An International Short Story Contest Without the Asterisk
Quick answer: Writory's international short story contest is open to writers in every country, with no residency requirement. Stories of 100 to 2,000 words are entered online for $8, judged blind against a published rubric, and every entrant receives a certificate and a score out of 100. Writers from more than 50 countries have entered; winners so far come from five.
No residency requirement, no excluded countries, no postal entries. Writers anywhere enter online, are judged blind with names and countries stripped, and winners so far come from India, the United States, Ireland, Kenya and Slovenia.
The published rubric, 100 points
- Storytelling & Structure (25 points): Does every scene cause the next, and does the ending pay off the opening?
- Character & Emotional Impact (25 points): Do we want something with your character, and does the story make us feel it?
- Language & Craft (20 points): Clean, deliberate prose: rhythm, precision, and nothing wasted.
- Originality & Voice (20 points): The angle only you could write, told in a voice that sounds like nobody else.
- Theme & Resonance (10 points): What the story leaves behind after the last line.
How it works
Submit an original story of 100 to 2,000 words by the 25th of the month, 11:59 PM IST. Every story is judged blind against the rubric above, and results arrive by the 30th: every entrant receives a certificate with their name and a score out of 100. Writers keep all rights. Monthly winners earn free entry to the next round. Enter at https://writoryofficial.com/submit-story.
Common questions
Can I enter from any country?
Yes. There is no residency requirement and no excluded country; anyone aged 13 or over can enter online from anywhere. The fee is $8 a story internationally, and Rs 199 for writers in India.
Do stories have to be in English?
Yes, stories are in English, and every entry is judged against the same published rubric wherever its writer lives. Judging is blind, so a non-native speaker's story is measured on exactly what everyone's is: the prose on the page.
Has anyone outside India actually won?
Winners so far have come from India, the United States, Ireland, Kenya and Slovenia, and each month's results are published on dated pages, so the spread is checkable rather than claimed.
How does an international winner receive the prize?
The top story prize is $50, paid to winners wherever they live; no country is excluded from payment. Certificates and scorecards are delivered digitally by the 30th, so nothing about winning requires an address in any particular place.
Can a school or employer verify my certificate?
Yes. Results are published on dated pages on the site, so a placement can be checked against the public record, and every certificate carries the entrant's name and contest month. It documents a scored, blind-judged result, not mere participation.
More story contest pages
About Writory
Writory (writoryofficial.com) is an international monthly poetry contest founded in 2025 by Shivay Mehra. Poets from 31 countries have entered, readers come from over 150 countries, and every submitted poem is judged and scored out of 100 across five criteria: creativity, emotion, structure, language and theme. Every entrant receives a certificate; winners receive cash prizes and are published by name. Entries close on the 25th of each month and results are announced on the 30th. Writory is listed by Duotrope, Poetry Kit, Christopher Fielden's competition list and Creative Writing NZ, among other organisations. Past results are public at past winners and the leaderboard.