G&A: The Contest Blog

Upcoming Contest Deadlines

Before the holiday season bogs you down, submit to some writing contests with a November 15 deadline. Prizes include $20,000 for a published story collection, $5,000 for published books that relate to California, $2,000 and publication for a poetry manuscript by an author who identifies as a woman, and a seven-month residency at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Three awards have no entry fee. Read on for more information, and good luck! 

Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival
Brooklyn Nonfiction Prize

A prize of $500 and publication on the Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival website will be given annually for a work of nonfiction that is set in Brooklyn, New York, and renders the borough’s “rich soul and intangible qualities through the writer’s actual experiences in Brooklyn.” Entry fee: None.

Commonwealth Club of California
California Book Awards

Five prizes of $5,000 each are given annually for a poetry collection, a book of fiction, a first book of fiction, a book of creative nonfiction, and a book of nonfiction that relates to California. Three additional prizes of up to $2,500 each are also given in the fiction, first fiction, and nonfiction categories. Books written by authors residing in California are eligible. Entry fee: None.

Fine Arts Work Center
Writing Fellowships

Fellowships for a seven-month residency at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, are given annually to four poets and four fiction writers who have not published a full-length book in any genre. Each fellowship includes a private apartment, a monthly stipend of $1,250, and an exit stipend of $1,000. Entry fee: $40.

Nightboat Books
Poetry Prize

Up to four prizes of $1,000 each and publication by Nightboat Books are given annually for poetry collections. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $28.

Perugia Press
Perugia Press Prize

A prize of $2,000, publication by Perugia Press, and 10 author copies is given annually for a first or second poetry collection by a writer who identifies as a woman. Entry fee: $30.

Pushcart Press
Editors’ Book Award

A prize of $1,000 is given occasionally for a fiction or nonfiction manuscript that has been rejected by a commercial publisher. The award recognizes “worthy manuscripts that have been overlooked by today’s high-pressure, bottom-line publishing conglomerates.” Entry fee: None.

National Federation of State Poetry Societies
Barbara Stevens Poetry Book Manuscript Competition

A prize of $1,000, publication by National Federation of State Poetry Societies Press, and 50 author copies will be given annually for a poetry collection. The winner will also receive an invitation to read at the National Federation of State Poetry Societies convention, with a travel stipend of $300. Edward Hirsch will judge. Entry fee: $25.

The Story Prize
The Story Prize

A prize of $20,000 is given annually for a story collection written in English and first published in the United States in the current year. Two runners-up will receive $5,000 each, and one entrant will receive the $1,000 Story Prize Spotlight Award, given for a collection that merits further attention. Larry Dark and Julie Lindsey will select the three finalists and the Spotlight Award winner; three independent judges will choose the Story Prize winner. Entry fee: $75.

Writer’s Digest
Short Short Story Competition

A prize of $3,000 and travel and lodging expenses for a trip to the Writer’s Digest Annual Conference is given annually for a short short story. A second-place prize of $1,500 is also awarded. The winners will both be published in Writer’s Digest. Entry fee: $30.

Yale University Press
Yale Series of Younger Poets

A prize of $1,000, publication by Yale University Press, and a writing fellowship at the James Merrill House in Stonington, Connecticut, is given annually for a poetry collection by a poet who has not published a full-length book of poetry and who resides in the United States. Rae Armantrout will judge. Entry fee: $25.

Visit the contest websites for complete guidelines, and check out the Grants & Awards database and Submission Calendar for more contests in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and translation.

Deadline Nears for Translation Prize

Poetry translators: Try for a treat this Halloween by submitting to the Malinda A. Markham Translation Prize by October 31. The award of $2,000 and publication by Saturnalia Books is open to translators who identify as female (including those who are assigned-female-at-birth [AFAB] nonbinary, genderfluid, agender, and intersex) and who are translating the work of a woman poet (including those who are AFAB nonbinary, genderfluid, agender, and intersex).

Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 48 to 120 pages with an entry fee of $25. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Founded in 2002 to offer “an edgy alternative to traditional public narratives around poetry and visual art,” Saturnalia typically publishes five books a year by established and emerging poets. Chronicler of the “gurlesque” poetry movement with the 2010 publication of Gurlesque: The New Grrly, Grotesque, Burlesque Poetics, edited by Lara Glenum and Arielle Greenberg, the press is known for challenging the status quo. It has published Cortney Lamar Charleston’s Telepathologies (2017), Diamond Forde’s Mother Body (2019), Kayleb Rae Candrilli’s All the Gay Saints (2020), and other innovative poetry collections.

Upcoming Contest Deadlines

As we approach Halloween, don’t get spooked by the array of contests awarded for poetry collections, novel excerpts, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, translations, and more, all with a deadline of October 31! Several prizes celebrate the work of writers who identify as women, including one that features an optional six-week, all-expenses-paid residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center in Umbria, Italy. Nine of eleven prizes offer publication in addition to a cash award of at least $1,000. What better way of honoring the holiday than overcoming your fears and submitting your work?

Bedford Competition
International Short Story & Poetry Awards

Two prizes of £1,500 each (approximately $1,914) and publication in the Bedford Competition anthology are given annually for a poem and a short story. MacGillivray will judge in poetry and Tim Jarvis will judge in fiction. Entry fee: £7.50 (approximately $9.50), or £15 (approximately $19) for three poems or stories.

Carlow University
Patricia Dobler Poetry Award

A prize valued at $2,000 is given annually to a woman poet over 40 who has not published a full-length poetry collection. Allison Joseph will judge. The winner receives $1,000, publication in Voices From the Attic, and travel and lodging to give a reading with the contest judge at Carlow University. Entry fee: $20.

Cloudbank Books
Vern Rutsala Book Prize

A prize of $1,000 and publication by Cloudbank Books is given annually for a collection of poetry, flash fiction, or a combination of the two. Entry fee: $25. 

Elixir Press
Poetry Award

A prize of $2,000, publication by Elixir Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Jennifer Franklin will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $30.

Novel Slices
Novel Excerpt Contest
  
Five prizes of $1,000 each will be given twice yearly for a novel excerpt. Winners will also receive letters of support sent on their behalf to agents and publishers. Juliette Wade will judge. Entry fee: $12 (which includes an issue of Novel Slices). 

Persea Books
Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize

A prize of $1,000 and publication by Persea Books is given annually for a debut poetry collection by a writer who identifies as a woman. The winner also receives an optional six-week, all-expenses-paid residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center in Umbria, Italy. Writers who are either U.S. citizens or who currently reside in the United States are eligible. Entry fee: $30. 

Poetry Society of the United Kingdom
National Poetry Competition
 
A prize of £5,000 (approximately $6,382) and publication on the Poetry Society of the United Kingdom website is given annually for a single poem. A second-place prize of £2,000 (approximately $2,553) and a third-place prize of £1,000 (approximately $1,276) is also given. The top three winners will be published in Poetry Review. Poems written in English by poets from any country are eligible. Jane Draycott, Will Harris, and Clare Pollard will judge. Entry fee: £8 (approximately $10) entry fee, plus £5 (approximately $6) for each additional poem.

Red Hen Press
Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award

A prize of $3,000 and publication by Red Hen Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Juan Felipe Herrera will judge. Entry fee: $25. 

Saturnalia Books
Malinda A. Markham Translation Prize

A prize of $2,000 and publication by Saturnalia Books is given annually for a translation of a poetry collection. Translators who identify as female (including those who are assigned-female-at-birth [AFAB] nonbinary, genderfluid, agender, and intersex) and who are translating the work of a woman poet (including those who are AFAB nonbinary, genderfluid, agender, and intersex) are eligible. Entry fee: $25. 

Tucson Festival of Books
Literary Awards
 
Three prizes of $1,000 each are given annually for works of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. The winners will also receive scholarships to attend a workshop at the University of Arizona campus in March 2024. Entry fee: $20.

University of North Texas Press
Vassar Miller Prize

A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of North Texas Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Melissa Range will judge. Entry fee: $25. 

Visit the contest websites for complete guidelines, and check out the Grants & Awards database and Submission Calendar for more contests in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and translation.

Alice James Award Accepting Submissions

Calling all poets! The time is right to submit to the Alice James Award. Given annually for a poetry collection, the award confers a prize of $2,000 and publication by the celebrated independent press Alice James Books. Both emerging and established poets are eligible to receive the prize. Submissions are open through October 16.

