A prize of $1,000, publication by Comstock Review, and 50 author copies will be given biennially for a poetry chapbook. Georgia A. Popoff will judge. Submit a...
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.
Saturnalia Books
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 11/1/25
Genre: Poetry, Translation
A prize of $2,000 and publication by Saturnalia Books is given annually for a poetry collection in translation. Translators who identify as female (including those who are...
read moreStanford University
Cash Prize: $75,000
Entry Fee: $55
Application Deadline: 11/1/25
Ten fellowships, five in poetry and five in fiction, of $75,000 each per year to attend Stanford University’s two-year creative writing program are given annually for...
read moreNorth American Review
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $23
Application Deadline: 11/1/25
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 and publication in North American Review is given annually for a single poem. Danez Smith will judge. Submit up to five poems of any length with a $...
read moreEpiphany
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/1/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $2,000 and publication in Epiphany is given annually for a poem or a group of poems, a work of fiction, or a work of creative nonfiction. The winner will...
read moreJohn Updike Society
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/1/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and a two-week residency at the Mission Hill Casitas that John Updike owned and worked out of in Tucson is given annually for a group of poems or a work of...
read moreFiction Collective Two
Cash Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 11/1/25
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $3,000 and publication by Fiction Collective Two is given annually for a novel, a story collection, a novella, or a novella collection. Writers who are from or are...
read moreFiction Collective Two
Cash Prize: $15,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 11/1/25
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $15,000 and publication by Fiction Collective Two, an imprint of University of Alabama Press, is given annually for a novel, a story collection, a novella, or a...
read moreMoment Magazine
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 11/1/25
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a story that relates to Judaism or Jewish culture or history. The winning story will be considered for publication in Moment...
read moreAfrican Poetry Book Fund
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/1/25
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,500 is given annually for a group of poems by an African poet who has not published a full-length collection. Writers who were born in Africa, who are nationals...
read moreMalahat Review
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $22
Application Deadline: 11/1/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $2,000 Canadian (approximately $1,455) each and publication in Malahat Review are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. Using only...
read moreNorth American Review
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $23
Application Deadline: 11/1/25
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication in North American Review is given annually for a work of speculative fiction. Rachel Yoder will judge. Submit up to two works of...
read moreAmerican Academy in Rome
Cash Prize: $30,000
Entry Fee: $50
Application Deadline: 11/1/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Half-term and full-term fellowships of $16,000 and $30,000 respectively are given annually to artists, academics, and creative writers, including poets, fiction writers, and...
read moreConduit Books & Ephemera
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 11/3/25
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,500, publication by Conduit Books & Ephemera, and 15 author copies is given annually for a book of poetry. The editors will judge. Submit a manuscript of 48...
read moreCave Canem Foundation
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/3/25
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000; publication by O, Miami Books; and 10 author copies is given annually for a poetry chapbook by a Black poet. The winner will also receive a residency in the...
read moreMasters Review
Cash Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 11/9/25
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $3,000 and publication in Masters Review is given annually for an excerpt of an unpublished novel or novel-in-progress displaying “a strong voice,...
read moreUniversity of Wisconsin Press
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $28
Application Deadline: 11/10/25
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,500 and publication by University of Wisconsin Press is given annually for a poetry collection in translation. Daniel Borzutzky will judge. Using only the online...
read moreCommunity of Literary Magazines & Presses
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $65
Application Deadline: 11/14/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $2,000 each are given annually for a book of poetry, a book of fiction, and a book of creative nonfiction published by an independent press in the current year...
read moreNightboat Books
Cash Prize: $1,200
Entry Fee: $28
Application Deadline: 11/15/25
Genre: Poetry
Up to four prizes of $1,200 each, publication by Nightboat Books, and 25 author copies are given annually for poetry collections. The editors will judge. Using only the online...
read morePerugia Press
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 11/15/25
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $2,000, publication by Perugia Press, and 20 author copies is given annually for a first or second poetry collection by a writer who identifies as a woman, including...
read moreFine Arts Work Center
Cash Prize: $1,250
Entry Fee: $40
Application Deadline: 11/15/25
Fellowships for a seven-month residency at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, are given annually to four poets and four fiction writers who have not...
read moreYale University Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 11/15/25
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Yale University Press is given annually for a poetry collection by a poet who has not published a full-length book of poetry and who...
read morePushcart Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/15/25
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 is given occasionally for a fiction or nonfiction manuscript that has been rejected by a commercial publisher. The award recognizes “worthy manuscripts that...
read moreThe Story Prize
Cash Prize: $20,000
Entry Fee: $75
Application Deadline: 11/15/25
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $20,000 is given annually for a story collection written in English and first published in the United States in the current year. Two runners-up will receive $5,000...
read moreCommonwealth Club of California
Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/15/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Five prizes of $2,500 each are given annually for a poetry collection, a book of fiction, a first book of fiction, a book of creative nonfiction, and a book dealing with a...
read more