Fifteen fellowships are given annually to artists, academics, and creative writers, including poets, fiction writers, creative nonfiction writers, and translators, whose work...
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.
New York Public Library
Cash Prize: $90,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 9/26/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Translation
Dzanc Books
Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 9/30/25
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $2,500 and publication by Dzanc Books is given annually for a story collection. The editors will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript...
read morePEN/Faulkner Foundation
Cash Prize: $15,000
Entry Fee: $95
Application Deadline: 9/30/25
Genre: 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...
read moreTexas Review Press
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $28
Application Deadline: 9/30/25
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $2,000, publication by Texas Review Press, and 10 author copies is given annually for a short story collection or novel. Using only the online submission system,...
read moreHackney Literary Awards
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 9/30/25
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $5,000 is given annually for an unpublished novel. Submit a manuscript of any length with a $30 entry fee by September 30. Visit the website for complete guidelines...
University of Massachusetts Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 9/30/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Five prizes of $1,000 each and publication by University of Massachusetts Press are given annually for a debut poetry collection, a poetry collection by an author who has...
read moreGhost Story
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 9/30/25
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $1,500 and publication on the Ghost Story website is given biannually for a short story with a supernatural or magical realist theme. The editors will judge...
read moreCreative Writing Ink
Cash Prize: $1,340
Entry Fee: $16
Application Deadline: 9/30/25
Genre: Fiction
A prize of £1,000 (approximately $1,340), publication on the Creative Writing Ink website, and a free online writing course with Creative Writing Ink will be given annually for...
read moreThe Moth
Cash Prize: $1,158
Entry Fee: $17
Application Deadline: 9/30/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of €1,000 (approximately $1,158) and online publication in Irish Times is given annually for a poem, a short story, or an essay that features “an exploration...
read moreDzanc Books
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 9/30/25
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $5,000 and publication by Dzanc Books is given annually for a novel. Eugene Cross, Mubanga Kalimamukwento, and Tara Isabel Zambrano will judge. Using only the online...
read moreUniversity of Mississippi
Cash Prize: $12,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 9/30/25
Genre: 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 U.S. South.” The...
read moreGeorgia Writers
Cash Prize: $500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 10/1/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three grants of $500 each are given annually in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction to “elevate, encourage, and inspire the voices of Black writers in Georgia.” Grantees also...
read moreZoetrope: All-Story
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 10/1/25
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Zoetrope: All-Story website is given annually for a short story. The winner and finalists are considered for representation by...
read moreAction, Spectacle
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 10/1/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Action, Spectacle is given annually for a poem, a short work of fiction, or a short work of creative nonfiction. Using only the...
read moreOne Story
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 10/8/25
Genre: Fiction
A yearlong fellowship of $2,000, access to One Story online classes, and admission to One Story’s weeklong summer writers’ conference, which includes craft lectures,...
read morePrincipal Foundation
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 10/12/25
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Short Édition website and in Principal Foundation’s Short Story Dispensers (located in six cities across the United States) will be...
read morePermafrost
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 10/15/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of Alaska Press is given in alternating years for a book of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction. The 2025 prize will be...
read moreTennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 10/15/25
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $1,500 is given annually for a short story by a writer who has not published a book of fiction. The winner also receives domestic airfare of up to $500, private...
read moreColumbus State University
Cash Prize: $10,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 10/15/25
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $10,000 and publication with DLJ Books, the imprint of Columbus State University Press, will be given annually for a book of fiction or creative nonfiction “that...
read morePulitzer Prizes
Cash Prize: $15,000
Entry Fee: $75
Application Deadline: 10/15/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Six prizes of $15,000 each are given annually for books of poetry, fiction, general nonfiction, U.S. history, biography, and memoir first published in the United States during...
read moreUniversity of Louisville
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 10/15/25
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $2,000 and publication in Miracle Monocle is given annually for a work of fiction written in the fabulist experimental style of Italo Calvino. Jenny Boully...
read moreTulipTree Publishing
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 10/17/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication in the Fall/Winter issue of TulipTree Review is given annually for a humorous poem, story, or essay. Submit a poem of up to five...
read moreBedford Competition
Cash Prize: $2,680
Entry Fee: $11
Application Deadline: 10/31/25
Two prizes of £2,000 (approximately $2,680) each and publication in the Bedford Competition anthology are given annually for a poem and a short story. Fran Lock will judge in...
read moreCloudbank Books
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 10/31/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Cross-Genre
A prize of $1,000, publication by Cloudbank Books, and 50 author copies is given annually for a collection of poetry, flash fiction, or a combination of the two. Submit a...
read moreTucson Festival of Books
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 10/31/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
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...
read more