A Poetry and Short Story Competition Under One Roof
Quick answer: Writory's poetry and short story competition is two monthly contests on one platform. The poetry contest is live and has run for over a year; the short story contest accepts original stories of 100 to 3,000 words, entry $8, deadline 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. Both are judged blind against published rubrics, and every entrant receives a certificate and a score out of 100.
Writory runs a monthly poetry contest and a monthly short story contest, both blind judged against published rubrics; story entry is $8, the story deadline is 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, and every entrant in either contest receives a certificate and a score out of 100.
Two contests, one standard
Writory began with a monthly poetry contest and has run it every month for over a year: blind judging against a published rubric, winners named on dated pages, a certificate and a score out of 100 for every entrant, and a top prize of $100 for international winners. The short story contest joined it on 1 September 2026 on the same terms. Stories of 100 to 3,000 words in any language, entered at /submit-story, judged blind against the five-part story rubric, every entrant scored.
The two contests share a platform and a philosophy, not a rubric. Poems are read against the poetry criteria; stories are read against Storytelling & Structure 25, Character & Emotional Impact 25, Language & Craft 20, Originality & Voice 20, Impact & Resonance 10, published at /short-story-judging-criteria. A writer who enters both receives two certificates and two scorecards, and learns which form their instincts serve.
Both contests keep the same three promises. Judging is blind, so a name carries nothing into the room. Every entrant is scored, not only the winners, so a month that does not place still returns a number you can work against. And writers keep all rights, so nothing entered here is taken off the table for a magazine, an anthology or a book later. The poetry contest has kept those promises on dated pages for over a year; the story contest makes them in writing from its first round.
Which contest is your piece for
Most pieces know what they are. If a person wants something and the piece turns on whether they get it, it is a story, whatever its length; a 120-word piece with a character and a turn belongs in the story contest. If it works by image, sound and line rather than event, it is a poem. The grey zone is the prose poem and the very short lyric story, and the honest test is which rubric the piece could score on. A prose poem entered as a story will be marked on structure and character it may not have.
Writers who work in both forms often find their scorecards rhyme. A poet whose Language & Craft mark is high in the story contest and whose structure mark is low has learned something about where the poetry habits help and where they do not. The poetry contest has its own entry page and its own pricing; the story contest's figures are below.
The short story contest, in numbers
The first contest runs from 1 September to 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, with results and certificates on 30 November 2026. From December the contest is monthly: entries close on the 25th, results on the 30th, and the next round opens the moment they land. Story entry is $8 for one story, $14 for two, $25 for five, each judged and scored separately. The top story of the round takes $100 and free entry to the next round. Every entrant receives a certificate and all five marks out of 100, and writers keep all rights to everything they enter. Free entry in either contest is earned, by winning a round or by the Seasoned Quill badge for three rounds running, and is never simply open.
The free Story Craft course at /academy/story-craft is six lessons on the short form, useful for poets crossing over, and story prompts at /short-story-prompts are there for the month you have nothing to say. Poets tend to arrive with the sentence already under control and the scene still to learn, and the course's lessons on structure and endings are where most of the crossing happens. Nothing in it is paid, and nothing in it is required before entering either contest.
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.
- Impact & Resonance (10 points): What the story leaves behind after the last line.
How it works
Submit an original story of 100 to 3,000 words by 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. Every story is judged blind against the rubric above, and results arrive on 30 November 2026: 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 both the poetry contest and the short story contest?
Yes. They are separate contests with separate entries, separate rubrics and separate results, and nothing stops a writer entering a poem and a story in the same month. Each entry receives its own certificate and score out of 100. Winning one contest does not affect standing in the other.
How much does the short story contest cost?
$8 for one story, $14 for two, $25 for five, paid online at /submit-story before 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. The poetry contest is priced separately on its own entry page. Free entry in either contest is earned by winning a round or by three consecutive rounds, never given at the door.
Do both contests give a certificate and a score?
Yes. Every entrant in the poetry contest and every entrant in the short story contest receives a certificate and a score out of 100, broken into the marks of that contest's published rubric. The story marks are Storytelling & Structure, Character & Emotional Impact, Language & Craft, Originality & Voice, and Impact & Resonance.
What are the length rules for each contest?
Stories run from 100 to 3,000 words, in any language, and are read in their own language in one pool. The poetry contest's length rules are on its own entry page. A very short piece with a character and a turn belongs in the story contest even at 100 words; a piece built on image and line belongs with the poems.
Is a prose poem a story or a poem here?
Enter it where it can score. The story rubric gives 50 of its 100 points to structure and character; a prose poem with neither will lose those marks however fine its sentences. If the piece has a person who wants something and a turn, enter it as a story. If it lives on image and cadence, the poetry contest reads it on its own terms.
Has the short story contest produced winners yet?
Not yet. The first story round closes on 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, with results and certificates on 30 November 2026, so the first story winners are named then. The poetry contest has over a year of dated winners pages behind it, which is where the platform's track record can be checked today.
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 impact and resonance. 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.