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.

Fourth Genre

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 3/15/24

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Fourth Genre...

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National Poetry Series

Cash Prize: $10,000
Entry Fee: $35
Application Deadline: 3/15/24
Genre: Poetry

Five prizes of $10,000 each and publication by participating trade, university, or small press publishers are given annually for poetry collections by U.S. poets. Using only...

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Prairie Schooner

Cash Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 3/15/24
Genre: Poetry, Fiction

Two prizes of $3,000 each and publication by University of Nebraska Press are given annually for a poetry collection and a story collection. Kwame Dawes will judge. Submit a...

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The Word Works

Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 3/15/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,500 and publication by the Word Works is given annually to a U.S. or Canadian poet for a poetry collection. Using only the online submission system, submit a...

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Verse

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $17
Application Deadline: 3/15/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,000 and publication by Factory Hollow Press is given annually for a poetry chapbook. The winner also receives a monthlong residency in a private apartment at the...

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Trio House Press

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 3/15/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,000, publication by Trio House Press, and 20 author copies is given annually for a first or second poetry collection by a poet living in the United States....

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Robinson Jeffers Tor House Foundation

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $10
Application Deadline: 3/15/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a single poem. Sun Yung Shin will judge. Submit up to three poems of no more than three pages each with a $10 entry fee by March 15....

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Trio House Press

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 3/15/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,000, publication by Trio House Press, and 20 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection by a poet living in the United States. Oliver de la Paz will...

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The Center for Fiction

Cash Prize: $15,000
Entry Fee: $100
Application Deadline: 3/15/24
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $15,000 is given annually for a debut novel by an American citizen published in the United States during the current year. Six finalists receive $1,000 each. Self-...

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Bellingham Review

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 3/15/24

Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Bellingham Review...

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Broadside Lotus Press

Cash Prize: $500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 3/15/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $500 and publication by Broadside Lotus Press is given annually for a poetry collection by an African American poet. Submit two copies of a manuscript of...

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Indiana Review

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 3/15/24

Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Indiana Review are given annually for a single poem and an essay. Submit up to three poems of any length or a work of prose...

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James Jones Literary Society

Cash Prize: $10,000
Entry Fee: $33
Application Deadline: 3/15/24
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $10,000 is given annually for a novel-in-progress by a U.S. writer who has not published a novel. The first runner-up receives $3,000 and the second runner-up...

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American Literary Translators Association

Cash Prize: $4,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 3/18/24

Two prizes of $4,000 each are given annually for a book of poetry and a book of prose translated from any language into English and published in the previous year. For the...

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American Literary Translators Association

Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 3/18/24

A prize of $5,000 is given annually for a book of fiction or nonfiction written by an author of Spanish nationality and published in the previous year. Publishers or...

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American Literary Translators Association

Cash Prize: $6,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 3/18/24

A prize of $6,000 is given annually for a book of poetry or a text from Zen Buddhism translated from an Asian language into English and published in the previous year....

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American Literary Translators Association

Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 3/18/24

A prize of $5,000 is given annually for a book of fiction or nonfiction translated from Italian into English and published in the previous year. Publishers or translators may...

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Narrative

Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $27
Application Deadline: 3/28/24

A prize of $2,500 and publication in Narrative is given annually for a short story, a short short story, an essay, a memoir, or an excerpt from a longer work of fiction...

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Elixir Press

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 3/31/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,000 and publication by Elixir Press is given annually for a first or second poetry collection. Kathleen Winter will judge. Submit a manuscript of at least 48...

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Lascaux Review

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 3/31/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Lascaux Review is given annually for a single poem. Previously published and unpublished poems are accepted. Using only the online...

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Press 53

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 3/31/24
Genre: Poetry, Fiction

Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Prime Number Magazine...

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Banipal Trust for Arab Literature

Cash Prize: $3,797
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 3/31/24
Genre: Poetry, Fiction

A prize of £3,000 (approximately $3,797) is given annually for a book of poetry or fiction translated from Arabic into English and published for the first time in English...

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Trustees of the Robert Frost Farm

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $6
Application Deadline: 3/31/24
Genre: Poetry

A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a poem written in metrical verse. The winner also receives a scholarship to attend and give a reading at the Frost Farm Poetry...

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Black Lawrence Press

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $28
Application Deadline: 3/31/24

A prize of $1,000, publication by Black Lawrence Press, and 10 author copies is given annually for a collection of poems, short stories, essays, or hybrid work. The editors...

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Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature

Cash Prize: $25,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 3/31/24

A prize of $25,000 is given annually to a writer “who, like Paul Engle, represents a pioneering spirit in the world of literature through writing, editing, publishing, or...

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