Writing Competitions in Closing Date Order:
Closing Date: Monday, 5 May 2025, 11:59pm (AEST)
ABR: Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize
Australian Book Review (ABR) welcomes entries in the 2025 ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize.
The Jolley Prize is worth a total of $12,500 and is for an original work of short fiction of between 2,000 and 5,000 words, written in English.
Entry fee: $20 (current ABR subscriber), $30 (non-subscriber)
Closing Date: Monday, 5 May 2025, 11:59pm (AEST)
Website: https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/prizes-programs/elizabeth-jolley-story-prize/current-prize
Closing Date:Friday, 30 May 2025, 5pm (AET)
The Australian Fiction Prize
The Australian Fiction Prize is an annual prize for a book-length work of fiction.
Entries must be an original work of adult fiction, not previously published in a commercial publication of between 75,000 and 100,000 words in English. Please note: science fiction, young adult, poetry, plays, works for children and any kind of non-fiction are not eligible. Open to all Australian writers, the winner will receive prize money of $20,000, plus an advance of $15,000, and publication by Australia’s leading publisher, HarperCollins Australia.
Entry fee: Free
Closing Date: Friday, 30 May 2025, 5pm (AET)
Website: https://www.harpercollins.com.au/theaustralianfictionprize/
Closing Date: Saturday, 31 May 2025, 11:59pm (AEST)
Minds Shine Bright: Places Writing Competition
Minds Shine Bright run an international creative writing competition every year and publish the winning and commended writers in a curated anthology. Their new competition is called Places.
Local and international writers are invited to submit stories and poems up to 5000 words about places that set your imagination free, that inspire and challenge you and that have stories to tell.
Entry fee: $15 (General entry), $5 (Pensioner/Student/Concession)
Closing Date: Saturday, 31 May 2025, 11:59pm (AEST)
Website: https://mindsshinebright.com/writing-competitions/
Closing Date: Friday, 27 June 2025
Unpublished Novel Award
The Unpublished Novel Award celebrates stellar unpublished manuscripts in seven genres: Children’s & Young Adult, Crime & Mystery, Horror, Literary Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction & Fantasy, and Thriller & Suspense.
A panel of esteemed, shortlist judges with backgrounds in book publishing, film, and television will select one exceptional manuscript in each genre to receive a $10,000 grant to support it on the journey to publication.
Entry fee: Free
Closing Date: Friday, 27 June 2025
Website: https://blcklst.com/programs/2025-unpublished-novel-award
Closing Date: Monday, 30 June 2025, 11:59pm (AET)
Bundyi Writing Prize
The Bundyi Writing Prize aims to discover creative, compelling and original works of adult fiction that celebrate First Nations voices.
The prize will be awarded to an outstanding unpublished manuscript by an emerging Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander writer (a writer who maybe have appeared in anthologies and literary journals but is yet to have a full-length manuscript published) and will receive a cash prize of AUD$10,000 sponsored by Simon & Schuster Australia, including manuscript development with a First Nations editor.
Entry fee: Free
Closing Date: Monday, 30 June 2025, 11:59pm (AET)
Website: https://www.simonandschuster.com.au/p/BundyiAUPrize