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Our current competition: New Writers 100-Word Writing Competition 2026 – Deadline: 30th Apr 2026. Prizes: 1st: £1,000; 4x Runners-up: £100.

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F(r)iction Writing Contests – Spring 2026

15 May

Deadline: 23:59 (Denver Time) on 15th May 2026
Entry Fee: $10 for Poetry or Flash, $15 for Short Story or Creative Nonfiction
Prizes: Short Story: $1,000; Creative Nonfiction: $500; Poetry: $300; Flash: $300; winners and selected finalists are considered for publication in F(r)iction
Word Limit: Short stories: 1,001–7,500 words; Poetry: up the three pages per poem; Creative Nonfiction: up to 6,500 words; Flash fiction: up to 1,000 words per piece
Judges: Manuel Aragon (Short Stories), Trish Broome (Poetry), Shannon Chen See (Creative Nonfiction), Brett Pribble (Flash)
Categories: Short Story | Poetry | Fiction | Creative Nonfiction
Competition Website: frictionlit.org/contests/

The Spring 2026 F(r)iction Contests are open to entries of Short Story, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, and Flash Fiction.

In their writing contests, they seek writing that reflects a similar mission to our journal, F(r)iction: work that actively pushes the boundaries of traditional publishing, that has complex characters and a strong narrative arc, and makes the reader feel something. They are seeking stories they haven’t seen before, whether it twists or plays with genre, setting, language, voice, you name it.

Their contests also feature a panel of three guest judges to help decide the winners for each category. For Spring 2026, they have Manuel Aragon judging Short Story, Brett Pribble judging Flash Fiction, Shannon Chen See judging Creative Nonfiction, and Trish Broome judging Poetry.

Winners in each category will receive a cash prize, as well as work with one of their Senior Editors to see their work published either online or in our print journal!

Details

Date: 15 May
Writing Competition Categories: Flash Fiction Competitions, Non-fiction Competitions, Poetry Competitions, Short Story Competitions
Website: https://frictionlit.org/contests/

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