As we approach Halloween, don’t get spooked by the array of contests awarded for poetry collections, novel excerpts, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, translations, and more, all with a deadline of October 31! Several prizes celebrate the work of writers who identify as women, including one that features an optional six-week, all-expenses-paid residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center in Umbria, Italy. Nine of eleven prizes offer publication in addition to a cash award of at least $1,000. What better way of honoring the holiday than overcoming your fears and submitting your work?

Bedford Competition
International Short Story & Poetry Awards
Two prizes of £1,500 each (approximately $1,914) and publication in the Bedford Competition anthology are given annually for a poem and a short story. MacGillivray will judge in poetry and Tim Jarvis will judge in fiction. Entry fee: £7.50 (approximately $9.50), or £15 (approximately $19) for three poems or stories.

Carlow University
Patricia Dobler Poetry Award
A prize valued at $2,000 is given annually to a woman poet over 40 who has not published a full-length poetry collection. Allison Joseph will judge. The winner receives $1,000, publication in Voices From the Attic, and travel and lodging to give a reading with the contest judge at Carlow University. Entry fee: $20.

Cloudbank Books
Vern Rutsala Book Prize
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Cloudbank Books is given annually for a collection of poetry, flash fiction, or a combination of the two. Entry fee: $25. 

Elixir Press
Poetry Award
A prize of $2,000, publication by Elixir Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Jennifer Franklin will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Entry fee: $30.

Novel Slices
Novel Excerpt Contest   
Five prizes of $1,000 each will be given twice yearly for a novel excerpt. Winners will also receive letters of support sent on their behalf to agents and publishers. Juliette Wade will judge. Entry fee: $12 (which includes an issue of Novel Slices). 

Persea Books
Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Persea Books is given annually for a debut poetry collection by a writer who identifies as a woman. The winner also receives an optional six-week, all-expenses-paid residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center in Umbria, Italy. Writers who are either U.S. citizens or who currently reside in the United States are eligible. Entry fee: $30. 

Poetry Society of the United Kingdom
National Poetry Competition 
A prize of £5,000 (approximately $6,382) and publication on the Poetry Society of the United Kingdom website is given annually for a single poem. A second-place prize of £2,000 (approximately $2,553) and a third-place prize of £1,000 (approximately $1,276) is also given. The top three winners will be published in Poetry Review. Poems written in English by poets from any country are eligible. Jane Draycott, Will Harris, and Clare Pollard will judge. Entry fee: £8 (approximately $10) entry fee, plus £5 (approximately $6) for each additional poem.

Red Hen Press
Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award
A prize of $3,000 and publication by Red Hen Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Juan Felipe Herrera will judge. Entry fee: $25. 

Saturnalia Books
Malinda A. Markham Translation Prize
A prize of $2,000 and publication by Saturnalia Books is given annually for a translation of a poetry collection. Translators who identify as female (including those who are assigned-female-at-birth [AFAB] nonbinary, genderfluid, agender, and intersex) and who are translating the work of a woman poet (including those who are AFAB nonbinary, genderfluid, agender, and intersex) are eligible. Entry fee: $25. 

Tucson Festival of Books
Literary Awards 
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 University of Arizona campus in March 2024. Entry fee: $20.

University of North Texas Press
Vassar Miller Prize
A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of North Texas Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Melissa Range will judge. Entry fee: $25. 

Visit the contest websites for complete guidelines, and check out the Grants & Awards database and Submission Calendar for more contests in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and translation.

The manifesto is a form that many writers, artists, philosophers, and politicians have used for centuries to publicly declare the intentions or ideologies behind their practice. Some influential artist manifestos include Concerning the Spiritual in Art by Wassily Kandinsky, in which he argues that painting is an expression of the artist’s inner life; The Laws of Sculptors by artist duo Gilbert Proesch and George Passmore, which argues against the intellectual and economical elitism of contemporary art; and William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s introduction to their collection Lyrical Ballads, which marked the beginning of the English Romantic movement in literature. Inspired by this form’s rich history, write a manifesto that declares why you write and what you hope to accomplish through your writing.

“I remember loneliness because it is pervasive,” writes Athena Dixon in “Say You Will Remember Me,” the first essay in The Loneliness Files, published by Tin House in October. “It squeezes tightly in my mind until what makes sense, what’s actually happened, is distorted.” In this memoir in essays, Dixon considers the power of technology to connect and divide us while confronting the loneliness she has experienced in her life. “If I believe this, that sometimes drifting away from the world is not abandonment or isolation, it makes my own disconnect less frightening. It leaves me with hope that even if I am still sequestered in my own bedsit, it is not because I am forgotten,” she writes. Consider Dixon’s relationship to loneliness as well as your own and write a story in which a character spends the entirety of the story alone. Think about how to sustain the story’s tension without the presence of other characters.

Calling all poets! The time is right to submit to the Alice James Award. Given annually for a poetry collection, the award confers a prize of $2,000 and publication by the celebrated independent press Alice James Books. Both emerging and established poets are eligible to receive the prize. Submissions are open through October 16.

50yearslogobrandingset2.png

Submit a manuscript of 48 to 100 pages with a $30 entry fee. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Established in 1973 and named for writer and feminist hero Alice James, Alice James Books “is committed to collaborating with literary artists of excellence whose voices have been historically marginalized.” Previous winners of the Alice James Award include Lee Kinnard III, for Orders of Service; Ina Cariño, for Feast; and Aldo Amparan, for Brother Sleep.

In 1950, Alan Turing devised a test that could assess the intelligence of computers and determine if they were capable of sentient thought—an uncertainty that lingers as artificial intelligence (AI) continues to develop. Franny Choi’s poem “Turing Test,” published in the Summer 2016 issue of the Poetry Review, plays with this subject of identity and consciousness. The poem responds to objective questions posed by an AI entity, including, “How old are you?” with elaborate answers that reveal more about the speaker. “My memory goes back 26 years / 23 if you don’t count the first few / though by all accounts i was there / i ate & moved & even spoke,” writes Choi. Write a poem in which your speaker, whether AI or not, answers unassuming questions, such as, “Where did you come from?” and “Do you believe you have consciousness?”