Genre: Fiction

Chapbook Prize

Tusculum Review
Entry Fee: 
$20
Deadline: 
June 15, 2025
A prize of $1,500 and publication in Tusculum Review is given annually for a collection of poems, a short story, or an essay in alternating years. The winner’s work is also published as a limited-edition stand-alone chapbook with original art. This year’s prize will be awarded in fiction. Jaime Cortez will judge. Submit a manuscript of 2,000 to 7,000 words with a $20 entry fee, which includes a subscription to Tusculum Review, by June 15. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Short Fiction Prize

BOA Editions
Entry Fee: 
$30
Deadline: 
May 31, 2025
A prize of $1,000 and publication by BOA Editions is given annually for a story collection. Peter Conners will judge. Submit a manuscript of 100 to 200 pages with a $30 entry fee by May 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction

University of Georgia Press
Entry Fee: 
$30
Deadline: 
May 31, 2025
A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of Georgia Press is given annually for a collection of short fiction. Lori Ostlund will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 40,000 to 75,000 words with a $30 entry fee by May 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Bridge Book Award

Bridge Book Award
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
May 31, 2025
Two prizes of up to $5,000 each will be given annually for a book of fiction and a book of creative nonfiction by U.S. citizens or permanent residents published in the previous year; the prize money will be used exclusively to pay for the cost of translating the book into Italian. The winners also receive travel and lodging to attend an awards ceremony at the American Academy in Rome. Books by authors who do not have more than one book of fiction or creative nonfiction translated into Italian are accepted. Publishers may submit 20 copies (digital PDF copies may be accepted in special circumstances and upon request) of a book of fiction or nonfiction in English published between January 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025, by May 31. Books must be submitted to the Bridge Book Award office in Rome at the publisher’s expense. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Katherine Anne Porter Prize

University of North Texas Press
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
June 30, 2025
A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of North Texas Press is given annually for a collection of short fiction. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 100 to 200 pages with a $25 entry fee by June 30 (fee-free submissions are accepted only on June 1). Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Bridport Prizes

Bridport Arts Centre
Entry Fee: 
$14
Deadline: 
May 31, 2025
Two prizes of £5,000 (approximately $6,482) each and publication in the Bridport Prize anthology are given annually for a poem and a short story. A second-place prize of £1,000 (approximately $1,296) and publication is also given in each category. Additionally, a prize of £1,000 (approximately $1,296) and publication is given for a work of flash fiction. Romalyn Ante will judge in poetry, Leone Ross will judge in short fiction, and Toby Litt will judge in flash fiction. Submit a poem of up to 42 lines, a story of up to 5,000 words, or a work of flash fiction of up to 250 words by May 31. The entry fee is £12 (approximately $16) for poetry, £14 (approximately $18) for fiction, and £11 (approximately $14) for flash fiction. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Drue Heinz Literature Prize

University of Pittsburgh Press
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
June 30, 2025
A prize of $15,000 and publication by University of Pittsburgh Press is given annually for a collection of short fiction. Writers who have published at least one previous book of fiction or a minimum of three short stories or novellas in nationally distributed magazines or literary journals are eligible. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 150 to 300 pages by June 30. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

New Writers Awards

Great Lakes Colleges Association
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
May 25, 2025
Three prizes are given annually for first books by a poet, a fiction writer, and a creative nonfiction writer. The winners each receive an all-expenses-paid trip to several of the 13 GLCA colleges, each of which pays an honorarium of at least $500 to give readings, meet with students, and lead discussions and classes. Books published in 2024 and 2025 are eligible. Faculty members of the colleges will judge. Publishers may submit four copies of one book in each category by May 25. There is no entry fee. 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.

Mario Vargas Llosa

Caption: 

“The only counsel that is acceptable is to work! To work very hard until you discover the kind of writer that you want to be.” Nobel Prize–winning Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa dispenses advice to emerging writers in this Louisiana Channel interview with Christian Lund. Vargas Llosa died at the age of eighty-nine on April 13, 2025.

Pages

Subscribe to Fiction