just reloads without giving me an error message. SOLUTION. Log out of your account. Open a new browser; clear the cache; log back in, and resubmit. If resubmission fails, email [email protected] with “Submission form problem – [your name]” in the subject line.

6) PROBLEM: I receive an “Unexpected Error” when trying to submit. SOLUTION. Logout of your account; log back in, and resubmit. If this resubmission fails, email [email protected] with “Unexpected error – [your name]” in thesubject line. Your email must tell us e xactly where in the submission process you received this error.

7) PROBLEM: I have a problem with submitting and it is not addressed above on this list. SOLUTION: Restart your machine. Clear your browser’s cache. Try to submit again. If this fails, email [email protected] with “Unlisted problem – [your name]” in the subject line. Your email must tell us exactly the nature of your problem with relevant screen caps.

READ THIS BEFORE YOU EMAIL US.

Do not email us before you have tried the specified solutions to your problem.

Do not email us more than once about a single problem. We will respond to your email within 72 hours. Only if you have not heard from us in that time may you contact us again to ask for an update.

If you email us regarding a problem, you must include relevant screen-shots and information on both your operating system and your browser. You must also declare that you have tried the solutions presented above and had a good connection to the internet when you did so.

If you have tried the relevant solution to your problem outlined above, have emailed us, and are still unable to submit before the 30 June deadline on account of any fault of the John Locke Institute or our systems, please do not worry: we will have a way to accept your essay in that case. However, if there is no fault on our side, we will not accept your essay if it is not submitted on time – whatever your reason: we will not make exceptions for IT issues for which we are not responsible.

We reserve the right to disqualify the entries of essayists who do not follow all provided instructions, including those concerning technical matters.

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Find details about every creative writing competition—including poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, grants for translators, and more—that we’ve published in the Grants & Awards section of Poets & Writers Magazine during the past year. We carefully review the practices and policies of each contest before including it in the Writing Contests database, the most trusted resource for legitimate writing contests available anywhere.

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Essay Writing Contests: The Ultimate List of 2024

Did you know that the very first recorded essay contest can be traced back to the early 16th century, initiated by none other than the renowned philosopher and essayist Michel de Montaigne? In 1580, Montaigne published his collection of essays titled 'Essais,' which not only marked a pivotal moment in the evolution of the essay as a literary form but also contained an implicit challenge to his readers. He encouraged them to engage with his ideas and respond by writing their own essays, essentially laying the groundwork for what we now recognize as essay contests.

Fast forward to the vibrant year of 2024, and this tradition of writing competitions has evolved into a global phenomenon, offering emerging writers from all walks of life a captivating platform to share their thoughts, emotions, and narratives with the world.

In this article, our essay writer will review essay writing contests, presenting you with an exclusive selection of the most promising opportunities for the year ahead. Each of these competitions not only provides a stage to demonstrate your writing prowess but also offers a unique avenue for personal growth, self-expression, and intellectual exploration, all while competing for impressive writing awards and well-deserved recognition.

Top Essay Writing Contests in 2024

If you enjoy expressing your thoughts and ideas through writing, you're in for a treat. Essay writing competitions in 2024 offer you a chance to do just that and win some great prizes in the process. We've put together a list of contests specially designed for students like you. These contests cover various interesting essay topics , giving you a unique opportunity to showcase your writing skills and potentially earn cash prizes or scholarships. So, let's jump right into these fantastic opportunities.

2024 International Literary Prize by Hammond House Publishing

The 2024 Writing Competition beckons writers with over £3000 in cash prizes, publication opportunities in anthologies, and a chance to participate in a televised Award Ceremony. Sponsored by the University Centre Grimsby, this annual contest, now in its eighth year, draws entries from approximately 30 countries worldwide. Entrants can vie for prizes across four categories, gaining exposure at the televised award ceremony and receiving expert feedback at the annual literary festival.

And if you're determined to learn how to overcome writer's block for this contest, we have a wealth of expert tips and strategies to guide you through the process!

Deadline: 30th September 2024

• 1st Prize: £1000
• 2nd Prize: £100
• 3rd Prize: £50

Ready to Break Free From Essay Stress?

Let our writing wizards rescue your grades with a tailor-made essay that'll make your professors do a double-take!

International Voices in Creative Nonfiction Competition by Vine Leaves Press

Vine Leaves Press welcomes writers worldwide, prioritizing voices from marginalized communities such as BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and individuals with chronic illnesses or disabilities, among others. Submissions, which must be in English and previously unpublished, are accepted from February 1, 2024, until July 1, 2024. Manuscripts can be either narrative (50,000 – 80,000 words) or experimental (at least 100 pages), adhering to specific formatting guidelines, including anonymity to ensure impartial judging. Each submission requires a $25 entry fee via Submittable, and multiple entries are allowed. Entries will be judged based on originality, creativity, writing quality, and adherence to genre, with finalists announced in October 2024, shortlisted in January 2025, and winners in March 2025.

Deadline: July 01, 2024

• The winner will receive a cash prize of $1000.
• Publication of the winning manuscript will occur in 2026 by Vine Leaves Press.
• Runners-up will also be considered for publication.

Solas Awards by Best Travel Writing

The Solas Awards, continuing a tradition since 1993, celebrate travel stories that inspire. They're looking for engaging tales that capture the essence of exploration, whether funny, enlightening, or adventurous. Winners may get published and join a community of fellow storytellers. Entries in essay, non-fiction, and travel genres are welcome with a $25 submission fee.

Deadline: September 21, 2024

• $1,000 Gold
• $750 Silver
• $500 Bronze

Vocal Challenges by Creatd

Vocal, in partnership with Voices in Minor (ViM), announces a creator-led challenge in celebration of International Women's Day, open to all Vocal creators. Participants are invited to write a 600-800 word piece about a woman who has inspired them for International Women's Day in the Year of the Dragon 2024. Submissions must adhere to specific length criteria and can be of any genre or format. Vocal will review entries and create a shortlist, from which ViM will select two co-grand prize winners and ten runners-up.

Deadline: Mar 12, 2024

• 2 Co-Grand Prizes: $200
• 10 Runners-up: $20

Cambridge Re:think Essay Competition 2024

The Re:think Essay Competition welcomes students aged 14 to 18 worldwide to participate in crafting essays under 2000 words, following MLA 8 citation style, with submissions undergoing plagiarism and AI checks. Essay prompts cover diverse themes, such as the role of women in STEM , provided by distinguished professors from prestigious institutions like Harvard, Brown, UC Berkeley, Cambridge, Oxford, and MIT. To maintain anonymity during review, submissions should be in PDF format without personal details.

Deadline : 10th May, 2024

• Gold: $150 cash, $500 CCIR scholarship, digital certificate, interview, Cambridge invite.
• Silver: $100 cash, $300 CCIR scholarship, digital certificate, interview, Cambridge invite.
• Bronze: $50 cash, $200 CCIR scholarship, digital certificate, interview, Cambridge invite.

The Hudson Prize by Black Lawrence Press

Each year, Black Lawrence Press presents The Hudson Prize, inviting submissions for an unpublished collection of poems or prose. This competition is open to writers at all stages of their careers, offering the winner book publication, a $1,000 cash prize, and ten copies of the published book. Entries are read blind by a panel of editors, requiring manuscripts to adhere to specific formatting guidelines, including pagination and font choice. Poetry manuscripts should be 45-95 pages, while prose manuscripts should range from 120-280 pages.

Deadline : March 31, 2024

• Top prize $1,000

Irene Adler Prize by Lucas Ackroyd

Introducing The Irene Adler Prize essay writing contest, offering a $1,000 US scholarship to the winner, with up to two $250 awards for honorable mentions. Open to women pursuing bachelor’s, master’s, or Ph.D. degrees in journalism, creative writing, or literature worldwide, regardless of age. Unlike previous years, this year's competition welcomes applicants from any country. The application period runs from January 30, 2024, to May 30, 2024, with no late submissions accepted. Each application requires a 500-word essay on one of five provided prompts and a completed entry form, both submitted via email.

Deadline : May 30, 2024

• 2x honorable mentions: $250

100 Word Writing Contest by Tadpole Press

With a doubled first-place prize of $2,000 USD, participants are invited from all corners of the globe, regardless of age, gender, or nationality. Pen names are accepted, and winning entries will be published under those names. Previously published pieces are also welcome, with no restrictions. Any genre is accepted, with the theme centered around creativity. Each entry must be 100 words or less, including the title.

Deadline : April 30, 2024

• 1st place: $2,000 USD.
• 2nd place: Writing coaching package valued at $450 USD.
• 3rd place: Developmental and diversity editing package valued at $250 USD.

African Diaspora Awards 2024 by Kinsman Avenue Publishing, Inc

The African Diaspora Award 2024 seeks original works from Afro-descendants, including short stories, flash fiction, essays, poetry, or visual art. Winners can earn up to $1000 USD and publication in Kinsman Quarterly and "Black Butterfly: Voices of the African Diaspora." Submissions reflecting cultural themes are due by June 30, 2024. Authors retain copyrights, and entrants must be 18 or older. No plagiarism is allowed, and Kinsman Quarterly employees cannot enter. Various genres are accepted with specific word count limits.

Deadline : June 30, 2024

• Grand Prize: $1000 cash and publication in Kinsman Quarterly & anthology.
• 1st Runner Up: $300 cash and publication 
• 2nd Runner Up: $200 cash and publication 
• 3rd Runner Up: $50 cash and publication
• Top 6 Finalists: $25 Amazon gift card and publication 
• 6 Honorary Mentions: Publication in Kinsman Quarterly & anthology.

Work-In-Progress (WIP) Contest by Unleash Press

The Unleash WIP Award 2024 offers $500, feedback, coaching, and a feature in Unleash Lit to help writers with their book projects in fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. All writers can apply. So, if you're looking for resources like free Harvard online courses to hone your writing skills, consider entering this competition. Submissions of the first 25 pages and answers to questions are due by July 15, 2024. Multiple entries are okay, but follow the rules, especially keeping your submission anonymous. Unleash also welcomes previously self-published works.

Deadline : July 15, 2024

• Top prize: $500
• Additional prizes: Coaching, interview, and editorial support

Aurora Polaris Creative Nonfiction Award by Trio House Press

Open to all writers, the poetry manuscripts should be 48-70 pages, and the prose manuscripts should be up to 80,000 words. Submissions must be from U.S. residents and must be original works. AI-generated submissions and translations are not eligible. Manuscripts should be sent as a single Word doc. or docx. file with no identifying information, and a cover letter with bio and contact details should be uploaded separately.

Deadline: May 15, 2024

• $1,000, publication, and 20 books

Poetry & Spoken Word Competition 2024 by Write the World

Young writers aged 13 to 19.5 are invited to enter this upcoming competition, with submissions of 50 to 500 words. Inspired by Audrey Lorde's words and the power of poetry, participants are encouraged to craft original poems or spoken word pieces advocating for change and self-expression. Winners, including top prizes for written and recorded performances, will be announced on June 14. Malika Booker, a renowned British poet, serves as the guest judge. To enter, writers should sign up on Write the World, respond to the prompt, and submit their final entries before the deadline.

Deadline : May 27, 2024

• Best entry: $100
• Best Peer Review: $50

Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award

The Killer Nashville essay writing contests seek to uncover new talent and recognize outstanding works by established authors, aiming to introduce their works to a broader audience. With numerous fiction and non-fiction categories available, writers have the opportunity to showcase their talent across a wide range of genres. The top prize includes a $250 award, and entry requires a fee of $79. Genres eligible for entry encompass crime, essay, fantasy, fiction, humor, memoir, mystery, non-fiction, novel, poetry, science fiction, script writing, short story, and thriller.

Deadline : June 15, 2024

• Top prize: $250

Journalism Competition 2024 by Write the World

In this upcoming competition, young writers aged 13 to 19.5 are invited to participate, with entries ranging from 400 to 1000 words. Participants are tasked with exploring and reporting on significant events within their own country, fostering a deeper understanding of local issues. Optional draft submissions for expert review are available until July 8, with feedback returned to writers by July 12. Winners will be announced on August 9. To enter, writers must sign up for a free account on Write the World, respond to the prompt, and submit their final entries before the deadline.

