Three prizes are given annually for first books by a poet, a fiction writer, and a creative nonfiction writer. The winners each receive an all-expenses-paid trip to several of...
read moreWriting Contests, Grants & Awards
The Writing Contests, Grants & Awards database includes details about the creative writing contests—including poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, and more—that we’ve published in Poets & Writers Magazine during the past year. We carefully review the practices and policies of each contest before including it. Ours is the most trusted resource for legitimate writing contests available anywhere.
Great Lakes Colleges Association
Cash Prize: $500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 5/25/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Boa Editions
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 5/31/26
Genre: Fiction
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...
read moreBridge Book Award
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 5/31/26
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
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...
read moreLivingston Press
Cash Prize: $500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 5/31/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Cross-Genre
A prize of $500, publication by Livingston Press, and 20 author copies is given annually for a novel-in-verse. Eleanor Boudreau will judge. Submit a manuscript of 90 to 160...
read moreJohn D. Voelker Foundation
Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 5/31/26
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $2,500 and publication in American Fly Fisher as well as on the John D. Voelker Foundation and the American Museum of Fly Fishing websites is given annually...
read moreUniversity of Georgia Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 5/31/26
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of Georgia Press is given annually for a collection of short fiction. Lori Ostlund will judge. Using only the online submission...
read moreBridport Arts Centre
Cash Prize: $6,699
Entry Fee: $16
Application Deadline: 5/31/26
Two prizes of £5,000 (approximately $6,699) each and publication in the Bridport Prize anthology are given annually for a poem and a short story. A prize of £1,500 (...
read moreRestless Books
Cash Prize: $10,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 5/31/26
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $10,000 and publication by Restless Books is given annually for a debut book of fiction or nonfiction by a first-generation immigrant. The winner will also receive a...
read moreAmerican Short Fiction
Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 6/1/26
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $2,500 and publication in American Short Fiction is given annually for a short story. The winner also receives a weeklong, all-expenses-paid writing retreat...
read moreBard College
Cash Prize: $30,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 6/1/26
Genre: Fiction
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...
read moreMoon City Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $27
Application Deadline: 6/1/26
Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication by Moon City Press are given annually for a poetry collection and a short story collection. The editors will judge. Using only the...
read moreThe Moth
Cash Prize: $3,508
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 6/14/26
Genre: Fiction
A prize of €3,000 (approximately $3,508) is given annually for a short story. A second-place prize of €1,000 (approximately $1,169) is also given. The winners will be published...
read morePEN America
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 6/15/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
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...
read moreNew American Press
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 6/15/26
Genre: Fiction
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...
read morePEN America
Cash Prize: $4,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 6/15/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Translation
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...
read moreTusculum Review
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 6/15/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,500 and publication in Tusculum Review is given annually for a collection of poems, a short story, or an essay in alternating years. The winner’s work is...
read morePEN America
Cash Prize: $15,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 6/15/26
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
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...
read moreArtist Trust
Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 6/22/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
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...
read moreTRP
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $28
Application Deadline: 6/30/26
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $2,000, publication by TRP: The University Press of Sam Houston State University, and 10 author copies is given annually for a short story collection or novel. Using...
read moreWashington Writers’ Publishing House
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $28
Application Deadline: 6/30/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Two prizes of $1,500 each, publication by Washington Writers’ Publishing House, and 25 author copies are given annually for a poetry collection and a short story collection or...
read moreUniversity of North Texas Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 6/30/26
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of North Texas Press is given annually for a collection of short fiction. Using only the online submission system, submit a...
read moreLascaux Review
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 6/30/26
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $1,000 and online publication in Lascaux Review is given annually for a work of flash fiction. Previously published or unpublished stories are eligible....
read moreThe Story Prize
Cash Prize: $20,000
Entry Fee: $75
Application Deadline: 7/1/26
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $20,000 is given annually for a story or novella collection written in English and published in the United States in the current year. Two runners-up receive $5,000...
read moreBrooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival
Cash Prize: $1,750
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 7/1/26
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $1,750, publication in Pree and New York Carib News, as well as on the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival (BCLF) website, and an...
read moreBellevue Literary Review
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 7/1/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
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...
read more