How to enter

The Hope Prize Submission Guidelines

The 2025 Hope Prize opens for submissions on Thursday 1 May at 9:00 AM EST.
The deadline for receipt of entries is Friday 31 October 2025 at 11:59 PM EST.

Entry Fees

An early bird entry fee of $20 AUD (approx. $13 USD / €12 EUR / £10 GBP etc) applies to all entries submitted by 30 June 2025.
After this date, the regular entry fee of $30 AUD (approx. $19 USD / €18 EUR / £15 GBP etc) will apply.

Each story must be submitted separately, and each must be accompanied by its own entry fee.

Financial hardship access: We offer a limited number of fee-free places for writers experiencing financial hardship. If this applies to you, simply email us at hello@thehopeprize.com with your request and a short statement of need. No extensive personal details are required. Waivers are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and limited to one per person to help us support as many writers as possible.

Eligibility

To enter, writers must be 18 years or older by close of submissions on 31 October 2025.
There are no geographical restrictions. The Hope Prize is an international competition, open to writers from anywhere in the world.

Submission Format

Entries must be:

• Written in English

• A maximum of 5,000 words (no minimum)

• Double-spaced

• Set in 12-point Times New Roman font (ideally)

Please do not include your name or personal information anywhere in the piece document. Include only the title and the story text to ensure a de-identified judging process.

What to Submit

The Hope Prize is a short story competition and we accept prose short stories only; either fiction or narrative nonfiction (including memoir).
We do not accept poetry, essays, or academic writing.

Genre, style, and subject matter are open (and we encourage bold self expression and boundary pushing), though stories should align with the core themes of hope, courage, and resilience, as personally experienced or imagined by you, the writer.

We only accept previously unpublished work. This includes work that has not been published in print, online, or on social media.

Please note:
We welcome writers at all stages of their journey.
You don’t need a publishing history or formal training. You just need a compelling story and the skill to tell it well. We believe great writing is rooted in curiosity, sharp observation and literary instinct, not credentials. Whether this is your first submission or your fiftieth, we’re excited to read work that moves us, challenges us and stays with us.

How to Submit

All entries must be submitted via the Submittable platform.
You will find a link to submit on our homepage once the prize opens.

Inspiration

We encourage writers to read our 2024 anthology, Tomorrow There Will Be Sun, and follow us on Instagram @hopeprize for story highlights, updates, and a sense of the kind of writing we champion.

Publication

The winning entries, along with selected highly commended stories, will be published in an anthology by Simon & Schuster Australia.

Royalties from the sale of the anthology will be donated to CAMFED (The Campaign for Female Education), supporting girls’ education and empowerment globally.