Archive November 2021

Get into the holiday spirit and apply to the following contests, which all have deadlines of November 30 or December 1. Three of the opportunities are for poets looking to publish their debut collections. All contests offer a cash prize of $1,000 or more, and one lucky writer will have the opportunity to give a reading in Washington, D.C.!

African Poetry Book Fund Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poetry: A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of Nebraska Press in conjunction with Amalion Press is given annually for a debut poetry collection by an African poet. Writers who were born in Africa, are African nationals or residents, or whose parents are African are eligible. The African Poetry Book Fund editorial board will judge. Deadline: December 1. Entry fee: None.

Autumn House Press Rising Writer Prize in Poetry: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Autumn House Press is given biennially for a debut poetry collection. The winner will also receive a $500 grant for travel and book promotion. Donika Kelly will judge. All finalists will be considered for publication. Deadline: November 30. Entry fee: $25 (may be waived in cases of financial need).

BOA Editions A. Poulin Jr. Poetry Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication by BOA Editions is given annually for a first book of poetry by a U.S. resident. Stephanie Burt will judge. Deadline: November 30. Entry fee: $25.

Breakwater Review Fiction Contest: A prize of $1,000 and publication in Breakwater Review is given annually for a story. All finalists are considered for publication. Deadline: December 1. Entry fee: $10.

Fish Publishing Short Story Prize: A prize of €3,000 (approximately $3,517) and publication in the annual Fish Publishing anthology is given annually for a short story. The winner will also be invited to attend a five-day short story workshop and read at the West Cork Literary Festival in July 2022. Sarah Hall will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Deadline: November 30. Entry fee: $26.

Green Linden Press Wishing Jewel Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Green Linden Press will be given annually for a book of poetry “that challenges expectations of genre, form, or mode” and that “questions the boundaries of what poems and books can be.” Christopher Nelson will judge. All finalists will be considered for publication. Deadline: November 30. Entry fee: $25.

Hawai’i Council for the Humanities Tony Quagliano Poetry Award: A prize of $1,000 will be given biennially to a poet with a body of work that “pushes the boundaries of poetic craft” who also “contributes meaningfully to the literary community.” Poets who have published at least 25 poems in journals, anthologies, chapbooks, or books are eligible. The award particularly seeks to recognize poets with a connection to Hawai’i or the Pacific. Deadline: December 1. Entry fee: None.

Narrative Fall Story Contest: A prize of $2,500 and publication in Narrative is given annually for a short story, a short short story, an essay, a short graphic narrative, or an excerpt from a longer work of prose. A second-place prize of $1,000 and publication in Narrative is also awarded. The editors will judge. All entries are considered for publication. Deadline: November 30. Entry fee: $27.

Regal House Publishing W.S. Porter Prize for Short Story Collections: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Regal House Publishing will be given annually for a short story collection. The editors will judge. Deadline: December 1. Entry fee: $25.

Waywiser Press Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize: A prize of $3,000 and publication by the Waywiser Press is given annually for a poetry collection by a poet who has published no more than one previous collection. The winner will also be invited to give a reading in with the contest judge in conjunction with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. Deadline: December 1. Entry fee: $29.

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

Submissions are open for the second annual The Bird in Your Hands Prize, which is administered by Thin Air Magazine and “centers and celebrates BIPOC voices.” BIPOC writers at any stage in their careers are invited to submit a short work of poetry, fiction, or nonfiction, for the opportunity to win $1,000, publication in Thin Air Magazine, an interview on Thin Air Online, and an all-expenses paid trip to read at the Northern Arizona Book Festival in April next year.

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Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of up to 500 words by December 1. There is no entry fee. Raquel Gutiérrez will judge. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Published by the Northern Arizona University English Department, Thin Air Magazine is run by graduate students and features fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and visual arts, as well as hybrid work and work that cannot be categorized. Operating out of Flagstaff, Arizona, the nonprofit is “the highest-elevation literary journal in the country” and aims to “build and maintain a Flagstaff–based literary community that reaches across the Colorado Plateau and beyond.”

Opportunities abound for writers of all kinds in mid-November’s contest deadlines. Prizes with deadlines of November 15 include awards for debut poets, for women writers, and for nonfiction writers who can capture the spirit of Brooklyn on the page. Most offer a cash prize of $1,000 or more; one prize includes travel and lodging expenses to attend the Writers Digest Annual Conference in New York City.

Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival Brooklyn Nonfiction Prize: A prize of $500 and publication on the Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival website is given annually for a work of nonfiction that is set in Brooklyn, New York, and renders the borough’s “rich soul and intangible qualities through the writer’s actual experiences of Brooklyn.” Entry fee: None.

Nightboat Books Poetry Prize: Up to three prizes of $1,000 each and publication by Nightboat Books are given annually for poetry collections. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $30.

Perugia Press Poetry Prize: A prize of $1,000 and publication by Perugia Press is given annually for a first or second poetry collection by a writer who identifies as a woman. Entry fee: $30.

Pushcart Press Editors’ Book Award: A prize of $1,000 is given occasionally for a fiction or nonfiction manuscript that has been rejected by a commercial publisher. The award recognizes “worthy manuscripts that have been overlooked by today’s high-pressure, bottom-line publishing conglomerates.” Entry fee: None.

The Story Prize: A prize of $20,000 is given annually for a short story collection written in English and first published in the United States in the previous year. Two runners-up will receive $5,000 each, and one entrant will receive the $1,000 Story Prize Spotlight Award, given for a collection that merits further attention. Larry Dark and Julie Lindsey will select the three finalists and the Spotlight Award winner; three independent judges will choose the Story Prize winner. Entry fee: $75.

Washington Writers’ Publishing House Poetry and Fiction Prizes: Two prizes of $1,500 each, publication by Washington Writers’ Publishing House, and 50 author copies are given annually for a poetry collection and a short story collection or novel. Writers who live in Washington, D.C., Maryland, or Virginia are eligible. Entry fee: $25.

Writers’ Digest Short Short Story Competition: A prize of $3,000 and travel and lodging expenses for a trip to the Writer’s Digest Annual Conference in New York City is given annually for a short short story. A second-place prize of $1,500 is also awarded. The winners will both be published in Writer’s Digest. Entry fee: $25 (or $30 for entry by December 15).

Yale University Press Yale Series of Younger Poets: An award of publication by Yale University Press is given annually for a poetry collection by a poet who has not published a full-length book of poetry. Carl Phillips will judge. Entry fee: $25.