Writing Competitions in New Zealand: A Quarterly Short Story Contest Open From Anywhere in Aotearoa
Quick answer: Writing competitions in New Zealand mostly close once a year; Writory's short story contest closes every round. Entry is $8 for one story of 100 to 6,000 words in any genre. Judging is blind against a published rubric, every entrant receives a certificate and a score out of 100 on 5 December 2026, and writers keep all rights.
Entry is $8 for one story of 100 to 6,000 words in English, te reo Māori or any other language. The deadline is 30 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, breakfast time the next morning in Wellington, and every entrant receives a certificate and a score out of 100 on 5 December 2026.
Where a quarterly contest fits beside the Sargeson Prize and Landfall
New Zealand's short fiction has serious homes. The Sargeson Prize, run by the University of Waikato since 2019 and named for Frank Sargeson, is the country's richest short story award. Landfall, published from Otago since 1947, is the longest-running literary journal in the country, and the Sunday Star-Times Short Story Awards have been a first credit for decades of New Zealand writers. Katherine Mansfield, born in Wellington in 1888, is still the name most of the world reaches for first when the short story comes up.
All of those close once a year and reply to most entrants with nothing. Writory's contest is built for the months in between. Entries close on 30 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, with results on 5 December 2026. Every entrant, not only the placed ones, receives a certificate and a five-part score out of 100. The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards and the Auckland Writers Festival will still be there in May; a quarterly score simply tells you how the draft is going before then.
What the contest asks of you
Stories of 100 to 6,000 words, any genre, entered online at /submit-story by anyone aged 13 or over. Write in English, te reo Māori, Samoan, Tongan or any other language; each story is read in the language it was written in and judged in one pool. Names are removed before the panel reads. The rubric is public: Storytelling & Structure 25, Character & Emotional Impact 25, Language & Craft 20, Originality & Voice 20, Impact & Resonance 10.
The top prize each round is $100, and the winner enters the next round free. There is no open free entry; free rounds are earned. You keep all rights, so a story that scores well here can still go to Landfall, Takahē or the Sargeson Prize afterwards, and nothing you enter is published without your permission. The first contest runs from 1 September 2026 to 30 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, with results and certificates on 5 December 2026 at 8:00 PM IST. Story rounds run every three months, closing on the last day of February, May, August and November. Results follow on the 5th of the next month. The next round opens on the 1st, before the previous round's results.
The deadline is breakfast time in Wellington
The round closes on 30 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. Local deadline: Wellington and Auckland: 1 December 2026 at 07:29 GMT+13. These dates include the local clock change for this round. Results and certificates follow on 5 December 2026.
Use the local deadline above when planning your entry. Allow time to upload, complete payment and check that the story appears in your account; submitting a day early avoids a last-minute rush. The first contest runs from 1 September 2026 to 30 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, with results and certificates on 5 December 2026 at 8:00 PM IST. Story rounds run every three months, closing on the last day of February, May, August and November. Results follow on the 5th of the next month. The next round opens on the 1st, before the previous round's results.
Paying from New Zealand, and how the prize is paid
Writory is based in India and prices entry for everyone outside India in US dollars: $8 for one story, $14 for two, $25 for five. Pay by Visa or Mastercard debit or credit, or through PayPal, at /submit-story. Your bank converts at the day's rate, which puts a single entry at roughly NZ$13 at the time of writing; we do not set a fixed New Zealand dollar price because the rate would date it within a month.
The $100 prize is paid by PayPal, which works with New Zealand bank accounts. Written feedback on a story is an optional extra at entry, priced separately; the certificate and the score come with every entry. Writory's paid Story Craft course at /academy/story-craft is a sensible place to start if the story is not yet drafted. It runs from premise to final line in short lessons, each tied to one part of the rubric.
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 6,000 words by 30 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. Every story is judged blind against the rubric above, and results arrive on 5 December 2026: every entrant receives a certificate with their name and a score out of 100. Writers keep all rights. Winners earn free entry to the next round. Enter at https://writoryofficial.com/submit-story.
Common questions
Is the contest open to writers in New Zealand?
Yes, from Kaitaia to Bluff and the Chathams too, on the same terms as every other country. There is no separate New Zealand category and no quota. Judging is blind, so the panel never sees a name or a location, and every story is read in its own language in a single pool.
How much is entry in New Zealand dollars?
Entry is charged in US dollars: $8 for one story, $14 for two, $25 for five. Your card converts at the day's rate, which at the time of writing puts a single entry at roughly NZ$13. Winning a round makes the next entry free, and entering three rounds in a row earns a free entry too.
What does every entrant receive?
A certificate in your name and a score out of 100, split across the five published rubric parts, delivered on 5 December 2026 alongside the winners' announcement. You are not told your rank or the size of the field, only how your own story was read against the rubric.
What time is the deadline in New Zealand?
The round closes on 30 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. Local deadline: Wellington and Auckland: 1 December 2026 at 07:29 GMT+13. These dates include the local clock change for this round. Results and certificates follow on 5 December 2026.
Can I write in te reo Māori?
Yes. A story in te reo Māori is read in te reo Māori, not translated, and scored against the same five-part rubric as every English entry in the same pool. The same applies to Samoan, Tongan, Cook Islands Māori or any other language you write in.
Will entering here disqualify my story from the Sargeson Prize or a journal?
Entering is not publication, so the story remains unpublished and you keep all rights. Most New Zealand prizes and journals ask only that a piece is unpublished; a few ask that it is not under consideration elsewhere at the same time, so read their rules and time your entries accordingly.
More story contest pages
About Writory
Writory (writoryofficial.com) is an international monthly poetry contest founded in 2025 by Shivay Mehra. Poets from 40 countries have entered, readers come from more than 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.