Contests for Younger Writers

by Grace Tierney

"Let us help you to find the perfect writing contest to enter and leave you free to do what you're good at, writing your entry."

I am constantly amazed by the sheer numbers of enthusiastic writers I meet online who are under 18. There's a long history of young authors; Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley who wrote "Frankenstein" when she was 19 years, Christopher Paoli was 15 when he self-published his young adult fantasy book "Eragon" and it swept onto bestseller lists, and more recently 18 year old Leah Lauber published "Soccer Dreams" ( http://www.SoccerDreamsBook.com ) to describe her true adventure following the U.S. Women's National Team as a 12 year old junior reporter during the 1999 Women's World Cup.

Their passion and skill far outstrips their age, yet I rarely find writing sites and contests targeted for them. Obviously most writing contests are open to younger participants too but, for example, fees hardly seem fair on students and why not have some categories open to those without gray hairs on their heads?

So in this edition I've done my best to locate writing contests specifically for younger writers, whether that is eleven-year-olds or those studying at university. I won't list contests that exclude participants purely on the basis of their geography so I am not including those aimed at specific school systems or countries, a chat with an English teacher or school librarian may be the best way to find out about those ones.

R emember too that there are prizes for things like essays about science, the environment, and feminism, which a young writer could tackle with his non-fiction writing skills.

As for getting started as a young writer, well how about starting with this article (http://www.woodworksezine.com/2004/issue08_apr/teenwriters.html) at Woodworks E-zine which explains it much better than I can! StoneSoup ( http://www.stonesoup.com ) lists magazines that want contributions from young writers and you could also check out the teen writers forum at www.critiquecircle.com where some members kindly helped me with my research for this feature.

Additionally, as Debi mentioned in our last edition, November is National Novel Writing Month ( http://www.nanowrimo.org/ ) and that's open to brave young writers too who are trying to create a 50,000-word novel within the 30 days, in fact I know quite a few who are skimping on schoolwork this month in an effort to complete their masterpieces on time. In 2003 approximately 25,000 writers accepted the challenge and the numbers are even higher this time around.

Plus yesterday (November 15) was the third "I Love To Write Day" ( http://www.ilovetowriteday.org/ ), which is an opportunity for people of all ages to write something. Authors everywhere made visits to schools for readings and to give advice to young hopefuls. If your community, club, or school missed out this time around why not write to your favorite writer and ask her to come along next year, or even sooner?

So what else do I have in this edition? Well apart from the ten contests aimed at younger writers I've got 27 contests in my regular round-up for the month, leading us up to the 31 st of December deadlines. This is my second anniversary of writing this column and I bet I've still got readers out there who haven't fulfilled their resolution to themselves to enter a contest; this list has your last chance to end 2004 with a prize. You'll be relieved to hear that despite the pre-Christmas spending frenzy about a third of them are entry free, so go for it!

All contests are annual unless otherwise noted and all are open to international writers

TeenWritersDream
http://www.teenwritersdream.com/writing_contests.htm
Regular contests of various forms

KiwiBox
http://www.kiwibox.com/
Regular contests, not all requiring writing to enter

Merlyn's Pen
http://www.merlynspen.org/write/contests.php
Irregular contest information

Teen Ink Magazine
http://teenink.com/Contests/
Now active for 16 years, they run regular contests from art to essays to fiction to poetry and most things in between. Well worth a look

Felix Morley Journalism Competition
http://www.theihs.org/subcategory.php/41.html
articles, editorials, opinion pieces, essays and reviews by writers under 25 years

December 1
Story Starter Junior
http://www.writetightnow.com/Contests.html
short fiction and non-fiction contests for writers aged 10-18

December 31 and October 31
The Dome's annual Halloween Short Story contest
http://groups.msn.com/ThePleasureDomeahomeforwriters
scary or humorous short fiction on a Halloween theme by writers under 21, multimedia writing is welcome

October 19
Contemporary Issues YA Fiction Contest
http://www.childrenswriter.com
This one is mainly aimed at adult writers but surely a young writer could write good YA fiction? They run several fiction and non-fiction contests free for subscribers / ten US dollars for others

October 31
Williamette Writers Kay Snow Writing Awards
http://www.willamettewriters.com/guidelines.htm
Free for students
Short Fiction, non-fiction, poetry by those aged 18 or under

May 15
Cathal Bui Summer School Writing Competition
www.cathalbui.com
school-goer £1 / €1.50 per haiku
The dates and genres for this contest are subject to change from year to year but are associated with a festival that runs annually.

