American Society of Human Genetics - DNA Day Essay Contest

Submission Window:  January - March (specific deadline dates may vary by year)
This contest is open to students in grades 9-12 worldwide and asks students to examine, question, and reflect on important concepts in genetics. Essays are expected to be well-reasoned arguments that indicate a deep understanding of scientific concepts related to the essay question.

BOW Seat Ocean Awareness Contest
Submission Deadline:  June (specific deadline date may vary by year)

The 2020 Ocean Awareness Contest is a call for young artists, conservationists, makers, thinkers, and activists who are concerned about the future of our blue planet.  Join thousands of youth around the world in our annual program that raises awareness about the climate crisis and potential solutions, uplifts youth voices for ocean conservation, and inspires hope and action through art, creative media, and storytelling.

New York Times STEM Writing Contest
Submission Window:  February - March (specific deadline date may vary by year)
Explain a complex and interesting science, math, engineering, or technology concept to a general audience, using the Science Times column Trilobites as a model. Here are the rules and guidelines. For inspiration, take a look at the work of the 2020 winners.

New York Times Editorial Contest
Submission Window: March - April (specific deadline date may vary by year)
Write an editorial on an issue that matters to you. Here are last year’s rules. For inspiration, take a look at the work of the 2019-20 winners.

River of Words Poetry and Art Contest
Annual Submission Deadline:  December 1 (specific deadline date may vary by year)
This free, annual, international youth poetry and art contest youth in grades K-12 to translate their observations into creative expression. Since River of Words is dedicated to environmental literacy and seeks to inspire youth to explore their watersheds, submissions should address one's environment, or one's watershed, in some way.​

BOW Seat Ocean Awareness Contest
Submission Deadline:  June (specific deadline date may vary by year)

Research and choose an inspirational scientist, activist, artist, educator, or other hero who is working to solve climate change issues. Create a piece of art, writing, or media that highlights their efforts, organizations, and/or positive impacts. We are familiar with the amazing work of environmental giants like Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough. We challenge you to introduce the Bow Seat community to a Climate Hero whose work we may not know about yet – but should.

Letters About Literature

(sponsored by UConn’s Neag School of Education, Connecticut Writing Project, and UConn Department of English)

Submission Deadline:  January (specific deadline date may vary by year)
Each year, a reading and writing contest known as Letters About Literature is held nation-wide for students in grades 4-12. . Students are asked to read a book, poem, or speech and write a letter to that author (living or dead) about how the text affected them personally. Letters are judged on the state level. UConn’s Neag School of Education, along with the Connecticut Writing Project and UConn’s Department of English, are the contest’s designated sponsors for the state of Connecticut.

NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing

Restrictions: Grade 11 only, by teacher nomination
Juniors in the current academic school year are eligible to be nominated by their school’s English department.  Nominations are based on whether the writer exhibits the power to inform and move an audience through control of a wide range of the English language.  Entries are only accepted from teachers

New York Times 2022-23 Student Contests
Categories:  personal narrative, review, essay, editorial, STEM writing, art video, podcast, photography, and more
Submission Window:  varies by contest
From art and editorials to personal narratives, profiles and podcasts, a list of the nine contests — plus additional weekly and monthly challenges — the NYT is running this year.

New York Times 2021-22 Vocabulary Challenge
Monthly challenges for the 2021-22 school year to help students get creative with NYT daily vocabulary words.

Princeton University Ten-minute Play Contest
Restrictions:  current high school juniors
Submission Deadline:  March (specific deadline date may vary by year)
Eligibility for this annual playwriting contest is limited to students in the eleventh grade in the U.S. (or international equivalent of the eleventh grade). Each year the jury consists of members of the Princeton University Program in Theater faculty.

New Voices One-Act Competition for Young Playwrights
SPECIFIC SUBMISSION DATES TBA
Submission Deadline:  (specific deadline date may vary by year)
YouthPLAYS New Voices One-Act Competition for Young Playwrights, designed to encourage young writers to create new works for the stage. There will be cash prizes for the winner and runner-up, as well as representation of the winning play through YouthPLAYS, the publisher of plays for young actors and audiences.

YoungArts
Restrictions:  Ages 15–18 or in grades 10–12
Submission Deadline:  October (specific deadline date may vary by year)
Cost: $25 per submission

The National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) signature program is an application-based award for emerging artists from across the United States. Winners receive valuable support, including financial awards of up to $10,000, professional development and educational experiences working with renowned mentors, and performance and exhibition opportunities at some of the nation’s leading cultural institutions. It is the nation's only path to becoming a Presidential Scholar in the Arts

America Library of Poetry
Submission Window: May - April (specific deadline dates may vary by year)
The Student Poetry Contest is ongoing. Entries are accepted year-round and placed in the contest most current at the time of their receipt.  Each contest states a deadline of April 30th.  The next contest begins the following day.  See website for awards.

