Cash prizes and publication await the winners of the 2025 Golden Quill writing contest, an annual competition sponsored by SLO NightWriters in three categories: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
Deadline to enter the contest, whose theme this year is “risk,” is June 30, and all submissions must engage with the theme in some way. The cost to submit an entry is $20 for SLO NightWriters members and $25 for nonmembers, and multiple submissions are welcome but there is a separate fee for each entry.
First-place winners in each category will receive $350, with second places worth $150 and third places worth $50. All of the winning entries will be published in the 2025 issue of The NightWriter Review.
This year’s judges are novelist Juliet McDaniel (fiction), nonfiction author Deanne Stillman (nonfiction), and SLO County Poet Laureate Caleb Nichols (poetry).
All entries received will be considered for publication in The NightWriter Review. Full contest rules and guidelines are available on the SLO NightWriters website.