SouthWest Writers stays active in the writing community by sponsoring contests and events that support, encourage, and reward writers of all experience levels.
The 2021 Writing Contest opened February 1 and closed at midnight on May 31. The top three award winners in each category will be announced — in no particular order — at the SWW Saturday meeting on July 3, 2021. Awards will be presented during SWW’s annual business meeting on Saturday, October 2, 2021. Copies of the winner’s anthology will be available for purchase at that time. If a winner cannot be present to receive the award, it will be sent by regular mail. Winners’ names will be posted on the SWW website and in the SouthWest Sage newsletter after October 2, 2021.
The 2020 Annual Writing Contest offered writers the chance to enter their short works in 22 categories of prose and poetry. Winners are listed here as well as in the October 2020 issue of SouthWest Sage. Most winning entries are included in SWW’s contest anthology Seeing the World in 20/20.
After a five-year break from sponsoring an annual writing competition, SWW returned with the 2019 Prose & Poetry Contest. The competition was held in tandem with the 2019 writing conference jointly sponsored by SouthWest Writers (SWW) and Military Writers Society of America (MWSA). The contest gave the opportunity for members of both organizations, and the public, to compete in eight categories of nonfiction, seven of fiction, and the single category of poetry. MWSA holds an annual published book contest, which was open to SWW members in 2019. Winners were published in SouthWest Writers Award-Winning Short Stories and Poetry. (Go to this page for the list of winners of the 2019 Prose & Poetry Contest.)
Our long-running Annual International Writing Contest was held for 10 years from 2004 to 2014. In 2015, the SWW board of directors voted not to continue the contest. Please read the note of explanation from past SWW President Rob Spiegel. Click here for our previous annual winners.
Our Bimonthly Writing Contest ran from 2010-2015 (with a break in 2014). Click here for our previous bimonthly winners.
