To submit the names of contests and awards for the month that I may have missed, please email me at fictionwriting.guide@about.com. To check out contests for other months, click here. Or read about our criteria for judging whether it's a legitimate contest or a writing scam.
- The Bellevue Literary Review Prizes in Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry -- August 1
Awards of $1000 and publication in BLR for outstanding writing related to themes of health, healing, illness, the mind, and the body. Submit online (prose limited to 5000 words). $15 entry fee. - The Esquire Fiction Contest -- August 1
Submit stories of 4,000 words or less using one of three titles: the story must be based on one of three titles that we have provided. The titles are: 1. “Twenty-Ten”; 2. “An Insurrection”; and 3. “Never, Ever Bring This Up Again.” Winner will receive $2500.00 and have his or her entry published in a future issue of Esquire. All entries will be judged by the Esquire Fiction Editors based on the following criteria: literary merit (50%) and technical proficiency (50%). Submit online (prose limited to 5000 words). No entry fee. - Memphis Magazine Fiction Contest -- August 1
The winning story will earn a $1,000 grand prize and publication in Memphis Magazine. Two honorable mention awards of $500 each will be given if the quality of entries warrants. Entrants must live within 150 miles of Memphis. Manuscripts should be sent to FICTION CONTEST, c/o Memphis magazine, P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101. $10 entry fee. - Delaware Division of the Arts
Individual Artist Fellowships -- August 3
Fellowships of $2,000 provide funding to Delaware artists working in the visual, performing, media, folk, and literary arts. Fellowships are designed to enable recipients to purchase equipment and materials, allocate working time, or fulfill other needs that will allow them to advance their careers. Apply online. No entry fee. - Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship -- August 3
Fellowships of $5,000 to $10,000 are awarded to Pennsylvania artists to enable them to pursue their artistic goals. Apply online. No entry fee. - Gival Press
Short Story Award -- August 8
$1,000 given annually for a short story. Submit a previously unpublished original short story in English, approximately 5,000 to 15,000 words, of high literary quality. Mail to: Robert L. Giron, Short Story Award, Gival Press, LLC, PO Box 3812, Arlington, VA 22203. $25.00 reading fee. - "Be Your Art" Writing Contest -- August 25
Members of BeYourArt.com may submit stories of 500-4,000 words for the opportunity to win a free custom logo design by PhineArtDesigns.com (worth $500) developed specifically to promote the winner’s career. The top three entries will be published in the <em>North Shoreian Magazine</em>. Send stories and a link to your BeYourArt.com profile to submissions@beyourart.com with the subject heading “Writing Contest.” Free. - New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award -- August 28
The New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award is a $10,000 prize awarded each spring to a writer age 35 or younger for a novel or a collection of short stories published the previous year. (Mss must be submitted by publishers.) No entry fee. - Booktrust
John Llewellyn Rhys Prize -- August 29
A prize of £5,000 given annually to honor a book of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction. Open to British and Commonwealth writers aged 35 or under. Publishers may submit two books published in the UK during the previous year to: Booktrust, John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, 45 East Hill, London, SW18 2QZ, United Kingdom. - Glimmer Train Short Story Award for New Writers -- August 31
Awards of $1200, $500, and $300 for stories up to 12,000 words. Enter online. $15 entry fee. - Southern California Review Fiction Prize -- August 31
Prizes of $1,000, $200, and $100. Send one story of up to 8,000 words to Master of Professional Writing, Southern California Review Fiction Prize, 3501 Trousdale Parkway, Mark Taper Hall, THH 355J, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0355. $10 entry fee. - PEN Center USA
Literary Awards -- Late August
PEN Center USA awards prizes of $1,000 to recognize outstanding books published in the current calendar year by writers living west of the Mississippi. See site or contact PEN for details.
Other Articles on Publishing:
