7 International Writing Contest to Enter in May 2022

And a $1000 scholarship

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Writing contests are a great way to stretch your skills.

They encourage you to push yourself.

The limits you usually write within? Pfft. What limits?!

Contests bring out your best work and that’s why I make a point of entering several every year.

Sometimes I even win some money!

Here are 7 May-deadline writing contests open to everyone and a scholarship worth $1000:

Globe Soup Short Memoir Competition

First Prize: 1000 pounds Deadline: May 17 Length: 3000 words max

“A short memoir is a piece of creative nonfiction in which the writer explores a single episode of their life or a small selection of vignettes, connected by a common theme.”

Theme: Places that have made me, changed me, or inspired me. Details

Anglesey Writing Festival Contest

First Prize: 50 pounds Deadline: May 30 Length: 2000 words max

Theme: Saints and/or Sinners Stories must be in English or Welsh

Entry Fee: 5 pounds Details

Fiction Factory First Chapter

First Prize: 500 pounds + appraisal Deadline: May 31 Length: 5000 words + synopsis

“The winning entry will be read by literary agent Joanna Swainson of the Hardman & Swainson Agency. Joanna is looking for originality and distinctive voices. For complex, larger-than-life characters and stories that will stay with the reader forever. Stories that surprise, and keep on surprising. As Joanna says, she will know what she’s looking for when she sees it!”

Entry Fee: 18 pounds Details

Flying South

First Prize: $500 + opportunity to win “President’s Favorite” Prize $500 Deadline: May 31 Length: 5000 words max fiction, 3500 nonfiction

Three categories to enter in this contest: poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. The best in each category will receive $500.

Entry fee: $25 Details

WOW! Women on Writing Quarterly Flash Fiction

First Prize: $400 Deadline: May 31 Length: 750 words max

Write a short story to any theme you like.

Entry Fees: $10 Details

Lazuli Literary Contest

First Prize: $500 Deadline: May 22 Length: Various depending on genre (max 150 pages)

“We love work that is linguistically, intellectually, and emotionally demanding of the reader. We want art that grows in complexity upon each visitation; we enjoy ornate, cerebral, and voluptuous phrases executed with thematic intent.”

Fiction, non-fiction, poetry, essays, philosophical ruminations, experimental pieces, stage plays, fragments, and excerpts are all acceptable.

“If multiple pieces strike us as first place winners, each winner will receive $500.”

Entry Fee: $15 Details

Bridport Flash Fiction

First Prize: 1000 pounds Deadline: May 31 Length: 250 words max

“Take us somewhere fast then let your story marinate in the reader’s mind. Make every one of your 250 words count.”

Entry Fee: 10 pounds Details

A Couple of Extras for Women

Herstories: Call for Submissions

Payment if published: $50 Deadline: May 31 Length: 1,200

Coupling and Uncoupling theme

“What are your romantic relationships like now? What are the fissures, the pleasures, the challenges? What have you realized about being coupled — or uncoupled?”

Entry Fee: Free Details

The Irene Adler Prize for Women Writers

First Prize: $1000 scholarship Deadline: May 31 Length: 500 words max

“The Irene Adler Prize is awarding a $1,000 scholarship to a woman pursuing a degree in journalism, creative writing, or literature at a recognized post-secondary institution in the U.S. or Canada, based on an essay competition.”