Writing Contests in 2026 That Answer Every Entrant
Quick answer: Writing contests in 2026 worth entering share three marks: a deadline with a timezone, a published rubric, and winners named on dated pages. Writory's Short Story Contest has all three: $8 entry, 100 to 3,000 words in any genre, deadline 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, and a certificate and score out of 100 for every entrant.
Enter a story of 100 to 3,000 words for $8 before 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST; every entrant receives a certificate and a five-part score out of 100, win or not.
Two contests, one standard
Writory runs two monthly contests. The poetry contest has run every month for over a year: any language, entries close on the 25th, results by month end, and every poet receives a certificate and a score. The Short Story Contest opened on 1 September 2026 and takes original fiction of 100 to 3,000 words, any genre, any language, each story read in its own language and all of them judged in one pool. Both are entered online, both are judged blind, and both return the same thing to the writer who places last as to the one who wins: a certificate and a score.
The story rubric is public and does not change between rounds: Storytelling & Structure 25, Character & Emotional Impact 25, Language & Craft 20, Originality & Voice 20, Impact & Resonance 10. A score of 71 tells you which of the five held you back, which is a different kind of information from a rejection. The winner takes $100 and a free entry to the next round. Writers keep every right; a placed story can still go to a magazine the following week.
The deadline, and why it is on Indian time
Story entries close on 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST and results arrive on 30 November 2026. The contest is run from India, so the clock is Indian Standard Time, five and a half hours ahead of UTC. At 11:59 PM in Delhi it is early evening in London, early afternoon on the US East Coast, mid-morning on the West Coast and already the next morning in Sydney and Manila. The hour shifts with daylight saving in your country, not in India, which does not observe it.
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. The poetry contest keeps the same 25th-and-month-end rhythm, so a writer working in both forms has two deadlines a month that fall in the same week, and a scorecard from each within days of the other.
How to judge a writing contest before you pay
Before paying any fee, ours included, open the contest's results page. Winners should be named with dates going back more than one round; Writory's poetry winners are on /past-winners and include writers from India, the United States, Ireland, Kenya and Slovenia. The story contest is new, and its first winners will be published on /winning-stories after 30 November 2026; until then, judge it by the rubric at /short-story-judging-criteria and by the poetry record it inherits.
Then read the rights clause. Entering should grant the organiser nothing beyond permission to judge, and any publication of a winning piece should require consent and credit. Check what the fee buys: a contest that charges and then answers only its shortlist is charging for a lottery ticket. Writory's fee is $8 a story, $14 for two, $25 for five, and each of those stories comes back scored.
What Writory is not
This is a monthly contest for short fiction and poetry. It is not a novel prize, a screenwriting contest or an essay competition, and there is no nonfiction category. Nothing here is free at the door: free entry is earned by winning a round or by entering three rounds running, which brings the Seasoned Quill badge and a free entry. If what you need in 2026 is a large annual prize with no fee, the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and Furious Fiction exist and are worth your time; Writory is the monthly practice that sits beside them.
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
Who is eligible to enter in 2026?
Anyone aged 13 or over, in any country, with an original story of 100 to 3,000 words or an original poem. There is no residency requirement, no citizenship rule and no separate category by nationality; every entry goes into one pool and is read with the writer's name removed.
What does it cost, and is there a free way in?
Story entry is $8 for one story, $14 for two, $25 for five; the poetry contest has its own lower fee on its own page. Free entry is earned, never open: win a round and the next entry is free, or enter three rounds running and the Seasoned Quill badge brings a free entry with it.
What is on the certificate, and where does the score appear?
The certificate carries your name and the contest round and records a blind-judged, scored result, not attendance. The score arrives with it on 30 November 2026 as five separate marks out of 100, one per rubric line, so you can see which part of the story held and which did not. Individual scores are never published.
Which Writory contest should I enter first?
The one whose deadline you can meet with finished work. A poem takes less time to complete and the poetry round closes on the 25th of every month; a story of 100 to 3,000 words closes on 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. Both return a certificate and score, so neither is the practice round for the other.
Can I enter both contests in the same month?
Yes. They are separate contests with separate fees, rubrics and results, and nothing stops a writer entering a poem and a story in the same month. Each entry is judged only against entries in its own contest, and each returns its own certificate and score.
Do entries have to be in English?
No. Both contests accept any language, and each entry is read in the language it was written in rather than through a translation. It is judged in the same pool as every other entry, against the same rubric, with the writer's name removed.
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.