Writing Deadlines – 14 New Opportunities (Update #44)

Hello Writers!

This week's line-up is a proper mixed bag — from six-word micros to a themed folio on healthcare and healing, and even a live reading night in London for anyone who fancies performing rather than publishing. Wherever your writing currently sits, there's very likely a deadline in here with your name on it.

This week: 14 opportunities | August to November 2026 | Prizes up to $40,000

Some of these are worth a single free afternoon; others are worth building toward for months. A fantasy anthology in its first year sits alongside a Canadian nonfiction prize with a five-figure purse, so the stakes vary as much as the forms do. Have a browse and see what catches your eye.

Creative writing quote of the week:

The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.

– Terry Pratchett

Deadline: 28 August 2026

ANMLY, a journal of literature and the arts now on its 42nd issue, has opened a themed folio call exploring desire, devotion, and obsession — in both their sexual and non-sexual senses. Guest edited by Alex Bortell with support from Folio Editor Jie Venus Cohen, the call is framed in part as a response to increased legislation, surveillance, and censorship affecting queer and trans communities. Entrants may submit traditional poetry (one to three poems) or multimedia poetry in visual, audio, or video form; audio and video pieces must run no longer than three minutes and include a transcript.

Entry fee: Free 🆓
Top prize: Publication in ANMLY’s folio
Find out more: https://anmly.org/calls/

Deadline: 31 August 2026

The Elegant Literature Award is a monthly short fiction prize run by Elegant Literature, a digital magazine dedicated to supporting new and unpublished writers. Each month the organiser presents a themed prompt; the August 2026 theme is Hungry Highways, with the prompt word “boot.” Entries must be between 500 and 2,000 words, in English, and are open to new or unpublished authors worldwide. All genres are welcome, and stories are judged on creativity, character, structure and flow, and quality of writing.

Entry fee: Free for Elegant Literature members, or $10
Top prize: $3,000 USD and free enrolment in the New Novelist Accelerator programme
Find out more: https://www.elegantliterature.com/?aff=almondpress&p=2324

Deadline: 6 September 2026 (or once 90 eligible applications are received, whichever comes first)

The Intrepid Voices Fund is a short story competition hosted by Intrepid Imagination, aimed at supporting emerging writers early in their creative journey. This cycle’s theme is spooky speculative fiction; science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories are welcome, though contemporary and historical fiction are not eligible. Entrants submit one original story of up to 2,000 words, judged first on the opening 250 words and then, for finalists, against a published rubric. The fund is open only to writers aged 18 and older who currently reside in the United States.

Entry fee: Free 🆓
Top prize: $1,250
Find out more: https://www.intrepidimagination.com/writingfund2026

Deadline: 6 September 2026

WRITE UP is a writer-led platform based in London, founded by Amy I Beeson, that creates paid, live-reading opportunities for new and emerging voices. The 2026 edition invites submissions of 500 to 1,000 words of original memoir, personal essay, poetry, short fiction, or dramatic monologue on the theme of Voice. Selected writers are paid to read their piece aloud, in around 6 to 8 minutes, to a live audience at the WRITE UP event in London on 7 November 2026. The organiser aims for a diverse line-up spanning established, emerging, and new writers, with entrants invited to choose a piece of music to accompany their reading.

Entry fee: Free 🆓
Top prize: Paid opportunity to read at the live WRITE UP event in London
Find out more: https://shorturl.at/OD7j2

Deadline: 9 September 2026 (first of three publisher submission windows)

The Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing is an annual Canadian literary nonfiction award hosted by Writers’ Trust of Canada, given for a book that captures a political subject of relevance to Canadian readers. Named in honour of former MP Shaughnessy Cohen, the prize is sponsored by CN and awarded at the Politics and the Pen gala in Ottawa. Eligible books are submitted by publishing imprints rather than individual authors, so this is one for publisher contacts rather than direct entrants.

