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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 pages of poetry and a cover letter via e-mail by May 30. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
Four prizes of $10,000 each are given annually for books of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and young people’s literature written by U.S. writers and published in the United States during the previous year. A $10,000 prize is also given for an English translation of a book of fiction or nonfiction by a living writer and translator published in the United States during the previous year. Finalists in all categories receive $1,000 each. Publishers may submit titles published or scheduled for publication between December 1, 2024, and November 30, 2025, for consideration via the online submission form with a $135 entry fee per title by May 14. Additionally, a digital copy and six hard copies (or bound galleys) of the books must be submitted to the judges and the National Book Foundation by June 6. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines. |
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Vine Leaves Press will be given for a book of nonfiction, including biography, memoir, and hybrid work. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 50,000 to 80,000 words of prose or at least 100 pages of hybrid work with a $25 entry fee by July 1. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
A prize of $15,000 and publication by University of Pittsburgh Press is given annually for a collection of short fiction. Writers who have published at least one previous book of fiction or a minimum of three short stories or novellas in nationally distributed magazines or literary journals are eligible. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 150 to 300 pages by June 30. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
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 manuscript of 100 to 200 pages with a $25 entry fee by June 30 (fee-free submissions are accepted only on June 1). Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
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 system, submit a manuscript of 40,000 to 75,000 words with a $30 entry fee by May 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
A prize of $1,500 and publication by University of Akron Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Eduardo C. Corral will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 48 to 90 pages with a $25 entry fee by June 15. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
A prize of $1,000, publication by Two Sylvias Press, and 20 author copies will be given annually for a poetry chapbook. Ellen Bass will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 17 to 24 pages with an $18 entry fee by May 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
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 also published as a limited-edition stand-alone chapbook with original art. This year’s prize will be awarded in fiction. Jaime Cortez will judge. Submit a manuscript of 2,000 to 7,000 words with a $20 entry fee, which includes a subscription to Tusculum Review, by June 15. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a book of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction by a current resident of Maryland who has lived in the state for at least three years. Books published within the past three years or scheduled for publication in 2025 are eligible. Publishers, institutions, or individuals may submit three copies of a book or manuscript by June 15. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines. |
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 each. The $1,000 Story Prize Spotlight Award is also given for an additional “outstanding…collection that merits further attention.” Members of the Story Prize board will select the three finalists and the Spotlight Award winner; three independent judges will choose the Story Prize winner. Publishers, authors, or agents may submit two copies of a book published between January 1, 2025, and June 30, 2025, with a $75 entry fee by July 1. The deadline for books published during the second half of the year is November 15. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines. |
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a short story by a current undergraduate college student. The winner also receives a full scholarship to attend the Southampton Writers Conference in summer 2026, and the winning work will be considered for publication in Southampton Review. Submit a story of up to 7,500 words by July 14. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Southern Poetry Review is given annually for a single poem. Submit three to five poems totaling no more than 10 pages with a $20 entry fee, which includes a subscription to Southern Poetry Review, by May 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Sixfold are given quarterly for a group of poems and a short story. Using only the online submission system, submit up to five poems totaling no more than 10 pages or up to 5,000 words of prose with a $5 entry fee by May 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Salamander is given annually for a short story. Helen Phillips will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a story of up to 30 pages with a $20 entry fee, which includes a subscription to Salamander, between May 1 and June 1. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
A first-place prize of £5,000 (approximately $6,482), a second-place prize of £2,000 (approximately $2,593), and a third-place prize of £1,000 (approximately $1,296) are given annually for a single poem. The winners will also receive publication in the Autumn 2025 issue of Poetry London and an invitation to read at the issue’s launch, held at the Southbank Centre in London. Victoria Kennefick will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a poem of any length with a £10 entry fee (approximately $13), or £5 (approximately $6) for Poetry London subscribers, by June 30. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
A prize of $1,000, publication by Pittsburg State University, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry chapbook. Rebecca Gayle Howell will judge. Submit a manuscript of 15 to 30 pages with a $15 entry fee by May 15. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