Deadline : July 22, 2024

National Essay Contest by U.S. Institute of Peace

This year, AFSA is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the United States Foreign Service. They've been involved in important events throughout history, like making decisions about war and peace, supporting human rights, and responding to disasters. Now, AFSA wants students to think about the future of diplomacy. They're asking students to imagine how diplomats can adapt to the changing world and its challenges. It's a chance for students to explore how diplomacy can continue to make a difference in the world.

Deadline : April 01, 2024

• Top prize: $2,500
• Additional prizes: Runner-up: $1,250

In 2023, the world of writing competitions offers a diverse tapestry of opportunities for writers across the globe. From exploring the depths of nature to delving into the mysteries of microfiction, these competitions beckon with enticing prizes and platforms for your creative voice. So, pick your favorite, sharpen your pen, and embark on a journey of literary excellence!

Unlock the Essay Enchantment!

Our expert wordsmiths are standing by, wands at the ready, to craft your essay masterpiece. No potions, just perfect prose!

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Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest

Students      >      Essay Contests      >     Atlas Shrugged

✓    Open to all high school, college, and graduate students worldwide.

Annual Grand Prize

June 14, 2024

Summer Entry Deadline

Book Length

Interested in participating?

Fill out the contact form below, and we’ll email you with more information about this year’s contest—including instructions on how to enter.

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We’ll email you more information about this year’s contest—including instructions on how to enter. In the meantime, please let us know at [email protected] if you have any questions. We’re happy to help.

What is Atlas Shrugged?

The astounding story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world—and did.

Tremendous in scope, breathtaking in its suspense, Atlas Shrugged is unlike any other book you have ever read. It is a mystery story, not about the murder of a man’s body, but about the murder—and rebirth—of man’s spirit.

How It Works

Every three months there is a new seasonal entry round, with its own unique essay prompt. You may compete in any or all of these entry rounds.

The top three essays from each season will be awarded a cash prize. The first-place essay from each season will advance to compete for the annual grand prize.

The first-place essay from each season will be eligible to contend for the annual first-place title, with the opportunity to secure a grand prize of $25,000.

Challenging Essay Topics

Each entry round features a unique topic designed to provoke a deeper understanding of the book’s central themes and characters.

Essays must be written in English only and be between 800 and 1,600 words in length.

Questions? Write to us at [email protected] .

• Summer Prompt
• Fall Prompt
• Winter Prompt

The essay prompt for our fall entry period has not yet been determined. We will post it here as soon it’s available.

The essay prompt for our winter entry period has not yet been determined. We will post it here as soon it’s available.

Grand Prize

Master our grading standards.

Essays are judged on whether the student is able to justify and argue for his or her view, not on whether the Institute agrees with the view the student expresses. 

Our graders look for writing that is clear, articulate, and logically organized.  Essays should stay on topic, address all parts of the selected prompt, and interrelate the ideas and events in the novel. 

Winning essays must demonstrate an outstanding grasp of the philosophic meaning of Atlas Shrugged .

Organization

Understanding, contest timeline, discover the power of atlas shrugged.

Atlas Shrugged  is a mystery novel like no other. You enter a world where scientists, entrepreneurs, artists, and inventors are inexplicably vanishing—where the world is crumbling.

And what you discover, by the end, is an uplifting vision of life, an inspiring cast of heroes, and a challenging new way to think about life’s most important issues.

Learn more and request a free digital copy of the book today.

Learn from Past Winners

Curious to know what makes for a winning essay in the Atlas Shrugged   contest? Check out some of the essays written by our most recent grand-prize winners. 

To varying degrees, they all display an excellent grasp of the philosophic meaning of Atlas Shrugged .

Click here to see the full list of 2022 contest winners.

Jacob Fisher

Graduate Student

Stanford University

Stanford, California

United States

Mariah Williams

Regis University

Denver, Colorado

Nathaniel Shippee

University of Illinois

Chicago, Illinois

Samuel Weaver

St. John’s College

Annapolis, Maryland

Patrick Mayles

Graduate student

Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Christina Jeong

College Student

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, Indiana

Improve Your Writing Skills

Other than endorsing perfect punctuation and grammar in English, the Ayn Rand Institute offers no advice or feedback for essays submitted to its contests. However, we do recommend the following resources as ways to improve the content of your essays.

The Atlas Project

Writing: a mini-course.

Sign Up for Contest Updates!

Want to stay up-to-date on any new developments to the contest? Sign up to our email list below.

We’ll send you periodic reminders about the contest deadlines, as well as helpful resources to ensure you get the most out of your experience reading and writing about Ayn Rand’s  Atlas Shrugged .

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Atlas Shrugged is a mystery novel like no other. You enter a world where scientists, entrepreneurs, artists, and inventors are inexplicably vanishing—where the world is crumbling.

What you discover, by the end, is an uplifting vision of life, an inspiring cast of heroes, and a challenging new way to think about life’s most important issues.

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Then, when you're ready to submit your essay, just return to our platform. Your saved entry will be right where you left off. So, why wait? Take the first step, and start your entry today.

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Writing Contests and Competitions – Weekly Updates

Opportunities for aspiring and experienced writers..

Welcome to our comprehensive list of writing contests and competitions. The list includes short story , poetry , and flash fiction events, as well as some competitions for essays , screenwriting , and even entire manuscripts . Each item on our list includes basic information about max word count , entry fees , submission deadlines , and the first place prize .

We are keen to encourage quality submissions, so suggest writers to check their stories before submitting using Prowritingaid . They have free and paid versions and are the best writing software we know to help improve grammar, readability and check for repetition, ‘sticky’ sentences and suggest alternatives.

Please do your own research before deciding to enter any event. In case of questions about a particular event, please reach out to the event organizer.

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fri 01 mar 12:00 am wed 24 apr (apr 24) 11:59 pm First Pages Prize 2024 Category Multiple categories International Entry Fee $35 Max word count 1250 Top Prize $2000, Developmental Mentorship, Agent Consultation

thu 21 mar (mar 21) 1:00 am tue 30 apr (apr 30) 1:00 am The Letter Review Prize for Short Stories Category Short Story International Entry Fee $0 Max word count 5000 Top Prize $500

sat 30 mar All Day This event is FREE to enter! Yay! Crossings Travel Writing Competition Category Non-fiction International Entry Fee Free Max word count 2000 Top Prize $200 and publication

sun 31 mar All Day New England Readers' Choice Awards Category Novel USA Entry Fee $25 Max word count No limit Top Prize Free class from Becca Syme's Write Better Faster Academy

sun 31 mar All Day Minds Shine Bright Seasons Writing Competition Category Multiple categories International Entry Fee $5 Max word count Depends on category (check organizer's website) Top Prize $500 and publication

sun 31 mar All Day The London Magazine Poetry Prize 2024 Category Poetry International Entry Fee £10 Max word count 40 lines Top Prize £500

sun 31 mar All Day This event is FREE to enter! Yay! Witcraft Monthly Humour Competition Category Multiple categories Australia Entry Fee Free Max word count 1000 Top Prize $50

sun 31 mar All Day The Plough Poetry Prize International Poetry Competition Category Poetry International Entry Fee £5 Max word count 40 lines Top Prize £1,000

sun 31 mar All Day Black Fox Winter Prize: Fairy Tale Remix Category Multiple categories International Entry Fee $12 Max word count 5,000 Top Prize $300 and print publication

sun 31 mar All Day This event is FREE to enter! Yay! Wiingy Future STEM Leaders Scholarship Category Essay International Entry Fee Free Max word count 600 Top Prize $200

sun 31 mar All Day Suspot Lit 'Inception' Contest (Prose and Poetry) Category Multiple categories International Entry Fee $12.50 Max word count 250 (prose); 25 (poetry) Top Prize $500 and publication

sun 31 mar All Day The E. H. P. Barnard Spring Poetry Prize Category Poetry UK Entry Fee £2 Max word count 400 Top Prize £100 and a poem video, professionally performed, produced and promoted

sun 31 mar All Day The International Rubery Book Award Category Full Manuscript International Entry Fee €60 Max word count Check with organizer Top Prize £2000

sun 31 mar All Day The Caterpillar Poetry Prize Category Poetry International Entry Fee €15 Max word count No limit Top Prize €1,000 and a week at Circle of Misse writing retreat

sun 31 mar 1:00 am sun 1:00 am This event is FREE to enter! Yay! DLJ Monthly Writing Competition Category Multiple categories International Entry Fee Free Max word count 3000 Top Prize Publication

sun 31 mar 12:00 pm sun 12:00 pm This event is FREE to enter! Yay! Voice.club Monthly Flash Fiction Contest Category Flash Fiction International Entry Fee Free Max word count 350 Top Prize $25 USD Amazon Gift Card and publication

mon 01 apr All Day The Rialto Nature and Place Poetry Competition 2024 Category Poetry International Entry Fee £7 Max word count 40 lines Top Prize £1000

mon 01 apr All Day Nimrod Literary Awards Category Multiple categories International Entry Fee $23 Max word count Depends on category (check organizer's website) Top Prize $2,000 and publication

mon 01 apr All Day This event is FREE to enter! Yay! Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest Category Poetry International Entry Fee Free Max word count 250 lines Top Prize $2,000

sun 07 apr All Day The Brick Lane Bookshop Short Story Prize 2024 Category Short Story International Entry Fee £10 (50 free spaces available for authors on a low income) Max word count 5000 Top Prize £1000 and publication

wed 10 apr All Day The 2024 Mairtín Crawford Awards For Poetry and Short Story Category Multiple categories UK Entry Fee £10 Max word count No limit Top Prize £500 cash prize and a 'Time to Write' package; including a 3 night stay in a hotel in Belfast and four days of dedicated writing space within The Crescent.

sun 14 apr All Day Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize 2024 Category Short Fiction International Entry Fee €20 Max word count 2000 Top Prize €2000, a week’s stay at the Civitella Ranieri Foundation artists’ residency, manuscript consultation, and meeting with literary agent

sun 14 apr All Day April Flash Fiction Challenge Category Flash Fiction International Entry Fee 14.99 Max word count 1000 Top Prize 1,000

mon 15 apr All Day The Bath Short Story Award 2024 Category Short Story International Entry Fee £9 Max word count 2,200 Top Prize £1200

tue 16 apr All Day This event is FREE to enter! Yay! PURORRELATO micro-story contest 2024 Category Short Fiction International Entry Fee Free Max word count 1500 (characters) Top Prize €750

fri 19 apr (apr 19) 12:00 pm sun 21 (apr 21) 11:59 pm Virtual Event Not Quite Write Prize for Flash Fiction Category Flash Fiction International Entry Fee $25 Max word count 500 Top Prize $1,000

mon 22 apr All Day ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize Category Short Story International Entry Fee $30 Max word count 5,000 Top Prize $6,000

tue 30 apr All Day New Writers 1000-Word Short Story Competition 2024 Category Short Story International Entry Fee £10 Max word count 1,000 Top Prize £1,000

tue 30 apr All Day WOW! Women On Writing Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest Category Essay USA Entry Fee $12 Max word count 1000 Top Prize $500

tue 30 apr All Day Ironclad Short Story Competition - Spring 24 Category Flash Fiction UK Entry Fee £7 Max word count 6000 Top Prize £100

tue 30 apr All Day F(r)iction Writing Contests Category Multiple categories International Entry Fee $10 Max word count Depends on category (check organizer's website) Top Prize $1,000 and publication

tue 30 apr All Day The Creative Writing NZ Short Story Prize Category Short Story New Zealand Entry Fee $9 Max word count 3,000 Top Prize $1,000

tue 30 apr All Day Tadpole Press 100-Word Writing Contest Category Multiple categories International Entry Fee $15 Max word count 100 Top Prize $2,000

tue 30 apr All Day New Writers 1000-Word Short Story Competition Category Short Story International Entry Fee £10 Max word count 1,000 Top Prize £1,000

