Writing 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.

Lascaux Review

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 6/30/25
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 Previously published or unpublished stories are eligible. Using...

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Los Angeles Review

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 6/30/25

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...

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Cider Press Review

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $27
Application Deadline: 6/30/25
Genre: Poetry

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...

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Autumn House Press

Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 6/30/25
Genre: Poetry

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...

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The Story Prize

Cash Prize: $20,000
Entry Fee: $75
Application Deadline: 7/1/25
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...

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Bellevue Literary Review

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 7/1/25

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...

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Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 7/1/25
Genre: Poetry

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...

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Vine Leaves Press

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 7/1/25

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...

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Conduit Books & Ephemera

Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 7/7/25
Genre: Poetry

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...

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Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Cash Prize: $15,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 7/9/25

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...

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Stony Brook Southampton

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 7/14/25
Genre: Fiction

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...

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BOA Editions

Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 7/14/25
Genre: Poetry

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...

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