Genre: Fiction

Robert Traver Fly-Fishing Writing Award

John D. Voelker Foundation 
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
May 31, 2025
A prize of $2,500 and publication in American Fly Fisher as well as on the John D. Voelker Foundation and the American Museum of Fly Fishing websites is given annually for a short story or an essay that embodies an “implicit love of fly fishing…and the natural world in which it takes place.” Using only the online submission system, submit up to 3,000 words of prose with a $25 entry fee by May 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

National Book Awards

National Book Foundation
Entry Fee: 
$135
Deadline: 
June 6, 2025
Four prizes of $10,000 each are given annually for books of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and young people’s literature written by U.S. writers and published in the United States during the previous year. A $10,000 prize is also given for an English translation of a book of fiction or nonfiction by a living writer and translator published in the United States during the previous year. Finalists in all categories receive $1,000 each. Publishers may submit titles published or scheduled for publication between December 1, 2024, and November 30, 2025, for consideration via the online submission form with a $135 entry fee per title by May 14. Additionally, a digital copy and six hard copies (or bound galleys) of the books must be submitted to the judges and the National Book Foundation by June 6. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines.
Tags: 
book awards

Prize in Flash Fiction

Lascaux Review
Entry Fee: 
$15
Deadline: 
June 30, 2025
A prize of $1,000 and online publication in Lascaux Review is given annually for a work of flash fiction. Previously published or unpublished stories are eligible. Using only the online submission system, submit up to three stories of no more than 1,000 words each with a $15 entry fee by June 30. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Agents & Editors: The Complete Series

by
Jofie Ferrari-Adler, Michael Szczerban, M. Allen Cunningham, and Vivian Lee
Feature
4.16.25
A photo of Nicole Aragi, a Middle Eastern woman with tan skin. She wears square glasses and a turquoise shirt and has one hand in the pocket of her jeans. She stands inside her home and smiles faintly.

This series of interviews with over forty book editors, publishers, and agents offers a unique look at the past, present, and future of the book industry and what writers can do to thrive in today’s publishing world.  

Transformation Awards

Leeway Foundation
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
May 15, 2025
Awards of $15,000 each are given annually to women, transgender, and/or gender-nonconforming poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers in the Philadelphia area who have been creating art for social change for five or more years. Writers who have lived in Bucks, Camden, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, or Philadelphia counties for at least two years and who are not full-time students in a degree-granting arts program are eligible. Submit a completed application form, which includes an artist information questionnaire, a list of relevant experience, and a statement demonstrating the applicant’s commitment to “art for social change work” by May 15. A panel of community-based artists will review applications and invite selected poets and writers to submit work for the second stage of the application process. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for the required application form and complete guidelines.

Q&A With Jennifer Acker of the Common

Caption: 

Jennifer Acker, founder and editor in chief of the Common, answers questions about the journal’s mission, slush piles, and her editorial process in this virtual event with Becky Tuch for the Lit Mag News Roundup. An interview with Acker about the Common’s fifteenth anniversary is featured in the May/June issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

Genre: 
Poetry
Fiction
Creative Nonfiction
Translation
Tags: 
Jennifer Acker
The Common
literary magazine
publishing
submission process
Becky Tuch
May/June 2025

International Short Story Prize

The Moth
Entry Fee: 
$16
Deadline: 
June 30, 2025
A prize of €3,000 (approximately $3,267) is given annually for a short story. A second-place prize of a weeklong retreat at Circle of Misse in Missé, France, with an open-ended travel stipend and a third-place prize of €1,000 (approximately $1,089) are also given. The winners will be published in Irish Times. Submit a story of up to 3,000 words with a €15 (approximately $16) entry fee by June 30. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines.

Changing Light Prize

Livingston Press
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
May 30, 2025
A prize of $500, publication by Livingston Press, and 20 author copies is given annually for a novel-in-verse. Eleanor Boudreau will judge. Submit a manuscript of 90 to 160 pages of poetry and a cover letter via e-mail by May 30. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Literary Awards

New Letters
Entry Fee: 
$24
Deadline: 
May 19, 2025
Three prizes of $2,500 each and publication in New Letters are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. Using only the online submission system, submit up to six poems totaling no more than 30 pages or a story or essay of up to 8,000 words with a $24 entry fee, which includes a subscription to New Letters, by May 19. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

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