Entry fee: Free 🆓
Top prize: $40,000 CAD
Find out more: https://www.writerstrust.com/awards/shaughnessy-cohen-prize-for-political-writing

Deadline: 15 September 2026

The Youth of Faith Creative Arts Contest and Anthology is a Christian youth writing and art competition hosted by In The Name Publishing, open to writers and artists aged 13 to 18. The contest invites original poetry and short fiction, alongside a separate visual art category, from young Christian creatives. Entrants may submit up to five previously unpublished poems or up to three previously unpublished short stories, each up to 2,000 words. Entrants under 18 need parental or guardian consent, and all contributors retain full copyright while granting ITN Publishing limited publishing rights.

Entry fee: $5
Top prize: $50 Visa gift card and publication in the winter issue of Power Magazine
Find out more: https://www.itnpublishing.com/youth-contest-and-anthology

Deadline: 1 October 2026

The “Healthcare and Healing” Folio is a themed submission call from Independence Literary Review, a literary journal publishing poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and art. It’s the journal’s first themed section, seeking creative work exploring healthcare, illness, and healing, alongside its regular open-theme submissions. Poets may submit up to five single-spaced poems in one document, totalling no more than 15 pages. Fiction and creative nonfiction writers may submit one longer piece of up to 7,500 words, or up to three flash pieces of 1,000 words or less.

Entry fee: Free 🆓
Top prize: Paid per accepted piece, $50–$200 for fiction and creative nonfiction; $50 for a poet’s first poem and $25 for each additional poem
Find out more: https://www.independenceliteraryreview.org/submissions

Deadline: 16 October 2026

The Tree of Life Fantasy Short Story Contest is an inaugural fantasy fiction competition hosted by Tree of Life Books. The contest seeks adult fantasy short stories across all subgenres, with particular interest in narratives inspired by community, cultural heritage, and diverse cultural experience. Guest judge and USA Today bestselling author I.V. Ophelia will select the top three winners from a shortlist compiled by the Tree of Life reading team. Stories must be between 3,000 and 7,500 words.

Entry fee: $25 (final deadline rate)
Top prize: $250, publication in Tree of Life’s inaugural fantasy anthology, editorial feedback, and an anthology cover design based on the winning story
Find out more: https://www.treeoflifetreeofjoy.com/fantasy-contest

Deadline: 18 October 2026

The Best Haiku Search is an annual international haiku competition hosted by Haiku Crush. The competition accepts all forms of traditional and modern haiku, with entries judged by Haiku Crush’s panel on expressive and creative writing merit. Entrants may submit up to four haiku per paid entry. Both original and previously published haiku are eligible, provided the entrant holds republication rights.

Entry fee: $9
Top prize: $200, plus two Judges Grand Mention prizes of $150 each
Find out more: https://haikucrush.com/

Deadline: 25 October 2026

The Not Quite Write Prize for Flash Fiction is a quarterly competition hosted by the Not Quite Write podcast, challenging writers worldwide to craft a 500-word story in 60 hours based on a set of three writing prompts. The October round’s prompts are released at midday on Friday 23 October with entries due by the Sunday deadline. The competition is beginner-friendly and open to writers of all experience levels worldwide. The top six stories are read aloud on the podcast, published on the Not Quite Write website, and included in the annual print anthology.

Entry fee: AU$28 (20% off until 31 August 2026)
Top prize: AU$1,500 and the Not Quite Write trophy
Find out more: https://notquitewritepodcast.com/prize/ref/office@almondpress.co.uk/

Deadline: 29 October 2026 (online entry opens 7 September 2026)

The Wenlock Olympian Society Short Story Competition is an international short fiction competition hosted by the Wenlock Olympian Society as part of its annual Creative Arts programme. The competition is open to fictional stories on any theme, judged first by a reading panel and then by novelist, poet, and children’s writer Kate Innes, who selects the gold, silver, and bronze medallists. Entrants must be 16 or older and may submit up to three stories, with discounted fees for multiple simultaneous submissions. All medallists are invited to a Wenlock Olympian Society social event, with the gold medallist invited to read their story aloud.

