2025 Writing Contests
Theme: From Here to There and Everywhere
Be Published! Win Cash Prizes!
Everyone is invited to enter our writing contests, listed below.
NOTE: Some contests are members only.
NOTE: Some contests are members only.
For the regular monthly contests, entry fees are $5 per entry for members and $10 per entry for nonmembers, no submission limit. (See each bonus contest for its requirements and submission limit.)
Winners will be published in our 2025 anthology, with first, second, and third-place winners also receiving cash prizes.
Winners will be published in our 2025 anthology, with first, second, and third-place winners also receiving cash prizes.
Anthologies are usually published the following Spring.
**Always read Contest Rules & Guidelines before entering any contest.**
**Always read Contest Rules & Guidelines before entering any contest.**
Want your submitted work critiqued by the contest judge?
For an additional $10 fee, you can receive personalized feedback
from the judge to help refine your writing and take it to the next level!
For an additional $10 fee, you can receive personalized feedback
from the judge to help refine your writing and take it to the next level!
Please Note: Each judge has their own approach to critiquing: some offer detailed, candid feedback, while others take a broader, more general approach. Whatever your expectations, we hope you always find that a judge's critique supports your desire to learn and improve.
Questions or need more information? contest@saturdaywriters.org
Prose: 2025-word limit Poetry: 50-line limit
Word counts are determined solely by Microsoft Word exclusive of title.
Word counts are determined solely by Microsoft Word exclusive of title.
TOPIC DESCRIPTION: From Here to There and Everywhere includes modes of transportation, all the ways of getting from one place to another. Whether you focus on the how, the what, the where, or the why, the sky's the limit. Tell the tale of an arduous journey on foot, an intrepid trek west across uncharted prairies, or blasting off into space. Travel using the aid of a magic carpet or spell, beam up on a transporter or travel through space and time in a TARDIS. You decide how and where you will go!
Life takes us through many transitions and changes, from one place to another. Here's your opportunity to tell us your stories and share your poems. Remember, prose submissions span the genres and can include non-fiction and personal essays as well. So, whether you have a dramatic tale to tell, a mystery to unravel or a personal experience to share, we want your stories!
Life takes us through many transitions and changes, from one place to another. Here's your opportunity to tell us your stories and share your poems. Remember, prose submissions span the genres and can include non-fiction and personal essays as well. So, whether you have a dramatic tale to tell, a mystery to unravel or a personal experience to share, we want your stories!
We encourage you to think outside the norm and always read Contest Rules & Guidelines before entering.
How to Enter: Submit your entry electronically Monthly Contest Submissions. If entering a bonus contest, please submit under their own form page: Pen & Paint I and II Contests, President's Contest, and Poet Laureate Contest Submissions. All entries must be paid by midnight of due date or entries will be forfeited.
March Contest
Theme: These Boots are Made for Walkin'
Suggestions: Foot-powered transportation, walking, pedaling, on the back of an animal (or human piggyback), travois, sedan chair
Prose: 2025-word limit
Poetry: 50-line limit
Begins: 02-22-2025
Prose Deadline: 03-29-2025
Poetry Deadline: 04-26-2025
Suggestions: Foot-powered transportation, walking, pedaling, on the back of an animal (or human piggyback), travois, sedan chair
Prose: 2025-word limit
Poetry: 50-line limit
Begins: 02-22-2025
Prose Deadline: 03-29-2025
Poetry Deadline: 04-26-2025
April Contest
Theme: Go West Young Women and Men
Suggestions: Wheeled transport, cart, wagon, stagecoach, chariot, covered wagon
Prose: 2025-word limit
Poetry: 50-line limit
Begins: 03-29-2025
Prose Deadline: 04-26-2025
Poetry Deadline: 04-26-2025
Suggestions: Wheeled transport, cart, wagon, stagecoach, chariot, covered wagon
Prose: 2025-word limit
Poetry: 50-line limit
Begins: 03-29-2025
Prose Deadline: 04-26-2025
Poetry Deadline: 04-26-2025
May Contest
Theme: Up, Up, and Away
Suggestions: Airborne transport, balloons, gliders, airplanes, helicopters, hang gliding, zipline, base jumping, skydiving
Prose: 2025-word limit
Poetry: 50-line limit
Begins: 04-26-2025
Prose Deadline: 05-31-2025
Poetry Deadline: 06-28-2025
Suggestions: Airborne transport, balloons, gliders, airplanes, helicopters, hang gliding, zipline, base jumping, skydiving
Prose: 2025-word limit
Poetry: 50-line limit
Begins: 04-26-2025
Prose Deadline: 05-31-2025
Poetry Deadline: 06-28-2025
June Contest
Theme: Anchors Aweigh
Suggestions: Water modes of transport, submarine, canoe, rowboat, kayak, ship, houseboat, jet ski, barrel, yellow submarine
Prose: 2025-word limit
Poetry: 50-line limit
Begins: 05-31-2025
Prose Deadline: 06-28-2025
Poetry Deadline: 06-28-2025
Suggestions: Water modes of transport, submarine, canoe, rowboat, kayak, ship, houseboat, jet ski, barrel, yellow submarine
Prose: 2025-word limit
Poetry: 50-line limit
Begins: 05-31-2025
Prose Deadline: 06-28-2025
Poetry Deadline: 06-28-2025
July Contest
Theme: Fly Me to the Moon
Suggestions: Getting somewhere by extraordinary means, real or imaginary transportation within or beyond the laws of physics, space capsule, spaceship, teleporter, TARDIS, magic wand
Prose: 2025-word limit
Poetry: 50-line limit
Begins: 06-28-2025
Prose Deadline: 07-26-2025
Poetry Deadline: 08-30-2025
Suggestions: Getting somewhere by extraordinary means, real or imaginary transportation within or beyond the laws of physics, space capsule, spaceship, teleporter, TARDIS, magic wand
Prose: 2025-word limit
Poetry: 50-line limit
Begins: 06-28-2025
Prose Deadline: 07-26-2025
Poetry Deadline: 08-30-2025
August Contest
Theme: Any Mode of Transportation Goes! (Anything Goes)
Prose: 2025-word limit
Poetry: 50-line limit
Begins: 07-26-2025
Prose Deadline: 08-30-2025
Poetry Deadline: 08-30-2025
Prose: 2025-word limit
Poetry: 50-line limit
Begins: 07-26-2025
Prose Deadline: 08-30-2025
Poetry Deadline: 08-30-2025
Bonus Contests
Please check each contest for a deadline. They range from January to September.