Submit a manuscript of 48 to 100 pages with a $30 entry fee. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Established in 1973 and named for writer and feminist hero Alice James, Alice James Books “is committed to collaborating with literary artists of excellence whose voices have been historically marginalized.” Previous winners of the Alice James Award include Lee Kinnard III, for Orders of Service; Ina Cariño, for Feast; and Aldo Amparan, for Brother Sleep.

Upcoming Contest Deadlines

If you’re a poet looking for publication or time to develop a project, you have just over two weeks to prepare work for a variety of contests with a deadline of October 15. A scholarship offers U.S. poets $66,500 “for a year of travel and study outside of North America” and has no entry fee. Three prizes of $1,000 and publication are being offered for poetry collections. And for those who don’t have a full-length collection ready, a prize of $1,000 is also being awarded for a group of poems. Now it’s a matter of picking which opportunity is right for you!

Amy Lowell Poetry Traveling Scholarship 
An award of approximately $66,500 is given annually to a U.S. poet for a year of travel and study outside of North America. Entry fee: None.

Fordham University at Lincoln Center
Poetic Justice Institute Prizes
 
Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication by Fordham University Press are given annually for poetry collections. The winners also receive a publicity consultation and a virtual or in-person book launch at Fordham–Lincoln Center in New York City. All writers are eligible for the Poetic Justice Institute Prize; the Poetic Justice Institute Editor’s Prize is given to a poetry collection by a BIPOC writer. Eligible writers may enter both contests. Srikanth Reddy will judge the Poetic Justice Institute Prize and Elisabeth Frost will judge the Poetic Justice Institute Editor’s Prize. Entry fee: $28.

Silverfish Review Press
Gerald Cable Book Award
 
A prize of $1,000, publication by Silverfish Review Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a first poetry collection. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $25.

Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival
Poetry Contest
 
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a group of poems. The winner will also be invited to give a reading at the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival in March 2024. Writers who have not published a poetry collection are eligible. Entry fee: $15.

Visit the contest websites for complete guidelines, and check out the Grants & Awards database and Submission Calendar for more contests in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and translation.

The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize Shortlist Announced

Hearty congratulations to the shortlisted authors of the Center for Fiction 2023 First Novel Prize. Chosen from a longlist of twenty-five debut novels published in the U.S. this calendar year, the seven titles (and authors!) listed below will be celebrated at the Center’s First Novel Fête on December 1. The winner will be announced on December 5 at the Center for Fiction’s Annual Awards Benefit.

Started in 2006 to honor exceptional debut fiction of the year and to help build literary careers, the Center’s First Novel Prize includes a $15,000 cash prize for the winner and $1,000 for each of the other shortlisted authors. The judges for this year’s award are Hannah Lillith Assadi, Ayana Mathis, Tochi Onyebuchi, and Deesha Philyaw. The Center for Fiction is a literary nonprofit “that brings diverse communities together to develop and share a passion for fiction.” Previous winners of this award include Raven Leilani (Luster), Noor Naga (If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English), and Kirstin Valdez Quade (The Five Wounds). Best of luck to this year’s First Novel Prize shortlisted writers!

Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo
Ecco, August 2023

Lookout by Christine Byl
A Strange Object, March 2023

Pay As You Go by Eskor David Johnson
McSweeney’s, October 2023

Moonrise Over New Jessup by Jamila Minnicks
Algonquin Books, January 2023

Night Wherever We Go by Tracey Rose Peyton
Ecco, January 2023

We Are a Haunting by Tyriek White
Astra House, April 2023

Y/N by Esther Yi
Astra House, March 2023

Deadline Approaches for Action, Spectacle Poetry & Prose Prize

Before you go out to buy your Halloween pumpkin, consider submitting to Action, Spectacle’s Poetry & Prose Prize for a chance to win $1,000 and publication. English translations of works originally written in another language are accepted.

Using only the online submission system, submit any number of poems totaling no more than 10 pages or up to 8,500 words of a novel or nonfiction excerpt, short story, or essay with a $20 entry fee by October 1. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Action, Spectacle is a biannual online magazine of art and culture based in Louisville, Kentucky, and Brooklyn, New York. The magazine has featured comics by Anne Carson, poetry by Douglas Kearney, and prose by Brandon Taylor, among other selections in art, commentary, fiction, interviews, memoir, verse, and reportage.

