In this virtual reading and conversation, Poets & Writers Magazine features editor India Lena González introduces the five debut authors featured in “First Fiction 2025”: Sarah Yahm, author of Unfinished Acts of Wild Creation (Dzanc Books, 2025); Jon Hickey, author of Big Chief (Simon & Schuster, 2025); Carrie R. Moore, author of Make Your Way Home (Tin House Books, 2025); Aaron John Curtis, author of Old School Indian (Hillman Grad Books, 2025); and Jemimah Wei, author of The Original Daughter (Doubleday, 2025).
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.