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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.

Sponsor and Award	Entry Fee	Genre	Cash Prize	Prize includes	Application Deadline
Marie Alexander Poetry Series Prose Poetry and Flash Fiction Open A prize of $1,000 and publication by Marie Alexander Poetry Series, an imprint of White Pine Press, is given annually for a collection of prose poems or flash fiction by a U.S. writer. Submit a...	$0	Poetry, Fiction	$1,000	Publication	7/31/12
Delaware Division of the Arts Individual Artist Fellowships Established Professional Fellowships of $6,000 each and Emerging Professional Fellowships of $3,000 each are given annually to Delaware poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. Writers...	$0	Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction	$6,000		8/1/12
Leeway Foundation Art and Change Grants Grants of up to $2,500 each are given twice yearly by the Leeway Foundation to women and transsexual, transgender, genderqueer, and Two-Spirit poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers in...	$0	Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction	$2,500		8/1/12
North Carolina Humanities Council Linda Flowers Literary Award A prize of $500, publication in North Carolina Conversations, and a weeklong residency at Weymouth Center for the Arts and Humanities in Southern Pines, North Carolina, is given annually for a...	$0	Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction	$500	Publication, Residency	8/15/12
Memoir Journal Prize for Memoir in Prose or Poetry A prize of $500 and publication in Memoir Journal is given twice yearly for a memoir in the form of a poem, a short story, or an essay. The editors will judge. Using the online submission system...	$0	Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction	$500	Publication	8/16/12
New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award A prize of $10,000 is given annually to honor a novel or short story collection by a U.S. citizen who is 35 or younger. Publishers and agents may submit 10 copies of a book (or bound galleys) published...	$0	Fiction	$10,000		8/31/12
Poets & Writers, Inc. California Writers Exchange Contest Two prizes of $500 each are awarded every three years to a poet and a fiction writer living in California. Each winner also receives an all-expenses-paid, weeklong trip to New York City to meet with...	$0	Poetry, Fiction	$500	Reading	8/31/12
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Writing Fellowships Guggenheim Fellowships are awarded annually to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers who are residents of the United States and Canada on the basis of achievement and exceptional...	$0	Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction	$30,000		9/15/12
Shakespeare and Company Paris Literary Prize A prize of €10,000 (approximately $12,275) will be given annually for a novella. Two second-place prizes of €2,000 (approximately $2,455) will also be given. Writers who have not published a book of...	$93	Fiction, Creative Nonfiction	$12,275		9/15/12
University of Iowa Press Short Fiction Awards Two publication awards are given annually by the University of Iowa Press for first collections of short fiction. Writers who have not published a book of fiction are eligible. Submit a manuscript of at...	$0	Fiction		Publication	9/30/12
University of Massachusetts Press Juniper Prizes Two prizes of $1,500 each and publication by University of Massachusetts Press are given annually for a poetry collection and a book of fiction. In poetry, the award alternates yearly between first and...	$0	Poetry, Fiction	$1,500	Publication	9/30/12
Harvard University Radcliffe Institute Fellowships Fellowships of $70,000 each, office space at the Radcliffe Institute, and access to the libraries at Harvard University are given annually to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers to...	$0	Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction	$70,000		10/1/12
American Antiquarian Society Fellowships for Creative Writers Fellowships are given annually to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers for monthlong residencies at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts, to research pre-...	$0	Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction	$1,350	Residency	10/5/12
Lynchburg College Thornton Writer Residency A fourteen-week residency at Lynchburg College, including a stipend, is awarded annually to a fiction writer for the fall term and a poet or creative nonfiction writer for the spring term. The stipend...	$0	Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction		Reading, Workshop, Residency	10/15/12
Dana Awards Literary Competition Four prizes of $1,000 each are given annually for an unpublished group of poems, a short story, a novel or novel-in-progress, and an essay. Submit five poems of no more than 100 lines each with a $15...	$15	Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction	$1,000		10/31/12

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