contests

2026 SWG Spring Writing Contest


Use the picture below to inspire your story.
Where did your character(s) find it? What’s inside?
And what happens after your character(s) discover what’s inside?

  • Must be a paid SWG Member to enter
  • Must be a short story or poem about finding a message in a bottle
  • It can be any genre
  • No more than 750 words total (not including the title)
  • No AI
  • 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place Winners of the 2025 Fall Contest are not eligible to enter
  • Be sure and put your name on the email but not on the story
  • Entries must be received no later than 11:59pm on March 31st
  • Give your entry a title and email it as an attachment or in the message body to SWGContests@gmail.com
  • Prizes: 1st Prize = $75 / 2nd Prize = $50 / 3rd Prize = $25 / Honorable Mention
contests

2025 SWG Fall Writing Contest


Tell us your memories, family traditions, favorite gift, best (or worst) Christmas,
family goof-ups – fictional or creative nonfiction (true). Can be an allegory
or metaphorical. It just has to take place at Christmas time.

And The Winners Are…

  • Must be a paid SWG Member to enter
  • Must be a short story or poem centered around the Christmas Holiday
  • It can be fiction or nonfiction (It can include a memorable Christmas, a family tradition, or be a story that you created).
  • No more than 750 words total (not including the title)
  • No AI
  • Winners of the Summer Contest are not eligible to enter
  • Be Sure and put your name on the email but not on the story
  • Entries must be received no later than 11:59pm on October 31st
  • Give your entry a title and email it as an attachment or in the message body to SWGContests@gmail.com
  • Prizes: 1st Prize = $75 / 2nd Prize = $50 / 3rd Prize = $25 / Honorable Mention
contests

2025 SWG Summer Writing Contest


Picture Prompt – must include a mystery package or gift.
(It can be a wrapped gift or a box or package that comes in the mail
but must be a physical gift that is a mystery till it is opened)

1st Place – The Silver Scissors – By Ruth Hunter
2nd Place – One Final Clue – By Lynn Combs
3rd Place – The Midwife’s Secret – By Mandie Hickenbottom-Conner
Honorable Mention – Knitting Lessons – By Renee Vajko Srch