In this On the Serendipitous Side podcast episode, Deesha Philyaw talks about the twenty-year journey of her first novel, The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman (Mariner Books, 2026), and how the story developed with the help of her agent and a satire writing class. A profile of Philyaw by Brian Gresko appears in the September/October 2026 issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.
Find details about every creative writing competition—including poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, grants for translators, and more—that we’ve published in the Grants & Awards section of Poets & Writers Magazine during the past year. We carefully review the practices and policies of each contest before including it in the Writing Contests database, the most trusted resource for legitimate writing contests available anywhere.