Here's a mixed bag of contests. Most of these have January deadlines.
As always, this has been copied from the free online newsletter of the 'Authors Publish Magazine' (highly recommended) That means the links probably won't work. If so, just google the sponsoring organization and take it from there.
x x x
THEMED CONTESTS
Stories of the Nature of Cities Prize for Flash Fiction: City in a Wild Garden
They want short stories of up to 750 words, set in the present or future (near or far) and inspired by the phrase ‘City in a wild garden’. Writers do not have to literally use this phrase in their stories and may interpret liberally any of the words in the phrase: city, wild, and garden. Their guidelines say, “Plot elements must include cities, nature, and people. It has to be fiction (that is, a story, not an essay)—any genre, from science fiction to magical realism—and can be about anything: climate change; food security; utopias; wild nature; a love story; … anything. … we are very interested in imagining cities in which nature and people co-exist, cities in which the relationships between the human-made and the natural are imagined differently.”
Value: $2,000; two prizes of $1,000 each; three prizes of $500 each
Deadline: 1 January 2020
Open for: All writers
Details here.
St. Martin’s Minotaur/ Mystery Writers of
America First Crime Novel Competition This is an international contest for crime novel manuscripts, for writers who have never been the author of any published novel in any genre. The writing should be no less than 220 pages, or approximately 60,000 words. Minotaur is an imprint of St Martin’s Press, which is part of Macmillan. Also look at The Tony Hillerman Prize for Best First Mystery Set in the Southwest, though this is only for writers in the US and Canada.
Value: $10,000 advance against royalties
Deadline: 3 January 2020
Open for: Unpublished writers (see guidelines)
Details here.
Nick Kristof Win-a-Trip Contest
There is no cash prize for this contest, but this is a great opportunity for students. Undergraduate and graduate university students in the US are invited to apply for The New York Times 2020 Win-a-Trip contest with two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Nicholas Kristof. The winner will join him on a reporting trip to a country or region facing development challenges. Their guidelines say, “In no more than 700 words, explain why we should pick you for Win-a-Trip. Tell us about yourself and what you would bring to the reporting and to readers.
You may also suggest where we should go and what you would like to write about for the NYT, and/or discuss your aspirations and what you would like to be doing in 10 years.”
Value: Reporting trip to a developing country/region
Deadline: 7 January 2020
Open for: US students
Details here and here.
Walter Muir Whitehill Prize in Early American History
This prize is for an essay on early American history (see guidelines), not previously published, with preference being given to New England subjects. Essays should be 40-60 pages, and be mailed.
Value: $2,500
Deadline: 15 January 2020 (postmarked)
Open for: Unspecified
Details here and here.
First Fandom Experience: The Cosmos Prize
Their guidelines say, “Cosmos was an ambitious serial novel orchestrated by the staff of Science Fiction Digest(later Fantasy Magazine) beginning in June, 1933. The story of Cosmos spanned 17 chapters written by 16 different authors. Raymond A. Palmer drafted the plot outline and coordinated the work of the writers. The young fanzine editor was able to convince many of the prominent professionals of the day to participate. … The results — not surprisingly — are a bit of a hash. Still, Cosmos represents an iconic event in the early history of science fiction fandom, and deserves remembering.
Even more than remembering, Cosmos deserves a better ending than it got. … the final chapter utterly failed to capitalize on the potential of the installments that preceded it. Penned by no-less an esteemed professional as Edmond Hamilton, the concluding Chapter 17 — Armageddon in Space — seemed to ignore much of what came before. …. The Cosmos Prize is our attempt to right (or re-write) an historic tragedy.” Read the rules carefully. Successful submissions will fit with the overall narrative of Cosmos, bring the story to a compelling, meaningful, exciting and/or evocative conclusion, capture the style and sensibility of science fiction of the 1930s, show originality, coherence and strong expressive force, and focus on replacing just the last chapter of Cosmos, Chapter 17. Apart from cash prizes, the winners will also get merchandize.
