G&A: The Contest Blog

Before you go out to buy your Halloween pumpkin, consider submitting to Action, Spectacle’s Poetry & Prose Prize for a chance to win $1,000 and publication. English translations of works originally written in another language are accepted.

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Using only the online submission system, submit any number of poems totaling no more than 10 pages or up to 8,500 words of a novel or nonfiction excerpt, short story, or essay with a $20 entry fee by October 1. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Action, Spectacle is a biannual online magazine of art and culture based in Louisville, Kentucky, and Brooklyn, New York. The magazine has featured comics by Anne Carson, poetry by Douglas Kearney, and prose by Brandon Taylor, among other selections in art, commentary, fiction, interviews, memoir, verse, and reportage.

Autumn begins with a bevy of contests for writers in all genres, including nineteen with a deadline of September 30. Half a dozen awards offer $5,000 or more and publication for full-length manuscripts of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, and three have no entry fee. A prize of $15,000 is being offered for a book of fiction published during the current year; several prizes of $1,000 or more are offered for a single essay, story, or poem; and that’s not all! Good luck as you decide where to send your work!

Boulevard
Nonfiction Contest for Emerging Writers
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 distributed press. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $18.

California State University in Fresno
Philip Levine Prize for Poetry
A prize of $2,000, publication by Anhinga Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. The winner will also be invited to give a public reading at California State University in Fresno. Douglas Kearney will judge. Entry fee: $25.

Connecticut Poetry Society
Vivian Shipley Poetry Award 
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Connecticut River Review and on the Connecticut Poetry Society website is given annually for a single poem. Antoinette Brim-Bell will judge. Entry fee: $15.

Dzanc Books
Short Story Collection Prize
A prize of $2,500 and publication by Dzanc Books is given annually for a story collection. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $25.

Dzanc Books
Prize for Fiction
A prize of $5,000 and publication by Dzanc Books is given annually for a novel. Mark Dunn, Alan Grostephan, and Julie Ann Stewart will judge. Entry fee: $25.

Ghost Story
Supernatural Fiction Award
A prize of $1,500 and publication on the Ghost Story website is given twice yearly for a short story with a supernatural or magic realist theme. The winning work will also be published in Volume III of the 21st Century Ghost Stories print anthology. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $20.

Hackney Literary Awards
Novel Contest
A prize of $5,000 is given annually for an unpublished novel. Entry fee: $30.

Lascaux Review
Prize in Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for an essay. The winner and finalists will also be published on the Lascaux Review website. Previously published and unpublished essays are eligible. Entry fee: $15.

One Page
Poetry Contest
A prize of $2,000 will be given annually for a single poem. A second-place prize of $1,000 will also be given. Mark Graham, Monique Jonath, and Ann Tinkham will judge. Entry fee: $25.

PEN/Faulkner Foundation
Award for Fiction
A prize of $15,000 is given annually for a book of fiction published during the current year. Four finalists each receive $5,000. The winner and finalists will also be invited to read in Washington, D.C., in May 2024. Entry fee: $75.

The Moth
Nature Writing Prize
A prize of €1,000 (approximately $1,092) and online publication in Irish Times is given annually for a poem, a story, or an essay that features “an exploration of the writer’s relationship with the natural world.” The winner also receives a weeklong stay at the Circle of Misse artist’s retreat in Missé, France. Kathleen Jamie will judge. Entry fee: $16.

Texas Review Press: The University Press of SHSU
George Garrett Fiction Prize
A prize of $1,000, publication by Texas Review Press: The University Press of SHSU, and 20 author copies is given annually for a short story collection or novel. Entry fee: $28.

Texas Review Press: The University Press of SHSU
X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize
A prize of $10,000, publication by Texas Review Press: The University Press of SHSU, and 10 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Richard Blanco will judge. Entry fee: $28.

University of Arkansas Press
Miller Williams Poetry Prize
A prize of $5,000 and publication by University of Arkansas Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Patricia Smith will judge. Entry fee: $28.

University of Iowa Press
Iowa Short Fiction Award
Two prizes of publication by the University of Iowa Press are given annually for first collections of short fiction. Entry fee: None.

University of Mississippi
Willie Morris Award for Southern Nonfiction
A prize of $12,000 is given annually for a book of nonfiction published during the current year that asks readers “to engage with or reflect on the complexities of the American South.” The winner will also receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Oxford, Mississippi, for the awards ceremony in April 2024. Entry fee: None.

University of Mississippi
Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction
A prize of $12,000 is given annually for a novel published during the current year that asks readers “to engage with or reflect on the complexities of the American South.” The winner will also receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Oxford, Mississippi, for the awards ceremony in April 2024. Entry fee: None.

University of Mississippi
Willie Morris Award for Southern Poetry
A prize of $3,000 is given annually for a single poem that evokes the American South. The winner will also receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Oxford, Mississippi, for the awards ceremony in April 2024. Susan Kinsolving will judge. Entry fee: None.

Winning Writers
Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest
Two prizes of $3,000 each, two-year gift certificates for membership to the literary database Duotrope, and publication on the Winning Writers website are given annually for a poem in any style and a poem that either rhymes or is written in a traditional style. Briana Grogan, Michal “MJ” Jones, and Dare Williams will judge. Entry fee: $22.

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.

