Open Competitions For NZ Indie Writers
The Te Tauihu Short Story Awards
Open to writers residing in Aotearoa New Zealand aged 18 years and over. Limit 1500 words and submissions may be written in English or te reo Māori.
Entries close midnight, May 31. $20 per entry for 26 years and over and $10 per entry for 18-25 years.
More details here
Little Lit Micro-Fiction Competition
The Little Lit is inviting New Zealand writers to submit to its Micro-fiction Competition from April 20 to June 3. Entries can be on any topic, theme, or genre and must be 300 words or fewer. Entry fee: $5.
More details here
Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year
The Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year Competition is an international competition, attracting entries from all over the globe. Last year, 553 poems. were received. Deadline: June 7.
More details here
The Sargeson Prize
The Sargeson Prize is New Zealand's richest short story prize, sponsored by the University of Waikato. Named for celebrated New Zealand writer Frank Sargeson, the Prize was conceived by writer Catherine Chidgey.
There is no entry fee, and entries are limited to one per writer, per division.
Entries for the 2024 competition close on June 30.
More details here
The NZ Writers College Annual Short Story Competition
The annual Writers College Short Story Competition is held to acknowledge excellence in creative writing in the short story form. The competition is open to any writer who is unpublished, or has been published fewer than four times, and the 2024 theme is: 'It didn't have to be this way'.
Submissions close: September 30, longlist announced: October 31More details here
The Bedford Writing Competition
The Bedford Competition is a UK-based annual short story and poetry competition for anyone in the world over 17 years of age. There are prizes totalling £4,600 and all winning and shortlisted stories and poems are published as an anthology.
Deadline: October 31, 2024. Contains an entry fee.
More details here