tue 30 apr All Day The SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction Category Full Manuscript International Entry Fee $14 Max word count 1,000 Top Prize $2,500 and publication

tue 30 apr 1:00 am tue 11:59 pm The Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award Category Short Story International Entry Fee $20 Max word count 10,000 Top Prize $1,500

tue 30 apr (apr 30) 1:00 am fri 31 may (may 31) 1:00 am This event is FREE to enter! Yay! Discourse Literary Journal Monthly Writing Competition: Weird Category Multiple categories International Entry Fee Free Max word count 3000 Top Prize Publication

wed 01 may All Day Cheshire Novel Prize Category Novel International Entry Fee £29 Max word count 5000 Top Prize £1,500

wed 01 may All Day This event is FREE to enter! Yay! Untold Tales Youth Writing Competition Category Multiple categories International Entry Fee Free Max word count 1,000 Top Prize $100 and publication

wed 01 may All Day Colorado Gold Literary Awards Category Full Manuscript USA Entry Fee $25 Max word count 3,000 Top Prize $150 and meeting with an agent

wed 01 may All Day Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest Category Multiple categories International Entry Fee $22 Max word count 6,000 Top Prize $3,500

sun 05 may All Day Leapfrog Global Fiction Prize Category Full Manuscript International Entry Fee $35 Max word count Full manuscript (check details for minimum word count) Top Prize Publication

wed 15 may All Day Goldfinch Novel Award 2024 Category Novel International Entry Fee £10 Max word count 5000 Top Prize £300

wed 15 may All Day Montreal International Poetry Prize Category Poetry International Entry Fee $25 Max word count 40 lines Top Prize $20,000

sun 19 may All Day This event is FREE to enter! Yay! Creative Future Writers’ Award 2024 Category Multiple categories UK Entry Fee Free Max word count Depends on category (check organizer's website) Top Prize Publication + £23,000 worth of prizes in training, mentoring, assessment and coaching

fri 31 may All Day WOW! Women on Writing Spring 2024 Flash Fiction Contest Category Flash Fiction USA Entry Fee $10 Max word count 750 Top Prize $400

fri 31 may All Day 2024 Page Turner Awards Book Award For Indie or Mainstream Published Books Category Multiple categories International Entry Fee $40 Max word count Depends on category (check organizer's website) Top Prize Publication and other perks

fri 31 may All Day The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing Category Multiple categories International Entry Fee $20 Max word count Depends on category. Check with organizer. Top Prize $10,000 and publication

fri 31 may All Day The Bridport Prize 2024 Category Multiple categories International Entry Fee £11-£24 Max word count Depends on category (check organizer's website) Top Prize £5,000

fri 31 may All Day The Yeovil Literary Prize Category Multiple categories International Entry Fee £5 - £14.50 Max word count Depends on category (check organizer's website) Top Prize £1250

fri 31 may All Day This event is FREE to enter! Yay! Sapere Books Writing Competition Category Synopsis International Entry Fee Free Max word count 2000 Top Prize Contract for a five-book series

sat 01 jun All Day Arizona Authors Association Literary Contest Category Multiple categories USA Entry Fee $30-45 Max word count 5000 Top Prize $500

sat 01 jun All Day The 2024 Times-Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition Category Full Manuscript International Entry Fee £20 Max word count 80,000 Top Prize £10,000 and publishing contract

sat 15 jun All Day This event is FREE to enter! Yay! International Essay Contest for Young People International Entry Fee Free Max word count 700 Top Prize 100,000 Yen and gift

mon 01 jul All Day Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize 2024 Category Multiple categories International Entry Fee £12 Max word count 3,000 Top Prize £1000

sun 07 jul All Day Hastings Book Festival Writing Competition Category Multiple categories International Entry Fee £8.25 Max word count 2,500 (short stories); 40 (poetry) Top Prize £250

sun 07 jul All Day North Street Book Prize Category Multiple categories International Entry Fee $79 Max word count 200,000 Top Prize $10,000

mon 08 jul 2:11 pm mon 2:11 pm 2024 HG Wells Short Story Competition Category Short Story International Entry Fee £10 Max word count 5,000 Top Prize £1,000 and publication

mon 15 jul All Day Rattle Poetry Prize 2024 Category Poetry International Entry Fee $30 Max word count No limit Top Prize $15,000

sun 21 jul 1:00 am sun 1:00 am Write by the Sea - Writing Competition 2024 Category Multiple categories Ireland Entry Fee €10 Max word count Depends on category (check organizer's website) Top Prize €500

wed 31 jul All Day Inspiring Fiction's Special Edition Short Story Contest Category Short Story International Entry Fee £5 Max word count 2500 Top Prize £100

wed 31 jul All Day Anthology Short Story Competition 2024 Category Short Story International Entry Fee €15 Max word count 1500 Top Prize €1000

august 2024

sat 31 aug All Day Aesthetica Creative Writing Award 2024 Category Multiple categories International Entry Fee £12 - £18 Max word count 2,000 (fiction); 40 lines (poetry) Top Prize £2,500 and publication

sat 31 aug All Day Anthology Personal Memoir Competition 2024 Category memoir International Entry Fee €10 Max word count 1000 Top Prize €500

sat 31 aug All Day Anthology Personal Memoir Competition Category memoir International Entry Fee €15 Max word count 1,500 Top Prize €500 and the chance to see their work published in a future issue of Anthology

september 2024

fri 06 sep All Day Toes in the Sand Romance Story Contest Category Multiple categories USA Entry Fee Free Max word count 50,000 Top Prize $300 and publication

mon 30 sep All Day Anthology Flash Fiction Competition 2024 Category Flash Fiction International Entry Fee €12 Max word count 250 Top Prize €300

mon 30 sep All Day Anthology Nature Writing Competition 2024 Category Non-fiction International Entry Fee €10 Max word count 1000 Top Prize €500

mon 30 sep All Day One Page Poetry Contest Category Poetry USA Entry Fee $25 Max word count 300 Top Prize $2,000

october 2024

tue 01 oct All Day Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest Category Poetry International Entry Fee $22 Max word count 250 lines Top Prize $3,500

thu 31 oct All Day Anthology Poetry Competition 2024 Category Poetry International Entry Fee €18 Max word count 40 lines Top Prize €1000

november 2024

sat 30 nov All Day Anthology Travel Writing Competition 2024 Category Non-fiction International Entry Fee €15 Max word count 1000 Top Prize €500

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The Winners of Our ‘How To’ Contest

Over 2,200 teenagers submitted essays on how to do everything from fix a toilet to fight a kangaroo. We’ll be publishing the work of the winners all week.

By The Learning Network

Almost from the time our new “ How To” Informational Writing Contest for Teenagers went live in January, we knew it would be a success.

First there was the creative range of topics. As submissions rolled in — 2,223 by the deadline — we were happy to see students take on a variety of key emotional, intellectual and physical skills, including how to win an argument, fix a toilet, cope with anxiety, remember names and trip gracefully.

But we were even more delighted to be introduced to a few offbeat skills we hadn’t previously realized were crucial, like how to do the worm, snowball-attack your sister, fight a kangaroo and “talk to your crush without sounding like a talking potato.”

Our participants had fun. We know that because in their accompanying process statements they told us so. They liked coming up with topic ideas, and writing something for school in a format they’d never seen before. They even enjoyed finding and interviewing experts — a contest requirement that had seemed daunting at first to many, but turned out to be one of the most rewarding steps.

We hope you’ll enjoy the results as much as we have. We’ll be publishing the work of the top 11 winners all week, and we’ll add links here when we do.

In alphabetical order by the writer’s first name

“ How to Befriend an Introvert ” : Ashley Zhang, 14, Collingwood School, West Vancouver, British Columbia

“ How to Do the Worm ” : Camille Gonzales, 18, Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Houston

“ How to Find Your Balance ” : Chelsea Hu, 18, Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass.

“How to Make Bubble Tea” : Hanyi Zhou, 14, Chinese International School, Hong Kong

“How to Make the Perfect Sandwich” : Jackson DeNichilo, 15, Fallston High School, Fallston, Md.

“How to Wrap a Dumpling” : Jacob Wang, 16, Charterhouse School, Godalming, England

“How to Conduct a Podcast Interview” : Matthew Jeong, 17, Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Houston

“How to Be a Kid Forever” : Raniya Chowdhury, 17, John Fraser Secondary School, Mississauga, Ontario

“How to Become Friends With a Wild Bird” : Shannon Hong, 16, Herricks High School, New Hyde Park, N.Y.

“How to Host Unexpected Guests” : Sofia Fontenot, 18, Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Houston

“How to Make Fear Your Friend” : Zoe Brown, 14, Summit High School, Bend, Ore.

“How to Recover After Yet Another Disappointing Season by Your Favorite N.F.L. Team” : Alden Comes, 13, Briarcliff Middle School, Mountain Lakes, N.J.

“How to Tell the Ugly Truth” : Alex (Hayoung) Jung, 16, Seoul Foreign School, Seoul

“How to Remember Names” : Anahita Driver, 13, Gregory Middle School, Naperville, Ill.

“How to Find Gratitude in Everyday Life” : Andrew Coraggio, 16, Arrowhead Union High School, Hartland, Wis.

“How to Antique Shop” : Callisto Lim, 17, Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Houston

“How to Build an Optimal Environment for Your Fish” : Chasity Rolon, 16, Deer Park High School, New York, N.Y.

“How to Snowball Attack Your Sister” : Harper Mooney, 14, Marblehead High School, Marblehead, Mass.

“How to Achieve Inner Peace by Washing Your Dishes” : Jackson Cooke, 18, Briarwood Christian High School, Birmingham, Ala.

“How to Spot Counterfeit Currency” : Kaylie Milton, 17, West High School, Iowa City, Iowa

“How to Pee On a Hike” : Lauren Acker, 17, Lakeside High School, DeKalb County, Ga.

“How to Mimic an Accent” : Michael Noh, 14, Korea International School Pangyo Campus, Seongnam, South Korea

“How to Speak Like a British Person” : Owen Wilde, 16, Maynard High School, Maynard, Mass.

“How to Ask a Teacher for Help” : Sarah Harris, 15, Boothbay Region High School, Boothbay Harbor, Maine

“How to Spin Pens” : Siddharth S., 16, Peepal Prodigy School Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

“How to Make Kids Excited About History” : Vivian Wenan Chang, 17, BASIS Chandler, Chandler, Ariz.

“How to Ride a Roller Coaster Without Fear” : Wang Ziyun, 16, Raffles Girls’ School, Singapore

“How to Make a Three-Point Shot” : Will Peña, 17, Academy at the Lakes, Land O’ Lakes, Fla.

“How to Play Darts” : Xizhe Yang, 15, Shanghai High School International Division, Shanghai

Honorable Mentions

“How to Survive Middle School Hallways” : Alice Liang, 13, Islander Middle School, Mercer Island, Wash.

“How to Learn a New Language” : Andrew Chen, 14, International School of Beijing, Beijing

“How to Let Go of Someone” : Ariel Ting, 16, Taipei American School, Taipei, Taiwan

“How to Cope With Your Anxiety” : Ava Cho, 18, Daegu International School, Daegu, South Korea

“How to Live Openly As a Lesbian” : Ayco Phlypo, 17, Atheneum Gentbrugge, Ghent, Belgium

“How to Make Homemade Pasta” : Bella DiBernardo, 16, Alta Vista Middle College, Santa Barbara, Calif.

“How to Prepare for Running a Marathon” : Brett Barker, 17, Arrowhead Union High School, Hartland, Wis.

“Keep the Sandman at Bay” : Bryant, 18, Bandung Independent School, Bandung, Indonesia

“How to Fix a Toilet!” : Carla Lopez, 16, Jose Marti STEM Academy, Union City, N.J.

“How to Order at a Specialty Coffee Shop” : Cassandra Garcia, 16, home school, Portland, Texas

“How to Trip Gracefully” : Eileen Kim, 15, Urbana High School, Ijamsville, Md.