Bennington College Young Writers Awards

RESTRICTIONS: GRADES 9-12 ONLY
Submission Window:  September - November (specific deadline dates may vary by year)
Bennington launched the Young Writers Awards to promote excellence in writing at the high school level. Their goal with this competition is to recognize outstanding writing achievement by high school students in the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. Bennington College has a unique literary legacy, including twelve Pulitzer Prize winners, three U.S. poet laureates, four MacArthur Geniuses, countless New York Times bestsellers, and two of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people.

BOW Seat Ocean Awareness Contest
Submission Deadline:  June  (specific deadline date may vary by year)

Research and choose an inspirational scientist, activist, artist, educator, or other hero who is working to solve climate change issues. Create a piece of art, writing, or media that highlights their efforts, organizations, and/or positive impacts. We are familiar with the amazing work of environmental giants like Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough. We challenge you to introduce the Bow Seat community to a Climate Hero whose work we may not know about yet – but should.

Carl Sandburg Student Poetry Contest
Submission Deadline:  (specific deadline date may vary by year)

The contest encourages young students to write poetry based on a theme which changes each year. Educators are invited to submit original poems written by their students. Students are guided only by an annual theme. Submissions can be written in any style. Poems are judged within grade categories, 3-5th, 6-8th, and 9-12th. Winning poets are then invited to share their work at a celebration in their honor.

Columbia College, Young Authors Writing Competition

Submission Deadline: No information since 2021

Started as a local writing contest in Chicago in 1995, the Young Authors Writing Competition has grown into a yearly international contest of high school writers. Sponsored by the English and Creative Writing Department at Columbia College Chicago, the competition has received tens of thousands of submissions from talented writers all over the world. Top submissions are awarded cash prizes and recognition in the categories of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.

Gannon University National High School Poetry Contest Competition

Submission Deadline: February (specific deadline date may vary by year)

The top three winners will receive a monetary award, a book, and publication in the Gannon Writing Awards program. Results will be published on our website www.gannon.edu/poetrycontest during the first week of April.  Poems may also win Honorable Mention awards.

Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest
Restrictions:  Young women who are sophomores or juniors
Submision Deadline:  October (specific deadline date may vary by year)
Sponsored by Hollins University, the Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest awards prizes for the best poems submitted by young women who are sophomores or juniors in high school or preparatory school. Prizes include cash and scholarship values. Winners are chosen by students and faculty members in the creative writing program at Hollins.

NEATE Annual Writing Contest
Restrictions:  Must be enrolled in a high school in New England
Submission Window:  TBD

High school students in New England are invited to participate in the New England Association of Teachers of English annual writing contest.  All students are eligible to submit works in the categories of nonfiction, poetry, and fiction.  In addition to a cash award, winners will be published in the NEATE publication, The Leaflet, and various NEATE forums.

Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers
Restrictions:  sophomores and juniors in high school only
Submission Window: Annually from November 1 - November 30 (specific deadline dates may vary by year)
The Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers recognizes outstanding young poets and is open to high school sophomores and juniors throughout the world. The contest winner receives a full scholarship to the Kenyon Review Young Writers workshop. In addition, the winning poem and the poems of the two runners-up will be published in The Kenyon Review, one of the country’s most widely read literary magazines.

Princeton University Poetry Contest
Restrictions:  Grade 11 only
Submission Deadline:  (specific deadline date may vary by year)

Each year, the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University sponsors contests and scholarships for high school students. The contest recognizes outstanding work by student writers in grade 11. ​The jury consists of members of the Princeton University Creative Writing faculty.

River of Words Poetry and Art Contest
Annual Submission Deadline: January (specific deadline date may vary by year) 

This free, annual, international youth poetry and art contest youth in grades K-12 to translate their observations into creative expression. Since River of Words is dedicated to environmental literacy and seeks to inspire youth to explore their watersheds, submissions should address one's environment, or one's watershed, in some way.​

Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

Submission Window: September - December (specific deadline dates may vary by year)
Established in 1923 and presented by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are the nation’s largest, longest-running, most prestigious visual and literary arts program recognizing creative accomplishments of students in grades 7–12. Through the Scholastic Awards, teens in grades 7–12 from public, private, or home schools can apply in 29 categories of art and writing for their chance to earn scholarships and have their works exhibited and published.

 
Smith College Poetry Prize for High School Girls
Restrictions:  Sophomore & Junior girls in New England
Submission Window:  September 1 - December 1, (specific deadline date may vary by year)

The Poetry Center at Smith College was founded in 1997.  It celebrates Smith’s long and illustrious relationship with such world-renowned poets as Sylvia Plath, W.H. Auden, Richard Wilbur, and Adrienne Rich.

YoungArts
Restrictions:  Ages 15–18 or in grades 10–12
Submission Deadline:  October (specific deadline date may vary by year)
Cost: $25 per submission

The National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) signature program is an application-based award for emerging artists from across the United States. Winners receive valuable support, including financial awards of up to $10,000, professional development and educational experiences working with renowned mentors, and performance and exhibition opportunities at some of the nation’s leading cultural institutions. It is the nation's only path to becoming a Presidential Scholar in the Arts.