Genre: Fiction

Summer Short Story Award for New Writers

Masters Review
Entry Fee: 
$20
Deadline: 
September 7, 2025
A prize of $3,000 and publication in Masters Review is given annually for a short story or an essay by an emerging writer. Writers who have not published a book, self-published writers, and writers who have published books only with indie presses are eligible. The winning story will also be sent to agents Victoria Cappello (Bent Agency), Sarah Fuentes (United Talent Agency), Andrea Morrison (Writers House), Heather Schroder (Compass Talent), Nat Sobel (Sobel Weber Associates), and Marin Takikawa (Friedrich Agency) for review. Submit a story or essay of up to 6,000 words with a $20 entry fee from July 1 to September 7. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Chapbook Contest

DIAGRAM/New Michigan Press
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
July 15, 2025
A prize of $1,000, publication by New Michigan Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a chapbook of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or hybrid-genre work. Ander Monson will judge. Submit a manuscript of 18 to 44 pages with a $25 entry fee by July 15. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition

Munster Literature Centre
Entry Fee: 
$21
Deadline: 
July 31, 2025
A prize of €2,000 (approximately $2,235) and publication in Southword is given annually for a short story. The winner also receives a four-night stay at a hotel to give a reading at the Cork International Short Story Festival in October. Laura Jean McKay will judge. Submit a story of up to 3,000 words with a €19 (approximately $21) entry fee by July 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Double-booked

The Time Is Now
6.18.25

Double-booking can be a hilarious premise for comedy, as in the wedding rom-com films Bride Wars and You’re Cordially Invited in which two weddings are booked for the same venue on the same day, or a terrifying setup for horror, as in the 2022 film Barbarian in which a woman arrives at a rental home already occupied by a mysterious guest. This week write a short story that revolves around a reservation error that results in characters being unexpectedly forced into sharing a space. Do the opposing parties know each other or are they complete strangers? You might consider playing with narrative perspective and incorporating portions from opposing characters’ points of view or experimenting with a fragmentary structure to evoke suspense and disorientation. Is your story a comedy or horror of errors?

Literary Awards

Dogwood
Entry Fee: 
$12
Deadline: 
September 5, 2025
Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Dogwood are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. Using only the online submission system, submit up to three poems totaling no more than 10 pages or up to 22 pages of prose with a $12 entry fee by September 5. Writers who are incarcerated may submit to the contest free of charge via postal mail or the Dogwood website. All submissions are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Spring Story Contest

Narrative
Entry Fee: 
$27
Deadline: 
July 31, 2025
A prize of $2,500 is given annually for a work of flash fiction, a short story, a graphic story, an essay, a memoir, or an excerpt from a work of fiction or creative nonfiction. A second-place prize of $1,000 is also awarded. The editors will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit up to 15,000 words of prose with a $27 entry fee by July 31. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Tags: 
essays | short stories | short-shorts

Other Futures Award

Futurepoem
Entry Fee: 
$28
Deadline: 
August 15, 2025
A prize of $1,000, publication by Futurepoem, and 25 author copies is given annually for a book of innovative poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or hybrid work “that challenges conventions of genre and language, content and form.” The editors will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of up to 200 pages with a $28 entry fee (or a sliding-scale fee of $9 or $18 based on financial need) from July 15 to August 15. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

New Millennium Writing Awards

New Millennium Writings
Entry Fee: 
$20
Deadline: 
July 31, 2025
Four prizes of $1,000 each and publication in New Millennium Writings and on the journal’s website are given biannually for a poem, a short story, a short short story, and an essay. Works that have not appeared in a print publication with a circulation over 5,000, as well as previously unpublished works, are eligible. Submit up to three poems totaling no more than five pages, a short short story of up to 1,000 words, or a story or essay of up to 7,499 words with a $20 entry fee by July 31. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

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