This issue’s Deadlines section lists a total of 71 contests, down 32 percent from the May/June 2017 issue, which listed 104 contests. The new contests are sponsored by 45 different organizations and offer an estimated $282,380 in prize money—down 63 percent from the $762,983 offered by the contests in the previous issue. The decrease in both the prize money and the number of contests held during the summer months is not uncommon; the slowdown is consistent with Anatomy of Awards totals calculated in previous years. Of the 71 new contests, 54 (76 percent) charge an entry fee (the median entry fee is $20). The charts below further break down the numbers behind Grants & Awards.
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.