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.

Journal of Experimental Fiction

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 8/31/25
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $1,000 and publication by JEF Books, the publisher of Journal of Experimental Fiction, is given annually for an innovative novel. Derek Pell will judge....

read more

Aesthetica

Cash Prize: $3,324
Entry Fee: $16
Application Deadline: 8/31/25
Genre: Poetry, Fiction

Two prizes of £2,500 (approximately $3,324) each and publication in the Aesthetica Creative Writing anthology are given annually for a poem and a short story. In addition, the...

read more

Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition

Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 9/1/25
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

Academy for Teachers

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $5
Application Deadline: 9/1/25
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $1,000 and publication in A Public Space is given annually for a work of flash fiction about teachers and school in which the protagonist or narrator is a K–...

read more

Gemini Magazine

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $8
Application Deadline: 9/2/25
Genre: Fiction

A prize of $1,000 and publication in Gemini Magazine is given annually for a work of flash fiction. The editors will judge. Submit a story of up to 1,000 words with an $...

read more

Maine Arts Commission

Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 9/3/25

A fellowship of up to $5,000 is given annually to a poet, a fiction writer, a creative nonfiction writer, or a writer working in a genre outside these categories who is a...

read more

Dogwood

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $12
Application Deadline: 9/5/25

Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Dogwood are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. Using only the online submission system, submit up to...

read more

Literary Arts

Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $55
Application Deadline: 9/5/25

Four prizes of $1,000 each are given annually for books of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and general nonfiction published in the current year by writers living in...

read more

Masters Review

Cash Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 9/7/25

A prize of $3,000 and publication in Masters Review is given annually for a short story or an essay by an emerging writer. Writers who have not published a book, self-...

read more

Harvard University

Cash Prize: $78,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 9/11/25

Fellowships of $78,000 each, as well as office space at the Radcliffe Institute and access to the libraries at Harvard University, are given annually to poets, fiction writers...

read more

American-Scandinavian Foundation

Cash Prize: $2,500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 9/15/25

A prize of $2,500 and publication of an excerpt in Scandinavian Review is given annually for an English translation of a work of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction...

read more

Santa Fe Writers Project

Cash Prize: $1,500
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 9/15/25

A prize of $1,500 and publication by the Santa Fe Writers Project is given biennially for a book of fiction or creative nonfiction. Deesha Philyaw will judge. Using only the...

read more

Pages