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 a writing sample of 20 to 40 pages of nonfiction, 6 to 10 pages of transcribed 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. |
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 separate 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 the curriculum vitae of the translator by June 1. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
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.” Using only the online submission system, 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. |
A prize of $1,000, publication by Omnidawn Publishing, and 20 author copies is given annually for a poetry chapbook. Ewa Chrusciel will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 25 to 45 pages with a $30 entry fee by June 16. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation website is given annually for a single poem that explores “positive visions of peace and the human spirit.” Submit up to three poems of no more than 30 lines each with a $15 entry fee by July 1. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
Three prizes of $2,500 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 essay of up to 8,000 words with a $24 entry fee, which includes a subscription to New Letters, by May 19. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
A prize of $1,500 and publication in Michigan Quarterly Review is given annually for an essay or a work of nonfiction in hybrid form. Using only the online submission system, submit 1,500 to 7,000 words of prose with a $20 entry fee by May 31. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
A prize of $1,500 and publication in Michigan Quarterly Review is given annually for an essay or a work of nonfiction in hybrid form. Using only the online submission system, submit 1,500 to 7,000 words of prose with a $20 entry fee by May 31. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
A prize of $1,000, publication by Lost Horse Press, and 20 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection by a U.S. poet. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of at least 48 pages with a $28 entry fee by May 15. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
Four prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Los Angeles Review are given annually for a poem, a short story, a work of flash fiction, and an essay. Using only the online submission system, submit up to three poems of no more than 50 lines each, a short story or an essay of up to 2,500 words, or a work of flash fiction of no more than 1,000 words with a $20 entry fee by June 30. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
Awards of $15,000 each are given annually to women, transgender, and/or gender-nonconforming poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers in the Philadelphia area who have been creating art for social change for five or more years. Writers who have lived in Bucks, Camden, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, or Philadelphia counties for at least two years and who are not full-time students in a degree-granting arts program are eligible. Submit a completed application form, which includes an artist information questionnaire, a list of relevant experience, and a statement demonstrating the applicant’s commitment to “art for social change work” by May 15. A panel of community-based artists will review applications and invite selected poets and writers to submit work for the second stage of the application process. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for the required application form and complete guidelines. |
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. Using only the online submission system, submit up to three stories of no more than 1,000 words each with a $15 entry fee by June 30. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Kinsman Quarterly is given annually for a group of poems, a short story, or an essay on a theme related to African culture or subculture. The winner will also have their work featured in the 2026 anthology Mosaic: Threads of African Prose & Poetry. Using only the online submission system, submit up to six poems totaling no more than 10 pages, a short story of 500 to 5,000 words, or an essay of up to 1,000 words with a $25 entry fee by June 30. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
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 for a short story or an essay that embodies an “implicit love of fly fishing…and the natural world in which it takes place.” Using only the online submission system, submit up to 3,000 words of prose with a $25 entry fee by May 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
A prize of $130,000 Canadian (approximately $90,479) is given annually for a poetry collection written in or translated into English by a living poet or translator from anywhere in the world and published during the previous year. Finalists receive $10,000 Canadian (approximately $6,960) each for their participation in the shortlisted authors event to be held in Toronto in June. Should the prize-winning book be a translation, 60 percent of the prize is awarded to the translator and 40 percent to the poet. Publishers may submit four copies of a book of at least 48 pages in length published between January 1 and June 30 by June 20. The deadline to submit books published during the second half of the year is December 19. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines. |
A prize of $10,000 Canadian (approximately $6,960) is awarded for a debut poetry collection by a living Canadian poet or permanent resident. The winner is also offered a six-week fellowship with the Civitella Ranieri Foundation in Perugia, Italy. Publishers may submit four copies of a book of at least 48 pages in length published between January 1 and June 30 by June 20. The deadline for submitting books published during the second half of the year is December 19. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines. |
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 the 13 GLCA colleges, each of which pays an honorarium of at least $500 to give readings, meet with students, and lead discussions and classes. Books published in 2024 and 2025 are eligible. Faculty members of the colleges will judge. Publishers may submit four copies of one book in each category by May 25. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
