top of page
Vintage Comic Books

Writing Competitions

Writing competitions are a great way to test a writer's creative skills, create a motivation to write and a concrete goal, and achieve - with any luck! - publication. 

Why not check out the competitions below!

Please note, the writing competitions listed on this page are not endorsed by the CWEP.

We recommend checking the entry requirements and opening/closing dates.

Students should check with their carers or teachers before entering a competition.

Please beware that some of the competitions have a small entry fee.

Australian Competitions

Heywire

(creative non-fiction for young regional writers)

State Library Queensland Young Writers Award

(for Qld youth 18-25yrs)

QATSIF Creative Arts Competition

(open to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in Qld Grades 7-12)

Art Design Awards & Literary Competition

(open to Qld students Grades 5 -12)

The Lane Cove Literary Awards

(for 16 years and over)

The Dickinson Memorial Literary Competition

(for children and young adults who are blind or low visioned)

The Roly Sussex Short Story Competition

(includes a category for secondary students)

The KSP Spooky Story Competition

(free for youth)

KSP Short Fiction Competition

(age range: up to 17 years)

Whitlam Institute’s ‘What Matters?’

(for students Grades 5-12)

Peter Cowan Short Story Competition/Julian Cowan Youth Award

(for writers12-18 years; includes an entry fee)

Scribblers Festival: The Golden Pen’ Award

(age range: 3 categories across Year 4-Year 12)

Little Stories, Big Ideas

(age range: Year 7-9; Year 10-12)

Norman McVicker Youth Literary Award

(age range: up to 18 years; includes entry fee)

The Storyfest National Novella Writing Competition

(age range: up to 19 years)

Sydney Hammond Memorial Short Story Writing Competition

(age range: up to 18 years)

Terror Australis Children’s Short Story Competition

(age range: K to 16 years)

Poem Forest

(Age range: up to 18 years)

International Competitions

The Author of Tomorrow

(age range: 11-21years; free entry)

The Laura Literary Awards

(free entry; prose and poetry)

Bennington Young Writers Awards

(age range: Year 9-Year 12)

One Teen

(age range: 13-19 years)

bottom of page