Upcoming Contest Deadlines

Autumn begins with a bevy of contests for writers in all genres, including nineteen with a deadline of September 30. Half a dozen awards offer $5,000 or more and publication for full-length manuscripts of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, and three have no entry fee. A prize of $15,000 is being offered for a book of fiction published during the current year; several prizes of $1,000 or more are offered for a single essay, story, or poem; and that’s not all! Good luck as you decide where to send your work!

Boulevard
Nonfiction Contest for Emerging Writers

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Boulevard is given annually for an essay by a writer who has not published a full-length book in any genre with a nationally distributed press. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $18.

California State University in Fresno
Philip Levine Prize for Poetry

A prize of $2,000, publication by Anhinga Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. The winner will also be invited to give a public reading at California State University in Fresno. Douglas Kearney will judge. Entry fee: $25.

Connecticut Poetry Society
Vivian Shipley Poetry Award
 
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Connecticut River Review and on the Connecticut Poetry Society website is given annually for a single poem. Antoinette Brim-Bell will judge. Entry fee: $15.

Dzanc Books
Short Story Collection Prize

A prize of $2,500 and publication by Dzanc Books is given annually for a story collection. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $25.

Dzanc Books
Prize for Fiction

A prize of $5,000 and publication by Dzanc Books is given annually for a novel. Mark Dunn, Alan Grostephan, and Julie Ann Stewart will judge. Entry fee: $25.

Ghost Story
Supernatural Fiction Award

A prize of $1,500 and publication on the Ghost Story website is given twice yearly for a short story with a supernatural or magic realist theme. The winning work will also be published in Volume III of the 21st Century Ghost Stories print anthology. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $20.

Hackney Literary Awards
Novel Contest

A prize of $5,000 is given annually for an unpublished novel. Entry fee: $30.

Lascaux Review
Prize in Creative Nonfiction

A prize of $1,000 is given annually for an essay. The winner and finalists will also be published on the Lascaux Review website. Previously published and unpublished essays are eligible. Entry fee: $15.

One Page
Poetry Contest

A prize of $2,000 will be given annually for a single poem. A second-place prize of $1,000 will also be given. Mark Graham, Monique Jonath, and Ann Tinkham will judge. Entry fee: $25.

PEN/Faulkner Foundation
Award for Fiction

A prize of $15,000 is given annually for a book of fiction published during the current year. Four finalists each receive $5,000. The winner and finalists will also be invited to read in Washington, D.C., in May 2024. Entry fee: $75.

The Moth
Nature Writing Prize

A prize of €1,000 (approximately $1,092) and online publication in Irish Times is given annually for a poem, a story, or an essay that features “an exploration of the writer’s relationship with the natural world.” The winner also receives a weeklong stay at the Circle of Misse artist’s retreat in Missé, France. Kathleen Jamie will judge. Entry fee: $16.

Texas Review Press: The University Press of SHSU
George Garrett Fiction Prize

A prize of $1,000, publication by Texas Review Press: The University Press of SHSU, and 20 author copies is given annually for a short story collection or novel. Entry fee: $28.

Texas Review Press: The University Press of SHSU
X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize

A prize of $10,000, publication by Texas Review Press: The University Press of SHSU, and 10 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Richard Blanco will judge. Entry fee: $28.

University of Arkansas Press
Miller Williams Poetry Prize

A prize of $5,000 and publication by University of Arkansas Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Patricia Smith will judge. Entry fee: $28.

University of Iowa Press
Iowa Short Fiction Award

Two prizes of publication by the University of Iowa Press are given annually for first collections of short fiction. Entry fee: None.

University of Mississippi
Willie Morris Award for Southern Nonfiction

A prize of $12,000 is given annually for a book of nonfiction published during the current year that asks readers “to engage with or reflect on the complexities of the American South.” The winner will also receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Oxford, Mississippi, for the awards ceremony in April 2024. Entry fee: None.

University of Mississippi
Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction

A prize of $12,000 is given annually for a novel published during the current year that asks readers “to engage with or reflect on the complexities of the American South.” The winner will also receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Oxford, Mississippi, for the awards ceremony in April 2024. Entry fee: None.

