Young Writers: Competitions
If you’re a young writer in Australia, and have been wondering about opportunities to submit your work, then look no further. This post contains a list of writing competitions for young writers in Australia, together with useful information such as word limits, closing dates and links to entry forms.
Be sure to check back regularly, though, because I’ll update the post whenever info about other competitions (or publishing opportunities) are released. You can also sign up for my monthly newsletter, in which I always include a list of opportunities for the coming month.
The competitions listed are in order of closing date, apart from the first one listed, as it has a different competition each month.
1. IndigoTeen Magazine
The brief: submit short stories, essays and novellas, memes, and comics, fan fiction and poetry, graphic design and artwork.
Open to: young people from 13 to 19 years old.
Entry fee: free to submit.
Closing date: rolling.
More information: visit IndigoHub’s website.
2. Write the World (ongoing monthly competitions)
Write the World describes itself as a ‘community of young writers (ages 13-19.5), hailing from over 80 countries’. Write the World holds monthly competitions, developed around a particular idea or genre of writing. The competitions encourage you to try out new genres and share your work with other readers, as well as offering the opportunity to receive peer and expert feedback, before submitting your final piece.
Upcoming topics:
November 2024 — short story competition: tell a tale (opens on Monday 4 November; draft for optional expert review due Monday 11 November; submissions due Monday 25 November).
December 2024 — people’s choice awards (opens on Monday 2 December; closes on Friday 3 January 2025).
January 2025 — nature & environmental writing: look closer (opens on Monday 6 January 2025; draft for optional expert review due Monday 13 January 2025; submissions due Monday 27 January 2025).
February 2025 — op-ed: raise your voice (opens on Monday 3 February; draft for optional expert review due Monday 10 February; closes on Monday 24 February).
March 2025 — songwriting: strike a chord (opens on Monday 3 March; draft for optional expert review due Monday 10 March; closes on Monday 24 March).
April 2025 — poetry & spoken word: emotion in words (opens on Monday 7 April; draft for optional expert review due Monday 14 April; closes on Monday 28 April).
May 2025 — environmental writing: your home (opens on Monday 5 May; draft for optional expert review due Monday 12 May ; closes on Monday 26 May).
June 2025 — personal essay: making meaning (opens on Monday 2 June; draft for optional expert review due Monday 9 June ; closes on Monday 23 June).
July 2025 — sci-fi and fantasy: open the door (opens on Monday 7 July; draft for optional expert review due Monday 14 July; closes on Monday 28 July).
August 2025 —flash fiction: a story in your pocket (opens on Monday 4 August; draft for optional expert review due Monday 11 August ; closes on Monday 25 August).
Entry fee: Free.
Prizes: Winning entrant receives $100. Runner-up and best peer reviewer are awarded $50. All three winners will be featured on their blog.
More info: For a more detailed information about each topic, including deadlines (for draft and final submissions) and prizes, head to the Write the World website.
3. The Ethics Centre Young Writer’s Competition 2024
The Brief: submit essays on one of the following questions:
- What ethical issue is being overlooked today?
- What do we collectively owe to future generations?
- What do older generations owe to young people?
- What is a widely held ethical view that is likely to change in the next two decades?
- What ethical view have you changed your mind about?
- What is an ethical issue that is often misunderstood?
You are welcome to incorporate first-person perspectives and self-reflection. Charity for alternate views, intellectual humility and an acknowledgement of and/or responses to counterarguments will be well regarded.
Word limits: up to 800 words for participants aged 13 to 17, and up to 1,200 words for ages 18 to 29
Open to: Australian residents aged between 13 and 29 years of age.
Prizes: The winner of each age category will receive a prize pack valued at $500, comprising a $250
cash prize and a $250 Gleebooks voucher. They will also have their essay published digitally by The Ethics Centre. Two runners-up in each age category will also have their essays published digitally by The Ethics Centre.
Closing date: Sunday 27 October 2024.
More information: visit The Ethics Centre’s website.
4. 2025 Storyfest National Novella Writing Competition
The brief: submit a novella of no less than 8,000 words and no more than 20,000 words.
Open to: to all current secondary students attending school in Australia. Students receiving home schooling are eligible to enter. Entrants must be under 19 years of age as at date of close of entries.
Entry fee: $20.
Prizes: There will be monetary prizes awarded to finalists ($100) and a prize of $500 to the national winner.
Closing date: Friday 6 December 2024.
More information: visit Storyfest’s website.
5. 2025 Storyfest National Poetry Prize
The brief: submit poems up to 50 lines excluding the title, on any subject.
Open to: to all current secondary students attending school in Australia. Students receiving home schooling are eligible to enter.
Categories: junior secondary (years 7 to 9); senior secondary (Years 10 to 12).
Entry fee: $15.
Prizes: the winner of each category will receive $300. Category winners will have the opportunity to attend Somerset Storyfest Writers’ Festival, be billeted by students of the Somerset Wordsmiths’ Club, and attend the events at Storyfest over the three days, where the national winners will be announced and awarded prizes at the Literary Long Table Dinner. This decision will be at the discretion of the competition organisers.
Closing date: Friday 6 December 2024.
More information: visit Storyfest’s website.
6. Little Stories. Big Ideas Competition
The brief: submit flash fiction that is 100 words or less on a given theme. The theme for term 4 is “war”. Any literary style is welcome – short-story form, poem, haiku, limerick, song – but entries must be in English.
Open to: Australian secondary school students.
Categories: Years 7 to 9 and Years 10 to 12.
Entry fee: free.
Prizes: the year 10 to 12 category winner receives an Express Media Membership and the latest issue of Voiceworks Magazine; the year 7 to 9 category winner wins a StoryCraft writing mentorship.
Closing date: Friday 20 December 2024.
More information: visit the Little Stories, Big Ideas website.
Over to You
Just a quick note: if you do enter a competition, take time to read the guidelines carefully to ensure you’re entry meets the requirements, so that it’s accepted. This can include seemingly minor details such as size, font and spacing of your text.
If you’d like some guidance on what to look out for, then take a look at an earlier post of mine, Writing Competitions: What You Need to Know Before Entering.
What are you waiting for? Start writing, keep writing – and let me know how you go!
