Cisco Writers Club’s 50th Annual Writing Contest is open! The deadline to get your entries in is midnight (Central Time) on July 31, 2026.
WHO MAY ENTER: Anyone, anywhere! You do not have to be a Cisco Writers Club member. (You must be 15 years or younger, born on or after August 1, 2010, to enter the Adventures in Writing category.)
CASH AWARDS: $100, $50, $10, and $5 respectively, will be given to judges’ determinations of first, second, third, and honorable mention. Additionally, the David Autry Sweepstakes Award is $250; ten other special awards are $50 each. We award noncash prizes only for Adventures in Writing. (In previous years, it was a 15-minute loop around Cisco in a private airplane, followed by a pizza party!)
FEES: $5.00 per entry; none for Adventures in Writing
CATEGORIES AND MAXIMUM LENGTHS:
1. Poetry (humorous, rhymed, unrhymed) – 30 lines
2. Publication Briefs: Anecdotes (as in Reader’s Digest) – 200 words; Columns – 750 words
3. Articles (general, inspirational, nostalgic) – 2000 words
4. Short Stories: For Children 12 and under – 1200 words; General – 2500 words
5. Books (fiction, nonfiction) – Brief synopsis and first two chapters
6. Adventures in Writing – Any genre, 1000 words maximum (age limit: writers must be 15 or under)
For complete rules and details on how to enter, visit ciscowritersclub.org and look for the Annual Writing Contest tab.