“How to Drive Your Siblings Mad” : Elaine Kim, 15, West Ranch High School, Stevenson Ranch, Calif.

“Being Objective” : James Yi, 17, Orange County School of the Arts, Santa Ana, Calif.

“How to Accept Failure” : Jamie Park, 16, Yongsan International School of Seoul, Seoul

“How to Cope With a Panic Attack” : Jason Kim, 15, Georgetown Preparatory School, North Bethesda, Md.

“How to Escape a Night Market” : Joyce Chang, 16, Stella Matutina Girls’ High School, Taichung City, Taiwan

“How to Overcome Assault: A Survivor’s Guide on Trauma-Related Shame” : Juliana Segal, 17, The Montessori School of Raleigh Upper School, Raleigh, N.C.

“How to Play Out of Tune On the Flute” : Kavya Muralidhar, 13, Islander Middle School, Mercer Island, Wash.

“How to Write a Poem” : Lareina Yuan, 14, YK Pao School, Shanghai

“How to Make Tanghulu” : Lehan Gu, 15, Northwood High School, Irvine, Calif.

“How to Be When Meeting New People” : MaryEden Rall, 13, Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School, Montgomery, Ala.

“How to Make the Perfect Playlist” : Rachel Wieland, 17, Arrowhead Union High School, Hartland, Wis.

“How to Talk to Your Crush Without Sounding Like a Talking Potato” : Roxanne Wu, 16, International School of Beijing, Beijing

“How to Help a Child With Autism” : Sarah Zeng, 15, Victoria Park Collegiate Institute, Toronto

“How to Deal With Nerves” : Sasha Luhur, 14, Northwood School, Lake Placid, N.Y.

“How to Watch Clouds” : Shio Kim, 14, North London Collegiate School Jeju, Seogwipo, South Korea

“How to Discuss Controversial Issues With Parents” : Siyao Feng, 18, Linden Hall School for Girls, Lititz, Pa.

“How to Write a Song” : Sophia Kim, 15, Chadwick International School, Incheon, South Korea

“How to Write a Song” : Stephanie Ma, 16, The Webb Schools, Claremont, Calif.

“How to Be a Good Dukjil-er” : Suevean (Evelyn) Chin, Asia Pacific International School, Seoul

“How to Win an Argument” : Suri Boryang Kim, PTGMS, South Korea

“How to Tie a Shoe” : Vivian Olivera, 17, Academy at the Lakes, Land O’ Lakes, Fla.

“Grilling Pork Belly For the Best Flavor” : Yoonseo Cho, 17, Portola High School, Irvine, Calif.

Thank you to our contest judges.

Ana Paola Wong, Annissa Hambouz, Caroline Gilpin, Dana Davis, Elisa Zonana, Isaac Aronow, Jeremy Engle, Jeremy Hyler, John Otis, Juliette Seive, Katherine Schulten, Kathryn Curto, Ken Paul, Kimberly Wiedmeyer, Kirsten Akens, Michael Gonchar, Natalie Proulx, Phoebe Lett, Shannon Doyne, Sharon Murchie, Shira Katz, Sue Mermelstein, Susan Josephs, Sydney Stein

Bookings Open for Online Summer Courses

Essay Writing Webinars

• Thursday, 7th March, 5pm UK time: Essay Writing Essentials: Top tips from a writing expert
• Wednesday, 20th March, 5pm UK time: Q&A with 2023 Essay Competition winners

Watch our Explainer Video

How Our Essay Competition Works

Submit your entry.

Research and write your essay and then submit it, along with your references, via our short form below.

Entries close at 9pm UK time on 31st March 2024 !

Awards Ceremony

All shortlisted entrants and their parents and teachers will be invited to attend our Awards Ceremony in April 2024, where the winners will be announced.

Over £100,000 Worth of Academic Prizes

Free Conference place

The first thousand students who are successfully shortlisted will be awarded a free place at one of our OxBright Conferences (worth £95) in the autumn. Alternatively, you can put this credit towards an Online Course or Online Internship .

All shortlisted entrants and their parents and teachers will be invited to attend our online Awards Ceremony in April 2024, where the winners will be announced.

Matilda Winner, History, 2023

I’m both thrilled and flabbergasted at the outcome of the competition.

Winning this competition undoubtedly made me feel much more confident in researching and writing in my field from now on, opening a lot of new doors for me!

Regina Winner, Psychology, 2023

I’m very happy and grateful to win such a meaningful competition. I truly learned a lot.

My advice to anyone considering entering is to try to think deeper and further about your chosen topic.

Alex Winner, Philosophy, 2023

Frequently Asked Questions

Entering the essay competition, how will entering the oxbright essay competition help me in the future, why do you run an essay competition.

OxBright is about giving students the edge to help them to succeed, find their purpose and make a difference in the world.

We think it’s the greatest time to be alive, but we’re aware that young people face challenges their predecessors didn’t. We’re passionate about encouraging students to be optimistic about the future by being active thinkers interested in collaborating to create a better future for the long-term. You can read more about this in our Worldview .

Our essay competition combines these two elements – encouraging students to think actively about the future, and giving them tools to help them to succeed.

Who can enter?

Anyone can enter – the only eligibility criteria is that you must be aged between 15-18. You don’t need to have previously joined an OxBright programme in order to take part.

Kindly be aware that to be eligible to take up any of the free places offered as prizes, such as our online courses/internships, winning students must be between the ages of 15 and 18 at the commencement of the programme.

Can I write more than one essay?

Sorry, we only accept one essay per student in each Essay Competition. This is due to the volume of essays we receive.

Can I enter jointly with a friend?

No, we can only accept entries from individuals, and it’s important to make sure that your work is entirely your own.

Is there a fee to enter the OxBright Essay Competition?

No, the essay competition is completely free to enter.

When is the entry deadline?

The entry deadline is 9pm on Sunday 31st March 2024.

Are you connected to any university?

No, OxBright is an independent education organisation which is not connected to any university.

Where can I see the results of the Essay Competition 2023?

You can see the results of our previous Essay Competition, including the winning essay in full, here .

Writing Your Essay

What are the subject categories i can enter for, how long should my essay be.

There are three parts to the essay:

• Essay title: the title of your essay can be up to 100 characters long, including spaces
• Essay: your essay can have up to 3,800 characters , including spaces (this is about 500 words). This includes everything you write, like the main text and in-text citations. In-text citations are little notes you put in your essay to show where your information came from. For example, if you quote something from a book by John Smith, you would add (Smith, 2010, p. 50) right after the quote. These citations are part of your word count, so make sure to include them
• References: as for references, there’s no word limit – you can include as many as you need! These are important for showing where your information came from. Please use the Harvard Referencing Style for your references (you can find how to do this in the guidelines provided here ). This won’t count towards your essay character limit, so please list all the sources you used

What are the evaluation criteria?

We’ll be assessing essays on the following criteria:

• Fluency of written English
• Relevance to the question
• Creativity and originality of ideas
• Use of evidence or examples
• Relevance to the OxBright Worldview

Should I use references?

Please make sure to include references to your sources, using the Harvard Referencing Style (guidelines here ).

What makes a good essay?

Make sure to read our criteria carefully (you can find it in the FAQ above).

We want essays that are thoroughly researched, packed with examples and solid evidence. What really catches our attention are essays with unique analysis. So, we’re not just interested in essays that simply describe things – we want your thoughts, analysis, and fresh ideas.

Don’t forget, it’s crucial to use and mention trustworthy sources for the evidence you provide.

Do you accept personal or descriptive essays?

We’re looking for clear, concise and compelling answers to the question above, written and formatted in an academic style. Please don’t submit personal essays or creative writing samples.

What Happens Next?

When will i hear the results.

We’ll be in touch within two weeks of your entry to let you know whether or not you’ve been shortlisted (all entrants who meet our core standards of relevance and coherence will be shortlisted).

All shortlisted entrants and their parents and teachers will be invited to our Awards Ceremony in April 2024, when the winners in each subject category will be announced.

How are essays assessed?

You can read about the criteria we use to assess your essay in the FAQ above (“What are the evaluation criteria?”).

Essays are assessed using our proprietary system which combines a mixture of technology and personal assessment. Essays which are deemed to be plagiarised or be written by AI will be rejected and our decision on this is final.

There are two stages to our assessment process:

Shorlisting Our first stage assessment reviews whether the essay is relevant and coherent. If so, your essay will be shortlisted, you will be offered a free place at an OxBright Conference and you will be invited to the Awards Ceremony.

Awards Shortlised essays are then given further assessment by our panel. This includes a review of the References. In the application form, we ask for a the name of a teacher who is familiar with your academic work. If your essay is nominated for an Award, we will ask this teacher to confirm that the essay was genuinely written by you.

What are the prizes?

Please click here for more information about the prizes and awards.

Why is the overall prize a place at Oxford Scholastica in 2025, not 2024?

Will i receive feedback.

Unfortunately, due to the volume of entries received, we are unable to provide feedback on essays.

Does everyone who enters get a free place at a Conference?

The first thousand students to who make a valid submission and are shortlisted will be invited to attend an OxBright Conference of their choice, free of charge (worth £95). Conference subjects include Business, Medicine, Law and Psychology. It is optional to attend a Conference.

Alternatively, you’ll be able to choose to apply the £95 credit toward another programme with us.

Does everyone receive a certificate?

Only students who win one of the awards receive a certificate. Certificates are issued in online format.

Do you publish the names of the award winners?

Yes, award winners will be published on our website after the Awards Ceremony.

How can I pass on some feedback about the essay competition?

The News Literacy Project

PitchIt! TEXAS Student Essay Contest 2024

Published on December 21, 2023 Events

Monday, April 15, 2024 11:59 PM CT

Contest Deadline: April 15, 2024, 11:59 p.m. CT .

Educators! Give your students the opportunity to write about some of the most important topics of our time and explore how they can help combat misinformation and work to protect the freedom of the press.

Contest Deadline: April 15, 2024, 11:59 p.m. CT

• Now through Jan. 31: Educator RSVP is open! It is also the suggested time frame to teach using lessons from Checkology ® virtual classroom and other free NLP resources.
• Feb. 1 – April 15: Suggested time frame to workshop essays for submission.
• April 15: Essay deadline.
• May 1 : PitchIt! Texas essay winners announced as well as time frame for students to create presentations to “pitch” during Grand Prize event.
• May TBD: PitchIt! Texas Grand prize event (week of May 13).

Student voice is a catalyst for positive change in schools and communities. For this reason, the Texas Association of Journalism Educators , in partnership with the News Literacy Project, is hosting a writing contest to empower students in Texas to be civically informed and engaged.

TEACHING GOALS

• Teachers have an authentic and engaging writing assignment that amplifies student voices and explores issues aligned to district curricula, standards and required topics, such as the First Amendment.
• Students analyze different types of misinformation and show the ability to think critically about what is and is not verifiable information.
• Students apply their news and media literacy skills to solve the misinformation problem.
• Students develop their 21st century civics and media literacy skills (see our Google Drive documents, academic contexts and connections).

AWARDS for each grade band (6-8 and 9-12)

Grand prize – pitch:.

$100 gift card scholarship for student winner, gift card for teacher and a school banner celebrating both.

FIRST PLACE – ESSAY

$75 gift card (teacher and student)

SECOND PLACE – ESSAY

$50 gift card (teacher and student)

THIRD PLACE – ESSAY

$25 gift card (teacher and student)

Note: First-, second- and third-place essay winners will prepare a presentation to “pitch” in the virtual PitchIt! Grand Prize event on Zoom (date TBA) and receive feedback from working journalists. The Grand Prize winners will be chosen at this time.

Texas middle and high school teachers may choose to assign the competition curriculum for individual classes or hold a schoolwide event. Each participating school may submit up to five entries per grade (6-12).

Educators are provided with free resources, as well as planning and organizational support for instructional purposes in the PitchIt! Student Essay Contest folder on NLP’s Google Drive. Join the NewsLitNation Facebook Group , for additional tips on how to best blend key news literacy concepts into your existing curriculum.

