Start the year off right by submitting to writing contests with deadlines of January 15, 24, and 30. Prizes include $5,000 for creative nonfiction that evinces a passion for the desert, $5,000 and an all-expenses-paid trip to give a reading at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond for a published first or second book of poetry, $1,500 for a poetry collection, $1,000 for a short story or a self-contained novel excerpt, and more. All awards offer a cash prize of $1,000 or more. Good luck in 2023, writers!

Asheville Poetry Review
William Matthews Poetry Prize
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Asheville Poetry Review is given annually for a single poem. The winner is also invited to give a reading at Malaprop’s Bookstore in Asheville, North Carolina. Diane Seuss will judge. Deadline: January 15. Entry fee: $20.

Ellen Meloy Fund
Desert Writers Award
A prize of $5,000 is given annually to enable a creative nonfiction writer “whose work reflects the spirit and passions for the desert embodied in Ellen Meloy’s writing” to spend creative time in a desert environment. Deadline: January 15. Entry fee: $15.

New American Press
New American Poetry Prize
A prize of $1,500, publication by New American Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Writers of any citizenship working anywhere in the world are eligible, though the work should presume English-language readers. Jamaica Baldwin will judge. Deadline: January 15. Entry fee: $25.

North Carolina Writers’ Network
Rose Post Creative Nonfiction Competition
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for an essay “that is outside the realm of conventional journalism and has relevance to North Carolinians.” The winning essay will also be considered for publication in Ecotone. Writers who are legal residents of North Carolina or who are members of the North Carolina Writers’ Network are eligible. Julia Ridley Smith will judge. Deadline: January 15. Entry fee: $12.

North Carolina Writers’ Network
Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a short story or a self-contained novel excerpt. Judy Goldman will judge. The winning work of fiction will also be considered for publication in Thomas Wolfe Review. Deadline: January 30. Entry fee: $25 entry fee ($15 for NCWN members).

Poetry Society of Virginia
North American Book Award
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a poetry collection published during the previous year. The winner is also invited to read at the organization’s annual Spring Poetry Festival, held at the Richmond Public Library in May. Self-published books and books that have previously received a post-publication award are ineligible. Bill Glose will judge. Deadline: January 15. Entry fee: $36

Sixfold
Poetry and Short Story Awards
Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Sixfold are given quarterly for a group of poems and a short story. Deadline: January 24. Entry fee: $5.

Virginia Commonwealth University
Levis Reading Prize
A prize of $5,000 and an all-expenses-paid trip to give a reading at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond is given annually for a first or second book of poetry published during the previous year. Deadline: January 15. Entry fee: none.

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.

Here’s a new year’s resolution for you: Give your book a fighting chance to get published! For poets in the Upper Midwest, there’s no better way to get the ball rolling than by submitting to Milkweed Editions’ Ballard Spahr Prize for Poetry, which offers $10,000 and publication of a collection by a poet currently residing in Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, or Wisconsin.

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Using only the online submission system, submit one unpublished poetry manuscript of at least forty-eight pages by January 15. There is no entry fee, and poets may be at any stage in their career. Maggie Smith will judge. View the website for complete guidelines.

Established in 2011, the Ballard Spahr Prize for Poetry aims to support outstanding poets from the Upper Midwest by bringing their work to the attention of a national audience. In addition to the financial award and publication, the winning poet will receive a standard royalty contract, national distribution, and a robust marketing and publicity campaign by Milkweed Editions, a nonprofit literary press based in Minneapolis. The 2022 Ballard Spahr Prize for Poetry went to K. Iver for Short Film Starring My Beloved’s Red Bronco, selected by Tyehimba Jess and featured in the current issue of Poets & Writers Magazine in Page One: Where New and Noteworthy Books Begin.

In his article “Why Did Borges Hate Soccer?” published in the New Republic in 2014, Shaj Mathew uncovers the reasons the iconic Argentinean writer hated soccer so much that he even scheduled a lecture to conflict with Argentina’s first game of the 1978 World Cup. Mathew observes that what Borges was troubled with was the link from soccer fan culture to “the kind of blind popular support that propped up the leaders of the twentieth century’s most horrifying political movements.” Taking into consideration this year’s controversial FIFA World Cup in Qatar, write an essay that examines your relationship to a popular sport. Is there an element of fandom that unsettles you?

In 2018, Chilean author Isabel Allende became the first Spanish-language author to receive the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation. In her acceptance speech, Allende spoke of how her writing comes from “nostalgia, loss, and separation, from an incurable desire to belong in a place.” Lightheartedly and hilariously, she continued by noting that she not only writes in Spanish but cooks, dreams, and makes love in Spanish. “It would be ridiculous panting in English. My lover doesn’t speak a word of Spanish,” said Allende. This week, write a story in which two people from vastly different backgrounds connect through an unexpected similarity. How do they bond through their own language?