Kindness Essay Contest

BioStories is having its first essay contest, and the topic is kindness. Nonfiction only, please, and 3000-word maximum.

From the website:

“We encourage writers to interpret the theme broadly and creatively. Whether focused on random acts of kindness committed by strangers or presenting intimate portraits of lives devoted to doing good deeds—large or small, isolated or habitual, purposeful or accidental–we seek essays that demonstrate the redemptive spirit of humans.”

Prizes:  First place, $250 plus publication.

Reading fee: $10.00

Deadline is January 15, 2014. For more information, please visit their website.


Indies Unlimited is pleased to provide this contest information for the convenience of our readers. We do not, however, endorse this or any contest/competition. Entrants should always research a competition prior to entering.

Glamour Magazine Essay Contest

Glamour magazine’s annual “My Real Life Essay Contest” seeks—you guessed it—true-life essays. Maximum word length is 3500 words and Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Smiley will be on the judging panel.

Prizes:  First place, $5000 plus will be considered for publication.

Reading fee: None!

Deadline is February 1, 2014. For more information, please visit their website.


Indies Unlimited is pleased to provide this contest information for the convenience of our readers. We do not, however, endorse this or any contest/competition. Entrants should always research a competition prior to entering.

The Baltimore Review Winter Contest

The Baltimore Review seeks short fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry on the theme of the future. Word limit is 3000 for prose or up to three poems per entry.

Prizes:  First place, $500; Second place, $200; Third place, $100. All entries will be considered for publication.

Reading fee: $10 per submission.

Deadline is November 30, 2013. For more information, please visit their website.


Indies Unlimited is pleased to provide this contest information for the convenience of our readers. We do not, however, endorse this or any contest/competition. Entrants should always research a competition prior to entering.

Glimmer Train’s Short Story Award for New Writers

Glimmer Train is accepting submissions for their last quarterly Short Story Award for New Writers of 2013. Open only to writers who have not been published in a print publication with a circulation over 5,000.

Prizes: First place, $1500 and publication. Second place, $500. Third place, $300.00.

Reading fee: $15 per submission. No more than three submissions.

Deadline is November 30, 2013. For more information, please visit their website.


Indies Unlimited is pleased to provide this contest information for the convenience of our readers. We do not, however, endorse this or any contest/competition. Entrants should always research a competition prior to entering.