Archive August 2023

Deadline for Academy of American Poets First Book Award Nears

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.

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.

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Upcoming Contest Deadlines

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.

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Deadline Approaches for Gulf Coast Prize in Translation

The Gulf Coast Prize in Translation, whose submission cycle closes in just under three weeks, recognizes a prose excerpt translated into English from another language. Why not gather the required materials and share your rendering of someone else’s words for a chance to win a prize of $1,000 and publication?

Submit up to 10 pages of a story or essay in translation, a copy of the original text, a brief biography of the author, a synopsis of the work being translated, and proof that permission to translate the work has been granted with a $26 submission fee, which includes a subscription to Gulf Coast, or a $13 entry fee, which includes a half-year subscription, by August 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Started in 1982 by Donald Barthelme and Phillip Lopate as a 64-page student-run publication, Gulf Coast today counts on a readership of over 3,000 as the nationally distributed journal housed within the University of Houston’s English Department. The press’s annual translation prize alternates genres each year, awarding a group of poems and a prose excerpt. Anam Zafar won the 2021 prize for her translation of Najat Albed Alsamad’s story “My Friend’s Basement” and has said of Alsamad’s work that it “exposes conflict as an individual experience in which entire countries simply cannot be viewed through a single, zoomed-out lens.” One of four of Gulf Coast’s contests, the translation prize represents the journal’s enduring commitment “to providing a balanced combination of literary approaches and voices.”

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Upcoming Contest Deadlines

What have you been working on? A short story or poem or essay that “tells a story that needs to be told”? A book-length, hybrid-genre work “that challenges conventions of genre and language, content and form”? Or simply a poetry collection? If any of the above, you still have a few days to submit to the following contests with deadlines between August 8 and August 15. Prizes range from $1,000 to $3,000 and include publication for a poem, a short story, or an essay, as well as a book-length work of prose or poetry. Go on, the clock is ticking!

Gival Press
Short Story Award

A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Gival Press website is given annually for a short story. Deadline: August 8. Entry fee: $25.

TulipTree Publishing
Stories That Need to Be Told Contest

A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a poem, a short story, or an essay that “tells a story that needs to be told.” The winner will also receive a two-year subscription to the literary database Duotrope and publication in the annual Stories That Need to Be Told contest anthology. All entries are considered for publication. Deadline: August 9. Entry fee: $20.

Grayson Books
Poetry Contest

A prize of $1,000 and publication by Grayson Books is given annually for a poetry collection. Brad Davis will judge. Deadline: August 15. Entry fee: $26.

Futurepoem
Other Futures Award

A prize of $1,000, publication by Futurepoem, and 25 author copies is given annually for a book of innovative poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or hybrid-genre work “that challenges conventions of genre and language, content and form.” The editors will judge. Work that incorporates other languages, or self-translated work, is eligible. Deadline: August 15. Entry fee: $28.

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.

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