Student Contest Opportunities
September to November
YoungArts National Competition
Are you a 15- to 18-year old visual, literary or performing artist?
The National YoungArts Foundation identifies and nurtures the most accomplished young artists in the visual, literary, design and performing arts and assists them at critical junctures in their educational and professional development.
Additionally, YoungArts Winners are eligible for nomination as a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, one of the nation’s highest honors for high school students who exemplify academic and artistic excellence.
Receive cash prizes between $100 and $10,000.
Deadline: October 15, 2021
NYT Coming of Age in 2021: A Multimedia Contest for Teenagers
What can you show or tell us that might help explain what it’s like to be a teenager in 2021?
We want to hear your answers to these questions in whatever way you want to respond, whether in words or images, audio or video.
Like last fall’s Coming of Age in 2020 Contest, this challenge is an invitation to document, reflect and express yourself creatively on any aspect, big or small, of what it means to be growing up in this extraordinary moment.
For inspiration, take a look at the work of the 2020 winners, and visit the related writing unit. (Please note: This year the contest is open to students all over the world.)
Deadline: October 27, 2021
Click here for more details!
Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Hollins University, the Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest is in its fifty-eighth year. The contest awards prizes for the best poems submitted by young women who are sophomores or juniors in high school. Prizes up to $5,000 are awarded to winners. Winners are chosen by students and faculty members in the creative writing program at Hollins.
Deadline: October 31, 2021
Click here for more details!
Hispanic Heritage Month Essay Contest
Encourage your favorite Titan to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by naming and explaining why a Hispanic or Latino, past or present, inspires them to dream big. The essay (500 words or less) deadline is October 31! Students can win scholarship money. Click here for details.
Contest opens September 15, 2021!
Bennington Young Writers Awards 2021-2022
Students in the 9th-12th grades during the academic year are invited to submit one entry by the November 1 deadline. First-place winners in each category are awarded a prize of $1,000; second-place winners receive $500; third-place winners receive $250.
> Poetry: a group of three poems.
Poems must be typed. Each page must clearly show the author's name.
> Fiction: a short story or one-act play.
Short stories must be typed, double-spaced, and fewer than 1500 words. Scripts must be typed, double-spaced, and run no more than 30 minutes (playing time). Each page must clearly show the author's name.
> Nonfiction: a personal or academic essay.
Stories and nonfiction must be typed, double-spaced, and fewer than 1500 words. Each page must clearly show the author's name.
Click here for more details!
VSA Playwright Discovery Competition
Each year, young writers with and without disabilities, in U.S. grades 6-12 (or equivalents) or ages 11-18 for non-U.S. students, are asked to explore the disability experience through the art of script writing for stage or screen.
Writers may craft scripts from their own experiences and observations, create fictional characters and settings, or choose to write metaphorically or abstractly about the disability experience. Winners in these divisions will receive $500 for arts programs at their schools.
Click here for more details! Stay tuned for the application to open at the end of October!
One Teen Story Fiction Contest
One Teen Story publishes 3 stories a year and accepts submissions from teen writers ages 13-19. For a list of writers we have published in the past and short samples of their stories, please visit our past issues page.
We’re excited to announce our newest One Teen Story Contest! From September 9th through November 19th, 2021, we’re asking writers ages 13-19 to enter their original, unpublished fiction.
We are interested in great short stories of any genre about the teen experience—literary, fantasy, sci-fi, love stories, horror, etc. What’s in a great short story? Interesting teen characters, strong writing, and a beginning, middle, and end.
The contest winners will receive $500 upon publication and 25 copies of the magazine featuring their work.
Submission Period: September 9th - November 19th, 2021
Click here for more details!
John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Essay Contest
Describe and analyze an act of political courage by a US elected official who served during or after 1917.
To learn more about political courage, visit Contest Information and FAQs.
All submissions must adhere to contest requirements.
Contest Deadline: January 14, 2022
First-place: $10,000
Second-place: $3,000
Five Finalists: $1,000 each
Eight Semi-finalists: $100 each
NYT Personal Narrative Writing Contest
Personal Narrative Writing Contest
Write a short, powerful story about a meaningful experience from your life — in 600 words or fewer. Here are this year’s rules. For inspiration, take a look at the work of the 2020 winners, and visit the related writing unit.
Deadline: November 17, 2021