Writing competitions closing July 2026

1 July: Rockingham Writers Centre National Short Story Award

Open to all writers over 18 years of age in Australia. Must have a ‘Twist in the Tale’, max 2000 words. Entry fee: $20 (AUD) non-members. Prizes $500, $100.

1 July: Write Around the Murray Short Story Competition

Unpublished stories max 3,000 words, max 2 entries per person. Entry fee: $15 (AUD). Prize: $1,000 (cash), $200 book voucher, $100 book voucher.

1 July ACU Prize for Poetry

Open to Australian residents or students in Australia. Theme: Witness. "For the dead and the living, we must bear witness." - Elie Wiesel. Poetry max 60 lines. Entry fee $25 (AUD). Prizes: $10,000, $5,000, $3,000, $750. 

6 July: Canberra Youth Theatre’s Emerging Playwright Competition 

Open to Australian citizens or permanent residents between the ages of 16 and 35, for a play suitable to be performed by at least 8 actors aged between 7 and 25, of a duration of minimum 1 hour, minimum 8 characters. Entry fee: FREE. Prizes: $17,700 for development of the script, $1,500, $1,500.

10 July: State Library of NSW FellowshipsA total of $266,000 in paid research opportunities in 2027. All Library Fellows receive specialist support, from access to the Library’s Donald and Myfanwy Horne Room through to mentoring by expert staff.  

12 July: Newcastle Short Story Award

Open to Australian residents over 18 years of age. Unpublished stories max 2,000 words. Entry $15 (AUD). Prizes: $3000, $1,500, $500, $500, and $250. Any published in anthology receive $75 publication fee.

13 July: The Richell Prize for Emerging Writers 2026

Open to Australian residents unpublished in traditional press, writing adult fiction and narrative non-fiction. Prize: $10,000 and a year of mentoring with one of Hachette Australia’s publishers. Entry: FREE.

15 July: 2026 E.M. Fletcher Writing Competition

Open to people living in Australia or New Zealand. Theme: family history/genealogy. Unpublished stories, unrestricted genre, 1,500-2,000 words. Entry $35 (AUD) non-members. Prizes $1,000, $500, $100.  The genre of writing is not limited, and the broad theme allows plenty of scope for creativity.

Entries for the best short story of will be in contention to win prizes of up to $1000.

17 July: Whitsundays Writers Festival Short Story Award

Open to Australian permanent residents and citizens over 18 years of age. Short story 1,000-3,000 words. Entry $20 (AUD), prizes $1,000 and $500.

17 July: The Kyoto RetreatOpen to over-21s. Japan-based, open internationally. Entry $95 (USD). Four weeks in Kyoto for research, exploration, and inspiration. Prize: roundtrip flight, a private bedroom, and $800 (USD) to supplement meals and local transportation, to take place from 1 Nov 2026.

19 July: Woollahra Digital Literary Award

Open to Australian writers publishing digital-first work (fiction, nonfiction, poetry). Experimental digital storytelling. Entry fee $26.14 (AUD).  Poetry, Fiction, Non-fiction, and Digital Innovation (works in development but not published). Prizes $2,500 x 2, $1,500, $1,000, and $250.

23-24 July: Southern Highlands Writers’ Festival 2026

Black tie dinner and multiple ‘In Conversation With’ author line-ups.

24 July: Not Quite Write Prize for Flash Fiction

Australia based, open internationally. Break a specific “rule” of writing while still telling a great story. Entry $35 AUD or $28 prior to 31 May. Quite the sales package of various ‘tickets’ up to $250. Prompt drops 24 July, Closes 26 July. Team writes a 500 word story from a choice of three prompts. Prizes $1,500, $1,000, $500, $350, $250, $200, $100. And a trophy for the winner.

24 July: Friends of Paynesville Library Short Story Competition

Victoria-based, open to over-18s, short story max 3,000 words. Entry fee: $10 (AUD), Prizes: $400, $200, $100.

27 July: Peter Blazey Fellowship 

Open to Australian residents with a publishing record, open themed. Biography, autobiography and life writing. Send 2 page CV, synopsis, and 5,000 word extract of WIP. Entry fee: FREE. Prize: up to $20,000.

29 July: The Letter Review Prize

US based, open internationally, Short Fiction (max 5,000 words) Poetry (max 70 lines), and Books (novels, story collections, poetry collections, and nonfiction). Running submission periods with 9 winners every 3 months. Entry fee: various according to timing and category (around $20 USD per entry). Prizes: $16,000 annually.

30 July: Heroines Women’s Writing Prize

Australia based, open internationally to women writers. Theme: women’s lost stories and myths. Published and unpublished work subject to publishing rights. Poems max 3 pages, short stories max 2,500 words. Entry fee $15 (AUD) per entry. Prize $500, shortlisters get published (but not paid).

31 July: Anthology Short Story Competition

Ireland-based, open internationally to unpublished short stories in English. Open theme, max 1,500 words, multiple entries permitted.  Entry fee €18.  Prize: €1,000 and publication, €250, €150.

31 July: The Silver Gull Play Award

Open to over-18 residents of NSW or ACT. Theme: Plays with a purpose, plays of at least 60 minutes long. Entry fee: FREE. Prize: $5,000, plus pool of $2,000.