A prize of $1,500 and publication in Georgia Review is given for a single poem. Brandon Som will judge. Submit up to three poems totaling no more than 10 pages with a $25 entry fee by May 15. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
A grant of $1,500 and publication by Gaudy Boy, an imprint of the New York City–based literary nonprofit Singapore Unbound, is given annually for a poetry collection by a writer of Asian heritage residing anywhere in the world. E-mail a manuscript of 70 to 120 pages with a $10 entry fee (to be sent separately via PayPal) by May 19. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
A prize of $5,000, publication by Fence Books (with distribution by Consortium), and 40 author copies will be given annually for a poetry collection by a writer who identifies as a woman and/or female, including trans women and people of variable gender who were assigned female at birth (AFAB). The winner will also receive a two-week residency at the Eliot House in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of at least 50 pages with a $20 entry fee, which includes a two-issue subscription to Fence, by May 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
A prize of $15,000 will be given annually to an emerging poet, fiction writer, or creative nonfiction writer from an underrepresented community who has not published and is not under contract to publish a book in any genre. Writers who are U.S. permanent residents or U.S. citizens are eligible. The winner also receives mentorship with a Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) author; a line edit and structural feedback from two FSG in-house editors; meet-and-greets with representatives at FSG from other departments, including Publicity/Marketing, Art, Subsidiary Rights, and Managing Editorial; and support with networking beyond FSG. Using only the online submission system, submit 8 to 12 pages of poetry or 40 to 50 pages of prose and a statement of purpose of up to 500 words by July 9. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
A prize of $1,500, publication by Conduit Books & Ephemera, and 15 author copies is given annually for a debut poetry collection. Bob Hicok will judge. Submit a manuscript of 48 to 90 pages with a $25 entry fee by July 7. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
A prize of $1,000, publication by Cider Press Review, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. The editors will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 48 to 80 pages with a $27 entry fee by June 30. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
Two prizes of £5,000 (approximately $6,482) each and publication in the Bridport Prize anthology are given annually for a poem and a short story. A second-place prize of £1,000 (approximately $1,296) and publication is also given in each category. Additionally, a prize of £1,000 (approximately $1,296) and publication is given for a work of flash fiction. Romalyn Ante will judge in poetry, Leone Ross will judge in short fiction, and Toby Litt will judge in flash fiction. Submit a poem of up to 42 lines, a story of up to 5,000 words, or a work of flash fiction of up to 250 words by May 31. The entry fee is £12 (approximately $16) for poetry, £14 (approximately $18) for fiction, and £11 (approximately $14) for flash fiction. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
Two prizes of up to $5,000 each will be 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 awards ceremony at the American Academy in Rome. Books by authors who do not have more than one book of fiction or creative nonfiction translated into Italian are accepted. Publishers may submit 20 copies (digital PDF copies may be accepted in special circumstances and upon request) of a book of fiction or nonfiction in English published between January 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025, 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. |
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Boulevard is given annually for a group of poems by a poet who has not published a poetry collection with a nationally distributed press. The editors will judge. Submit three poems of any length with an $18 entry fee, which includes a subscription to Boulevard, by June 1. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
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. |
A prize of $2,500 and publication by BOA Editions will be given annually for a poetry collection by a poet who is a woman of color and lives in the United States, “including poets who identify as cis, trans, and non-binary people who are comfortable in a space that centers on women’s experiences, regardless of citizenship.” Submit a manuscript of 65 to 120 pages and a cover letter by July 14. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
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. Patricia Spears Jones will judge in poetry, Joan Silber will judge in fiction, and Nicole Chung 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. |
A prize of $1,000, publication by Bauhan Publishing, and 50 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Anthony Walton will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 50 to 80 pages with a $30 entry fee by June 30. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
A prize of $1,500 and publication by Barrow Street Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 50 to 80 pages with a $30 entry fee by June 30. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
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. |
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Autumn House Press is given annually for a poetry collection. The winner also receives a $1,500 travel and publicity grant. Matthew Olzmann will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 50 to 80 pages with a $30 entry fee (which may be waived for those experiencing financial hardship) by June 30. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines. |
Find details about every creative writing competition—including poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, grants for translators, and more—that we’ve published in the Grants & Awards section of Poets & Writers Magazine during the past year. We carefully review the practices and policies of each contest before including it in the Writing Contests database, the most trusted resource for legitimate writing contests available anywhere.