Summer Contests Deadline Feb 28th 2026

Welcome to 

Wordkettle Summer Writing Contests!

SHORT STORY AND POETRY 

Held in association with Wordkettle manuscript assessment and editing

Scroll down for contests and rules. Any questions? Contact affatheeditor@gmail.com

 

SUMMER STORIES CONTEST

Short story of up to 4000 words (not including title)

Summer theme

Any genre

Deadline: 28th February 2026

FORMATTING

Ms must be written in TNR, Book Antiqua or Georgia font

Title, author and email address at the top of the first page

Use indented paragraphing

1.5 spacing

No extra space before or after paragraph

HOW TO ENTER

Send stories via ms attachment to affatheeditor@gmail.com

with SUMMER STORY CONTEST in the subject line.

ENTRY FEE

ONE STORY $33.00 

(or early bird entry before Nov 30 2025 $30)

TWO STORIES $55.00

(or early bird entry before Nov 30 2025 $50)

THREE STORIES $77.00 

(or early bird entry before Nov 30 2025 $70)

Payment may be made via Paypal to 

affatheeditor@gmail.com

Include a note to give author and story (or stories) name

If you prefer another type of payment, drop a note to affatheeditor@gmail.com

Every entry gets an edit and assessment.

PRIZES

1st: a trophy plus free assessment of any ms up to 40,000 words

2nd: free assessment of any ms up to 30,000 words

3rd: free assessment of any ms up to 20,000 words

4th: free assessment of any ms up to 10,000 words

SUMMER POETRY CONTEST

Rhyming poem of up to 30 lines (not including title)

Summer theme

Any genre

Deadline: 28th February 2026

Free verse of up to 30 lines (not including title)

Summer theme

Any genre

Deadline: 28th February 2026

FORMATTING

Ms must be written in TNR, Book Antiqua or Georgia font

Title, author and email address at the top of the first page

1.5 spacing

HOW TO ENTER

Send poems via ms attachment to affatheeditor@gmail.com

with SUMMER POETRY CONTEST (RHYMED) 

OR 

SUMMER POETRY CONTEST (FREE VERSE)

 in the subject line.

ENTRY FEE

ONE POEM $13.00 

(or early bird entry before Nov 30 2025 $10)

TWO POEMS $26.00

(or early bird entry before Nov 30 2025 $20)

THREE POEMS $46.00 

(or early bird entry before Nov 30 2025 $40)

Payment may be made via Paypal to 

affatheeditor@gmail.com

Include a note to give author and poem(s) names

If you prefer another type of payment, drop a note to affatheeditor@gmail.com

Every entry gets an edit and assessment.

PRIZES

1st: a trophy plus free assessment of any 10 poems up to 30 lines each

2nd: free assessment of any 10 poems up to 30 lines each

3rd: free assessment of any 7 poems up to 30 lines each

4th: free assessment of any 5 poems up to 30 lines each