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.

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...

read more

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...

read more

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...

read more

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...

read more

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...

read more

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...

read more

Arts & Letters

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 3/31/24

Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Arts & Letters...

read more

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...

read more

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...

read more

Orison Books

Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 4/1/24
Genre: Poetry, Fiction

Two prizes of $1,500 each and publication by Orison Books are given annually for a poetry collection and a book of fiction. Ellen Bass will judge in poetry and Kaveh Akbar will...

read more

Nimrod International Journal

Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 4/1/24
Genre: Poetry, Fiction

Two prizes of $2,000 each and publication in Nimrod International Journal are given annually for a poem or a group of poems and a work of fiction. A runner-up in each...

read more

Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition

Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 4/1/24
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $1,500 and publication on the competition website is given annually for a short story by a writer whose fiction has not appeared in a nationally distributed...

read more

Gemini Magazine

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $8
Application Deadline: 4/1/24
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Gemini Magazine is given annually for a short story. The editors will judge. Submit a story of any length with an $8 entry fee by...

read more

Desperate Literature

Cash Prize: $1,628
Entry Fee: $22
Application Deadline: 4/14/24
Genre: Fiction

A prize of €1,500 (approximately $1,628), publication in the Desperate Literature prize anthology, and a weeklong residency at the Civitella Ranieri Foundation’s castle in the...

read more

New Ohio Review

Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $22
Application Deadline: 4/15/24

Three prizes of $1,500 each and publication in New Ohio Review are given annually for a poem or group of poems, a short story, and an essay. Submit a poem or group of...

read more

Florida Review

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 4/15/24

Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Florida Review are given annually for a poem or group of poems, a short story, and an essay. The editors will judge....

read more

Pen Parentis

Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 4/17/24
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $2,000, a year of mentorship, and publication in Dreamers Creative Writing Magazine is given annually to a fiction writer who is the parent of a child under...

read more

Sixfold

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $5
Application Deadline: 4/23/24
Genre: Poetry, Fiction

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...

read more

Australian Book Review

Cash Prize: $3,931
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 4/24/24
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $6,000 AUD (approximately $3,931) is given annually for a short story. A second-place prize of $4,000 AUD (approximately $2,621) and a third-place prize of $2,500...

read more

F(r)iction

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 4/30/24
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $1,000 is given biannually for a short story. Using only the online submission system, submit a story of 1,001 to 7,500 words with a $15 entry fee...

read more

Ghost Story

Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 4/30/24
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $1,500 and publication on the Ghost Story website and in the 21st Century Ghost Stories anthology series is given biannually for a short story with a...

read more

Tadpole Press

Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 4/30/24

A prize of $2,000 is given biannually for a work of flash poetry or prose. Manuscripts written in a language other than English are accepted when accompanied by an English...

read more

Winning Writers

Cash Prize: $3,500
Entry Fee: $22
Application Deadline: 5/1/24

Two prizes of $3,500 each, two gift certificates for two-year memberships to the literary database Duotrope, and publication on the Winning Writers website are given annually...

read more

Writer’s Digest

Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 5/6/24

A prize of $5,000, an interview in Writer’s Digest, and an all-expenses-paid trip to the Writer’s Digest Annual Conference is given annually for a single poem, a short...

read more

Ploughshares

Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $24
Application Deadline: 5/15/24

Three prizes of $2,000 each and publication in Ploughshares are given annually for a poem or group of poems, a short story, and an essay. Each winner also receives a...

read more

Pages