Debut poets, you’ve got a week left to submit to one of the nation’s most prestigious prizes: the First Book Award from the Academy of American Poets. The winner receives $5,000, publication by Graywolf Press, and a six-week all-expenses-paid residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center in Umbria, Italy. The winning book will also be distributed to over 5,000 members of the Academy of American Poets.

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Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 48 to 100 pages with a $35 entry fee by September 1. Victoria Chang will judge. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Founded in 1975, and known until 2020 as the Walt Whitman Award, the prize was created to support first-time poets and the publication of their books. Past winners of the prize include Threa Almontaser, Jenny Xie, Mai Der Vang, Sjohnna McCray, Matt Rasmussen, and Jan Heller Levi. The prize is supported by financial contributions from the members of the Academy of American Poets.

Don’t let August slip past you: Submit to one or more of a dozen writing contests with a deadline of August 30 or August 31. Prizes include $3,000 and publication for a book of poetry; $1,000 and publication for a debut collection of poems, short stories, or essays; $1,000 and publication for a book of poetry by a writer over the age of 60; and more than $1,000, publication, and accommodations to give a reading at the Cork International Poetry Festival in Ireland for a poetry chapbook. All contests offer an award of $1,000 or more, and one has no entry fee. We wish you luck!

Aesthetica
Creative Writing Award
Two prizes of £2,500 (approximately $3,121) each and publication in Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual are given annually for a poem and a short story. In addition, the winner in poetry receives a membership to the Poetry Society in London, a six-week writing course from Curtis Brown Creative (a writing school led by authors and literary agents), a course from the arts organization Poetry School, and a subscription to Poetry London. The winner in short fiction receives a six-week writing course from Curtis Brown Creative and a consultation with the literary agency Redhammer Management. Both winners receive subscriptions to literary magazines Granta and Mslexia, as well as a five-day course from the London-based creative writing nonprofit Arvon. Deadline: August 31. Entry fee: $15.

Anthology Magazine
Short Story Competition
A prize of €1,000 (approximately $1,099) and publication in, plus a subscription to, Anthology Magazine will be given annually for a short story. Deadline: August 31. Entry fee: $20.

Black Lawrence Press
St. Lawrence Book Award
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Black Lawrence Press is given annually for a debut collection of poems, short stories, or essays. The editors and a panel of previous St. Lawrence Book Award winners will judge. Deadline: August 31. Entry fee: $28.

Grid Books
Off the Grid Poetry Prize
A prize of $1,000 and publication in print and audio formats by Grid Books is given annually for a poetry collection by a writer over the age of 60. Marianne Boruch will judge. Deadline: August 31. Entry fee: $25.

Gemini Magazine
Flash Fiction Contest
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Gemini Magazine is given annually for a short short story. The editors will judge. Deadline: August 31. Entry fee: $7.

Gulf Coast
Barthelme Prize for Short Prose
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Gulf Coast is given annually for a short work of prose. Deadline: August 31. Entry fee: $26.

Gulf Coast
Prize in Translation
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Gulf Coast is given in alternating years for a group of poems or a prose excerpt translated from any language into English. The 2023 prize will be given for a work of prose. Deadline: August 31. Entry fee: $13.

Journal of Experimental Fiction
Kenneth Patchen Award
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Journal of Experimental Fiction and JEF Books is given annually for an innovative novel. Carla M. Wilson will judge. Deadline: August 31. Entry fee: $25.

Munster Literature Centre
Fool for Poetry International Chapbook Competition
A prize of €1,000 (approximately $1,099); publication by Southword Editions, Munster Literature Centre’s publishing imprint; and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry chapbook. The winner will also receive accommodations to give a reading at the Cork International Poetry Festival in 2024. Deadline: August 31. Entry fee: $27.

Omnidawn Publishing
Open Book Poetry Contest
A prize of $3,000, publication by Omnidawn Publishing, and 20 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Maw Shein Win will judge. Deadline: August 31. Entry fee: $35.

Talking Gourds
Fischer Prize
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a single poem. The winner will also be invited to be a featured reader for a Bardic Trails online reading in 2024 and will receive a $100 honorarium for participating. Deborah Kay Kelly will judge. Deadline: August 30. Entry fee: $10.

Utica University
Eugene Paul Nassar Poetry Prize
A prize of $2,000 is given annually for a poetry collection published during the current year by a resident of upstate New York. The winner will also give a reading and teach a master class at Utica University in April 2024. Deadline: August 31. 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.

Looking to publish your poetry collection? Try sending it to Howling Bird Press for a shot at a prize of $2,500 and publication.

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Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 48 to 72 pages with a $25 entry fee by August 21. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Howling Bird Press is the publishing house of the creative writing MFA program of Augsburg University in Minneapolis, where it is staffed by graduate students enrolled in the program’s publishing concentration. The press’s annual book prize alternates genres each year, awarding fiction and nonfiction manuscripts in addition to poetry. In 2019, Lisa Van Orman Hadley won the Howling Bird Press Fiction Prize for her novel, Irreversible Things, which “follows three decades in the life of author-qua-narrator Lisa and her charismatic Mormon family, from childhood to puberty to adulthood.” In 2018, KateLynn Hibbard won the Howling Bird Press Poetry Prize for her poetry collection Simples, which “transports us back in time to search out the remedies and inner strength necessary to survive a hardscrabble life on the frontier plains.”