The ArabLit Story Prize

Name: The ArabLit Story PrizeCategory: Short storyWord count: 3000 words or fewerEntry fee: FreePrize: $500Closing date: July 16, 2020. ArabLit Quarterly is a four-times-yearly magazine that...

Emma Lazarus Project Poetry Contest

Name: The Emma Lazarus Project Poetry ContestCategory: PoetryWord count: between 14 and 20 linesEntry fee: FreePrize: A trip to New York City for the award ceremony and publication on their...

Biopage Story Writing Contest

Name: Biopage Story Writing ContestCategory: Short storyWord count: 5,000 characters or roughly 1,000 wordsEntry fee: FreePrize: $1,000 (winner), $200 each (three runners-up)Closing date: July...

Drue Heinz Literature Prize

Name: Drue Heinz Literature PrizeCategory: Short fictionWord count: Not requiredEntry fee: FreePrize: $15,000Closing date: June 30, 2020. The University of Pittsburgh Press is accepting...

Variant Literature Writing Contest

Name: Variant Literature Writing ContestCategory: Poetry and FictionWord count: Not requiredEntry fee: FreePrize: Publication contractClosing date: June 30, 2020. You can now submit to the...

Zeenat Haroon Rashid Writing Prize for Women

Name: Zeenat Haroon Rashid Writing Prize for WomenCategory: Non-fiction writingWord count: Maximum of 3000 wordsEntry fee: Free for eligible writersPrize: Rs.100,000Closing date: June 30, 2020....

V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize

Name: V.S. Pritchett Short Story PrizeCategory: Short storyWord count: 2000 – 4000Entry fee: £7.50 per entry. Free for low-income writersPrize: £1,000Closing date: July 3, 2020. The Royal...

You and the Ring

No candle light No sweet scent No Sheeran’s “Perfect” Just you And the thought Of where he should have been   No white gown No down the aisle No Priest’s “say...

Free Friday Cocktail

It was Friday again You called her — as it was your manner Same rendezvous The corner of the bar Where the spinning rainbow ignores your existence She’s your Meerkat and that’s her...

He Found Me

I was stripped of my rind Then discarded I was a forsaken matter The type you find in the refuse With malodorous neigbours And the songs of the flies   Dampened and depraved I thought that...

A New Orge on the Street

There used to be orges on the street They used to be wars of loud bang Of the songs that filled the street with raving wails and gnash Of AKs that drilled our walls Of thunderous boom That turned...

My Day

This is Me

I Ask No Man Pardon

Chapter 1: O Murdres! This world, you know, is concrete. And did I mention cold?” I said lying on the bed. My lower body was inside the black velvety quilt. I put a cigarette between my lips,...

I won’t leave you

I won’t leave you, ever You will be my always, forever Even if you bleed me Even if you crush me Even if you harm me Even if you disturb me I won’t leave you, ever I love you,...

The Girl

The girl who used to motivate others… Is now the girl who herself need motivation…. The girl who stopped other from ending their life… Is now the girl who want to end her life...

Love

Going through the oldies Refolding the old stories The scars were gone long But left their marks behind on me The flowers in the books Were no less than a fool Making love relive We lost...

I live past me!

I bleed red,The scars rustedthe tears overflown,I craved for painnot for a sympathy gainquite long living suffocationI lived throbbing in every pulse,flowing in every veinI die less faster than i...

The Sketch

A pale and colourless piece of art.I found in my cupboard,Made by someone close to my heart.It was a sketch with no shades.Or, the colours have been washed up by the waves.Some spark was there,In...

WORDS OF A SHATTERED SOUL

When I was in a state of despair,I made up my mind of desist everything.I was fully covered with darknessNo hope of light!No hope of happiness! No one was there to help me out.No one was there to...

I Waited Here

I waited here Those long hours, for youHopeful, you would notice me todayThen you cameAnd you gave a glanceTwo-second attention – like a goldfishI countedThrough the hurry in your eyesI...

Delusions

Fola grinned on the front page again, beside the president. Why him all the time? Where has he been that I haven’t? I’ve been to the tropical paradise where green carpet damps the...

Need

I need to be reminded what a privileged life I have.  So many horrible things happen in this life time and so many people endure horrible things.  Happiness should be celebrated and there is no...

14

I wish you knew  How it felt  To run my hands through your hair  Grab your black tshirt around your waist  The way your arms felt I’ve always missed  Gripping them in my hands when you pushed...