For this project, students will write a 500- to 1,000-word essay in response to one of the news literacy writing prompts, using a news article as inspiration. Submitted essays will be judged by NLP ambassadors.

The selected first- through third-place essay contest prize winners (three from middle school and three from high school) then compete at the virtual PitchIt! Grand Prize event, where they receive real-time feedback from journalists on their “pitch,” a presentation about their essay topic. The grand prize winners will be chosen at this time.

LEARNING TASK AND CHOOSING THE ESSAY TOPIC

News literacy is the ability to determine the credibility of news and other content to identify different types of information and to use the standards of fact-based journalism to determine what to trust, share and act on. Being news literate also means recognizing the critical role of the First Amendment and a free press in a democracy and interacting with news and information in ways that promote engaged participation in civic life.

Students will be able to develop critical thinking and news literacy skills to find reliable information to make decisions, take action and responsibly share news through social media.

Students compose an essay in response to one of the news literacy writing prompts below, discussing how it relates to a local, national or international news article of their choice. They should form a thesis based on their chosen prompt and aim to convince their audience that the thesis is accurate and valid.

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT

Students will be evaluated using the PitchIt! rubric found among the PitchIt! Student Essay Contest documents in Google Drive. Teachers should provide students with a written copy of the rubric and relevant supporting materials.

Teacher introduces the writing assignment to their class, the rubric* and the process by which the top essays will advance. News literacy topics are explored with students as they relate to the curriculum. Teachers are encouraged to explore the free educator resources on NewsLitNation ® and the Checkology ® virtual classroom on topics like the First Amendment.

Students work with their teacher to select a news article/topic of their choice and to select one of the prompts below to follow in writing the essay. Encourage students to use the student planning document* as an outline before handing in a final draft.

Teachers select up to five student essay finalists per grade, per school, and submit with cover letter to Sara Gonzales, Texas NewsLitNation ambassador: [email protected]

NLP’s educator panel selects six essays (three from middle school and three from high school) to advance to the Grand Prize phase of the contest (the “pitch”!).

Panel notifies the teacher at the beginning of May. The selected students then begin creating a visual presentation of their essay (PowerPoint or Google Slides, no more than three minutes in length), to compete in the final phase of the contest.

First-, second- and third-place essay winners make their presentation (“pitch”) to a panel of journalists during the PitchIt! Texas Grand Prize event on Zoom and receive personalized feedback. Panelists choose the Grand Prize winners for middle school and high school competitors, who will be awarded during the event.

*Click here for the Google Drive folder with PitchIt! educator resources.

Students should pick one of the following prompts:

• Prompt #1: Explain how the First Amendment protects freedom of the press. Use a recent local, national or international news story to illustrate the importance of freedom of the press and how other freedoms are required to protect it.
• Prompt #2: What steps should someone take to fact-check statements by a public figure? Consider a recent event in the news to analyze the ways in which the press can hold public figures accountable for what they say and share publicly.
• Prompt #3: People have civic responsibilities, things they should do but are not required by law. Explain which news literacy skills are essential to responsible civic participation by example of a recent event in the news.
• Prompt #4: Social media platforms are under increased public pressure to fact-check online content generated and shared by users. Which news literacy standards should social media platforms adopt to evaluate fact from fiction? Support your answer with real-world examples in the news media.
• Prompt #5: What is the role of the media in our society, and how can we become responsible consumers and producers of news and information in the digital age? Support your answer with real-world examples in the news.
• Prompt #6: How does confirmation bias, stereotyping and other cognitive biases impact how we interpret events, news and information? What are potential consequences of not verifying the accuracy of such information? Analyze a current news event with these multiple issues in mind for your essay.

ESSAY CRITERIA

• Submission must be original, unpublished work of one student.
• Essays are between 500-1,000 words, clearly addressing one of the prompts.
• Essay is typed in 12-point, Times New Roman, double-spaced with 1” margins and numbered pages.
• All essays and presentations must have a title.
• Students must include at least three credible sources to support their thesis.
• Essays must use MLA formatting, complete with in-text citations and a Works Cited page (not included in the word count). See Purdue Owl MLA Guide .
• Organization: Students must include an introduction with a thesis statement, multiple body paragraphs and a conclusion. See Purdue Owl Argumentative Essays .
• Essays must be proofread and should follow the rules for standard English (grammar, punctuation, mechanics) in writing. See Purdue Owl Grammar .
• Plagiarism: Any submission that is in part or wholly plagiarized will be disqualified from the PitchIt! competition. See Purdue Owl Plagiarism .
• A cover page MUST be included with the following information: Title of essay, student name, grade level, student’s complete mailing address, student’s email address, school’s name, principal’s name, teacher’s name, and best phone number and email address for the teacher.
• Only five essays from each grade may be submitted per school.
• Finalists must be able to virtually participate in the PitchIt! Grand Prize event mid-May (TBD).

Schools/teachers should submit their top five winning essays per grade with cover letter via email to: Sara Gonzales, news literacy ambassador, [email protected]

While not required, we encourage schools to conduct their own internal essay contest to establish the top essays for submission. Entries must be received by April 15.

Is there a submission fee? No fees! Better yet, there is no catch. All our educator resources are free, including Checkology !

What does “teacher support” mean? Successful writers are made through direct instruction. Teachers are encouraged to support students in both content and the writing process. The teacher’s name and contact information must also be indicated in the cover letter as the primary point of contact regarding the entry.

How are the essays judged? Essays will be reviewed by news literacy ambassadors using the PitchIt! rubric . Successful essays are about a local, national or international story that would have benefited from news literacy skills being applied to stop the spread of misinformation. For example, consider the impact a story had, and whether false claims about it could be debunked using reputable and verifiable sources of information.

Do you have essay tips for the students? Essays must have a recognizable beginning (opening or introduction), multiple body paragraphs and a conclusion. See Purdue Owl Argumentative Essays . Hook the reader with a strong opener. Readers will use the first few sentences to decide whether they will read the whole essay. Keep your paragraphs short. Popular essays tend to average three sentences per paragraph. Submit thoroughly thought-out, tightly focused essays. Originality is also important. In the conclusion, include a call to action . Encourage readers to take some positive steps. For instance, if you’ve given them a list of tips, prompt them to put some of the tips into practice.

How is the “pitch” judged? The first-, second- and third-place essay winners advance to the Grand Prize Event phase of the contest. To prepare, they must create a visual presentation based on their essay theme (PowerPoint or Google Slides). During the event they will each have three minutes to “pitch” their essay idea to a panel of journalists and will receive real-time feedback from the panel. Student presentations will be judged for creativity, delivery, impact and accuracy during the event (mid-March).

What document formats are accepted? Please submit the essay as a Google Doc, PDF or a Word document. The “pitch” presentation should be Google Slides or PowerPoint.

How are the finalists announced? Email notifications will be sent to teachers mid-May

Who can participate? The PitchIt! contest is open to all middle and high school students in Texas. If you live in Colorado, Florida, New York or Pennsylvania, please visit the main PitchIt! page for details.

I have more questions! Questions about NLP resources can be directed to Terry Berna, educator success manager, [email protected] , or you can submit a request via the NLP Education Help Center or the NewsLitNation Facebook Group . Questions about rules can be directed to Miriam Romais, director of NewsLitNation, at [email protected] , and questions about entries can be directed to our Texas ambassador Sara Gonzales, [email protected]

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Essay Competition: Win a 100% Scholarship With Immerse Education

Take part in the Immerse Education Essay Competition for your chance to win a full or partial scholarship to our university and career preparation programmes

12th September 2024: Submission Deadline

Competition Open

full scholarships Awarded each year

entries each year

Share Your Success

Scholarship Award Certificate PDFs For Winners

What is the Essay Competition?

The Immerse Education Essay Competition provides the opportunity for students aged 13-18 to submit essay responses to a question of their choice relating to a subject of interest. There are over twenty questions to choose from which can be found in our full Essay Competition Guide. 10 winners will receive a 100% scholarship to study with us at a world-leading university of their choosing. Outstanding runners-up also receive partial scholarships.

23rd February 2024

Competition opens

12th September 2024

Competition closes

17th October 2024

Results announced

January, July & August 2025

Programme dates

Who Can Apply?

• The Immerse Education Essay Competition is open to students worldwide of all nationalities. You must be aged between 13-18 during your chosen programme.

10 winners will receive a 100% scholarship. Take a look at previous essay competition winners.

Runners Up will be awarded partial scholarships of up to 50% to study their chosen subject with Immerse. The number of runners-up will be determined by the number of entries received and the quality of the work submitted. The next category of entrants who are not runner-ups receive partial scholarships worth up to 20%.

Our Guest Judges

Programmes our scholarship can be redeemed against, reviews and winners, what do our alumni say.

I loved the little conversations we had when a question about the topic turned into explanations of the ethical, personal and economic issues that surround medicine. Overall, I found my lessons very beneficial. I know so much more about medicine and its different subsets, but also about what a career in medicine really looks like.

Immerse alumni, and scholarship winner

I could see that the essay competition was an incredible opportunity for international students to win a scholarship purely based on merit. More importantly, after doing some more research, I realised that the process for choosing winners was incredibly fair, that everyone would get an equal chance regardless of their socio-economic background, race, nationality, gender, etc.

100% Scholarship Winner

I enrolled because I wanted to expand my knowledge of physics and meet other people with the same interests as myself. Both of which I was successful in doing! My favourite aspect of the programme was the small class sizes – this helped both the tutor and students with learning and understanding the subject.

Immerse was very fun as well as useful. You were able to experience what it would be like if you studied here for university. The most beneficial part of the course was being able to see what International Relations is like, and it helped me decide what I want to study in the future.

My school invited everyone to participate, and the further I read about Immerse Education, the more motivated I was to enter the competition. Not only did I have the chance to study a subject I love, I would also be able to expand on my essay skills since writing has always been a passion of mine.

I really wanted to go to medicine summer school this year, and so I literally was searching for summer school opportunities and Immerse is one that came up. Through this, I found out about the essay competition and I decided to submit an answer. Immerse was very helpful whilst I was writing my essay, especially with things like the referencing guide.

I’m 16, so I’ve never written an academic essay before, so it was really important that I actually knew what I was doing in the first place and it definitely helped me with that. The programme so far has been very enriching. It’s helped me understand more about medicine and made me realise that this is what I want to do in life. Meeting new friends, tutors, and the mentors, they’re all amazing. My favourite things on the programme have been the evening activities, like murder mystery night. I am so happy to be able to have seen people that are like minded, and competitive as well. I really think that the tutors and the mentors have all been very supportive of me.

Academic Insights, Medicine

Hear From a Previous Scholarship Winner

The Immerse Education Essay Competition is open to entries from young people aged 13-18 interested in all subjects, from Architecture to Medicine, Creative Writing to Film Studies. If participants are successful, they should be aged 13 and above before the start of their programme.

Immerse provides a full essay-writing guide which is sent to your email address once you register your interest in the competition. This guide includes a full list of essay questions, our essay specification, top tips for writing an academic essay, referencing guidance, our terms and conditions and guidance on plagiarism! Registering interest also ensures that you’re on track to submitting your essay on time, through a series of helpful reminder prompts. To support further you can register for our  webinars , which offer top tips and guidance with essay writing from our experts. You are also welcome to explore our  creative writing resources .

Funded scholarship to study abroad:  Our essay competition offers students like you the chance to win a full or partial scholarship to one of our Online Programmes or residential programmes in locations such as Oxford, Cambridge, Sydney, London and more.

Ongoing support from Immerse while you write:  Full support from our team as you write your essay, with free guides and top tips to help you along the way. Sign up to receive our full Essay competition Guide and free tips and tricks as you write. You can also follow us on Instagram and Tik Tok to get more useful essay writing tips.

Demonstrate what you know:  The competition is a chance for you to demonstrate your content knowledge by answering advanced university-style questions.

Build your skills and knowledge:  The opportunity to apply and advance your essay writing skills. You will likely learn something new in the process!

