To encourage, recognize, and reward good writing, the Charlotte Writers Club sponsors four contests each year for adults, two for students. Our contests, listed below in the order of their closing dates, span a variety of genres. To enter a contest, click on its name in the list below.
For information about rules and guidelines that apply to all of our contests, please read Contest Rules and Submission Guidelines. Information particular to individual contests is spelled out below.
Opens: August 16, 2022
Closes: October 18, 2022
Entry Fees: CWC Members: $15.00, Non-members: $20.00
Prizes: First Place — $150, Second Place — $75, Third Place — $25
Winners Announced: December 13, 2022
Short fiction of up to 500 words.
CWC Nonfiction Contest (article/essay)
Opens: October 18, 2022
Closes: January 3, 2023
Entry Fees: CWC Members: $15.00, Non-members: $20.00
Prizes: First Place — $150, Second Place — $75, Third Place — $25
Winners Announced: February 21, 2022
Nonfiction between 750 and 4000 words.
Elizabeth Simpson Smith Short Story Contest
Opens: December 2, 2022
Closes: February 2, 2023
Entry Fees: CWC Members: $20.00, Non-members: $25.00
Prizes: First Place — $250, Second Place — $150, Third Place — $50
Winners Announced: March 21, 2023
A short story between 1500 and 4000 words.
Opens: December 28, 2022
Closes: February 28, 2023
Entry Fees: CWC Members: $15.00, Non-members: $20.00
Prizes: First Place — $150, Second Place — $75, Third Place — $25
Winners Announced: April 18, 2023
One poem of fewer than 50 lines; haiku excluded.