Entry fee: £6 (one story); £11 (two stories); £15 (three stories)
Top prize: £150, a gold medal, and publication online
Find out more: https://wenlock-olympian-society.org.uk/wenlock-olympian-society-arts/creative-short-story/

Deadline: 30 October 2026

The Accenti Poetry Contest is an annual poetry competition hosted by Accenti Magazine, a Montreal-based publication focused on Italian-Canadian culture and experience. The contest is open to all poets, established and emerging, including students, worldwide, and accepts poems in any style. Poems must be no more than 40 lines. Winners are chosen through blind judging by a panel that narrows entries to four finalists.

Entry fee: $15 per submission
Top prize: $1,000 CAD and publication in Accenti
Find out more: https://accenti.ca/poetry-contest/about/

Deadline: 15 November 2026

The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest, known as ‘The Mikey’, is an annual competition hosted by SmokeLong Quarterly celebrating the best micro fiction and nonfiction online. The grand prize winner is automatically nominated for Best Small Fictions and any other prize the editors deem appropriate. Entries are limited to 250 words or fewer per micro, and writers may submit up to two or up to four micros in a single document, depending on entry tier. The competition is open to anyone 18 or older from anywhere.

Entry fee: $14 (up to 2 micros) or $23 (up to 4 micros)
Top prize: $1,000 and publication in the December 2026 issue of SmokeLong
Find out more: https://www.smokelong.com/the-smokelong-grand-micro-contest-2026/

Deadline: 30 November 2026

The Cai Emmons Short Fiction Contest celebrates the legacy of Cai Emmons by recognising and supporting diverse authors from Oregon and Washington, nurturing emerging writers, and promoting storytelling aligned with the themes in Cai’s work. Submissions must reflect themes central to her writing, including interconnectedness, grief and loss, family dynamics, environmental and climate concerns, magical realism, and women’s experiences and identities. Entrants must reside in Oregon or Washington and may submit one original, unpublished short story of 1,000 to 3,000 words. All finalists’ stories will be published by Wordcrafters Press in an anthology reflecting the contest’s themes, due out in April 2027.

Entry fee: $7 ($5 for Wordcrafters members; fee waivers available for BIPOC, QTGNC, and disabled writers)
Top prize: $700 and publication
Find out more: https://wordcrafters.org/cai-emmons-short-fiction-contest/

The Story Grid: What Good Editors Know by Shawn Coyne

Written by veteran editor Shawn Coyne, The Story Grid offers a hands-on, almost diagnostic approach to understanding what makes a story work, and what doesn’t. The author breaks fiction down by genre conventions, structure, and scene-level mechanics, giving writers a practical toolkit for revising their own drafts with an editor’s eye. Whether you’re deep in a first draft or staring down a stack of notes from beta readers, it’s the kind of book that turns “something feels off” into “here’s exactly what to fix.”

Check it out on Amazon

As an Amazon Associate, I earn commission from qualifying purchases.

If your editing process still relies on a red pen and sheer willpower, it might be time to bring in some backup. ProWritingAid is a writing and editing tool built with authors in mind, checking your grammar, style, and readability while flagging things like overused words, clunky sentences, and uneven pacing. Whether you’re polishing a competition entry or working through a full manuscript, it’s well worth a look.

Discover ProWritingAid (free to try!)

That’s a wrap on this week’s roundup! With deadlines running from the tail end of August through to the end of November, there’s plenty of runway here. Whether you’re polishing six words or six thousand, the important thing is to put your work out there. Every submission is a small act of courage, and that matters.

A few gentle reminders as you prepare your submissions:

• Read the guidelines carefully. Word counts, eligibility requirements, and formatting details all matter!

• Give yourself plenty of time to polish your work before the deadline arrives.

• Don’t let fear of rejection hold you back. Every submission is a step forward, and every published writer has a drawer full of “not this time” letters.

• Always do your own research before entering. Carefully read the terms and conditions for each event!

If you know a fellow writer who might find these opportunities useful, feel free to forward this edition their way. And if you’ve come across a competition or prize you’d like to share, drop it in the comments or send a message on Substack. I’d love to hear about it!

Happy writing!

Victoria

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