Develop your self-discipline:  A chance to strengthen your self-discipline as you commit to a challenging project and complete it from start to finish.

If you win a scholarship via the Essay Competition 2024/2025 you can use it toward any residential course in any of our locations. Use your scholarship to enrol on one of our renowned online programmes* or enriching in-person/residential summer school programmes in cultural melting pots such as Cambridge, Oxford, London or Sydney and more. * Essay competition schorlaships cannot be redeemed against online Intensive programmes.

No, there is no entry fee and you do not need to have already enrolled onto any of our programmes to take part in the essay competition.

The deadline for all essay entries for the last round of the competition is 4th January 2024. The next deadline will most likely be on 12th September 2024.

Register to receive free Essay Competition guidance

The Immerse Education Essay Competition provides the opportunity for students aged 13-18 to submit essay responses to a pre-set question relating to their chosen subject. Register interest to receive your guide with the comprehensive list of questions including:

• – Essay Specifications
• – Top Tips for Writing an Academic Essay
• – Referencing Guidance
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75 Writing Contests in March 2024 — No entry fees

Erica Verrillo

Curiosity Never Killed the Writer

T his March there are more than six dozen free writing contests for short fiction, novels, poetry, CNF, nonfiction, and plays. Prizes this month range from $25,000 to publication. None charge entry fees.

Some of these contests have age and geographical restrictions, so read the instructions carefully.

If you want to get a jump on next month’s contests go to Free Contests . Many of these contests are offered annually, so even if the deadline has passed, you can prepare for next year.

The Miracle Monocle Award for Young Black Writers . Restrictions : Writers must be 25 years old or younger and identify as Black. Genre : All. Prize : $200. Deadline : March 1, 2024.

Tales to Terrify . Genre : Horror. Length: 1000 words max. Prize : $50. Deadline : March 1, 2024.

Linda Purdy Memorial Prize . Restrictions : Open to Orange County residents. Genre : Poetry, fiction. Prize : $200 and publication. Deadline : March 1, 2024.

Texas Review Press Southern Poetry Breakthrough Series: Kentucky . Restrictions : Open to any poet born in Kentucky, or currently residing in Kentucky, who has not yet published a full-length collection of poetry. The author may have published chapbooks or books in other genres. Genre : Poetry collection. Prize : Winner will receive a standard royalty contract, and 20 copies of the published book. Deadline : March 1, 2024.

Chismosa . Genre : All genres. “We want work that explores the idea that to be a writer is to gossip; it is to people-watch and eavesdrop and turn the things we observe into protagonists and plot-devices. Give us a story brimming with gossip, or write a poem to tell us about the art of eavesdropping.” Prize : $100. Deadline : March 1, 2024.

The Waterman Fund Essay Contest . Restrictions : Writers who have not published a book-length work of fiction or narrative nonfiction on topics of wilderness, wildness, or the ethics and ecology of environmental issues are eligible. Genre : Personal essays between 2000 and 3000 words. “The Waterman Fund seeks new voices on the role and place of wilderness in today’s world.” Prizes : The winning essayist will be awarded $3000 and publication in Appalachia Journal. The Honorable Mention essay will receive $1000. Deadline : March 1, 2024.

On The Premises . “For this contest, write a creative, compelling, well-crafted story between 1,000 and 5,000 words long in which some kind of vehicle plays an important role. Merely using the vehicle as a simple plot device or to help characters get somewhere is not enough. For instance, “While flying home I made a bunch of new friends on the flight” isn’t good enough, because the same story–making new friends–could easily be told without the plane.” Prize : $250 for first place, $200 for second, $150 for third. Deadline : March 1, 2024.

The Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award introduces emerging writers to the New York City literary community. The prestigious award aims to provide promising writers a network for professional advancement. Since Poets & Writers began the Writers Exchange in 1984, 85 writers from 33 states and the District of Columbia have been selected to participate. Restrictions : Open to Indigenous Writers. Genre : Poetry and Fiction. Prize : A $500 honorarium; A trip to New York City to meet with editors, agents, publishers, and other writers. All related travel/lodgings expenses and a per diem stipend are covered by Poets & Writers. Deadline : March 1, 2024.

Library of Virginia Literary Awards . Restrictions : Open to writers who were born in or are residents of Virginia or, in the case of nonfiction, books with a Virginia theme, are eligible. Genre : Books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction published in the previous year. Prize : $2,500. Deadline : March 1, 2024.

Alabama Arts Council Fellowships . Restrictions : Open to any author who has lived in Alabama for at least 2 years. Genre : Fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction of 10–20 pages. Prize : $5,000. Deadline : March 1, 2024.

Mississippi Artists Fellowships . Restrictions : Open to permanent residents of Mississippi. Genre : Fiction and poetry. (Plus many art forms) Prize : $5,000. Deadline : March 1, 2024.

Deep Wild Graduate Student Prize . Restrictions : Open to students currently enrolled in graduate programs. Genre : Fiction and nonfiction. “We seek work that conjures the experiences, observations, and insights of backcountry journeys.” Prize :1st Place prize is $200, 2nd Place $100, and 3rd Place $50. Deadline : March 1, 2024.

Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize . Genre : Pieces of any genre up to 2500 words on the theme (See website). Prize : £3,000 cash prize. Deadline : March 1, 2024.

North Carolina State Poetry Contest . Restrictions: Open to North Carolina residents (including out-of-state and international students who are enrolled in North Carolina universities)with no published books. Genre : Poetry. Prize : $500. Deadline : March 1, 2024.

Grant MacEwan Creative Writing Scholarship is sponsored by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Genres : Poetry, Short Fiction & Creative Nonfiction, Drama, or Graphic Novel. Restrictions : Authors must be currently enrolled in an undergraduate creative writing program of study or mentorship. (Max age 25) Alberta residents only. Prize : $7000 (CAN). Deadline : March 1, 2024.

Balticon Poetry Contest . Sponsored by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society. Genre : Speculative poetry. Prize : 1st prize: $100; 2nd prize: $75; 3rd prize: $50. Deadline : March 1, 2024.

Library of Virginia Literary Awards . Restrictions : Open to writers who were born in or are residents of Virginia or, in the case of nonfiction, books with a Virginia theme, are eligible. Genre : Children’s books published in the previous year. Prize : $2,500. Deadline : March 1, 2024.

Iron Horse 2024 Chapbook Competition . Genre : Prose chapbook, between 40 and 56 pages (10,000–20,000 words) Prize : $1,000 honorarium and 15 copies. Deadline : March 1, 2024. Note: They will accept 25 free submissions on March 1, 2024.

The Solitary Daisy Haiku Contest . Genre : Haiku. Prize : First place $25, second place $15, third place $10. Deadline : March 2, 2024.

“It’s All Write!” Teen Short Story Contest . Restrictions : Open to Grades 6–12. Michigan residents only. Genre : Short story, and flash fiction, unpublished. Prize : 1st Place $250, 2nd Place $150, 3rd Place $100. Deadline : March 3, 2024.

Furious Fiction . Genre : Flash fiction. “On the first Friday of every month, a new set of story prompts will be revealed. You will have 55 hours to submit your best 500-word (or fewer) story.” Prize : $500AUD. Deadline : March 3, 2024. Opens March 1 .

The Lakefly Writers Conference . Restrictions : Open to residents of Wisconsin. Genres : Short story fiction: 3000 words or less. Any genre. Poetry: All poems, free verse to formal and everything in between — 75 lines max. Personal Essay: 2500 words max. Prize : First place winners will receive a cash prize of $100; second place winners will receive $75; and third place winners will receive $50. Winners must be able to attend an awards ceremony. Deadline : March 4, 2024.

Forward Prizes . Genre : Collections and single poems published in the UK and Ireland are eligible for the Prizes. Must be submitted by publisher. Prize : £1,000 to £10,000. Deadline : March 4, 2024.

Free Expression Essay Competition . Restrictions : Open to US-based students, including homeschooled students; high school-level submissions are open to students ages 15–17; and college-level submissions are open to students ages 18–23. Genre : Essay. “From school board meetings to statehouses, and foreign newsrooms to digital spaces — there are threats to free expression in societies around the world. PEN America wants to know: what do you think about free expression? Why is it important? How can it change the world?” Length: 1000 words. Prize : $2,000, $1,500, and $1,000 for college-level essays; and high school-level essayists will receive $1,500, $1,000, and $500. Deadline : March 8, 2024.

Papatango New Writing Prize . Restrictions : Open to anyone resident in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Genre : Script of roughly 25–50 pages. Prize : £7500. Their scripts will be produced as audio plays and tour the UK in free listening stations. The scripts will also be published digitally by Nick Hern Books. Deadline : March 11, 2024.

The American Prospect Writing Fellows Program . The American Prospect’s Writing Fellows Program offers journalists the opportunity to spend two years developing their skills with the magazine at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. (or working remotely, in pandemic times). Each fellow benefits from an intensive mentoring program with the experts on our editorial team, and is expected to contribute regularly. Deadline : March 11, 2024.

NEA Literature Fellowships are sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. Genre : Poetry. Prize : $25,000 grants to published creative writers that enable recipients to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career advancement. Deadline : March 13, 2024.

Lynn DeCaro Poetry Contest . Restrictions : Open to Connecticut Student Poets in Grades 9–12. Genre : Poetry. Prize : 1st $100, 2nd $50, 3rd $25. Deadline : March 15, 2024.

The Hub City Press BIPOC Poetry Series . Restrictions : Open to BIPOC poets of all stages of their careers in thirteen Southern states. Submitters must currently reside or be from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia or West Virginia. Genre : Poetry by Southern writers of color. Prize : Two finalists will receive a prize of $3000 and publication. Deadline : March 15, 2024.

“ Boston in 100 Words ” is an annual flash fiction writing contest in the greater Boston metropolitan area. The contest invites anyone living, working, or going to school in Boston and some surrounding towns to write stories of 100 words or fewer that depict everyday life in their communities. A team of local, renowned writers select winning stories, which are made available to the public for free in the form of large, illustrated posters installed throughout the city. “Boston in 100 Words” seeks to impact the largest number of Bostonians possible, as authors and readers of 100-word stories. Participation in the contest is free to everyone. Prize : $300. Deadline : March 15, 2024.

Neltje Blanchan/Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Awards . Restrictions : Wyoming writers. Genres : The Frank Nelson Doubleday Award is given for the best poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or script written by a woman writer. The Neltje Blanchan Memorial Writing Award is given annually for the best poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or script which is informed by a relationship with the natural world. Prize : $1,000.00. Deadline : March 15, 2024.

Greater Yellowstone Creative Writing and Journalism Fellowship . Restrictions : Established and recognized authors are being sought, but emerging and mid-career writers are also encouraged to apply. Genre: Seeking creative writers (poetry, fiction, nonfiction), or those in the field of journalism (writer, photojournalist, videographer, documentary filmmaker, online or print media) who demonstrate serious inquiry and dedication to the Greater Yellowstone region through their work. Fellowship : $3,500. Deadline : March 15, 2024.

Beverly Hopkins Memorial Poetry Contest for High School Students . Restrictions : High school students living within 100 miles of St. Louis. Genre : Poetry. Prize : First prize $225, Second prize $125, Third prize $75. Deadline : March 15, 2024.

Jane Martin Poetry Prize (UK) . Restrictions : Open to UK residents between 18 and 30 years of age. Genre : Poetry. Prize : £700, second prize, £300. Deadline : March 15, 2024.

NFSPS Annual Poetry Contests . Genre : Poetry. The National Federation of State Poetry Societies sponsors 50 contests for adults, 34 of which are free and open to the public. There are also 3 free poetry contests for children. Prize : Monetary awards vary. Deadline : March 15, 2024.

Jacklyn Potter Young Poets Competition . Restrictions : Open to high school students. Genre : Poetry. Prize : Two high school students will be selected and scheduled to read their original work for Café Muse with established poet, Sarah Ghazal Ali, on Monday, June 3, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. They will receive an honorarium. Deadline : March 15, 2024.

