Australian Writing Competitions 2018

Writers should be paid for their work. Here are some Australian writing competitions that authors from Australia and New Zealand can enter.

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Short Story Competitions

Eastwood/Hills FAW Literary Competition

Open to NZ and Australian writers, open theme

Word limit: 3000

Fee: $7

Prize $250, 2nd $100

Deadline: 15th May 2018

Overland Literary Journal

New writers prize open to residents of Aus and NZ

Word limit: 3000

Fee: $20

Prize: $6000 1st, $1000 2nd, $1000 3rd

Deadline: 11 June 2018

AWC Furious Fiction

Australian Writers Centre competition open to writers all over the world for 55 hours, happens monthly on the first Friday.

Word limit: 500

Due by: Next competition live at 5pm on Friday 7th September.

Fee: free

Prize: $500

Odyssey House Victoria Short Story Competition

Word limit: 1500

Fee: $10 AUD

Prize: $1,000

Due by: 2 November 2018

Australian Shadows Awards

Horror or dark fiction

Submissions open: December – Feb 2019

Deadlines throughout the year

Stringy Bark Stories

Different genres including historical

Paying Markets

These are magazines that will pay you for your short stories and flash fiction.

Overland Journal

Pays $500 for a story, $150 for a poem

Smokelong Quarterly

Pay $25 per story.

Westerly Magazine

Up to 3500 words. Pay $180 per story.

Breach

Sci fi and horror magazine.

500 – 2000 words. Pay 1 cent per word.

Aurealis

Sci fi / fantasy / horror magazine.

I hope to update the list of Australian creative writing competitions and magazines that pay for submissions as more are advertised.

Comment below if you know of any.

See also:

NZ Writing Competitions 2018

Competitions with international submissions has a list of flash fiction and short story markets open to writers anywhere in the world.

3 thoughts on “Australian Writing Competitions 2018”

  1. I may consider entering the competition open to international audiences. Small writing competitions such as these are always a great motivator to get creative! I do have concerns about intellectual protection/copyrights with competitions, but it’s important to put yourself out there.

  2. Yes I thought the 55 hour one looked pretty fun. Completely understand what you mean about rights. It’s not easy negotiating the writing world.

  3. Pingback: NZ Writing Competitions 2018 - Writer Side Of Life

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