Sponsoring Institution: HG Wells Competition

Type: Writing Competition

Eligibility: Open to writers worldwide; there are no geographic restrictions or citizenship requirements, so international students can apply. Stories must be written in English, between 1,500 and 5,000 words.

Application Deadline: July 7th (Entries typically open in late January and close in early July)

Highlight: Short stories have often been an amazing medium for aspiring authors to publish their stories. Great authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Ernest Hemingway, and HG Wells have published countless short stories that have touched millions of hearts. Now, if you are an aspiring short story author, you have your own chance to submit an original work in English yourself within the HG Wells Short Story Competition. This creative writing competition restricts entries to between 1,500 and 5,000 words along with implementing double blind processes to guarantee fair scoring. Each year of this competition has an single phrase, open to interpretation theme in which the short stories should be about (such as “The Fool” 2024, “The Middle Ground” 2025, and “The Cheat 2026). Moreover, this creative writing competition has no geographic restrictions, meaning that anyone from the world can enter. A prize of £1,000 is available to those in the junior (21 and below) category and £500 for the senior category of this creative writing competition. Further, all authors on the short list have the opportunity to have their story printed for free in a quality paperback book that is sold worldwide!! Applications for this creative writing competition are open from January to July. For more information, visit their FAQ page and contact them at their email. Think you got what it takes to elicit emotions of fear like The War of the Worlds? Then sign up today!