David Nobbs Memorial Trust New Comedy Writing Competition . Restrictions : Entrants must have at least one credited broadcast comedy writing credit and live in the UK. Genre : Comedy scripts for radio or TV. Prize : £1,000 top prize. Deadline : March 15, 2024.

The Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize . Restrictions : Open to writers resident in the UK and Ireland who have yet to secure a publishing deal. Genre : Proposal for a book-length essay (minimum 25,000 words). Prize : £3,000 advance against publication with Fitzcarraldo Editions. Deadline : March 17, 2024.

The Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize . Genre : Book-length translations into English of either a) poetry or b) source texts from Zen Buddhism (which must not consist solely of commentaries). Both translators and publishers are invited to submit titles. Book must have been published in previous year. Prize : $6,000. Deadline : March 18, 2024.

American Literary Translators Association Italian Prose in Translation Award . Genre : Translation of a recent work of Italian prose (fiction or literary non-fiction). Both translators and publishers are invited to submit titles. Book must have been published in previous year. Prize : $5,000. Deadline : March 18, 2024.

BBC National Short Story Award . Restrictions : Open to UK residents or nationals, aged 18 or over, who have a history of publication in creative writing. Genre : Short fiction. Prize : £15,000 to the winner, £3,000 for the runner-up and £500 for three further shortlisted writers. Deadline : March 18, 2024.

Fabula Press Short Story Contest . Genre : Short Story. Word Count: Not less than 2500 words, and not more than 7000 words. Prize : First Prize: US$500 Second Prize: US$250 Third Prize: US$100. In addition, all authors selected for publication will be paid an honorarium of US$75. Deadline : March 20, 2024. Opens February 21.

Savage Mystery Writing Contest . Genre : Mystery short story. Prize : Winning stories are published in Toasted Cheese. If 50 or fewer eligible entries are received, first place receives a $35 Amazon gift card & second a $10 Amazon gift card. If 51 or more eligible entries are received, first place receives a $50 Amazon gift card, second a $15 Amazon gift card & third a $10 Amazon gift card. Deadline : March 24, 2024. Opens March 22 .

Daisy Utemorrah Award for Indigenous Authors . Restrictions : Open to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander writer currently residing in Australia. Genre : Junior/YA full-length fiction manuscript intended for readers aged 8–18. Length: 40,000 and 100,000 words. Prize : A$15,000 and possible publication. Deadline : March 25, 2024.

BBC Young Writers Award . Restrictions : Open to UK residents, including residents of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, aged 14 to 18 years old, Genre : Short fiction, 1000 words max. Prize : Publication and free workshop. Deadline : March 25, 2024.

Write the World: Fairytales & Myths Competition . Restrictions : Young writers ages 13–19.5. Genre : Myth or fairytale that uses fantasy as a lens to understand the reality of everyday life. Prize : Best Entry: $100; Runner up: $50. Deadline : March 25, 2024.

Nicholas A. Virgilio Memorial Haiku Competition for High School Students . Restrictions : Open to students in Grades 7–12. Genre : Haiku. Prize : $50. Deadline : March 27, 2024.

BlackInk Writing Competition . Restrictions : Open to writers from the African and African Caribbean Diaspora. Genre : Short story, maximum of 2,000 words. Prize : £500 top prize. Deadline : March 28, 2024.

Broadway Arts Festival: Julia & Martin Wilson Short Story Prize . Genre : Short Story, 2,000 words max. Prize : Ages 14–18yrs: £100, Age 13 and under: £50. Deadline : March 28, 2024. Note: No fee for writers under 16 years of age.

Ann Petry Award . Restrictions : Open to Black authors. Genre : Previously unpublished prose, either a novel or a collection of short stories or novellas, with a minimum of 150 pages. Prize : $3000 and publication. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

Claire Harris Poetry Prize . Restrictions : Open to Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada who are writers from Black, Indigenous, or other racialized communities and who have not previously published a book-length collection of poetry. Genre : Poetry collection. Prize : $1,000, a contract for the publication of the collection under the icehouse poetry imprint in the following year (2025), and public readings in at least three Canadian cities. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

Caine Prize for African Writing . Restrictions : Open to writers born in Africa, or nationals of an African country, or with a parent who is African by birth or nationality, Genre : Short fiction (published). Prize : £10,000. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

Royal Institute of Philosophy Essay Prize: Think . Topic : Essay on themes. Prize : Publication. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

Orwell Prize for Journalism . Restrictions : Open to a journalist for sustained reportage and/or commentary working in any medium. Genre : Published journalism. Prize : £3,000 for the best political writing first published in the UK or Ireland between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2043. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

Orwell Prize for Reporting Homelessness . Restrictions : Open to a journalist for sustained reportage and/or commentary working in any medium. Genre : Reportage and/or commentary on homelessness. Entries will be encouraged from people who are experiencing or have experienced all forms of homelessness as well as journalists and others writing about or reporting on homelessness. Prize : £3,000 for the best political writing first published in the UK or Ireland between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest . Restrictions : Open only to those who have not professionally published a novel or short novel, or more than one novelette, or more than three short stories, in any medium. Genres : Science fiction, fantasy and dark fantasy up to 17,000 words. Prizes : Three cash prizes in each quarter: a First Prize of $1,000, a Second Prize of $750, and a Third Prize of $500, in US dollars. In addition, at the end of the year the winners will have their entries rejudged, and a Grand Prize winner shall be determined and receive an additional $5,000. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

Archibald Lamp­man Award . Restrictions : Open to residents of Canada’s National Capital region (Ottawa). Genre : Book of any genre published by a recognized publisher. Prize : $1500. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

Anne Brown Essay Prize . Restrictions : Entrants must be aged over 16 and resident in Scotland, born in Scotland or have a longstanding association with Scotland. Genre : Literary essay, published or unpublished. Prize : £1,500. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator’s Prize . The annual Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator’s Prize is awarded each spring to honor an outstanding literary translation from German into English published in the USA the previous year. Genre : Published fiction or non-fiction, may include: novels, novellas, short stories, plays, poetry, biographies, essays and correspondence. Prize : $10,000. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

Natan Notable Books Award . Genre : Nonfic­­tion book on Jew­ish themes pub­lished for the first time between September 1, 2022 and August 31, 2023. Prize : $5,000. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

City of Literature Paul Engle Prize . Genre : This prize does not recognize one work, nor is it solely limited to reflecting literary achievement. Rather, the award seeks to recognize a writer, like Engle, who makes an impact on his or her community and the world at large through efforts beyond the page. It also seeks to raise awareness about Engle and his works. Prize : $20,000. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

#GWstorieseverywhere. Genre : Micro fiction. Your story must be no longer than 25 words, with a max of 280 characters, including spaces and the hashtag. See themes . Prize : Free Gotham class. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

Jack L. Chalker Young Writers’ Contests . Restrictions : Open to writers between 14 and 18 years of age as of May 29 in the contest year who reside in, or attend school in Maryland. Genre : Science fiction or fantasy, 2,500 words max. Prizes : $150, $100 and $75. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

Jack London Fiction Writing Contest . Restrictions : Open to U.S. students in grades 6–8. Genre : Unpublished stories. Length: 2,000 words maximum. “Your writing prompt this year is to create a story where your main character(s) are animals with animal qualities (like Buck in Call of the Wild). Tell your story from the animal’s perspective.” Prize : $250, $150, and $100. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation . Genre : Poetry or literary prose. Translation of modern Arabic literature into English. Books must have been published and be available for purchase in the UK via a distributor or online. The source text must have been published in the original Arabic in or after 1967. Must be submitted by publisher. Prize : £3,000. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

Foley Poetry Contest . Genre : One unpublished poem on any topic. The poem should be 45 lines or fewer and not under consideration elsewhere. Prize : $1000. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

Silvers Grants for Work in Progress . Restrictions : Open to Anglophone writers of any nationality. Genre : Long-form essays in the fields of literary criticism, arts writing, political analysis, and/or social reportage. Prize : Up to $10,000. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

Cymera-Scotland’s Futures Forum-Shoreline of Infinity Prize for Speculative Short Fiction . Restrictions : Anyone living in Scotland or who identifies as Scottish by birth or inclination, aged 14 years or over. Genre : Speculative short stories. Prize : £150. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

Kyoto Writing Competition . Genre : Short poems, character studies, essays, travel tips, whimsy, haiku sequence, haibun, wordplays, dialogue, experimental verse, etc. In short, anything that helps show the spirit of place in a fresh light. A clear connection to Kyoto is essential. Length: 300 words max. Prize : ~$360 top prize. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

Sarah Mook Poetry Prize for Students . Restrictions : Students in grades K-12. Genre : Poetry. Prize : $100. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

Parsec Ink . Genre : Speculative short story up to 3,500 words. See theme . Prize : First-place receives $200 and publication in the Confluence program book. Second-place receives $100 Third-place receives $50. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

The Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award . Sponsored by Sisters in Crime. Restrictions : Open to emerging writers of color. An unpublished writer is preferred, although publication of one work of short fiction or academic work will not disqualify an applicant. Prize : $2,000. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

Lewis Galantiere Award . Restrictions : Open to US citizens or permanent residents. Genre : Translation of book-length literary work from any language, except German, into English. Entries must have been published in the US in the past two years. Prize : $1000. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge . Genre : Poetry based on art. ( See website ) Prize : $100. Deadline : March 31, 2024.

Substack runs a monthly short story competition. Their mission is to “revive the art of the short story, support artists, and produce something wonderful.” Genre : Short story. Length: 6000- 10,000 words. Prize : $100 plus 50% of subscription revenue to be sent by Paypal, Zelle, or check. Deadline : March 31, 2024. Reprints are ok so long as you still have the rights to distribute.

Like this article? For more articles about the publishing world, useful tips on how to get an agent, agents who are looking for clients, how to market and promote your work, building your online platform, how to get reviews, self-publishing, as well as publishers accepting manuscripts directly from writers (no agent required) visit Publishing and Other Forms of Insanity .

Written by Erica Verrillo

Helping writers get published and bolstering their flagging spirits at http://publishedtodeath.blogspot.com/

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Text to speech

0 d: 1 h: 48 m: 36 s remaining 30 March 2024, 23:59 hr

Thank you all for your participation. Kindly note applications are now closed. Watch out for your results.

DREAM. EXPLORE. WRITE

It’s back For the 3rd season

SUBMISSION CLOSED

Introduction

Kigali Public Library Annual writing competition is an open to the public competition that engages public and private schools (Lower and Upper primary and secondary) in Rwanda that was launched in 2021. Each year, the public is requested to write on a particular subject commonly for the aim of raising awareness or educating the Rwandan communities on different issues that our society is facing today, to enhance the creative writing skills among Rwandan communities with the opportunity to become published authors and promote particularly inclusive reading and writing among Rwandan youth.

Kigali Public Library's annual writing season three is for Rwandan communities and aims at engaging students and the general public in different categories to achieve high language proficiency in English, Kinyarwanda, and French to enhance their reading and writing skills as well as stimulate their imagination and creativity.

The central focus of our competition revolves around "Tourism and Conservation" Our tourism industry consists of two products: Tangible and Intangible attractions

What is a tourism product?

As defined by UNWTO, a Tourism Product is "a combination of tangible and intangible elements, such as natural, cultural and man-made resources, attractions, facilities, services and activities around a specific center of interest which represents the core of the destination marketing mix and creates an overall visitor.

• Tourist’s Experience
• Tourist’s Memory
• Natural features
• Works of art

For this year's competition, the Primary contestants will concentrate on exploring the realm of intangible attractions, while the Secondary contestants will delve into the captivating world of tangible attractions. The following topics will serve as guidelines for each category:

Lower Primary

Imagine a special park with animals from Rwanda. What magical powers do they have? Share your exciting visit with us!

Upper Primary

Write about your favorite view from a hilltop and why it's special and tell how taking care of nature is important for everyone.

Ordinary Level

Write about a place in Rwanda where people can learn about different cultures and traditions.

Advanced Level

Write about a sustainable tourist attraction contributing to both economic development and environmental conservation.