University of Mississippi
Willie Morris Award for Southern Poetry

A prize of $3,000 is given annually for a single poem that evokes the American South. The winner will also receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Oxford, Mississippi, for the awards ceremony in April 2024. Susan Kinsolving will judge. Entry fee: None.

Winning Writers
Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest

Two prizes of $3,000 each, two-year gift certificates for membership to the literary database Duotrope, and publication on the Winning Writers website are given annually for a poem in any style and a poem that either rhymes or is written in a traditional style. Briana Grogan, Michal “MJ” Jones, and Dare Williams will judge. Entry fee: $22.

Visit the contest websites for complete guidelines, and check out the Grants & Awards database and Submission Calendar for more contests in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and translation.

Deadline for Dzanc Books Short Story Collection Prize Approaches

If you’re a new, emerging, or established fiction writer, you’ve got until the end of the month to submit to the Dzanc Books Short Story Collection Prize, which “celebrates imaginative and inventive writing in book-length collections.” The winner receives $2,500 and publication of their collection by Dzanc Books.

Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of at least 40,000 words and a brief synopsis with a $25 entry fee by September 30. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Dzanc Books is an award-winning nonprofit press; all its contest fees go toward supporting its “commitment to producing quality literary works, providing creative writing instruction in public schools through the Dzanc Writers-in-Residence program, and offering low-cost workshops for aspiring authors.” Its Short Story Collection Prize has recognized writers including Chaya Bhuvaneswar (White Dancing Elephants), Nino Cipri (Homesick), Jen Grow (My Life as a Mermaid), Ethel Rohan (In the Event of Contact), Julie Stewart (Water and Blood), and Anne Valente (By Light We Knew Our Names) for their “innovative, risk-taking, and brilliant fiction.” 

Upcoming Contest Deadlines

Are you an established writer developing a major creative project? Or perhaps an emerging or debut poet seeking to place your chapbook or full-length collection? Read on to learn about two prestigious fellowships and three poetry contests with application deadlines between September 14 and September 19. Both fellowships are open to poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers and offer $50,000 or more with no entry fee. All prizes awarded for poetry collections offer publication and $1,000 or more. We hope you share your work!

Harvard University
Radcliffe Institute Fellowships

Fellowships of $78,000 each, office space at the Radcliffe Institute, and access to the libraries at Harvard University are given annually to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers to allow them to pursue creative projects. Fellows, who are expected to reside in Boston during the fellowship period, which lasts from September through May, also receive $5,000 to cover project expenses. Poets who have published a full-length collection or at least 20 poems in magazines or anthologies in the last five years and who are in the process of completing a manuscript are eligible. Fiction and creative nonfiction writers who have published one or more books, who have a book-length manuscript under contract for publication, or who have published at least three shorter works are eligible. Writers who are graduate students at the time of application are not eligible. Deadline: September 14. Entry fee: None.

Lightscatter Press
Poetry Prize

A prize of $1,000, 25 author copies, and multimodal publication by Lightscatter Press is given annually for a poetry collection written by an emerging writer. Hybrid works and multilingual texts that combine English with another language are eligible. Eduardo C. Corral will judge. Deadline: September 15. Entry fee: $30.

Finishing Line Press
New Women’s Voices Chapbook Competition
 
A prize of $1,500 and publication by Finishing Line Press is given annually for a poetry chapbook by a writer who identifies as a woman and has not yet published a full-length collection. English translations of poems originally written in another language are accepted. Leah Huete de Maines will judge. Deadline: September 15. Entry fee: $20.

University of Wisconsin Press
Brittingham and Felix Pollak Prizes

Two prizes of $1,500 each and publication by University of Wisconsin Press are given annually for poetry collections. Additional finalists will be published in the press’s Wisconsin Poetry series. Deadline: September 15. Entry fee: $28.

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Writing Fellowships

Fellowships of approximately $50,000 each are awarded annually to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers on the basis of “exceptional creative ability.” Citizens and permanent residents of the United States and Canada with a “significant and appropriate record” of publication are eligible. Deadline: September 19. Entry fee: None.

Visit the contest websites for complete guidelines, and check out the Grants & Awards database and Submission Calendar for more contests in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and translation.

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