Genre: Fiction

Grants for Artist Projects

Artist Trust
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
June 22, 2026
Grants of $2,500 each are given annually to poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers who are residents of Washington State. Students enrolled in a degree-granting program are ineligible. Using only the online submission system, submit a writing sample of up to 10 pages of poetry, prose, or hybrid-genre work with a project description, a statement about how funding will support the progress of the work, and a brief bio by June 22. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

New American Fiction Prize

New American Press
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
June 15, 2026
A prize of $1,500, publication by New American Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a book of fiction. Keith Rosson will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a story collection, a novella or collection of novellas, a novel, or hybrid work of at least 100 pages with a $25 entry fee by June 15. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Bard Fiction Prize

Bard College
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
June 1, 2026
A prize of $30,000 and a one-semester appointment as writer-in-residence at Bard College is given annually to a fiction writer under the age of 40. The winner must give at least one public lecture and meet informally with students but is not expected to teach traditional courses. Submit three copies of a published book of fiction, a cover letter, and a curriculum vitae by June 1. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Literary Awards

New Letters
Entry Fee: 
$24
Deadline: 
May 18, 2026
Three prizes of $2,000 each and publication in New Letters are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. Using only the online submission system, submit up to six poems totaling no more than 30 pages or a story or an essay of up to 8,000 words with a $24 entry fee, which includes a digital subscription to New Letters, by May 18. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Prizes in Poetry and Prose

Bellevue Literary Review
Entry Fee: 
$20
Deadline: 
July 1, 2026
Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Bellevue Literary Review are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay about health, healing, illness, the body, or the mind. Natalie Diaz will judge in poetry, Daniel Mason will judge in fiction, and Meghan O’Rourke will judge in creative nonfiction. Using only the online submission system, submit up to three poems totaling no more than five pages or up to 5,000 words of prose with a $20 entry fee by July 1. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

PEN/Bare Life Review Grants

PEN America
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
June 1, 2026
Two grants of $5,000 each are given annually for poetry, fiction, and nonfiction works-in-progress “by immigrant and refugee writers, recognizing that the literature of migration is of inherent and manifest value.” Submit a writing sample of up to 40 pages of poetry or up to 75 pages of prose, a curriculum vitae, and an outline and description of the project by June 1. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Short Fiction Prize

Boa Editions
Entry Fee: 
$30
Deadline: 
May 31, 2026
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Boa Editions is given annually for a story collection. Peter Conners will judge. Submit a manuscript of 100 to 200 pages with a $30 entry fee by May 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants

PEN America
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
June 1, 2026
Ten grants of $4,000 each are given annually to support the translation of book-length works of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction that have not previously appeared in English or have appeared only in an “outdated or otherwise flawed translation.” A grant of $5,000, called the PEN Grant for the English Translation of Italian Literature, is also given to support the translation of a book of fiction or nonfiction from Italian into English. Manuscripts with up to two translators are accepted. Using only the online submission system, submit a translation sample of 8 to 10 pages of poetry or prose, a copy of the same passage in the original language, a biography and bibliography of the translated author, a project statement, and a curriculum vitae by June 1. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Bridge Book Award

Bridge Book Award
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
May 31, 2026
Two prizes of up to $5,000 each are given annually for a book of fiction and a book of creative nonfiction by U.S. citizens or permanent residents published in the previous year; the prize money will be used exclusively to pay for the cost of translating the book into Italian. The winners also receive travel and lodging to attend an award ceremony in Rome. Writers who have no more than one book of fiction or creative nonfiction translated into Italian are eligible. Publishers may submit 20 copies (digital PDF copies may be accepted in special circumstances and upon arrangement with contest staff) of a book of fiction or nonfiction in English published between January 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026, by May 31. Books must be submitted to the Bridge Book Award office in Rome at the publisher’s expense. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

PEN/Jean Stein Grants For Literary Oral History

PEN America
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
June 1, 2026
Two grants of $15,000 each are given annually for nonfiction works-in-progress that “use oral history to illuminate an event, individual, place, or movement.” Using only the online submission system, submit 6 to 10 pages of unedited transcribed interviews, a writing sample of 20 to 40 pages of nonfiction using the submitted project interviews, a curriculum vitae, and an outline and description of the project by June 1. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

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