Contests
Free
Free writing contests ask for your work and nothing else. No entry fee, no reading charge, no cost to be considered. That is the whole of what this tag covers: contests where the only thing you risk is the manuscript itself.
If you have been holding back because every competition you found wanted money up front, these are the ones that do not. Send the poems, send the story, send the novel excerpt. The barrier is the writing, not the payment.
Site list
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Frequently asked questions
Where can I find free writing contests for adults?
The three contests here are open to adults and charge nothing to enter. Clevedon Poetry Award takes poems, PEN/Faulkner Award takes fiction, and Writers of the Future takes speculative short stories. You send work, not payment.
Are there international writing competitions with free entry?
Yes. All three accept entries from outside the United States and ask for no fee. Writers of the Future has drawn entrants from many countries, and the PEN/Faulkner Award and Clevedon Poetry Award are likewise open internationally. Free entry is what makes that reach possible.
What are the best free writing contests?
Best depends on what you write. If you write poems, Clevedon Poetry Award is built for that. If you write fiction, PEN/Faulkner Award is the one. If you write science fiction or fantasy short stories, Writers of the Future is the match. Each is free, so the choice is about your pages, not your wallet.
Conclusion
What separates these three from contests that charge an entry fee is simple: you can enter without paying. The Clevedon Poetry Award, the PEN/Faulkner Award and Writers of the Future all read submissions at no cost to the writer. That changes who can take part. A poet with a folder of unpublished work can send to Clevedon without weighing the fee against the rent. A novelist can put a manuscript in front of the PEN/Faulkner judges without a budget line. Writers of the Future does the same for speculative short fiction, and it has become a first credit for many who had none. None of them ask for money before they ask for pages. That is the whole distinction.