Writing Criteria

Submission must conform to the conditions below:

Application

All talents must fill the required information on the application form both soft and hard.

Writing Style

Talents must demonstrate effective integration of writing principles, rules, and best practice guidelines for writing. Allowed writing Types will be Fiction, Poem , Essay , and Article.

Kinyarwanda, English, and French

Document Guidelines

Documents will be received into both physical and digital formats.

Digitally submitted copies should not reveall any information about the talent, as that information would have been submitted during the first 2 submission steps

Hard copies MUST contain the information below on first page:

Section 1: Personal Information

• Residence District
• Date of Birth
• Parent/Guardian Phone Number
• Parent/Guardian Email (Optional)

Section 2: School Information

• School Name
• Email (optional)
• Class Level

Section 3: Submission

• Category Topic

SOFT DOCUMENTS:

• PDF or Word
• Times New Roman
• Font size 12
• Line and Paragraph Spacing 1.5

HARD DOCUMENTS:

• Must be written in clear readable handwriting or typed

Composition Limitations

All documents must have 500 words maximum per page.

• Lower Primary : 100 - 250 words maximum
• Upper Primary : 200- 500 words maximum
• Ordinary Level : 500 – 1000 words maximum
• Advanced Level : 750 – 1500 words maximum

TALENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Visual Impairment: All documents should be written in braille or audio of 10 minutes maximum.

Speech and Hearing Impairment: All talents must submit their work in the video for 10 minute maximum.

Mental Impairment: All talents must submit their work in a painting format, and they should consult with the KPL staff if they have other formats to use.

All talents with impairment MUST submit a one-page document containing personal and school information as per the guidelines.

Registration and Submission - 09th Feb 2024 to 30th March 2024

Evaluation – 1st to 10th April 2024

Field trips – 19th to 21st April 2024

FINAL – 26th to 28th April 2024

Awarding ceremony – 18th May 2024

Ready to Compete?

Submit your application today

• +250 788 500 777
• [email protected]

© 2024 Kigali Public Library. All rights reserved.

Design in the making

• Intelligence
• Writing competition

Enter now: RIBA Journal/Future Architects writing competition 2024

If you have something to tell the profession about, this is your chance to reach your audience. Make your name as a communicator – and win a cash prize

Are you a future architect – a student or early-career professional working towards qualification? And do you have strong views about the state of the built environment, whether that’s how it is or what it could be? If so, the RIBA Journal is giving you the chance to have your say, with our writing competition run in collaboration with RIBA Future Architects ,  a community established to inform and inspire emerging architects.

The annual competition is open internationally to entrants studying for Part 1, Part 2 or Part 3, and aims to showcase the voice of the next generation.

This year you are invited to write an article about any building, place or project that shapes the spaces we live in. What does it say about the processes and ideas that go into making architecture, or the contexts in which architects work? We are looking for bright, original pieces of 800-1,000 words that shine a light on topical issues, and could be published in the RIBA Journal.

You could tell us about an architectural experience that has changed the way you think, or work that we could all learn from. Do you know of projects that demonstrate exciting new approaches, or offer fresh perspectives on the practice of architecture? Where does design contribute to tackling the problems we face, from social injustice to climate emergency? What do you value in buildings? Should we revere the exquisite detail or, in a world of constraints and compromise, celebrate ordinary buildings that have their priorities straight and succeed despite the odds? What’s your take on co-design, place-making or attempts to codify beauty in buildings?

Choose any building, place or design project that allows reflection on current themes in architecture, and bring it to life in words.

Criteria and evaluation panel

An expert jury will be looking for a current topic, and clear, lively and engaging writing.

Nana Biamah-Ofosu Architect, director of YAA Projects, educator and writer for numerous architecture journals and publications Lucy Watson Commissioning editor, House & Home at the Financial Times Hiba Alobaydi Content editor at the Society of Architectural Historians, former managing editor at Archello and assistant editor at Foster & Partners

Chair: Chris Foges Contributing editor, RIBA Journal

Our competition deadline is Friday 29 March 2024 and the winning article(s) will be featured on ribaj.com. The editors may also choose to publish them in the print edition of the RIBAJ, at their discretion. There is a prize of £400 for the winning article, £150 for runners-up and £100 for commended entries.

COMPETITION CONDITIONS

1. Competition promoter

The competition is being run by the RIBA Journal in conjunction with the RIBA Future Architects.

2. Eligibility

The competition is open internationally to architecture students and early career professionals (part 1, part 2 or studying for part 3).

No member or employee of the promoting body, the evaluation panel, or any partner, close associate or employee of them is eligible to compete or assist a competitor.

3. Competition format

This is a single stage competition.

4. Judges’ decision

The judges’ decision as to winners and commendations is final. Judges are looking for three category winners and an overall winner and may also award commendations to pieces. Judges reserve the right to declare no winners if entries are of insufficient quality.

5. Evaluation panel

The evaluation panel is expected to be:

In the event of an evaluation panel member being unable to continue to act through illness or any other cause, the RIBA reserves the right to appoint an alternative panel member.

6. Competition timetable

The anticipated programme, which may be subject to variation, is as follows:

7. Disqualification

Submissions shall be excluded from the competition:

• If an entrant improperly attempts to influence the decision
• If received after the latest time stated under the Submission method (below)
• If, in the opinion of the Evaluation Panel, it does not fulfil the requirements of the competition brief
• If any of the mandatory requirements of the brief and conditions are disregarded.

8. Submission requirements

There are two elements to the submission:

• Image with caption and credit

9. Evaluation criteria

• High quality writing
• Currency of choice of subject

10. Notification of result / publication and publicity

Entrants must not release their articles for publication to any third parties until after the result has been officially announced and permission has been granted from the RIBA. Entrants should note that by entering the competition they are expected to honour the request for confidentiality.

The RIBA reserves the right to publicise the competition, any article, and the result in any promotional activity, including all social media channels.

You and your collaborators grant to the Royal Institute of British Architects permission to reproduce the material supplied in all formats, in all media and on all platforms in perpetuity, in whole or in part without payment.

11. Copyright

The ownership of copyright will be in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 – ie copyright rests with the author of the submitted text and images.

12. Post competition

Winning articles will be published on ribaj.com and may also be published in the print edition of the RIBA Journal. Commended articles may be published. The winner will receive £400, runners-up £150, and commended entrants £100.

13. Enquiries

All enquiries relating to the competition should be directed to: [email protected]

Data will be held by RIBA for the purposes of recording participation in the Future Architects writing competition. The data will be kept throughout the duration of the competition for the purpose of contacting entrants with updates for the competition. This information will not be shared with any third party without the express and prior consent of the author. Read the RIBA’s privacy policy.

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• Competitions

NoticeBard’s Republic Day Essay Writing Competition [Update]: Result Out on Feb 28!

• Gaurav Chaurasia
• Feb 15, 2024

Update About the Competition

NoticeBard is delighted to announce the successful conclusion of its Republic Day Essay Writing Competition with 132 submissions from 105 schools across 22 Indian states and participation from South Africa, Kenya, UAE, and Saudi Arabia students.

About NoticeBard

NoticeBard was started in March 2017 as a notice-board for educational opportunities and events. NoticeBard is also a bard (story-teller) of student-related news and issues. With our mission of enabling informed and inspired careers , we help students by ensuring that all events and opportunities are in one place.

About the Competition

This essay writing competition aimed to encourage students interested in writing and willing to submit original and well-thought-of pieces for publication with us. Participation was open to students studying from classes 8 to 12 in any school in India.

The top 10 submissions will receive prize money of up to Rs. 13,000, a letter of excellence from our CEO, and their articles will be published on our website.

Judging Criteria

• All submitted articles will be reviewed for quality, relevance, and adherence to the guidelines. 
• Only the article selected for publication will be notified via email and published on the website. 
• Please note that we reserve the right to make editorial changes for clarity, grammar, and formatting purposes while maintaining the integrity of your content.

The copyrights to the articles found suitable for publication on NoticeBard will rest with NoticeBard.

Changes in Terms and Conditions

The organisation reserves the right to change the terms and conditions, including the prize money and the last submission date, in case at least 50 entries are not received.

Result Announcement

The judging process is ongoing, and winners will be announced on February 28, 2024 , which is National Science Day. The prize-winning essays will be published by March 10, 2024.

Contact Information

If you have any questions regarding this competition, please email [email protected] or call/WhatsApp: +91-8904610838 .

We thank each student who participated in this Essay Writing competition. Results will be officially announced on Feb 28, 2024. Thank you for your patience and support.

Join Our Competitions WhatsApp Group

Get daily updates, join our competitions telegram group.

Get relevant opportunities in your inbox every day!

4 Responses

https://forms.gle/wnU1VZy92wJh3hNEA Link is not working

Hi, Mukesh. The link is working. Please check it again.

How to submit the pdf essay document ?

Hello, Jacklyn. You can submit the essay in MS Word Format.

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• Law Schools
• Competitions
• MNLU Mumbai: 1st CRASL - Spaviatech...

MNLU Mumbai: 1st CRASL - Spaviatech Law - Çakmak - Aviation Law Essay Writing Competition 2023

Livelaw news network.

22 Jun 2023 6:51 AM GMT

MNLU Mumbai announces the First Edition of the CRASL-Spaviatech Essay Writing Competition 2023 , organized by the Centre for Research in Air and Space Law, in partnership with Spaviatech Law and Çakmak, two leading firms in the field of aviation law.

The Competition shall be based on one of five themes relating to aviation law, and is open to all students/scholars enrolled in an under-graduate/post-graduate/PhD course in any University. The Themes are as follows:

• Critical Analysis of ICAO's Aviation Safety Framework
• Disputes and Liabilities Concerning Aviation Accidents
• Streamlining the inconsistencies in Public International Law and Aviation Law
• The Future of Indian Aviation: Is India the New Emerging Leader?
• Analyzing the Indian Insolvency Regime in the Context of the Cape Town Convention in light of Go First's insolvency

About MNLU Mumbai

Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai, established under the Maharashtra National Law University Act 2014 on 20th March 2014, is one of the premier National Law Universities in India. The Act envisaged establishing a National Law University in Maharashtra to impart advanced legal education and promote society-oriented research in legal studies for the advancement of societal life of the people in the country.

About CRASL

The Centre for Research in Air & Space Law was established to become an ideal forum for the exchange of ideas on the international law applicable to air and space law. The Centre engages in improving the existing legal and policy framework for facilitation and regulation of a safe, secure, affordable and sustainable space and contribute to the shaping of the legal foundation for the future of humanity that lies in space. The objective of the Centre is to contribute to the development of air and space law and related policy by conducting and promoting research and teaching at the graduate and postgraduate levels.

About Spaviatech Law

Spaviatech Law is a boutique law firm specialising in the areas of Asset Financing, Aerospace, International Trade/Technology Law, providing highly specialised legal services to clients operating in these specific areas. The firm focuses on understanding and addressing the unique legal challenges and complexities that arise in asset financing, aerospace industry, and international trade and technology law.

Important Dates for the Competition

Commencement of Registration 27 th June

Deadline for Registration 28 th July

Submission of Essays 4 th August Release of Results 17 th August

Register by making the payment on the link here .

1st Prize – Internship opportunity with Çakmak & Rs. 15,000 and publication of the Essay on the SCC Online Blog.

2nd Prize – Internship opportunity with SpaviaTech & Rs. 10,000 and publication of the Essay on the SCC Online Blog.

3rd Prize – Rs. 5,000 and publication of the Essay on the SCC Online Blog.

The 4 th and 5 th Best Essays shall be published on the Indian Review of Air and Space Law (IRASL) Blog.

The SCC Online Blog Editorial Team shall reserve the final editorial rights to every article being published on their platform. For more details, refer to the brochure, here

In case of any queries, reach out to:

Nardeep Chawla | Editor-in-Chief | [email protected] | +91 62650 12280

Sameep Baral | Managing Editor | [email protected] | +91 91139 09200

Aiman Singh | Managing Editor | [email protected] | +91 98721 29903