Paint & Pen Contest, Part I
Theme: Anything Goes
Be the muse for future art!
Prose: 1,000-word limit
Poetry: 50-line limit
Begins: 12-07-2024
Deadline: 01-25-2025
Cost: FREE for members - No maximum entry
See the 2025 Pen & Paint Contest, Part I page for more details.
Click Here: Pen and Paint I Contest
Be the muse for future art!
Prose: 1,000-word limit
Poetry: 50-line limit
Begins: 12-07-2024
Deadline: 01-25-2025
Cost: FREE for members - No maximum entry
See the 2025 Pen & Paint Contest, Part I page for more details.
Click Here: Pen and Paint I Contest
President's Contest
Theme: It Goes When It Snows
Suggestions: Transport for ice and snow, sleds, sleighs, snowmobiles, snowboards, snowshoes, skis
This contest consists of three categories: Prose (2025 words), Flash (500 words), and Drabble (100 words exactly)
Begins: 1-25-2025
Deadline: 02-22-2025
Cost: FREE for members. Members only contest. Unlimited entries.
See the 2025 President's Contest page for more details.
Suggestions: Transport for ice and snow, sleds, sleighs, snowmobiles, snowboards, snowshoes, skis
This contest consists of three categories: Prose (2025 words), Flash (500 words), and Drabble (100 words exactly)
Begins: 1-25-2025
Deadline: 02-22-2025
Cost: FREE for members. Members only contest. Unlimited entries.
See the 2025 President's Contest page for more details.
Poet Laureate Poetry Contest
Theme: Terminals
Suggestions: Planes, trains, teleport, spaceships, buses, etc., and specifically arrivals and departures
This contest consists of three categories: haibuns, sonnets, and any form goes, with first, second, and third-place winners in each category. Participants may submit one poem per category, for a total of up to three entries per person.
Begins: 1-25-2025
Deadline: 02-22-2025
Cost: Free to members. Non-member entries are $3 for each poem submitted. $10 critiques available, with critique proceeds donated to Saturday Writers.
See the 2025 Poet Laureate contest page for more details.
Suggestions: Planes, trains, teleport, spaceships, buses, etc., and specifically arrivals and departures
This contest consists of three categories: haibuns, sonnets, and any form goes, with first, second, and third-place winners in each category. Participants may submit one poem per category, for a total of up to three entries per person.
Begins: 1-25-2025
Deadline: 02-22-2025
Cost: Free to members. Non-member entries are $3 for each poem submitted. $10 critiques available, with critique proceeds donated to Saturday Writers.
See the 2025 Poet Laureate contest page for more details.
Children's Literature / Young Adult Fiction Contest
Theme: Anything Goes
Prose: 2,025-word limit
Begins: 06-28-2025
Deadline: 07-26-2025
Cost: $5.00 per entry for members, $10:00 per entry for nonmembers. $10 critique available.
See the 2025 Children's Literature contest page for more details.
Prose: 2,025-word limit
Begins: 06-28-2025
Deadline: 07-26-2025
Cost: $5.00 per entry for members, $10:00 per entry for nonmembers. $10 critique available.
See the 2025 Children's Literature contest page for more details.
Paint & Pen Contest, Part II
Theme: Anything Goes
Prose: 1,000-word limit
Poetry: 50-line limit
Begins: 08-30-2025
Deadline: 09-27-2025
Cost: FREE for members - You may enter up to one entry per picture.
See the 2025 Pen & Paint Contest, Part II page for more details.
Prose: 1,000-word limit
Poetry: 50-line limit
Begins: 08-30-2025
Deadline: 09-27-2025
Cost: FREE for members - You may enter up to one entry per picture.
See the 2025 Pen & Paint Contest, Part II page for more details.