June 1
Coming Soon to the Writing Contest Department
Forthcoming features will focus on seasonally themed contests, personal essays, plays, screenplays, haiku, quirky contests, non-fiction writing, no-fee contests, humor writing, short story contests, travel writing, writing for children, speculative fiction, contests with unusual prizes, and mystery writing contests.
I'm always looking for new contest types to research so if you're looking for one, just drop me a line. I'd also love to hear from you if you win a contest you read about here or if you have a contest to suggest for inclusion. Please note that I will only include contests which are open to writers anywhere in the world as our readers are geographically dispersed.
Contest Deadlines from December 11 to January 10

December 15
Writing on the Run
writing tip / non-fiction
http://www.writingontherun.com/contestpt.html

December 15
The Writer's Digest International Self-Published Book Awards
self-published book in various categories
http://www.writersdigest.com/contests/

December 15
Boulevard Emerging Writers Contest
Poetry and short fiction
http://www.richardburgin.com/contest.htm

December 15
Canadian Chapter of the Transylvanian Society of Dracula Creative Writing
vampire short fiction and poetry
http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~emiller/Contest.htm

December 15
Dorrie Wheeler/SparkleDoll Productions New Author Contest
Novel
http://www.sparkledoll.com/publishing/writingcontest.htm

December 15
Penny's Pens & Pics Writing & Photography
essay / non-fiction
http://www.pennyspensandpics.com

December 15
Central PA Writing Contest
fiction or non-fiction, humorous or serious, personal essay or short fiction
http://www.centralpa.org/writingcontest.html

December 16
CrazyHorse Fiction Prize and Lynda Hull Memorial Poetry Prize
short fiction and poetry
http://crazyhorse.cofc.edu/

December 21
Dead of Winter Writing Contest
short fiction
http://www.toasted-cheese.com/contest.htm

December 22
Robert H. Winner Memorial Award
poetry by older poets
http://www.poetrysociety.org/psa-awards_gdln.html

December 30
Whim's Place Flash Fiction Contest
flash fiction
http://www.whimsplace.com/Contest/Contest.asp

December 31
Griffin Poetry Prize
poetry chapbook
www.griffinpoetryprize.com

December 31
Obadiah Press Writers' Contest
non-fiction article or essay
http://www.obadiahpress.com/contest.htm

December 31
The Foster City International Writer's Contest
fiction, poetry, children's fiction, humor, personal essay
http://www.geocities.com/fostercity_writers/categoriesinfo.html

December 31
The Andre Dubus Award in Short Fiction
short fiction

http://www.wordsandimages.org/Submissions/Guidelines/dubusguidelines.htm

December 31
Real Eight View Poetry Competition
Poetry
http://www.realeight.com/contests.htm

December 31
Pre-Furred Flash Fiction Competition
flash fiction featuring an animal and the entry fee goes to an animal shelter
http://www.worshipthecarrot.com/prefurred.htm

December 31
Ghost Road Press Contest
all genres, including fiction, poetry, and essays
http://ghostroadpress.com/contest.htm

December 31
El Dorado Writer's Guild
fiction, non-fiction, poetry
http://www.edwg.org/Contest03.htm

December 31
JBWB Seasonal Contest
seasonal short fiction contest with six categories
http://www.jbwb.co.uk/competition.html

December 31
Logan Writer's Guild Contest
short fiction and poetry
http://www.loganwriters.net

December 31
SPS Studios Biannual Poetry Card Contest
greeting card poetry
http://www.sps.com/k/poetry/contest.htm

December 31
Firebrand Fiction / SF Reader Fiction contest
short fiction in horror, slipstream, fantasy, science fiction, steampunk, or alternate history or any other sub-genre
http://www.sfreader.com/story_contest.asp

December 31
Story Starter Junior
short fiction contest for young writers ages 10-14, and 15-18
http://www.writetightnow.com/Contests.html

December 31
Tracking A Serial Poet Contest
Poetry
http://www.lichenjournal.ca/contest/index.html

December 31
The Purple Pen
an intriguing opening line
http://www.purplepenediting.com/

December 31
ThatComedian.com Photo Caption Contest
caption / humor
http://www.thatcomedian.com/Photocaptioncontest.htm

Grace Tierney is a freelance writer who lives in Ireland. When she's not researching writing contests, she enjoys gluttony, reading, gardening, and travel. Her short stories have been published in the US and UK, and her non-fiction has been published in Ireland, the UK, America, and Australia. She is a staff writer with Writer Online and Netsurfer Digest . Grace may be contacted via www.gracetierney.com