Value: $300; $100; two prizes of $50
Deadline: 15 January 2020
Open for: Unspecified
Details here.
Hektoen International Writing Contest: Blood
They want an essay of under 1,600 words on the subject of Blood. The contest honors the achievements of the Red Cross, locally, nationally, and globally. Their guidelines say, “We will consider essays on pioneers in hematology (such as Herrick, Minot, Murphy, Whipple, or Landsteiner), the history of venesection, barber surgeons, the use of leeches, and vampires; as well as historical aspects of blood transfusion, artificial blood, blood groups, blood preservation and blood banks, blood in surgery, blood diseases (such as pernicious anemia, sickle-cell disease, thalassemia, leukemias, and hemophilia), and the history and work of the Red Cross.” Read the guidelines carefully – submission of an article implies consent to publish in HektoenInternational. Entries must also include at least one image.
Value: $3,000; $800
Deadline: 15 January 2020
Open for: All writers
Details here.
The Hillman Prize for Journalism
This is for journalists who pursue investigative reporting and deep storytelling in service of the common good. Recipients exemplify reportorial excellence, storytelling skill, and social justice impact. The categories are: Book (bound volumes and ebooks), Newspaper Journalism (story or series/in print or online), Magazine Journalism (story or series/in print or online), Broadcast Journalism (story/series/documentary at least 20 minutes in total package length that has aired on television or radio), Web Journalism (story/series that did not appear in print) – open to blogs, photojournalism, and other multimedia projects as well as text, and Opinion & Analysis Journalism (any medium)– includes all types of advocacy, opinion, commentary and analysis, normally short-form and/or frequent, regardless of medium; open to newspaper and magazine columnists, TV and radio presenters, podcasters, blogs, and bloggers. There is a Canadian Hillman Prize and a US Hillman Prize – the US prize is open to all journalists and subjects globally but the work must have been primarily accessible to a US audience in 2019.
Value: $5,000 each
Deadline: 15 January for Canadian, 30 January 2020 for US entries
Open for: All journalists and bloggers (see guidelines)
Details here.
The Keats-Shelly Prize and the Young Romantics Prize
This is a contest on Romantic themes. For the Keats-Shelly Essay Prize, adult writers should respond creatively to the work of the Romantics; essays of up to 3,000 words may be on any aspect of the lives of the Romantics and their circles. There is also a poetry prize, which has an entry fee. For the Young Romantics Prize, poets aged 16-18 should submit poetry on the theme of Songbirds. For the Young Romantics essayist prize their guidelines say, “‘The world should listen now as I was listening then.’
PB Shelley (sort of)
How can the poetry of PB Shelley and/or John Keats help us in our current climate crisis?
Your answer can take whatever form you choose: a literary critical essay, a political comment piece, a polemic for your personal blog. But the article should be no shorter than 750 words and no longer than 1000.”
Value: Total prize purse of £5,000
Deadline: 31 January 2020
Open for: All poets and writers (see guidelines)
Details here and here.
Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest
This is a short story contest run by the Little Tokyo Historical Society in Los Angeles. Stories must use Little Tokyo as a cultural setting, capturing the “spirit and sense” of the historical neighbourhood, and can be set in the past, present, or future. Stories can be in Japanese (5,000 ji or fewer) or English (up to 2,500 words). There are three categories: Youth (under 18s), Japanese, and English.
Value: $500 in each category
Deadline: 31 January 2020
Open for: Unspecified
Details here.
Tales from the Moonlit Path: Bloody Valentine’s Challenge
Tales from the Moonlit Path is a horror, dark fiction, and speculative fiction magazine. For their Bloody Valentine’s Challenge, they want fiction of up to 2,000 words on the theme of love gone wrong. Read the guidelines carefully – entry into the challenge signifies consent for publishing, whether or not the entry wins. They also accept work for their regular issues.
Value: $50
Deadline: 1 February 2020
Open for: All writers
So I'll be finding a comfy spot to listen to both NFL games and hope the players not the zebras decide who wins.