A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Travelers’ Tales website is given annually for a travel essay. Writers from Arizona and Vermont are eligible for publication but not...
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.
Travelers’ Tales
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $35
Application Deadline: 9/21/25
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
New York Public Library
Cash Prize: $90,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 9/26/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Translation
Fifteen fellowships are given annually to artists, academics, and creative writers, including poets, fiction writers, creative nonfiction writers, and translators, whose work...
read moreThe Moth
Cash Prize: $1,158
Entry Fee: $17
Application Deadline: 9/30/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of €1,000 (approximately $1,158) and online publication in Irish Times is given annually for a poem, a short story, or an essay that features “an exploration...
read moreUniversity of Mississippi
Cash Prize: $12,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 9/30/25
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $12,000 is given annually for a book of creative nonfiction published during the current year that asks readers “to engage with or reflect on the complexities of the...
read moreBoulevard
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $18
Application Deadline: 9/30/25
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Boulevard is given annually for an essay by a writer who has not published a full-length book in any genre with a nationally...
read moreLascaux Review
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 9/30/25
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Lascaux Review website is given annually for an essay. Previously published and unpublished essays are eligible. Using only...
read moreUniversity of Massachusetts Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 9/30/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Five prizes of $1,000 each and publication by University of Massachusetts Press are given annually for a debut poetry collection, a poetry collection by an author who has...
read moreDzanc Books
Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 9/30/25
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,500 and publication by Dzanc Books will be given triannually for a book of nonfiction, including essays, memoir, polemical writing, historical writing, and...
read moreGeorgia Writers
Cash Prize: $500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 10/1/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three grants of $500 each are given annually in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction to “elevate, encourage, and inspire the voices of Black writers in Georgia.” Grantees also...
read moreAction, Spectacle
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 10/1/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Action, Spectacle is given annually for a poem, a short work of fiction, or a short work of creative nonfiction. Using only the...
read morePrincipal Foundation
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 10/12/25
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Short Édition website and in Principal Foundation’s Short Story Dispensers (located in six cities across the United States) will be...
read moreColumbus State University
Cash Prize: $10,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 10/15/25
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $10,000 and publication with DLJ Books, the imprint of Columbus State University Press, will be given annually for a book of fiction or creative nonfiction “that...
read morePulitzer Prizes
Cash Prize: $15,000
Entry Fee: $75
Application Deadline: 10/15/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Six prizes of $15,000 each are given annually for books of poetry, fiction, general nonfiction, U.S. history, biography, and memoir first published in the United States during...
read morePermafrost
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 10/15/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of Alaska Press is given in alternating years for a book of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction. The 2025 prize will be...
read moreTulipTree Publishing
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 10/17/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication in the Fall/Winter issue of TulipTree Review is given annually for a humorous poem, story, or essay. Submit a poem of up to five...
read moreTupelo Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 10/31/25
Genre: Poetry, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Tupelo Press is given annually for a full- or chapbook-length poetry collection or a book of creative nonfiction (including memoir, essays...
read moreRiver Teeth
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $27
Application Deadline: 10/31/25
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of New Mexico Press is given annually for a book of creative nonfiction. Ander Monson will judge. Using only the online...
read moreTucson Festival of Books
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 10/31/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $1,000 each are given annually for works of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. The winners will also receive scholarships to attend a workshop at the...
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 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 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 moreLoft Literary Center
Cash Prize: $25,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/15/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Four prizes of $25,000 each are given annually to Minnesota poets, prose writers, and spoken word artists. Fellows will also receive an all-expenses-paid, one- or two-week...
read moreBrooklyn Film & Arts Festival
Cash Prize: $500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 11/15/25
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $500 and publication on the Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival website is given annually for a work of nonfiction that is set in Brooklyn, New York, and renders the...
read more