Introducing the New Neurodivergent Narratives Weekly Writing Contest!

Stretch your creative muscles. Win cash prizes. Connect with fellow writers.

We kicked off our Virtual Writing Circle about six months ago with one goal in mind:
to support neurodivergent writers at every stage of their creative journey.

Whether you were journaling for the first time, returning to the page after burnout, or polishing a manuscript, we wanted to give you structure, prompts, and space to process identity through writing.

Since then, we’ve written together every week—producing bold, beautiful, honest work that deserves to be seen. Now, it’s time to take that work further.

Introducing Our New Neurodivergent Narratives Weekly Writing Contest!

Starting this week, our virtual writing salon now includes a Weekly Writing Contest with prizes designed to honor your voice, celebrate your story, and put your work in the spotlight.

Whether you’re working on identity integration, reclaiming your narrative, or just writing your way through the week, this contest is for you.

The Back Story:

Last week, just before our weekly writing prompt dropped to our paid members I got a surprise in my inbox: an essay I had submitted eight months ago to the Moms Who Write anthology was accepted.

I have no idea why they called me Jean in my acceptance letter, but this is my piece that won, I confirmed. It’s called The Heart of Us vs. The Truth We Hide, and it’s about the risk of rejection that comes with unmasking. It explores how real love requires authenticity and how hiding who we are may protect others, but it does so by eroding us. It’s deeply personal. It was hard to write. And when I saw the acceptance it meant something to know something I wrote would be seen, and would help others.

But here’s the thing: eight months is a long time to wait to be seen.

Immediately, I started thinking about how to make this experience more magical and personal with our Neurodivergent Narratives Anthology which opens for submissions August 3rd.

So, of course, as is the way, I started researching literary anthology submissions processes to start putting together my plan for August, and that’s when I stumbled across the London Writers’ Salon Weekly Contest. It was immediate. A prompt, a deadline, a submission. Weekly winning entries that get published right away. And just like that, I remembered: writers don’t just want to write. We want to be read.

That’s when the idea clicked.

Instead of just doing a printed Annual Anthology (which will be released every year around Christmas), I decided to launch something new:
Neurodivergent Narratives Magazine and our new Weekly Writing Circle Contest.

There will still be an annual submission period for the anthology, but we will start curating submissions all year with a weekly writing contest and sharing and celebrating that writing immediately, so every winner gets their week in the spotlight. This is for those of us who crave a little more structure, a little more recognition, and a lot more creative connection. Of course, you can always keep using the weekly prompt for your private personal writing.

Winners won’t just get an email with their name spelled correctly (LOL), they will get a certificate, a post with their writing here on our page, and they will get their writing read on our weekly podcast, plus a teeny tiny symbolic cash prize that allows you to say you were paid for your writing!

The Weekly Writing Circle Contest

Each week you will get a new writing challenge that serves as a prompt to explore your identity, stretch your creative boundaries, and contribute to a space where autistic and neurodivergent writers are fully seen.

New writing prompts drop every Friday right here on Substack and on the podcast. You’ll have until Wednesday to write and submit. Our first prompt goes live Friday, May 9th—alongside our first writing podcast episode.

• Prompts drop every Friday at 5am BST (midnight ET) via Substack and podcast.

• Submissions are due Wednesday at 5pm BST (12pm ET / 9am PT).

• Starting August 1, prompts and contest access will be for Substack subscribers only.

• Submit via the unique Google Forms on each week’s Substack post.

Anyone can participate for free through July 31st. There’s no entry fee during our 3-month launch phase.

Neurodivergent Narratives Magazine

This new digital publication—curated by the Autistic Culture Podcast team—will publish weekly winning entries from our Virtual Writing Circle Contest. Each year, these pieces will be collected into our Neurodivergent Narratives Anthology, a beautiful, print-on-demand book you’ll actually want on your shelf. Winners will get a free copy for each winning entry.

This is our way of showcasing your writing, celebrating your voice, and building a growing archive of neurodivergent storytelling. I’ll show you how that will work on Friday when I read my Moms Who Write winning essay, so don’t miss our first Writing episode.

And the following week we will have our first winner featured on the episode!

Prizes

First Prize

• £10 GBP (about $12.50 USD)

• Publication on the Autistic Culture Substack

• Your piece read aloud on the Autistic Culture Podcast

• Print publication in the Neurodivergent Narratives Anthology

• A complimentary copy of the book

• Neurodivergent Narratives Certificate of Achievement

Second Prize

• Special mention on the Autistic Culture Podcast

• Certificate of Achievement
  
  Full Rules are here.
  
  Subscribe for free to get reminders when contests go live. After August 1, to participate you will need to be a paid supporter, but for now just select “none" if you don’t want to pay.

Writing has been my lifelong special interest. I wrote my first book when I was 5. It about two girl best friends who got married. I made it about 2 women not because I knew I was Queer or because I had 2 mommies, but because I could only draw dresses and not pants. I wanted to call it The Marriage, but I could not spell marriage, so I called it They Wed. What I wouldn’t do for a copy of that book!

I do have my first book of poetry still. I wrote this book of poetry called Life Long Chances from 7-10 years old.

And my first novel, Soul Searching, was written in 8th grade when I was about 12 or 13.

Much of my writing deals with themes of being misunderstood and asking for chances to make things right. My work has always been about gratitude and perspective, and mostly about how to make sense of my world which is a very confusing place. As my girl Taylor says in her song The Archer, "I've been the archer, I've been the prey; who could ever leave me, darling, but who could stay?" The thing is, without writing, I wouldn’t be here today. Writing, I can say without question, has saved my life.

I’m going through a hard time personally now, as some of you know, and when things get tough for me I always come back to writing as my own therapy and recovery tool. That’s why for the next 3 months, as I’m going on a personal healing journey through writing, I’m taking you all along for the ride.

Tomorrow is the last episode of season 3, but there will still be new episodes every Friday where we come together as a community with weekly writing advice, contest winner submissions, and new weekly writing prompts. I’m thinking of it like a little mini bonus season. Internally, we are calling it Season 3B.

This wasn’t my plan for Season 3.

But as Sheryl Sandberg wrote after the sudden loss of her husband, “Option A is no longer available. So let’s just kick the shit out of Option B.”

That line has stuck with me for years—and this season, it landed differently.
Sometimes the thing you planned doesn’t work out. Sometimes the person you thought would be there isn’t. Sometimes your creative vision needs to change shape entirely.

But none of that means the work stops.
And it definitely doesn’t mean we lower the bar.

Our writing circle has been quietly building something beautiful. Each week, neurodivergent writers have been showing up, unmasking on the page, and telling stories that deserve to be heard—not just written and left behind in a doc.

It’s time to take that momentum and kick the shit out of Option B.

And now—we’re going to do it every week, together.

Find us on Apple podcasts and Spotify

Learn more about Angela at AngelaKingdon.com